Thor was not particularly pleased to have a new baby brother. He took up entirely too much of Mother's time, and Nurse was always cooing over him. Although after a few days, the little boy had to admit his brother was pretty cute. But he was no fun at all, in spite of everyone saying that he would have someone to play with in a short while.

But he still had the attention of the warriors, they had no interest in a baby. Thor was big enough to wield a wooden dowel, although he smacked things with it rather than poking as he should with his pseudo-sword. Still, he was a pet of the men when they feasted and told their tales of great deeds.

Nothing seemed to change for a long time, but then baby Loki was sitting up, and soon crawling, standing, babbling, and saying a few words. Then he actually was sort of fun. Thor played "peek" with him and tried to teach him letter sounds and words. Frigga was impressed by how quickly Loki was picking up language.

One day Frigga came into the nursery to find both her sons laughing. She watched as they sat opposite each other on the floor, and Thor made the "l" sound for Loki by sticking his tongue out and running it all around his upper lip. Loki copied his, and they both giggled and laughed and did it again. Thor fell over backwards, he was laughing so hard.

Then he sat up and pushed Loki over. The toddler stopped laughing, looked uncertain whether he should cry or not. Frigga swooped in before he could decide and picked him up. Loki forgot about crying and smiled at her.

"Thor, you mustn't push your brother like that."

"Why not? I fell over laughing, he should too."

"Because everyone is different, and that's the way it should be. He isn't going to be exactly like you. You wouldn't want him to be, would you?"

Thor shrugged. "I'm Thor, the oldest prince, he would be lucky to be like me."

Frigga hesitated. Odin very much wanted her to build Thor's confidence in himself, but her older boy sounded arrogant, not just confident.

"He would, you are wonderful. But he's not you, and we can't expect him to be, can we?"

"Oh. I guess not. If he doesn't fall over laughing when I do, I suppose that's all right."

"And it is time for his nap. No, you don't have to take one. Why don't you ride your pony for a while?"

Thor's eyes lit up, he leapt up and ran out the door. He had a fat, old pony that wouldn't do more than amble, but saddling him and riding around the paddock was still exciting for the little boy. Thor had a great deal of energy and finding things for him to do could become exhausting for the adults around him.

The one quiet activity both boys liked was story time before bed. Thor asked questions constantly through each tale, but he learned much by that. Frigga wasn't sure how much Loki got out of it, his language skills were still pretty rudimentary. But he listened intently and was learning quickly,

Frigga laid Loki in bed for his nap, taking off his shoes and putting a light blanket on him. She sang him a lullaby and watched his eyes close contentedly. Her younger son loved her singing, but her older boy quickly grew bored with it, particularly when she sang something from another culture in another language.

Loki looked so pale, she worried about him by reflex. His appearance was striking; ebony hair, pale skin, bright blue eyes. She made sure he spent time outside although he didn't seem to care whether he was inside or outside. But he never tanned, never reddened, just remained white. He was taller and thinner than Thor had been at his age, and that worried her too.

Odin visited his sons in the nursery about once a month. He would spend a few minutes with Loki, and she knew he was doing what he said he would do, making sure Loki's genetic heritage didn't push him to giant size. It bothered her, but she knew it was necessary if Loki was to live as their child.

His first-born son he would take on his knee or sit beside him and tell him stories of battles and fights. Thor loved such tales, and Frigga could see he was eager to engage in such things himself. He was sturdy, very strong for his age, and loved tussling with the dogs outside. She suspected he had wrestled with some of the other children in the palace, but he always came back proud of himself in torn, dirty clothes, so she supposed he won.

It was time Thor had companions, boys his own age to engage in rough play and use up some of his energy. Part of her thought it was time, but part wanted to delay bringing in friends for her oldest. Loki was too young yet to join them. Later he could, but he would never truly be one of them if he joined them after their friendships had formed. And he would always be younger, weaker, less coordinated, until they reached manhood when age differences meant less.

While Loki was napping, being watched by his nurse, and Thor was riding, being watched by the stable master, Frigga was free. She went to see Odin, and found him in his study reading some papers.

