Loki was still silently laughing when they arrived in the hall on Niflheimr at Höðr having blandly enquired whether he had a good night. 'Twas one of the many reasons he had always been well disposed towards Höðr; the man had an actual sense of humor and grasp on sarcasm.
"What do we have for whom?" Loki questioned Lord Aðalgrímr after the Casket of Ancient Winters had been positioned in its usual place.
Lord Aðalgrímr placed the box he had carried on the table and pulled out the two items it held. "For Laufey-King, we have a very nice bottle of dökkálfar beer from the Lömm region whose soil is said to add a very particular flavor to the wheat grown there."
Dökkálfar beer? Loki crinkled his nose at the thought. His birth father, apparently, had no taste, not that 'twas particularly surprising. Still, it begged a question.
"Do the jötnar overall like dökkálfar beer, or is it simply Laufey-King?" Loki asked.
"From the lack of large orders in the past, I assume 'tis more to Laufey's tastes in particular, though alcohol of all varieties was always welcome at the end of negotiations or trade."
Which made sense given Loki did not think Jötunheimr grew anything which could easily be fermented into alcohol. At least not which was grown in sufficient quantities to do so; hence the reason the jötnar resorted to fermenting milk to create Ymir's sýra.
"And what did you select for Helblindi-Princex?" General Týr inquired.
"We had to guess there as we have never had any formal interactions with the princex before now," Lord Aðalgrímr replied. "But we decided something exotic would probably be best, so we went with a Múspellsheimrian fire ruby."
"What?" Loki teased. "No alcohol?"
"Not without knowing if they allow their children to drink, nay."
Oh, that was right.
"Helblindi-Princex is still underage," Loki remembered.
"By jötnar standards, so are you, Majesty," Lord Aðalgrímr stated, causing Loki's eyes to flash up to him in shock. "You would be somewhere in their adolescent period, I believe."
Their...
He was still an adolescent?
He could hardly contain his complete and utter shock to react somewhat normally. If Lord Aðalgrímr was right, then he was a lot younger, relatively speaking, than anyone had been treating him as, his parents included. Not to mention he had been sexually active for several centuries, ever since his supposed áss puberty. Though that had been far less dramatic and troublesome than Thor's, which at least made some more sense now.
The only thing which gave Loki any kind of comfort about the news, was how it at least helped to explain why Loptr had acted and reacted the way he had. They were still very much in the period where emotions oft ruled the day rather than knowledge or intellect. It made him feel much better about being nearly overwhelmed at times.
But wait.
"How long do the jötnar live?" Loki asked.
'Twas not something he had thought to check.
"About twice as long as we," General Týr responded.
"Truly?" Loki demanded, letting his shock show this time.
He might live twice as long as Thor? 'Twas an unsettling thought, to say the least.
General Týr nodded. "Laufey is significantly older than Óðinn, and he started his reign when your grandfather was still on Hliðskjálf."
The thought made Loki frown. If his birth father was so old, why had Laufey waited so long to produce an heir? And why make such a stupid mistake so late into his reign as attacking Miðgarðr? Or was it precisely because of that? Had Laufey been displeased to have so little while Óðinn, who was so much younger, had so much more? Was it petty jealousy which had caused his birth father to go to war?
"I must have missed that part of Grandmother's book," Loki replied.
"You were not told of this before?" Lord Aðalgrímr asked with concern.
Loki snorted. "I was not even aware of my jötnar heritage. I still do not know how to inform Thor of it, since he will not react well."
"Surely it will not be as bad as all of that?" General Týr frowned.
"Did you know he once boasted that, when he was king, he would slay all of the monsters?" Loki asked, knowing they did not. "And what he said of them on Jötunheimr was no better."
His two advisors shared a worried look and Loki knew he could not leave it there. "Not that I was much better, mind you."
"You have not shown it," Lord Aðalgrímr said.
"Because I know the value of diplomacy. But the word monster is one I have regularly used."
"Why?"
"Why not? Thor and I were raised on stories of the war, and in those the jötnar are little more than savages or mindless beasts hel bent on war and conquest. We were also told as children that if we did not behave, the frost giants would come eat us."
"They would come eat you?" General Týr repeated in disbelief, looking horrified.
