Chapter 26
His body seemed to weigh twice as normal, but at least the pain was gone. His eyes opened slowly and without effort, though the white light made him wince. He heard a gasp near him and a hand on his forehead.
"Loki?" his mother's voice called him.
He grunted, his mouth so dry he couldn't utter a word, but he opened his eyes again. There she was, smiling, tears in her eyes.
"Welcome back, my son," she said with a soft voice.
"Where...?" he croaked.
"Safe."
Loki raised a hand without looking at it, his green eyes were fixed instead on his mother, whose smile fadded as soon as he rattled the chains that bound him.
"Why?" he asked.
She took that hand and cradled it.
"It's to protect you."
He asked for water, and his mother helped him sit up. The world spun around him as she eased him back into the pillows.
"What happened?" he asked once he could drink, looking around.
It was a well-lit room, though there were no windows. Not his bedroom, nor that of the infirmary. Only two doors opened on either side of the barren walls, and one of them seemed eerily out of place in a room with a sick person inside.
His mother took some time to answer, as if she couldn't find the words.
"Mother, please. Did I lose control?"
She shook her head.
"Then why the sealing runes?"
Her lower lip trembled.
"Your father's orders."
"Don't call him that," he hissed at her, despite himself.
"You are currently pending trial," she said at last. "Your... Odin has decreed that you have to answer for a series of crimes."
Loki didn't react immediately. That statement was so surreal it took a few seconds for him to register.
"What?"
She took his hands and squeezed them.
"There will be something we can do," she assured him. "I can talk to him-"
"What are those crimes?"
She drew in some breaths before speaking.
"Among other things," she started. "He knows the influence you intended to gain in Midgard. You also murdered King Laufey. You know what the punishment is."
He felt the blood draining from his face. His brain couldn't even process what he had just heard.
"Thor tried talking to him," his mother rushed to explain. "Not only him, but also Tyr, Sif and your other friends."
"And yet I'm chained," he said through clenched teeth, pulling his hands out of Frigga's grasp. His chest felt so tight he thought he would suffocate. He turned his face away from her, not out of contempt, but because he didn't want his mother to see him like this. "Leave me," he whispered, his voice shaking. "Please, leave me."
Without a word, Frigga stood up and walked away, barely restraining a whimper.
The door opened, and that sound was what broke the dam for Loki.
He screamed. It was a short cry at first, with what little air he had in his lungs, but then he howled in rage and helplessness, over and over again. He knew no one would hear him because the room was soundproof.
He was in Asgard's jail, after all.
xxxxXX-0-XXxxxx
For the next few days he only saw his mother. He couldn't move from his cell, but was allowed to walk around as soon as he was strong enough to stand on his feet without help. The side effects of Malekith's poison had worn off, but even months after the ordeal, Loki would have a nagging, dull ache in his left side from time to time. His chains, however, remained. It was a formality, he was told, until the trial was over and he was moved to a safer cell.
Said trial had already been arranged and, two weeks after he woke up, he was summoned to the Throne Room. The guards who would escort him waited at the entrance to his cell; the one leading them briefly informed him of the deed, reciting all the legal formalities, and couldn't hide his embarrassment at the task he had been assigned.
They found no servants on their way up, although Loki caught a glimpse of a maid, who crossed their path by accident, turning hurriedly away and hiding behind a column, her eyes cast downwards.
The doors to the Throne Room opened. Though it had been cleared of debris, half of the east wall was missing. Outside it was a clear day, with cotton-like clouds against an azure sky. As he approached the throne, his eyes remained fixed on that sky, and for a moment his thoughts wandered to Jane.
When the guards stopped, so did he, though he didn't look up.
The sound of Gungnir hitting the floor echoed through the room, despite the missing wall. Loki looked up and as he did, out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of iridescence on the East wall: a force field.
Odin sat on his throne, while Commander Tyr stood a few steps below and at the foot of the stairs sat the royal scribe, Ulf, at a desk. No one else was present.
Tyr read the charges against him. His armor had been cleaned and repaired, his beard combed as thoroughly as always, but his expression was grim as he spoke, and when he finished he looked forward, towards some point in space.
"Do you understand the gravity of your crimes?" Odin asked him.
"Aren't you going to ask me if I declare myself innocent or guilty?" Loki answered after a pause. "For how long has my verdict been written?"
"Breaking my seal can be attributed to a case of extreme urgency," said Odin. "Although we have no conclusive evidence that the actions leading to it were not deliberate, given that you already had an understanding with the Jötnar, but we will come back to that later. You wielded Gungnir without permission and stepped into the role of Regent, possibly to undermine Thor's claim to the throne with an act of heroism from your part. However, you broke my express command not to meddle in the affairs of other Realms. Do you deny that you intended to gain enough power to rule Midgardians as a tyrant, with all the possible consequences?"
"I found earnest people willing to help me in my darkest hour, which is more than half this family has ever done for me. I also found a Realm, plagued with corruption, chaos and injustice. What was I supposed to do? Crawl into a hole and rot there? Why shouldn't I have ruled them?"
"DO YOU DENY IT?"
Odin's voice echoed in the chamber. Loki felt one of the guards behind him flinching, probably a young recruit.
"Midgard is in turmoil," he continued, straightening his back and standing to his full height despite the many chains that weighted him down. Suddenly, Odin's outburst of rage fueled his own anger. "And I was no longer a citizen of Asgard. I was human, short-lived, as you dictated. I used none of my magical powers, none of my superior strength, only my wits. I was born to lead. Can you blame me for acting according to my own natural condition and my birthright?"
Something changed in Odin. The impassive, cold mask tensed, the cheeks reddened, the blue eye flashed. The soldiers around Loki fidgeted, uneasy, but the Prince stood still, holding Odin's gaze.
"Born to lead," the Allfather repeated slowly and bitterly. "Do you think no one would have objected to your absolute rule? Humans are primitive and violent, the balance of their world perpetually on a knife's edge. What could you have achieved if not another world war? Aye, you were born to lead, but not in Midgard and neither here. You were destined for a frozen throne, to seal an everlasting peace, but now that path is lost forever. There is also the matter of King Laufey, whose people you led into the very heart of this Palace, threatening the safety of its inhabitants out of pure spite and envy towards the rightful Heir. Once they had served their purpose, you murdered them in cold blood rather than subduing their king and negotiate a truce as the law requires."
Odin's tone became harsher.
"You were born to die in a cold rock, but instead you grew in power here. Your magic and your wits are your weapons, but so are your manipulative tendencies and your unquenchable thirst for power, which have proven to be a danger to you and to all who cross your path."
Loki opened his mouth to speak, but Odin was faster.
"For the murder of one of royal blood from an allied Realm you ought to be put to death, but the constant intercession of the Queen and the Prince Regent has caused the Crown to consider a stay of execution until further evidence can be produced against such ruling. I therefore decree that the accused shall instead spend the rest of his days in prison. However, this decision will be subject to future review should further evidence be presented, either to exonerate him, which is unlikely, or to finally condemn him to the capital punishment. The Crown has spoken."
Tyr recited more formalities aloud, but to Loki they sounded like a droning noise. When he finished, the Commander's cheeks were red, his mouth set in a thin line. A gentle tug on his chains woke the Prince up. The guard who had done it lowered his gaze sheepishly.
Loki let the guards lead him out of the Throne room and back to the prison. As the doors to the Throne Room opened he heard someone muffle a whimper. Looking around, he saw no one in the deserted corridor until, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a golden skirt. His mother's favorite.
His heart sank.