Chapter 5
Frigga dismounted and watched her son as he walked toward a small crofter's shed. She lead her horse, Birgit, still cloaked in invisibility, over to where Laepnir was tied to a post. She had to hurry to keep up with her long-legged child. Loki was going to be as tall as Odin when he was full grown.
She was confused as the child slipped behind the humble building instead of going up to the door. Following closely, she saw Loki head to a large field full of wild flowers and small, scraggly trees.
Loki had no idea Frigga was there. He pulled a small jar out of his tunic and took the lid off. He set the lid and the jar in the grass, then stood up. His beautiful green eyes surveyed the field. When he took a few steps forward, a black cricket and two small yellow butterflies burst out of the grass. The cricket disappeared and the butterflies flitted off somewhere. Loki didn't spare the insects a second glance.
Frigga frowned. What was it about bugs and "creepy crawlies" (as Thor called them) which fascinated most boys so? Frigga had never known Loki to be remotely interested in such things until a couple of days ago.
She observed as her baby (he and Thor were still her babies) closed his eyes and raised both hands to about waist high. Nothing happened for a minute or two, then a big black and blue butterfly the size of Frigga's hand came floating toward Loki. The butterfly wasn't even flapping its wings. It hovered before Loki's face. The boy reached out and clapped both hands around it.
"Ha!" Loki crowed. "Got you, you creep!"
Creep? Frigga scoffed.
Loki bent and practically shoved the butterfly into the jar. He pushed the lid on, a look of sadistic glee on his handsome face.
Oh, enough of this, thought Frigga. She dropped her invisibility spell and appeared behind him. Then she spoke, a bit louder than normal:
"And just what do you think you are doing, child?"
Jar in hand, Loki whirled around. There stood Queen Frigga, as glorious and beautiful as ever. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and her right eyebrow was nearly lost in her hair.
Loki swallowed hard. "H-hello, Mother."
He could hardly believe it when his mother took the small jar from his hand. She held it up and peered at it.
"Son, what are you doing, coming all this way alone to collect butterflies?" the queen demanded. She glared at him. "What's going on?"
He reached for the jar, which Frigga pulled out of his grasp.
"N-nothing," he vowed. "I...I just w-wanted them. They're pretty."
"Try again, dear," Frigga smirked. "They are lovely, I admit. I think we saw some on Midgard years ago, but I've never seen butterflies like these on Asgard. What do you want them for?"
"I, I told you, I..."
Frigga lifted Loki's chin so that he had to meet her eyes. "You lied. You tend to stutter when you lie, love, especially when you lie to me. You need to work on that."
Loki whispered, "Sorry."
"Tell me about the butterflies, my Loki," Frigga encouraged. "The truth."
To her shock, tears filled the boy's big eyes. She barely heard him when he said, "You're gonna be so mad."
Frigga waited patiently. Finally, Loki said, "They're bad."
"The butterflies are bad? Make sense Loki."
The prince drew a dramatic, deep breath and relaxed his shoulders. "On Tuesday, when we came to the village, I...ditched Gunnar and Arne. I went to see Elda."
"You ditched your guard? Loki! Everyone on Asgard knows you're the prince! That's quite dangerous---"
"I know, Mother! But they wouldn't let me go see her! I worry about her since her brother died. She has no one to take care of her, but she won't ask you for help. She's too ashamed. Gunnar and Arne are mean! They kept saying I shouldn't concern myself with commoners like her, and...and I don't care what they say! Elda's part of our family, too. When she left the palace, you said that she could always ask for help---"
"I know what I said, Loki," said the queen calmly. "Slow down, now. If Elda needs help, she can ask."
"But she won't. You know she won't."
"I love Elda, too, Loki. But I don't understand what any of this has to do with these butterflies."
Loki stared at the ground. "I did it. I didn't mean to, but I was scared. And I don't know how to fix it."
Frigga smoothed his dark hair. "Son, you're confusing me. Start at the beginning. What happened on Tuesday?"
Prince Loki took another deep breath. All of this was such a mess. He might as well tell the truth. He opened his mouth and started to speak.