fossilised | I come from a land of ice and snow

Of all the reactions that he could have expected, this was not it, and Loki felt a sudden and powerful surge of affection for his slave. He removed his hand from the Casket and allowed his skin to change back to Asgardian hue, slowing his horse to a trot so that he may better speak with Anthony.

"You must do what you can to keep the forces of our armies away, they may try to attack me as I fight the Fire Giants, and that would spell disaster."

He would have Anthony by his side in the fight, but there was nothing a Midgardian could do against those from Muspelheim and even the Casket would surely freeze him where he stood. Neither would be particularly noble ends for such an intelligent and loyal slave.

"Thank you, my friend."

Not something he would repeat in front of others, both knew where their relationship must be, but Anthony deserved the honour for his reactions.

Anthony didn’t know Thor very well, despite his relationship to the other prince’s property. Loki sometimes spent the evening with him, and Anthony would bunk in with Steven and the others and they would just spend the night talking. Knowing one’s servants did not equate to knowing one’s owner, however, and though Loki spoke often of Thor with affection, Anthony found him to be a little brutish. Would Thor believe the fairytales about the Jotun? Were they fairytales? A thousand years was nothing. Most of the Asgardians alive today remembered the war. It would be like someone stealing at the village, three years later and those still unclaimed would remember the price the person paid for that pettiness.

Thor had been but a child, but surely he knew of his father’s actions…and the ramifications that came of the casket being put into Asgard’s vault. It was a trick situation.

“I’ll speak with Steven. If you can give yourself cover, do it. I will do my best to figure out a method of distraction but in all honesty, my prince, I think fire giants will pretty much be distraction enough. And no armies have yet been sent…just the right vanguard that the Warriors Three command, right? And they should still be behind us.”

Which meant that Loki would have precious time. And perhaps only reveal himself to his brother. Not that Thor might notice. The prince said he was going to survey the damage but they both knew that they would come upon a field of battle of Thor’s making upon their arrival.

Loki did not know what Thor would do, but he did not think that it would be pleasant. They had both been told horrible tales of Jotunheim by their tutors, though now he understood why neither of their parents had been keen to tell the stories of bloodthirsty Frost Giants. Thor was not someone who often thought beyond the surface of a story, he would surely not care about anything beyond what he was presented with.

There was little to say to Anthony beyond a nod of acceptance that he should speak with Steven and attempt to assist in that way, all they could do past that was speed their horses as much as possible to try and gain all the time on the army behind them that they could. Odin falling into the Odin-Sleep would delay their departure, and armies travelled more slowly than two lone travellers, but their lead would not gain them more than a day or two.

It felt like forever when they finally reached the outskirts of the battle. Loki changed his clothes to simple leather and then took out the Casket, in a perhaps vain hope that Thor would not recognise his brother beneath the blue skin and red eyes. He could see the fray not too far away, and he leaped from his horse before he could kill it with the cold of his skin.

"Go, Anthony! Ride fast, and may we meet again."

With that, he plunged towards the battle with a great wave of ice appearing to slam into the Fire Giants that Thor currently engaged.

Mjolnir did not wish to simply be used for flight, and Thor decided that he could not do other than provide his steadfast privilege with the honour of destruction. It had been tested in battle, both by his hand and other hands before him, but today it wished to taste the fires of the raiding party sent by their raiding party. Who was Thor to deny something forged in the heart of a dying star it’s only wish?

He was ankle deep in lava by the time that Loki and Anthony arrived and Steven, clad in armour himself which gleaned in the low light of midnight sparked by the molten inners of the giants, paused in his efforts of rescuing those he could from under rubble to blink at his friend. “Anthony—“

“How fares the battle?” Anthony had no intention of fighting today. All he could hear were fires and yells…and growls from up ahead. “I’m going to guess it’s fine… I can hear Prince Thor batting the giants away.”

Singlehandedly. Asgardians that had joined the fight to protect the village had perished. Steven looked exhausted and desperate. “Have you brought reinforcements?”

“They’re coming,” he said truthfully as the sky lit up in shades of bluish white. That would be Loki. Good. It was too dark for Thor to see him. Hopefully he would ignore the influx of cool air.

Steven had never fought in a battle before, not truly, and he had not expected it to be this way. Never had he been more aware of how inferior Midgardians were to pretty much every other race in the Nine Realms, they were weak and vulnerable. To see Thor battle against giant columns of fire, to feel the heat even up to half a mile away, it made him feel helpless. Not that he shied from the fighting, it was not in him to run away.

