fossilised | I come from a land of ice and snow

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."

"Known for a hundred years and not once beckoned me to share this with you?!" Thor roared as he turned, gripping Loki under the throat to pull him close lest he attempt to teleport away. He knew his brother's tricks. He knew his magic. And while he was often made a fool because of them, this time he was thinking with instinct and instinct told him not to trust. "A hundred years have passed and you tell me only now?! How little do you think of me? Little enough to think that I could ever see you in chains?! This is why you wished an alliance with Jotunheim?!"

He snarled in righteous disgust and released Loki to sink down on the spot that stil remained cool from the guide of the sorceress. His hands folded and he rested his elbows on his knees. Dejected.

"We could have done so much... We could have saved so many. When have I ever given you cause to think...?" Thor stopped himself, memories of boasts at how he would rid himself of the Jotun scourge once he became All-Father, claims made before he understood in part the reason Jotunheim was kept in wasting subjugation, when he was young and full of ill thought dreams, hit him hard into silence.

His heart sank.

"You are no criminal. You turned the tide of battle. We fought together better than I have ever fought with another. You will not waste away in the dungeons. But i can not make an alliance. We will speak to our father and... Loki... Loki, I need your counsel more now than ever. And yet I fear it."

"Why did I not tell you? You truly ask me why?"

Loki spat the words down at Thor. He was not afraid as he was held bodily in place by his throat, he did not feel pity as his brother sank down to sit in dejected weariness, he did not feel compassion. The anger was too strong, too prevalent. He looked down on Thor with scorn.

"When have you given me cause to trust you with this? You think us so close, but there has long been a chasm between us of your making. How often have you mocked my skills in magic as womanly with the others, how long have you thought me less of a warrior for my love of books? You think these things childish jesting, but they are who I am. You have vowed to rid the Realms of Jotnar many times in our lives, you scorn the depth beneath the surface, tell me when you have given me reason to think telling you my origins would ever be other than a heartbreak? I did not want to lose you, Thor."

He stood, straight backed and proud, above his brother, green eyes glinting.

"No more. We fought together so well because of my magic. I will not be taunted for a power beyond that which you might imagine to wield, and I will not be denied the truth of who I am. I will stand beside you, and I will advise you, and I will hold you as brother in my heart. But know this, I will not stand forever waiting for my fates to change."

Tonight there could be no more. Thor felt as if he had lost everything, he felt as if he had gained that which he could not face, and though he rarely would admit to weakness, he could feel it seeping into his bones. He dismissed Loki with a gesture, not watching him scoop up the casket at his feet, nor trying to stop him. Nothing norw could be said for the evening that would change the course of the conversation and so it was best just to leave it.

Thor undressed himself since James was not there to remind him nor help him with the task. He never needed the assistance but it was a slave's duty and he was not too far above himself to take away the purpose of someone he cared deeply for.

He poured himself water to wash with. He tied back his own hair.

He'd forgotten Steven was here to step in. Steven was always just there. Kind and careful, attentive, but still like furniture compared to James' ability to fill a room.

Steven found that he missed James dearly as well. The more experienced slave had been everything he strove to be, he had been kind, competent, and self assured without ever overstepping his mark. No wonder he had been favoured. And now he had to step into that void, and he felt wholly unprepared. Should he have stepped in and asked his prince to let him help? Had he done the right thing hanging back?

He only knew his master looked saddened now that the Jotun princess had left, carrying the casket once more.

Not that Thor would be allowed much time to rest, for Sif would come to his tent and only barely await being announced before entering. She looked concerned, highly strung.

"Thor, we are all worried that this Jotun sorceress has placed an enchantment on you, you cannot mean to ride with her into Asgard as though she is an ally."

All Thor wanted was a few moments alone. At least Steven was giving him that space, but he could not help but snap when Sif rushed in claiming he was enchanted. He stood again, dwarfing his oldest friend. His initial intent was not to be intimidating, though he was. He simply could not stay seated when accused of being what he was not. “The Jotun—“ He nearly tripped over the word, “has offered proof that the All-Mother has given up the Casket, taken as tribute from Jotunheim, to her. There is little danger in allowing her to accompany us back to Asgard. No sorceress yet has managed to best Queen Frigga. We will keep a wary eye and I shall return her myself under cover of darkness to the city proper to consult with the Queen. It is not open for debate. If you worry so, have Steven bring me a meal and be done with it tonight. I have much to consider.”

