Chapter Twenty-Five
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This time the trip back felt like it went by way too fast. They landed inside the sphere of the bifrost in a flash of light and power that tasted of Odin. Loki knew in theory that his father commanded the strength to control the Bifrost himself, he had grown up hearing the tales, but he had never witnessed it.
The light and magic receded leaving Loki breathless, but Thor was already raging. "Why did you bring us back?" he demanded, spinning towards their father.
Odin swung around to face his older son, his face a cold mask of fury. "Do you realize what you've done? What you've started?" he demanded.
"I was protecting my home," Thor responded confidently.
"You cannot even protect your friends," Odin said gesturing to where Sif and the Warriors three stood near Loki. Their body language was not lost on him, they stood apart, clearly separating themselves from their raging Prince. Nor had he missed Loki's defensive position when he had arrived. Surprisingly, it seemed his youngest son had risen to the occasion and had protected his friends in Jotunheim while Thor had left them to their own devices.
"How can you hope to protect a kingdom?" Odin shouted. He ripped Heimdal's sword out of the lock and threw it to the guardian angrily. He swung back around to face the warriors three. "Get him to the healing room now!" he ordered gesturing to where Fandral hung in their arms, blood coating his armor.
Without hesitating the four warriors fled from the All Father's rage. Heimdal followed behind them calmly, leaving Odin and his sons alone.
"There won't be a kingdom to protect if you are afraid to act," Thor defended. "The Jotuns must learn to fear me, just as they once feared you."
Loki stood alone between his father and brother, his heart thundering in his ears. The adrenaline from the battle still coursed through his veins and he could feel that strange foreign magic still swirling through his veins. He frowned as he forced himself to focus on the fight between his father and brother. This was exactly the discussion he wished the two of them to have. His father needed to see that Thor was too impulsive yet to lead. He needed time to mature. So far everything was going according to plan.
"That's pride and vanity talking, not leadership," Odin snapped. "You've forgotten everything I've taught you about a warrior's patience."
Thor scoffed disrespectfully. "While you wait and be patient the nine realms laugh at us," Thor snarled. "The old ways are done! You'd stand giving speeches while Asgard falls."
"You are a vain, greedy, cruel boy!" Odin shouted.
"And you are an old man and a fool!" Thor screamed.
Odin stilled, and somehow his stillness was that much more terrifying. Loki couldn't take his eyes off his father. He had always feared Odin, but now, in this moment he wondered if his brother did too. Odin for all his terrifying stillness locked his gaze on the floor. "Yes," he agreed quietly. "I was a fool to think you were ready."
Loki's eyes widened as he looked back and forth between his father and brother. As badly as he wanted his father to see this side of Thor he hadn't anticipated their confrontation being this explosive. Loki could read the tension thrumming through Odin's shoulders and knew something was coming. His father might claim to hate magic, but he commanded it just the same. It was rising in the room around them, and making it difficult to catch a full breath. He glanced desperately back at his brother, but Thor's jaw was still set and stubborn, he refused to see it. Whatever was coming, it would blindside his brother.
"Father-" Loki started but Odin cut him off with a shout. Loki took a measured step back as Odin's magic rose around them and pressed against his own.
Odin turned to Thor. "Thor Odinson," Odin began, true naming Thor. "You have betrayed the express command of your king. Through your arrogance and your stupidity you've opened these peaceful realms and innocent lives to the horror and desolation of war!" Odin roared the last word and slammed Gungiur into the bifrost lock.
Power rippled out faster than Loki had ever witnessed it, igniting the bifrost in response to Odin's rage. Odin stalked to his elder son. He reached up and ripped away Thor's armor, shattering it in his hands. "You are unworthy of these realms!" he ripped away Thor's cape. "You are unworthy of your title!"
Thor's eyes widened as he at last began to see past the haze of his own temper to realize what was happening to him. What was being done could not be stopped or undone.
"YOU'RE UNWORTHY!" Odin bellowed in his face and then his voice dropped to a low, menacing growl. "Of the loved ones you have betrayed."
Something in Loki's chest shifted. There was a part of him that had always felt unworthy. That had always imagined Odin shouting these hate filled words at him, but never Thor. Thor looked shocked to hear them.
Odin hesitated for only a moment as he gazed into the face of his son. Then his jaw set and he stalked back and turned to face him, putting distance between them and establishing his position of power and authority. He held his hand out. "I now take from you your power!" he shouted and Mjolnir tore away from Thor and landed in Odin's open palm. "In the name of my father and his father before him! I, Odin All Father, cast you out!" Odin yelled and Thor was thrown backwards into the open Bifrost in an explosion of light and power.
Loki jerked back in shock. He stumbled over the steps as he moved backwards in disbelief. But Odin wasn't watching him. He lifted Mjolnir to his lips. "Whoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor." The spell was simple in it's purity and elegance and Loki memorized the words. Odin threw the hammer after Thor.
