Chapter 4
Loki woke several hours later. Although he had slept pretty hard, he was still tired. He stumbled to the washroom attached to his chamber and took a quick, cold bath. The cold water helped to perk him up a bit. He inspected the bruising on his body before he got dressed. The bruises were better, but still prominent. Eir could've healed him in a moment, but she couldn't know. She would tell Frigga, and Frigga would make Loki tell her how he'd been hurt.
Attacked like a common street ruffian.
Get in here, you little spy!
Loki closed his eyes against the memory. He felt himself get thrown against the wall, felt strong hands grip his throat and squeeze---
Don't hurt him!
Loki's eyes flew open, his breaths coming in quick pants. No one had ever raised a hand to him in violence before...except for Thor, and that was just "brother stuff." And there was the time Sif had punched him in the mouth. But Sif and Thor and Loki were children. No adult had ever...
The boy shook himself out of it. There was one more butterfly still out there. He wasn't about to let it go.
He used a glamour to cover his injuries, then began to dress. It would be great if he learned to heal himself; then he'd never have to go to Eir again.
little spy
little spy
Loki shuddered and forced himself to stop thinking of that harsh voice, that sneering face.
The ten-year-old sneaked through the quiet palace and outside. Frigga usually made Thor and him eat breakfast with her (Odin never ate breakfast). That morning, Loki just couldn't take it. He was too concerned with finding that damn butterfly.
He nearly made it to the stables when a hand slapped his shoulder. Loki spun around, eyes wide, and grabbed his sore shoulder. His heart was slamming up against his ribs.
It was only Thor, who was looking at him with concern.
"Blast you, Thor!" Loki shouted. "Why are you following me?"
The brothers squared off, Thor watching Loki rub his shoulder.
"Where are you sneaking off to?" Thor asked.
"Sneaking? I'm not sneaking anywhere."
"Yes, you are, too," said Thor, crossing his arms over his chest. "And you hurt your shoulder."
"Did not."
"You did, too. And you won't let Eir fix it, so you probably did something you don't wanna get in trouble for."
Loki's cheeks flushed red. "Shut up, Thor. Why do you even care what I do? Why don't you go find your friends and leave me be?"
"Why do you hate me so much? I said sorry like a billion billion times already!"
Loki laughed. "There's no such thing as a billion billion."
"Is so."
"Okay."
They stared at each other. Thor sighed. Loki wasn't going to tell him anything. "Where are you going?"
"I was going to say hello to Laepnir before breakfast, but you ruined that, just the same way you ruin everything. So now I'm going inside to have breakfast with Mother instead."
Inexplicably, Thor felt tears in his eyes. He hated to cry! He was going to be a warrior for Asgard, and warriors didn't cry! He watched Loki stomp off.
"Loki, you're an unforgiving, mean little JERK, you know that?!" Thor yelled.
Loki didn't even look back.
Before the little family ate, Thor managed to pull his mother aside. He told her that Loki was planning on sneaking off someplace. Frigga kept her eye on the child throughout the meal. She was pretty crafty herself. She figured she could manage to follow a ten-year-old without him suspecting a thing.
Loki made it to the village easily. He rode Laepnir, his favorite pony, who was gentle as well as sure-footed and fast. The boy had no clue Frigga was close behind, herself and her horse cloaked under a strong concealing spell.
Everything the boy was hiding was about to explode.