He didn’t know if Sif was aware of Odin’s fall and at the moment, he did not wish to discuss it with her. He would have made James his confidant but James could no longer offer advice and he refused to listen to Loki.

That meant it would be Steven to whom this new burden fell, though Thor was silent for a long while as he pushed around his meat and thick gravy with a piece of heavy bread. “Sit, Steve,” he said with a deep rumble. “Sit and keep me company.”

Sif was not afraid of her oldest friend, but she could tell when he could be pushed further and when he could not. Now was not a time to test those limits. She would bow to his decision for now, and she would enlist the Warriors Three in helping her to keep a close eye on that Jotun. Should any harm befall any under their protection, she would be the first to die for it.

But she left the tent with only her fist over her heart for answer.

Steven startled in surprise, but he stepped forwards quickly to sit opposite his master and look over at him with quiet concern in bright blue eyes. He would not fail this first test.

"Say the word, my prince, and I will do anything I can to ease your sorrows."

James would have offered some friendly banter, perhaps cracked a joke or two, but Steven had been with him for half a century, and that wasn’t time enough to know him. Especially considering that Thor had had absolutely no time for anyone other than James. He’d poured his attention into the Midgardian and James disseminated the orders when need be. There was no longer that buffer there.

He set his plate aside, food half eaten, and lowered piercing blue eyes down upon someone that could never compare to his predecessor. That wasn’t fair for Steven, but Thor didn’t try to be fair to lesser beings. They all knew their place in this society and Midgardians, while useful, were a dime a dozen. Loki might have picked out the hypocrisy in that, considering whom it was Thor was lamenting most, but Loki was not here and the subject of another thorn in his side.

“I have learned just now that I am acting All-Father as my father has fallen to Odin-sleep, that my brother was adopted, and that my mother may have been conspirator in this.” He did not mention James. “I am alone, Steven. My secrets must stay mine, though I long to confide in my friends. I need a distraction.”

Wow, that was... a whole lot to take in. Steven didn't answer right away, he always thought that a rash head could lead to bad decisions and people getting hurt. Instead, he thought it through. When he did reply, his voice was firm with conviction, yet sympathetic too, slightly overstepping the polite bounds of slave.

"The All-Father is a strong man, I am sure this period of Odin-Sleep will not last for long, and it will give you the chance to test yourself before you have to take the throne for real. But for Prince Loki-- why should it matter who his natural parents are? Your natural mother is not Queen Frigga, but you do not love her any less for it. Why should it change your feelings on Prince Loki? He is still the same man he was before you knew this."

He hesitated a moment and spread his hands.

"Things like this, finding out truths that we could never contemplate, can knock us off our feet. But they don't need to keep us down."

Thor gruffly managed to answer without answering at all. He made no sound and no movement, but there was a fire in his eyes that should tell Steven he did not care to be coddled. He was not a child. James might have had the privilege of giving him truths but Steven did not yet. And besides, some of those truths were not true. He just could not bring himself to tell anyone, not even a slave, that his brother was prince of a people meant to be subjugated. And he still had no idea why his father kept him on as a child rather than as a bargaining chip and a hostage. It ought to have always been known whom Loki was. It would have united their Realms and brought Jotunheim more quickly to the fold. It was fifty years after Loki officially became full grown, however. If Odin had waited for that. Fine. He just hadn't. And now his father wasn't capable of answering Thor's questions.

"I need a distraction. Not a discussion," Thor said, repeating himself with the additional explanation. That was followed by a hand guiding Steven's with little stealth towards the hefty weight always present within his trousers.

He'd never bedded Steven. The blond had joined him and James in bedsport on occasion when he wished to treat James to a hand or a mouth or a body while he filled him, but he had never taken Steven. The other slaves in his possession had never felt Thor's hand either, though they sometimes enjoyed one another for his pleasure or enjoyed another Asgardian for theirs. Sif was quite fond of Steven and Samuel, for example, and would beckon them to join the fun when spending the night with Thor.

But Thor typically preferred only James... Or at the very least, had James with him over the last twenty or so years whenever the urge to rut in the furs appeared.

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