He was covered in dust, dirt, and blood. His legs actually shook at the knee from exhaustion, but he kept pulling the rubble away from villagers, gesturing for Anthony to help out. There were still trapped.

"Prince Loki is here to help Prince Thor?" Steven sounded hopeful. Even one more Asgardian was better than nothing.

Loki was indeed helping. He had never felt such power in all his life, the sensation of ice flowing through him mingled with the seidr in a pure way that told him that this was what he had been born from. Fire Giants fell like ants at his feet, unable to stand up to a Jotun sorcerer wielding such a great power as the Casket. He had little choice but to take his fight near to Thor, there were ten surrounding him and he would not let his brother die.

Hopefully Thor would only see a mysterious stranger offering assistance, even if that stranger was a Jotun, rather than his brother.

Half a day later, when the Warriors Three brought their portion of the vanguard to the field of battle, they would find a worn out, bloody, and grinning Thor sat atop a pile of fire giants turned to ice. Mjolnir was nearby, fiery blood cooled to slag upon it. He seemed somewhat older, tested and wiser as he rose only when the Lady Sif climbed the pyramid of dead towards him.

"Prince Thor, you have--"

"My fells were many but Mjolnir possesses not the ability to turn great fire to great ice. I had helped from a small Jotun, a sorcerer of great prowess. She was beautiful in her might and her ability to command the very heat from the hearts of our attacks to turn hard and cold." Of course he assumed that the creature only glimpsed beside him was a woman. Jotun had no genders but on Asgard, those powerful with magic were female. He did not once consider his brother had been the one to devistated the forces before him. It was too out of the realms of possibility for him.

Sif was confused. "Thor. How would any Jotnar come to Asgard? And why would any help?"

"I know only what I saw," Thor said as he was joined by his friends. He assumed his brother would be around somewhere too. Or perhaps he had stayed back with their father for awhile and would be leading his own portion of the army up behind them. He wanted badly to tell this tale to his brother. Loki would appreciate it. He was a long time scholar of the conquered Realms. "It is not unusual for the conquered to prove themselves in battle against the enemies of their betters. Perhaps Jotunheim is willing to rejoin the Nine Realms in priveledge. I must find this sorceress. I must speak with her."

He was smitten and Sif was not pleased.

Loki had fought with the power of the Casket enhancing his natural abilities, he had been raging ice and destruction, and it had been magnificent. He forgot his fear that Thor would recognise him when he heard a call of thanks to the 'sorceress'. It stung that even now, Thor would think of magic for woman only. Had he listened to none of their lessons as children? Did he not know that the Jotnar did not have genders? All Jotnar could both father and bear children, perhaps that was why Loki felt so at home in the skin of both man and woman.

Once the battle had ended, he had retreated to find Anthony and gain refreshment, before attending to changing his form to that of something more womanly. A slight curve, a difference to the jawline, to make himself even less recognisable to Thor.

Only then did he allow himself to be found by Thor, Sif and the Warriors Three a little way back looking disapproving, ready to fight at a moment's notice, the blue creature that stood atop the iced-over remains of Muspelheim's first wave of attackers.

Though Anthony had been in Loki's service for half a century, he was a slave. And slaves were not typically something to recognize. Thor barely had. And yet he'd made a name for himself as James had. He'd been doing small repairs and upgrades around the palace for years now. And his loyalty was almost legendary. It was enough that many slaves did not trust him at all. He did not follow the slaves first code. He was Loki's through and through. And so Steven would find him by the Jotun standing high above her kingdom, though he was resting to the side, looking like he was half ready to sleep.

But Thor didn't see him at all.

"Jotun! Are you the sorceress who came to face the scourge of Asgard at the side of her crowned prince?" The formality was just that. Formality. Of course this was the one who had come to him. Jotnar didn't frequent Asgard. They couldn't. "May I join you? I wish only to speak words of thanks to you."

"Thor," Fandral cautioned. "Maybe you should--". He was cut off by a slashing hand of silence.

In offering his loyalty even once he had known what his master was, Anthony had earned Loki's loyalty in return. He would be as highly prized as James had been, he would be given rare freedoms when they were in private, and allowed far more leeway on his actions than many other slaves were given. Though in this moment, his orders were severe and non negotiable, to stay out of sight.