Loki inclined his head.
"'Tis little wonder you both thought ill of them," Lord Aðalgrímr stated faintly.
"It has been quite a shock to realize precisely how wrong we were," Loki admitted. "'Tis also why I knew we had to do better with this treaty. Complete isolation breeds nothing but lies, mistrust and hatred."
"Clearly," General Týr looked very ill at ease. "I never realized. The others of your age, are they the same?"
"From what I am aware, aye."
"You are thinking of the army?" Lord Aðalgrímr deduced, looking over at the other man.
"Aye," General Týr confirmed. "I will have to ensure supervision for any jötnar trade delegation falls to those without such prejudices, but who also did not suffer particularly bad losses during the war."
"It will all be a very careful balancing act," Loki agreed. "But worth it in the long run. Perhaps for more than the health of the Yggdrasill, too."
Any further conversation on the topic was aborted as the far doors opened and the jötnar delegation entered. Picking up both gifts, Loki made his way towards the center of the chamber.
"Laufey-King, Helblindi-Princex," he greeted. "May I offer a few tokens from Ásgarðr in return for your generous gift yesterday?"
"King Loki," Laufey replied as they moved to meet him.
From the way his birth father's eyes moved in so quickly on the bottle he held, Loki knew Lords Ragnvaldr and Aðalgrímr had made a good decision. Although a forced abstinence of almost a thousand years would no doubt have helped as well.
"The first gift exchange, then?" Laufey inquired when they drew level with Loki.
"Aye. To many more to come," he replied, holding out the bottle.
He angled it deliberately so the bottom was closest to his father, while he himself held the neck. Loki did not want to risk their fingers brushing, lest Laufey notice what that did to his disguise. He could only imagine the explosive reaction that would garner. Not to mention he could not even begin to guess how his own guards might react. In every possible outcome, things did not end well for him, even if he sky walked to safety.
"This is not æsir beer," Laufey commented as he accepted the bottle.
"I am uncertain if we make beer anymore," Loki replied, easily. "And we favored preference over self-pride."
Not to mention that, as ruler of the Nine Realms, Niðavellir like all of the others, now officially fell under his rule. 'Twas something Loki had not truly thought of, but clearly either Lord Aðalgrímr or Lord Ragnvaldr had, as they would not have selected the presents they had otherwise. The final decision to go with non-æsir products had been Lord Aðalgrímr's, though, as he knew the man would have remembered his own mutterings on the topic when Óðinn had elected to stick with æsir products for the visit of the ljósálfar delegation three centuries back, when a Múspellsheimrian fire gem would have been infinitely preferable. Nor had it been the only such incident, and he had always thought it foolish of his adoptive father to favor Ásgarðr so in those instances. It caused resentment and discord among the other eight Realms, since Ásgarðr claimed to be ruler of all. 'Twas a sentiment he could understand well, especially now he was in a very similar situation in a lot of ways, as a non-æsir foundling Óðinn had taken in and decided to raise... only not as well as his own, æsir, son.
The large, oversized bottle which had looked so out of proportion for both himself and Lord Aðalgrímr, still appeared outsized, but now in the opposite direction, for Laufey. Luckily, his birth father would not miss out as dökkálfar beer was notoriously strong, and thus one did not drink proportional amounts as of other alcoholic beverages.
Laufey's sharp, red eyes were laser focused on his face and Loki was sorely tempted to drop his own illusion enough for his birth father to see his own red eyes, but he fought back the urge. It would be such a Thor-like thing to do; to derail the peace negotiations now of all times.
But, oh, the chaos it would cause!
There was a large part of him which longed for it, and Loki had never been terribly good at denying that part of himself at the best of times. Hence the reason he had become the god of chaos and mischief, and now the urge for it was worse than ever before. 'Twas so great, in fact, Loki was starting to suspect it might be more than simply a case of repeated desire denied. Could it be he needed it in order to help heal himself? Both traits were such a deeply intrinsic part of himself after all, so perhaps they stemmed from his very core.
'Twas an intriguing thought and one he would have to explore with Sigyn when he next saw her.
