You laid shivering in the pile of blankets with your eyes closed for a minute. You desperately wanted to get warm. Your eyes snapped open when Loki stood from where he had been sitting on the edge of the bed. You sat up and watched as he went to the fireplace and used magic to make an instant roaring fire. You saw his grin. "That is a useful power, love," he commented. Fire wasn't one of his powers. It was one of yours. He could use it because of the soulbond. You gave him a small smile.

You turned your attention to Thor when you heard a noise on his side of the room. He was stripping off his shoes. You didn't think anything of it until he came over to your bed and started pulling back the covers. You opened your mouth to protest, but snapped it shut. You grabbed for the blankets instead.

Thor just gave you a look and gently tugged the blankets from you. "Sister, you are frozen. You were out in the snow barefoot in unsuitable clothing for far too long. Let me help you warm back up," Thor pleaded with you. You looked over at Loki, wondering why he wasn't trying this, or trying to stop Thor. His back was turned to you, pretending to tend the fire. You could tell by the hunch of his shoulders that he was embarrassed.

"Let him help, darling. He is right. Admittedly, he is a furnace," Loki said, still keeping his back turned. "And he is fully dressed, or he better be." You laughed and let Thor climb into the bed. He pulled you to him and wrapped the blankets around you both. You curled yourself in his arms and found that you only shivered for a moment. He really was a furnace. You gestured to the embarrassed looking Loki with raised brows, silently asking Thor what was wrong with Loki.

"He is embarrassed that he he cannot help with this," Thor explained. "Even though it is not his fault that he was adopted or that he is Jotun,"

"Or that my skin turns blue when it is cold, or that my body does not produce enough heat to be of any use and I have to let my brother do what should be my job. Just because it is not my fault does not mean I cannot be upset that my soulbond is frozen and I would only make it worse if you tried to help," Loki snarled, frustrated and hurt. You could hear the tears he was fighting back. Before Thor could stop you, you had scrambled out of the bed and went to Loki to wrap your arms around him. He stiffened for a moment, but eventually softened and hugged you to him. "You are incorrigible," he said with loving exasperation. You never did what you were told and kept trying to take care of everyone else instead of yourself. By that definition, you were incorrigible. That didn't mean you could let him get away with the comment. You looked up at him and stuck your tongue out at him. He laughed. "I love you too," he replied. You laid your head against his chest, just glad to be able to hold him.

However, the second you shivered, you were off your feet, swept up into his arms and he was carrying you back to the bed. "I'm fine, darling. Please warm up," he bid you as he set you on the bed. You curled back under the blankets and Thor wrapped his arms back around you. You patted the bed next to you in invitation. Loki hesitated, but sat there on top of the blankets. You took his hand in one of yours and gave him a smile.

The three of you sat like that in comfortable silence until there was a knock on the door. Loki stood to answer it and Thor shifted so he was in position to defend you. Their reactions were automatic, which made sense as they'd fought together for centuries.

Loki spoke briefly with the girl on the other side of the door and came back a moment later holding a tray laden with food. Thor got out of the bed to help him. You ended up all sitting on the bed with bowls of thick stew and bread fresh from the oven. It was absolutely divine. You hadn't eaten properly since before you had been kidnapped.

You laughed when both boys tried to give you half of their stew when you had finished your own. You tried to protest, but they both ignored your admittedly silent protests. You glared at both of them when they had dumped more stew in your bowl. You ate it anyway because you were starving, but you were still upset with both of them for ignoring you. They just looked pleased with themselves.

Smug bastards.

When all of the food was devoured, Loki and Thor gathered the dishes and set them on the small table set outside of the door to the room that was there just for that purpose. Both of the boys sat on the bed so you were all facing each other. Loki gave you a sad smile. "Darling, are you up to telling us what happened? We do need to report to Father soon..." he hesitated. He didn't want to push, but this was important. You took a deep breath, then nodded, offering them each one of your hands. "I will hold the connection, love," Loki added. You nodded and let him use his magic to make the telepathic connection between the three of you.

/Can I just show you what happened instead of trying to find the words?/ you asked. Loki nodded. Thor looked confused. /Thor? Can you hear?/ you asked. He nodded then. He didn't quite have the trick of answering telepathically.

"I can hear,"

/Good. You're going to see too. This will probably be weird for you/ you explained. You closed your eyes to dig through your memories. There was a trick to it to fast forward through days of stuff they wouldn't care about. You made sure the memories were in order, then brought them to the forefront of your mind, playing them like a movie for Loki and Thor from the moment of your ill-fated trip to the library to the point where Thor found you in the cave.

You let both of their hands go the moment the memories had finished playing out, tears in your eyes. You knew in your heart that Loki wouldn't abandon you, what Balder had done still hurt. It hurt so badly, you couldn't have found the words for it, even if you had been able to say them.

"I will kill him," Thor announced, moving to grab his hammer and go storming out of the room. You touched his arm to stop him. "This is an insufferable insult, Sister," he told me. you couldn't argue with that.

"Thor, can you go see if they have anything to drink downstairs?" Loki asked softly. Thor looked between you and Loki confused. Loki wanted to talk without an audience.

"You are not going to do anything stupid, are you, Brother?" Thor asked in reply.

"I am not, but you would like a private word with my lady," Loki answered, his tone carefully neutral. Thor looked at you, he wouldn't leave if you didn't feel safe. You nodded your agreement and made a shooing motion with your hands. Thor laughed and left you be.

You held out your wrist to Loki, the one with the metal bangle still on it. /Before you begin the heavy conversation, mind taking this off? It doesn't work anymore anyway. I kinda broke it.../ He gave you the barest hint of a smile and removed the bangle. You were glad to be rid of the stupid thing. You looked back up at him and his expression nearly broke your heart again.

"I failed you," he told you softly, his eyes so hurt and heartbroken. You shook your head but he continued. "I promised to protect you. You were under my care, under my protection. I failed you," he repeated firmly.

/It's not your fault./ you told him firmly. /You can't blame yourself that your brother is an idiot. We both took all the precautions we should have. He was determined and can be smart. Occasionally/

"Except when he is faced with you," he added. You gave him a smile. Even a heavy conversation couldn't completely eliminate his lightheartedness entirely. "I'm so proud of you, darling. That was definitely a warrior's task and you proved yourself equal to it." He gave you a mischievous grin. "I am also extremely impressed by your ability to trick and lie to him, my silver tongued darling. It is even more impressive since he grew up with my company and should have some immunity to tricks by now." You smiled at that. It was high praise from him indeed. His expression sobered a little. "I am sorry you had to face him alone, and more sorry for what he did to you. We will find a way to fix it, I swear." He took a breath before he continued. You saw the hesitation, saw how hard it was for him to say the next words. "You did not believe what he said? You did not believe that I would... no longer...?" he couldn't get the words out.

You leaned up and kissed him in reply. /Never/ you told him when your lips met.

"Geez, I go get drinks and you two start making out?" Thor greeted you from the doorway. "You are supposed to be talking, little brother, not kissing your lovely soulbond," You and Loki both flipped him off at the same time, not breaking the kiss. A moment later the kiss was broken and all three of you erupted in laughter.

Things were much less dire now that you were free of Balder's mansion.