Loki's voice had altered with his form, slightly higher and softer, and there was no recognition on Thor's face. He held the Casket in his hands in open view, not attempting to hide it. He wondered if Thor would even recognise such a treasure, or if he had been so poor a student as to not.

"I have no quarrel with you, you may approach if violence is not your intention."

Loki still had not yet decided how this should be concluded. Would he go back to hiding, only his parents aware that he knew the truth? Could he stomach hiding after knowing what it felt like to use that power?

A closer look at the Jotun did reveal the Casket and Thor's eyes darkened as he approached. "You state no quarrel and yet you hold in your hand a relic from the armory of Asgard. Did you rob us just to defeat this army or have you other intentions?" The steps became wary though it was only interest in Thor's eyes. "My Father shall not be pleased, no matter your heroics, to find a thief."

How did she get into the palace? How did she best the Destroyer? Thor had many questions but he let them go so as to not give him position of lack of intelligence on the situation away.

He rose just slightly taller than she, though he stood beneath her somewhat on the uneven terrain.

"And what shall I call you?"

Loki had been considering what to do with this conversation, where to take it, but had not managed to reach any conclusions. In the end, he decided to simply go where his instincts took him, to use truth or lie or creative manipulation as it seemed right to do so. He would begin with truth.

"The Casket is my birthright, as a child of Laufey-King with magic in my bones and blood, and it was gifted to me by Frigga. It belongs to Asgard's vaults no longer, but I am no thief to have it in my possession."

Of course Thor did not know that Odin had fallen into the Odin-Sleep, unplanned and with worrying suddenness. But even had he been awake, Frigga had the power to make such gifts, she was no figurehead or simple companion.

"You do not need my name yet, I am loathe to give my identity to one who believes my race to be mere monsters."

Thor was left in genuine tormoil now. How could his mother sanction a Jotun to come into the palace and accept the key to their continued submission and punishment now at a time of war? Thor was very trusting though and so he did not quite question this sorceress on that fact, though the frown was in place to show how dismayed he was by the revelation.

"We must needs return at once to the palace. The All-Father will wish to thank you-- Because only children believe Jotnar are monsters. Your people were foolish to rise up against Asgard, that is true. But time has come it seems to accept fealty once more."

Perhaps because of the newest uprising, Asgard had little time to worry about Jotunheim any long. Their people were scattered and left adrift. It was time to pull them back into the fold.

"Will you come willingly, Princess?"

"The All-Father has fallen into the Odin-Sleep, he will not wish to thank me for many weeks yet to come, if at all."

Loki did not mean to sound heartless, but fear made him put on a show of bravado. He still believed it his fault that Odin had fallen so suddenly, and should he not recover then it would be him who had slain his own father. For he still loved Odin as a father, even if they did not see eye to eye on many things, even if his natural birth father could be found elsewhere.

"Nor do I offer my fealty to Asgard. Jotunheim is a proud realm that does not need to vassal itself to another, I come to begin talks of an alliance. I do not wish to be your enemy, I would never wish to be your enemy, but I will not be subjugated by a circumstance of my birth when I know that I am so much more."

Thor was taken aback by many things. First, by news of his father. Secondly, Laufeydottir's unwillingness to continue to bow to Asgard was another. Thor couldn't process both. With his Father in Odin-Sleep, he would need to rule. And crowned though he was, Thor did not think he could do it.

"Lady Sif. Send for my brother. If the All-Father has fallen, he will need to stand as proxy. I am unable to attend to the throne from the field of battle," Thor called down from the rubble mountain. He was suddenly very afraid and fear came off of the eldest Odinson less like bravado and more like rolls of anger. "Have him act in my stead, as is his right, until I am returned or the All-Father wakes."

He turned back to the Jotun with a furrowed brow. His loss of James was still fresh in his mind and now his father clouded whatever attraction he had had for this princess of a conquered Realm.

"Asgard has no Alliance. We rule. We rule gently as with Vanaheim or harshly to those that wish to fight. Your father chose the path of your Realm and I am sorry for you to suffer for Laufey-King's mistake, but it is a punishment I am not willing to unravel. It is the same with our Midgardian slaves. I would not see them free. You must learn to accept. I will not see you in irons or bound for your great help here and there may indeed be a way to lift punishment from Jotunheim, but we will never accept an alliance."