With a sharp whine, the Casket of Ancient Winters flared brightly, breaking the sharp observation Laufey had him under as his birth father was distracted. Taking a few steps back to distance himself from the man who had already tried to kill him once, Loki turned just enough to be able to observe the Casket himself.
The storms inside roiled violently and Loki's forehead creased as he reached out towards it with his seiðr, to figure out what was going on. His connection to Mother Winter sparked, flaring to life much as the Casket itself had done. She was clearly agitated and reached out to him across their weak link, clinging to him protectively. Loki was not certain what had set her off, but he did his best to soothe her. It seemed to work as she settled, making the storms within the Casket of Ancient Winters die back down so the light within dimmed back to its usual, flickering glow.
General Týr met his eyes and raised a dark eyebrow in concern, but Loki merely gave him one of the warrior hand signals he had been taught. Hold. They would discuss it later, if necessary.
When Loki turned his attention back to his birth father, 'twas to find Laufey's red eyes on him once more.
"Problem?" Laufey inquired.
Loki hesitated, trying to decide if the truth could be beneficial here or not. "I did not cause that," Loki admitted. "The... sentience within seems unrestful."
"Sentience?" Helblindi-Princex queried, eyes lighting up. "You can sense Mother Winter?"
"Helblindi," Laufey warned.
"Sorry, my King."
Uncertain what that was about, Loki glanced between the two before deciding to give his sibling part of an answer.
"I can sense something," he said, before turning his tongue to the lies he was so well known for. "But I know not what."
'Twas actually quite surprising how certain he was that what he sensed was Mother Winter, Loki mused. He had not thought to question it before as he had been so certain. But mayhap he should have. It had been instinctive, though, which was when he did his best seiðr.
"My thanks," Laufey finally said, raising the bottle slightly.
With that, Laufey stepped back in order to allow Helblindi to approach him, though Loki did note his birth father did not move away entirely. Was it out of genuine concern for their child, or simply worry for their heir? Though Loki personally had trouble believing the former, he knew he could not rule it out. Simply because Laufey had left him to die, did not mean the man could not truly care for their other two children. Helblindi and Býleistr were not the same threat to their power that Loki had been. Besides, Laufey had to know they would not live forever and so would require an heir to continue their legacy.
Hmm, mayhap 'twas why his birth father had waited so long to reproduce. Maybe 'twas simply a necessity for them rather than a joy in and of itself to have children. It would certainly explain a lot, but Loki was well aware of his own biases in the situation.
"Not knowing any of your preferences from before, we have had to guess at what you might like," Loki began, as he faced his younger sibling. "But I hope we have guessed correctly."
As he spoke, Loki opened the jewel box once more, both to allow Helblindi to view what he was receiving, but also to increase the size of the box. This way he could hold the lid while Helblindi could take the base.
Loki's eyes flickered over his sibling's outfit as he stepped forward once more and offered the gift. As before, Helblindi's outfit consisted of an elaborately embroidered and fur lined kilt. Their arms, biceps and neck were adorned with gold hued jewelry, richly adorned with Jötunheimr's jewels from sapphires to multitudes of ice gems which glittered and gleamed in the flickering fire light from the torches. On their head, Helblindi-Princex today wore a gold and silver circlet intertwined around particularly large gems, the central one being a deep purple in color. Loki could easily see why Lords Aðalgrímr and Ragnvaldr had felt this gift so fitting, especially given the jötnar's eye color.
"'Tis beautiful," Helblindi-Princex said, while they accepted the box. "What is it?"
"A fire ruby from Múspellsheimr," Loki replied.
They stood close enough for Loki to see the flicker of delight in his sibling's eyes and he felt strangely pleased at knowing he had managed to obtain that reaction from his newfound sibling. It also made him curious for the first time about Laufey's youngest; Býleistr. Would Loki also feel some kind of strange kinship with them too, despite the centuries they had spent apart and his still highly ambiguous feelings towards the jötnar in general, and his own heritage in particular?
"Thank you," Helblindi-Princex said, looking back up to him.
Loki inclined his head, holding his sibling's eyes briefly, before glancing back to Laufey-King as he pulled Queen Sága's missive from his robes and held it out.
"A communication from Queen Sága of Álfheimr," Loki began, knowing his birth father might not be aware of her ascension to the throne. "I was asked to pass it on to you."