He looked up and she said, "I think we need to talk about Thor."

"What about him?"

"He's at an age where he needs boys his own age to play with. But I am reluctant to find friends for him while Loki is so young; he would be excluded."

"Loki will make his own way as all children do. I have been looking into suitable companions for Thor." Odin waved at the papers before him. "This is an agreement proposed by Vanaheim to formalize our long-standing alliance. In it, the Vanir offer to send one of their youngsters to foster with us, and to become friends with my sons, in order to continue the friendship between our worlds into the next generation. Hogun is of noble blood, an orphan, and just the right age. He's a bit smaller than Thor, but he is a serious boy who would lend some thought to impede Thor's impetuousness."

"So you plan to find companions for Thor now?"

"Indeed. In addition to the Vanir boy, I've chosen two of the boys in the palace as well. Both have good lineage."

"Lineage isn't everything. Isn't character more important?"

"At their age they are soft metal waiting to be formed; lineage is all there is. There's a boy Volstagg who is larger than Thor. He will challenge Thor by his strength and size. Besides, he has the making of a warrior if he exercises more, and being with Thor he will, just to keep up. He likes to eat a bit too much."

Frigga sighed. Odin had his mind made up before she asked the question, and she knew there was no swaying him.

Odin continued, "And there is another boy, Fandral. He's bright and active and should be a suitable companion."

"Is three enough?"

"Yes. The four of them will be a good mix of strengths and personalities."

"Loki will be left out. By the time he is old enough to join them, they will already have formed their friendships."

Odin sighed and sat back. "It matters little. What I need from my second son is enough ability to make Thor work. Has Loki shown any talent for anything? Is he bright or dull?"

Frigga laughed. "Talent? He's learning to walk and talk, far too young for talent. Did you think he would be writing poetry or throwing axes at his age?"

"Very well, have your laugh. But do you think he will be able to challenge Thor in a few years in any way?"

Frigga looked thoughtful. Then she said, "He has a greater attention span than Thor did at his age. He is learning language quickly, and he appreciates fine music – he likes my singing."

Odin smiled. "As do I. Perhaps he will be able to challenge Thor intellectually. My son is enthusiastic about fighting, but does not seem so interested in his letters. An intellectual challenge from his brother might be useful, but you know leading in battle is far more important for a king than his scholarship. Well, we will have to wait and see."

Frigga turned to go, but stopped and said, "I will look for talents in Loki, and encourage whatever I find. He's not like the other children of his age, he may surprise us both."

When she arrived back at the nursery she found Thor had returned and was playing with his Valkyries and flying horses. Loki was up too, sitting in the corner examining a set of building blocks with different shapes- cubes, rectangles, arches, pyramids, cones and half spheres.

As soon as he saw her, Thor exclaimed, "Look at how the Valkyries fly, Mother. Aren't they wonderful? I want to be a Valkyrie!"

Frigga knelt down by him and said, "I'm sorry, but you cannot."

"I can if I want to! Why can't I?"

"Look at your Valkyrie figures. They are all female, aren't they?"

Thor examined his toys. "I . . . guess so."

"That's because Valkyries were elite women warriors, no boys allowed."

"Oh. Well, I'm a prince, so that's better anyway." But he still looked disappointed. She ruffled his hair and went over to Loki and knelt down next to him.

"And what are you doing, Loki?"

He picked up an arch and held it toward her.

"That's an arch. How many different shapes are there?'

Loki put the arch down next to him, and slowly picked out one each of the others and put them with the arch. "Dat many."

"Let's count them." She pointed to each one in turn and counted, "One, two, three, four, five, six. Six different shapes."

Loki looked at them for a moment and then copied her. "One, two, t'ree, four, five, six."

"Very good." Frigga looked back at Thor, who was using a dragon to attack his fleet of four longships. Her sons were very, very different. In a year or two, Loki would definitely be challenging Thor. Odin might not care much for scholarship, but she thought Loki might make Thor care, at least a little. And that would be a very good thing.