Loki could have laughed for how ludicrous this situation was. Thor in one breath announcing that Jotunheim would never have an alliance, and in the next breath unwittingly placing one of those Jotnar in full control of the Realm Eternal. He wanted to laugh, he wanted to weep, and he wanted to rage until this war between his blood and heart had been brought to peace.

The Casket glowed a brilliant blue as Loki channelled the magic within it, feeding it with his own seidr, and ice began to form and spread once more. Not in the devastating attack motion of before, more in a show of anger.

"Do not be so swift to dismiss this, you know not what you might break in the doing. Refuse to even discuss the terms once more and there will be further reaching consequences than you could ever imagine. It is only out of respect for Frigga and affection for some in Asgard that I hold dear, that I have remained to help you rather than return the Casket to Jotunheim and stand behind another war."

How long had his mother been so traitorous? Thor could almost feel his heart bleeding as if he had been stabbed from behind with an arrow, square in the back, between his shoulder blades. He almost cried out. He did not, not even when he felt the pull of the Casket and felt the chill against his skin. His flesh pimpled from it and he found Mjolnir in his hand once more.

"This is not my conversation. I have no trust for one who will not even speak her name. I will not believe that my mother gifted this to you. I will not believe that you would be so foolish as to fight me. For all I know, you crafted this war with the fire Giants." And if that was the case, she caused the death of his James.

The sky crackled overhead. Lightning split the whole of it with his anger.

"Place down the Casket and allow me to escort you to Asgard where the Queen will answer for your truths. If you do not, I will see it as an act of open rebellion."

"I will accompany you to Asgard and the Queen, but I will not relinquish my birthright to your hands. You must accept this compromise, or none at all."

Loki knew that the time of his ruse would be ending before long, that his secret could not stay a secret, but he would not make it easier on himself. He would not bend his knee to Thor, not give up the power that had been rightfully given to him.

"When we cease march for the day, I would speak with you in your tent, away from onlookers. I give you my word that I do not intend you harm, only your ear in privacy."

He had to tell Thor the truth, but he could not do it while Lady Sif and the Warriors Three watched on.

Sif ended up putting Anthony in a very bad way. She had him run to fetch his Master, not knowing it was his master that was accepting a specially protected mount beside Thor. He took a horse and headed off back towards the capital alone, knowing the way at least and hopeful not to run into any that might prowl the roads in search of robbing from the refuges of the nearby villages.

The others could likely keep going all day and night to reach Asgard by morning but Thor insisted on a break for the survivors who could not travel long distances. They set up camp and he had Steven mind the horses and take his fill with the other slaves, waiting for Laufeysdottir to arrive.

He did not wear his armour, just a simple under tunic and his boots. Mjolnir rested in the corner, out of reach only visually. He could summon it to his hand in a moment. His mind was once again dark as he thought of James, warming his place in Valhala and he gave himself this quiet moment to grieve.

Loki did not fear for Anthony being sent off on a fool's errand, his slave had more than enough intelligence about him to be able to deal with such a thing. Perhaps they would arrive back to find that Frigga had been warned, or that the All-Father had roused from his untimely slumber. Those were not his problems yet, his issue now rested solely on Thor's shoulders and how he might view this.

He entered the tent without ceremony and sat on the furs without being asked to do so. Confident in himself, in his rights. Though that confidence was all on the surface, hiding the fear within.

"I have a tale to tell you, Thor Odinson, and I must have your word that you will heed it well and not interrupt me before it is done."

The sheer audacity-- this Jotun had not even announced themselves, strolled right in, and sat upon his furs as if he wished to tangle with her. Thor looked up from the palm of his hand, agony shifting to annoyance. The way she sat was more masculine than feminine and almost familiar. Was that because she was genderless? Jotun tended to prefer the masculine if he remembered his history correctly but that didn't mean that they all conformed.

He pulled himself up from his stretched leather chair to pour himself and this sorcerer a horn of rich red wine.

"You have my attention," he promised, the white ivory horn clasped in good handed over to the fairer denizen of this tent. "But caution your tongue. I have not decided how fully I believe your peddled truths."

Loki knew Thor better than almost anyone, and he knew how much Thor loved a story if it was told to him right. Loki had always been able to arrest his attention for hours, weaving tales that sometimes even brought his brother to genuine anger or tears for the plight of those trapped within it. He did not intend to go for such dramatics today, but a simple tale could tug the heartstrings as much as an elaborate one.