Loki stood, watching in shock as the All Father stood staring into the flashing lights of the bifrost for long silent moments. Loki wondered how long it was safe to leave the bifrost open. He remembered Heimdal's words about how easy it could be to destroy worlds. Taking a deep, steadying breath Odin moved to Gungiur and pulled it from the lock, closing the bifrost.
Odin turned and met Loki's gaze. Something that may have been guilt or disappointment moved behind his eyes.
"Father-" Loki started again, unsure what to say. He felt like he was in shock and like somehow this was his fault.
"Go check on our friends Loki," Odin snapped. "For you part part in this, I will speak to you and them in the morning." Odin stormed away leaving Loki standing alone in silence, entirely dismissed.
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Loki moved through the castle almost in a daze, unable to believe all that had transpired. He found Sif and the warriors three in one of the dens they frequented. Both Volstagg and Fandral had already been to see the healers and they had all removed their armor. Loki looked down at his own that was still splattered in Frost Giant blood, but he couldn't bring himself to care. The battle felt like it had occurred ages ago. So much had changed since then.
The others looked up expectantly as he entered. Their gazes glazed over him as usual, looking over his shoulder for Thor. It tightened something ugly in his gut to be overlooked still despite all he had done for them that very day.
"Where's-?" Sif started to asked but stopped when she saw the look on Loki's face.
"My father has banished Thor for his treason," Loki said in a low, calm voice. "He will address our roles in the affair in the morrow," Loki reported and he turned to go. He didn't want the others to see how shaken he was by all that had happened. He just needed time alone to gather his wits and form a plan. He had never suspected this outcome a possibility and he didn't know how to fix it.
The others let out shouts of shock and disbelief. Loki hesitated and nodded, confirming their fears. It was true. Thor was gone. Even as Loki thought the words a cold dread settled in the pit of his stomach. Without Thor, he was next in line to the throne of Asgard. Nausea heaved his stomach and he tightened his jaw. He never wanted this. His thoughts were a jumbled mess moving from one problem to another without resolving a solution for the previous. It was most unlike him, and he struggled to focus.
"We should never have let him go," Volstaag said shaking his head in shame as a servant tended his injury.
It was almost painful for Loki to watch how little regard Volstaag paid the person kneeling before him and tending his wound. It was like the young man wasn't even there. His thoughts went to Kenna and how he had treated her. Shame burned through him. His intention to protect her may have been noble, but he couldn't bear the thought she was made to feel as this servant was by him. He needed to speak to her.
"There was no stopping him," Sif said gazing into the fire.
Fandral sat back against his couch, lounging as he gazed into the fire. "Well at least he's only banished, not dead," he pointed out as he watched Hogun pace restless back and forth. It was clear Hogun was blaming himself for their prince's position. "Which is where we would all be if that guard hadn't told Odin where we had gone," he pointed out.
Volstaag gasped in pain as the servant applied an ointment to his burns. Volstaag raised his hand as though he were going to strike the young man. Loki took a menacing step towards him to stop him, but Volstaag checked his own hand. He huffed a severe warning at the servant before he settled back to allow him to finish.
Loki stopped himself, his eyes locked on Volstaag, but when he gave no other indication he was a threat, Loki turned away. Only Hogun noticed the exchange. He was watching the prince carefully out of the corner of his eye. There was something different about their prince, there had been for some time, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
Loki glanced down at his own exposed left arm where the Frost Giant had touched him. Beneath his shattered armor, his skin was smooth and unharmed. He quickly clasped his hands behind his back so the others wouldn't notice. Even he, the god of lies, would struggle to come up with a plausible explanation.
"How did the guard even know?" Volstaag asked, trying to hide his pain from the others. It was clear by his tone Volstaag blamed the guard for Thor's predicament and not Thor's behavior.
Loki looked up, his left hand closing into a fist behind him. "I told him," he said resolutely.
"What?" Fandral asked in shock.
Hogun turned to face the prince but said nothing as he regarded him. Loki turned to the balcony and crossed his arms over his chest as he stared out the balcony doors over Asgard. Below them the sun set over the sea, reflecting a multitude of colors on the golden city.
"I told him to go to Odin right after we had left," Loki said and he turned to face the others to see their reactions. Part of him wished he hadn't. Despite his actions in Jotunheim he could tell, in that moment, they all thought he had betrayed them. They had always preferred Thor over him and made no effort to conceal it. It had been his efforts, not Thor's, that had saved their lives today, but still they were unmoved and failed to see his perspective.
Refusing to let them see how their rejection hurt him, he ground his teeth. "He should be flogged for taking so long," he added angrily, his frustration with their blind loyalty to Thor coloring his response. He had done his best to prevent disaster and as usual it just seemed to follow him wherever he went. Everything he touched, he ruined. "We never should have made it to Jotunheim."