Laufey blinked in surprise as he stepped forwards once more to accept it.
"We shall give you a little time to look it over," Loki said, before he drew back.
"Uncle Vé," Thor said to announce himself as he paused at the open door to his uncle's study.
He had to forcibly stop himself from thinking of the man as one of his father's advisors, as currently he was clearly Loki's. It made Thor think of the rest of the High Council, and Lord Ragnvaldr in particular, who was his father's chief advisor. He could not help but wonder if his brother would keep the man on should Father never wake, or if Loki would replace him with someone else. 'Twas a morbid thought, but Thor found he had no idea whom his brother might choose if it came to it. Loki generally tended to keep his own council and, the few times he went elsewhere, it tended to be to their mother.
Thor paused as he could not help but wonder if Loki would dare put Mother on the High Council. On the one hand, 'twas an utterly ridiculous thought - there had never been a woman on the council - but, on the other hand, Thor could already see it now. His brother did so love to cause chaos and truly, in the grand scheme of things, this would be more mischief than true chaos. Even if it would cause a scandal of sorts among the elders. But then, so had Lady Sif's acceptance among the Einherjar and Thor had loved that.
Oh. Perhaps there was something to Loki's love of disrupting and unsetting certain traditions simply for the sheer fun of doing so.
"Thor," Uncle Vé greeted. "Please, come in. What can I do for you?"
"Actually," Thor replied, shifting uncomfortably. "I was hoping I may be able to aid you."
Without his strength and titles, a lot of his regular activities and duties had fallen away and he was left without anything to do. Not wishing to sit idle when there was so much going on, Thor had gone looking for his eldest uncle only to be informed Vili was out checking on the army with Lieutenant-General Yngvarr before he would be attending the Princes' Court. Hearing of the latter was still enough to give him a nasty shock as he had genuinely not thought there enough interest to continue those. 'Twas not something he wished to contemplate now.
"At loose ends, are we?" Uncle Vé asked, sympathetically, before his father's youngest brother looked at his parchment strewn desk. "There is something you could do to help me, though 'tis not terribly exciting."
"At this point, I am looking for anything which will occupy me," Thor replied, hoping he would not regret it.
He normally hated this type of work, but Thor hated boredom more. Especially now, when all it would do was give him time to think of why he was bored, and that would not lead to anything good. He had already spent enough time doing so on Miðgarðr to know he was not going to learn what Father wanted him to simply by thinking about his situation. Besides, both his parents had now said he had not been ready to be king and, while he disagreed with them, he knew the best way to prove them wrong was to show he could do the job, and all of the associated tasks.
Additionally, Thor had earlier also overheard some of the servants speaking of him and he had not liked what he had heard. They had spoken of his visit to his friends and worried it demonstrated a lack of commitment to his family and Hliðskjálf. Somehow, he had managed not to confront them about their words, but Thor knew it had more to do with the fact he knew his guards had overheard them than anything else. Well, that and he could not help but hear the echo of both his mother and Loki's words from during their arguments about his decision to visit his friends in the first place. They had feared something like this might happen and he had not wanted to draw any more attention to the fact it had.
For once, Thor felt ashamed of his actions, and it made him uncomfortable. Therefore, he would much rather do boring parchmentwork than be left to his own thoughts about the whole situation.
"Very well," Uncle Vé said as he motioned for Thor to pull over one of the chairs, while he himself lifted a stack of parchments. "These should be the letters for those whom Loki has elected to allocate some of the King's Funds to, and these," he continued, lifting another set of parchments. "Are the letters for those who were unsuccessful."
"I see," Thor replied slowly, with a frown. "What do I need to do with them?"
"Check them against your brother's list."
Thor blinked in surprise. "You think you made a mistake?"
"I did not write them, Lord Óðr did and, in addition to attempting to allocate the funds himself without consulting your brother, he has vocally protested how Loki did so," Uncle Vé explained.
Thor scowled as his anger flared within him. How dare the man attempt that! 'Twas named the King's Funds for a reason. No wonder his brother looked so exhausted all of the time if he had things like this to deal with on top of the negotiations. At least Loki had others like their uncles to help him with issues on Ásgarðr while he was busy on Niflheimr with Lords Aðalgrímr and Ragnvaldr as well as General Týr.