"Those who are born on Jotunheim are left for three nights in the ice and snow to test their mettle, and only those who survive are taken back in by their families and raised. During the war, a child was born to Laufey-King and Farbauti, his consort. The child was left outside, as was custom, but the battle spilled over to the royal grounds and the babe slept among carnage. It was found by an Asgardian warrior who assumed it to have been abandoned."

This much he knew, for it had been told to him in whispers by the Casket, by Helblindi, but he did not know how much Odin and Frigga had come to love him.

"Magic ran inside this child, and its skin changed as it was held by the warrior, becoming pink and pale. Not being a monster, the warrior did not wish to abandoned the child to die and, thinking to raise it on Asgard, took it. That child grew with a family of Asgard, one loved deeply. Finding out their true nature did not change this, but it left them torn, for by nature they were seen as a subjugated race, yet by nurture they were one of the Realm Eternal. That child does not want to lose either part of their heritage, which is why they stand before you fighting so vehemently for an alliance to be considered."

Would Thor feel for this child of a displaced realm? Or feel only anger that a Jotun had been raised as Aesir? He would wait to see before he revealed himself.

All thelugh the tale, Thor sat rapped with attention, on the edge of his seat. He had not even drained his second horn, but it hung by the straps between his knees, as if prepared to fall in shock or offer its bearer solace. Thor looked confused, genuinely, and blinked at the Jotun upon his bed. "The Asgardian did the honourable thing. How is it we never knew this? It is not something I had learned. If it is truth... I am sorry for your struggle, Laufeysdottir. It must be terrible for you not to have learned of this for so long."

Thor would saddened to learn that Loki thought so little of him.

"How is it that knowledge of you came to Frigga's ears? Your magic, perhaps? She has always had such keen affinity for those that share her gifts..."

His mother was a good woman. But he knew she always wished for a daughter. It is why she allowed Loki to dabble in magic for so long.

"Why do you believe that this never reached your ears? With how Asgard sees those of Jotunheim, is it any wonder that this was kept a secret? What life would this child have had, among Aesir who believed them to be a monster, an interloper, or merely the subjugated? Even when they found out their own heritage, a great blow, they did not know how their beloved brother may react."

Loki finally set down the Casket on the ground by his feet, and allowed his skin to bleed back to Aesir paleness. Green eyes, dark hair, unmistakable for Loki.

"So tell me, my brother, where do we go from here?"

He had been raised royalty on Asgard, he was royalty on Jotunheim, but the two halves of him were not at peace.

The wine splashed to the floor at his feet before the horn followed and bounced harmlessly towards the edge of the canvas and fur tent. Thor's face had drained of blood as he stood, rocking ever so slightly as if it was impossible for his feet to move from where they had planted despite the push of I felt wind at his back.

Another trick? Another illusion? Did Loki guise himself as a Jotun to upset him? To tease him for not heeding him? Thor wanted to believe that, but he couldn't laugh and joke with the other at how he'd been had. It was impossible, because in his heart, Thor knew that the Jotun sitting on his bed was his brother. No illusion had been cast. And their mother at least had known all along-- of course she had!

Thor turned away and hung his head in silence to gather his thoughts.

"You have spent a good portion of your life lying to me," he whispered. "You maybe Liesmith but I never thought I would be played the fool for so long. We have no where to go but back to the palace." He wasn't stupid enough not to know that Loki hadn't been literal but he needed that boundary set. "I must sit upon a throne I am not ready for with a brother and mother who have lied to me. We can go no where else until the All-Father stirs."

"Do not call me Liesmith for this, for all else that I have tricked you with, but not for this," hissed Loki, anger clear in his voice. He had been afraid to show Thor, and he had been the one lied to for the longest.

"You think me in some lifelong game with Mother and Father over this, but you are wrong. I found the truth myself only a century past, and I have struggled with what to do or how to feel. The All-Father collapsed into the Odin-Sleep when I confronted him, and Mother gifted me the Casket, neither knew that I had known before this day."

He had made jest of Thor for many things in his life, lied to him often, but not about this. This was a cruel secret that had been kept from them both.

"Think only on your throne, Thor, if that is all that must fill your waking hours. I will not be dragged back like a criminal to wait on your pleasure."

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