"You told the guard?!" Volstaag was outraged.
Loki tangled his fingers together. "I saved our lives...and Thor's," he added looking over the people he had once thought of as his friends, but it was clear they did not return the sentiment. He had never felt more alone.
"I had no idea father would banish him for what he did," Loki told them honestly. He had only hoped to buy his brother some time to grow up and mature. Rashly running into Jotunheim had been more than enough to convince him he was in fact correct, and his brother hadn't been ready to rule. What Loki had failed to anticipate was his brothers desire for war and his father's reaction.
"Loki," Sif said jumping to her feet and coming to stand before him. "You must go to the All Father and convince him to change his mind."
Loki frowned and shook his head. "The All Father won't listen to me. I tried to speak to him in the bifrost," he drew in a deep breath. "And even if I did, then what?" he demanded. How had they not seen what his brother had nearly done? The war he had nearly started because of his own ego.
"I love Thor more dearly than any of you, but you know what he is. You saw it today," he said gesturing behind him. "He was arrogant, reckless, and dangerous. Every one of you nearly died and he did nothing to help you," he let the words hang in the air, let every single one of them remember that it had been him that saved their lives. "Is that what Asgard needs of it's King?" he demanded rhetorically.
Sif's face shut down and the other three froze as they stared at Loki. When it was clear they wouldn't listen he stomped out of the room. He needed to get away from them. He needed some time to clear his head.
"He may speak of the good of Asgard but he's always been jealous of Thor," Sif said scowling after Loki. She had never liked him nor did she trust him, especially now.
Volstagg shook his head. "You're just sour he made you look a fool in front of the general. We should be grateful to him, he saved our lives. Every one of us," Volstagg said looking over them.
Hogun turned to his friends, finally taking his eyes off the flames. He spoke so rarely that when he did, they all stopped to listen to what he had to say. "Laufey said, there was a traitor in the house of Odin," he said carefully. "A master of magic could easily bring three Jotuns into Asgard."
Volstaag and Fandral shared a doubtful look, but Sif was convinced almost immediately. She was more than happy to condemn Loki.
Fandral held up his hands. "Loki's always been one for mischief, but you're talking about something else entirely." He said glancing around the room. The walls tended to have ears in the palace, and accusing the new heir to the throne of treason was no small matter.
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"How could you have done this?" Frigga demanded, stomping up to Odin.
Odin had only just returned to the palace. His body felt taxed by all he had done that night. It did not bode well for the fate of Asgard that he already felt the effects of such an insignificant use of his strength. He needed the Odinsleep. He had put it off for longer than he ever had before. He had hoped if he waited as long as possible, Thor would be ready to lead Asgard in his absence.
He had been wrong.
Odin swung around to face his wife, his temper still on edge from his confrontation with Thor. "Do you understand what he has set in motion? He has brought us to the brink of war!" he bellowed.
"But banishment!?" Frigga exclaimed, her voice breaking with emotion. She had not even had the chance to say goodbye and now Thor was lost to her. "You would lose him forever. HE'S YOUR SON!"
"What would you have done?" Odin asked gravely. "To keep us all safe."
"I would not have exiled him to a world of mortals, stripped of his powers to suffer alone. I would not have had the heart," she confessed, her voice breaking with emotion. There is much she would do to keep her people safe, but she would never sacrifice her family. They came first, always.
Odin's expression softened as he stepped closer to Frigga. She had such a capacity for love, it never failed to move him. "That is why I am king," Odin said, reaching out and cupping her face gently. "I too grieve the loss of our son, but there are some things even I cannot undo."
"You could bring him back," Frigga begged.
"No," Odin snapped. "He is a spoiled, selfish boy. His fate, is in his own hands now."
Frigga drew in a steadying breath and stepped back, forcing Odin to drop his hand. She knew better than anyone when Odin could not be swayed. "And what of Loki?" she asked.
Odin's jaw tightened. "Loki is fine. I will deal with him in the morning. He no doubt went along in hopes of pleasing his brother."
Frigga shook her head. "There is more to this than you know," she said tightly. "I went to see the slave when I was searching for the boys." Frigga did not need to specify which slave. There was only one Odin knew she would be concerned about.
Odin arched a brow, urging her to continue. Frigga quickly explained what she had seen and her fears for Loki. Now that Loki was heir, the inexplicable connection between him and the slave must be severed. With Odin's temper already snapping away in his eyes, Frigga knew it wouldn't take much to convince him to take action against the small slave.
"I want Sigyn back here immediately," Odin growled. "She has much to answer for."
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Hello all! I know this update was a little short, but I had to break it up into two as the update was getting to be over 6500 words. I hope you are enjoying the story! Look forward to another update coming very soon since it is already written!
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