Father's warnings of how a king was never weaker and more vulnerable than at the beginning of his reign echoed in Thor's ears even as he could not believe exactly how much trouble Loki had been dealing with. Normally, in this type of situation, he would be tempted to ask his brother what he had done to cause it, but this time Thor knew better than to assume 'twas all Loki's fault. His friends had already taught him that particular lesson this week. Not to mention all of the sheer idiocy Heimdallr had spouted in his own defense.
"Did Lord Óðr have an excuse for his actions?" Thor demanded, darkly.
Uncle Vé looked him over for a moment, an odd expression on his face before he spoke. "Lord Ragnvaldr told me he claimed to have done it to help lessen the burden Loki was carrying. Personally, I think he did it as he knew he would not like how Loki would allocate the money and he felt that, as regent, it should not be your brother's decision to make."
His uncle's reasoning sounded reasonable given how often Loki and Lord Óðr had clashed over funding allocations of all types at the High Council meetings in the past. But 'twas no more than Loki had clashed with either Father or himself on such matters.
'Twas with a start and a sudden sense of dread, that Thor knew he would not like the parchments he was about to read. He knew Father allocated most of it to a variety of very worthy warrior or military applications which would receive insufficient funds through the usual channels due to people like Loki, Lord Aðalgrímr and Uncle Vé directing some of it elsewhere. Somehow, he could not see his brother continuing this tradition despite their need, not after all of the times Loki had attempted to convince Father to change his mind on the topic.
A quick glance at the stack of parchments in the refused pile confirmed Thor's fears and he groaned in dismay.
"Problem?" Uncle Vé inquired.
Thor could tell from his uncle's face, Vé knew exactly what he did not like.
"These applications need the funds," Thor stated.
"So do the others."
"They already receive funding from what you direct away from the army!"
"Pittance in comparison."
"As it should be, the warriors are Ásgarðr's main defense!"
"Thor, do you know what Lord Ragnvaldr told me the other day?" Uncle Vé asked, his tone suddenly far softer and less argumentative.
"Nay, what?"
"That he and Loki had been to the eastern edge of the city to see a road. A main road so bad 'twas difficult to navigate by horse, let alone cart."
"What?" Thor demanded in disbelief.
Nay, 'twas not possible. Not in Ásgarðr. On one of the other Realms, certainly, but Ásgarðr was too rich for anything like that.
"And do you know what the worst part of it is?"
"Nay," Thor replied warily, not certain what could be worse than the fact any part of Ásgarðr had a road in such disrepair.
"The fact they did not even feel comfortable applying for the necessary funding through the King's Funds, let alone normal channels," Uncle Vé stated. "'Twas not until Loki made it known he wished for more than the usual applicants that the request came in."
If he had been horrified before, 'twas nothing compared to how Thor felt now. This road was all but unusable and they had not felt able to request help? On Ásgarðr?
"Truly?" he finally demanded.
"I am as shocked as you are. From what I understand, there was an initial request which was denied when it should not have been, which Loki has Lord Ragnvaldr investigating."
"Good."
Uncle Vé hesitated, before he continued. "Thor, what you also need to know is that, supposedly, they also suffered from the belief that, since they were not an area where the warriors lived or worked, that they were deemed unimportant by Iðavöllr."
Thor could only stare at his uncle in shock at those words. He was not certain what he felt as it all seemed unusually muffled and numb, but there was horror and dismay in there. Aye, he had always strongly advocated for the army and warrior related activities to have greater funding as they were so critical for Ásgarðr's defenses and did not receive nearly enough funding, but he had never wished for it to be at the expense of such essential things as basic road repairs. Or for the ordinary people to feel unappreciated or valued. He wanted to see them protected and safe!
"Is that application in here then?" Thor inquired as he waved at the accepted parchments.
"Nay, it will be funded from where it should have been initially, but I merely wished to point out the types of applications and requests which came in when people realized the funds were not necessarily going to automatically go to the same places as before."
It irked Thor to see some of the programs and initiatives he had successfully campaigned for his father to consider selecting for funding rejected, but he could also understand the importance of people feeling able to request to be considered as well. Especially if it prevented such atrocities as the one Uncle Vé had mentioned. If he had the ability to do so at present, he would ride out there to view it for himself. Not because he mistrusted Loki or Lord Ragnvaldr, but because as future king he needed to understand firsthand what people had not felt comfortable or able to report.
"I understand," Thor finally replied.
All he had to do was remember that Father was doing better every day, so 'twas unlikely Loki would remain on Hliðskjálf for long. Therefore, next year, they could refund any projects his brother had elected to drop this year.
Not able to resist, Thor turned his attention to the lists he had been given. The applications selected for refusal contained every single one Father normally funded and Thor had to grit his teeth against the urge to protest. Not only had Uncle Vé warned him, but the man could do nothing about it. 'Twas all Loki's fault.
A quick glance at the list of approved applications and Thor had to admit to being somewhat surprised. Beyond the expected funding for such trivialities as libraries and parks, there were some for things he would never have expected. Like one for an archeological survey in the mountains, and another for the renovation of an orphanage. Thor was also surprised to note there was funding allocation for one warrior application. 'Twas one he did not recognize, though, and he dug through the associated parchments until he found the one he wanted.
As he read it, Thor could see why it might appeal to Loki as it dealt with nontraditional means of fighting. 'Twas because of everything which had transpired lately that Thor caught it when his mind went to automatically scoff at some of the methods listed. Knives were on the list and, if his brother had proven anything, 'twas exactly how deadly a trained warrior could be with those. It also made Thor uncomfortable how much his mental voice scoffing at it had sounded like Lady Sif. Had she truly been the one to disparage Loki's skills the most? Not that Thor felt he himself was not guilty of doing so as well, his mind had been steadily supplying him with what felt like a nonstop parade of such examples lately, but there had to be a reason why his mental voice in this instance sounded like Lady Sif.
To make matters worse, Thor saw this particular application would also favor nontraditional warriors, which most definitely meant ladies like Sif herself. It heartened Thor to see his brother was not taking his anger at her out on others like her, but he could not help but wonder why he had never seen this application before. The background information on the project proved 'twas by no means new. So, had they never applied for funding before? If that was the case, why not? Normally, he would suspect they had been asked to progress to such a point as they could provide sufficient proof as to the feasibility of the project, but he knew the costs involved in arming and training warriors, so he doubted 'twas the case. Surely it had not been as Uncle Vé said, that they had not felt they could successfully apply and so had never bothered to do so.
The thought made Thor frown.
Aye, he had not liked the idea earlier, but now to know it had also prevented the submission of military applications appalled him even more. It made him realize that always selecting the same recipients could be detrimental even to the areas he loved most. A quick glance at the parchments for the ones his father had always chosen showed they had far less supporting evidence and justification for the funding than the others did, some of which had itemized lists of how they would use the funds. Was it out of sheer arrogance - because they did not feel the need to do so? - or because they did not require it for the same basic necessities as some of the other applications?
'Twas not a comfortable thought and Thor realized that this time his mental voice sounded far more like his brother, and he paused, not wanting to dismiss it as he had Loki so often lately. The question felt vaguely treasonous and he felt dirty to suspect it, but the events of the past few days had irrevocably proven there was a time and place for such things, much as he might not want for them to be.
Besides, looking into this, or areas he knew well, would be good practice and it would help prove to Loki that he did hear him, even if it had not always been clear he had been listening.
"Can I keep hold of this for a while?" Thor asked, holding up the applications as he looked at his uncle.
Vé blinked as he glanced up from the scroll he was reading. "Is that an accepted or a rejected application?"
"Rejected."
"Then certainly, but it has to come back to be filed away with the others," Uncle Vé said.
"Filed away? We keep the failed applications?"
"For a few decades, aye."
Huh. It would allow Thor to look back and see whether this year truly had resulted in more or different types of applications. Not to mention to see whether the older applications for Father's selected projects had originally contained more details.
'Twas not what Thor wanted to be doing with his time, but 'twas clear he had not been as prepared for his coronation as everyone had thought, so this was a good place to start. With that decided, Thor turned to the task he had actually been given, trying to ignore the oddness of his sitting here and checking his brother's orders were being carried out rather than the other way around.
