Saturday
For the seventieth time that morning, he ran through the program for the evening’s coronation. Much of it resembled a wedding, which in a way it was: the new King of Asgard, wedded to his kingdom. Shame there wasn’t somewhere in there for “speak now”.
First, a procession, of all the relevant people, and some part of Loki was inordinately pleased that he was to be considered “relevant”. Mother, Father, Sif, the Idiots Three...
And of course, Thor, making a late, dramatic entrance just to bask in the glory of the countless spectators gathered to witness a once-in-several-lifetimes event. Royalty of Asgard lived longer and aged more slowly than any of the common people. It was just the way they were. Blessings of the All-Father.
The traditional vows were as old as the royal line itself, and doubtless Thor had them memorized, as did Loki, but did he ever think about them? Would he take a moment to make sure, before agreeing?
Of course not. This was, after all, Thor. He was absolutely useless at anything that couldn’t be solved by smashing something with Mjolnir. He was absolutely not ready for this.
The plan for the coronation then moved on to a flamboyant (as if there were any other kind on Asgard) proclamation of the new king, much cheering and applause, a short speech, and dismissal to the inevitable feast.
Being who he was, Loki had intentions of interrupting the process right around the exact moment when Thor would officially become-
“Loki.”
Talking of interruptions...
Loki spun on his heel, putting on his best, fakest, so-obviously-not-glad-to-see-you smile. The one Father would always see straight through, but couldn’t quite criticize.
“Something I can help you with?”
Odin glared at him. “What are you plotting?”
Once in a Convergence, Odin actually noticed when Loki was plotting something of the nefarious variety. That, or after more than a millennium, he was just playing the odds.
“Well who says I’m plotting anything?”
The glare intensified. Loki returned it for a long moment. Then Odin just sighed.
“I’ll give you the choice, then. You can wear these-” he brandished a pair of bracelets Loki instantly recognized as suppressing the wearer’s seidr, “-until well after the coronation, and no questions asked, or I can put a spell on you that would force you to truthfully answer any questions I do ask-”
Before Odin even finished speaking, Loki grabbed the bracelets and snapped them on. “There. Happy?”
So much for coronation interruptis.
X
That afternoon, Thor and Loki were having “one last sparring match, before you’re king and it’s treason” when a servant interrupted them.
Just once, Loki would like to actually finish something.
“My princes.”
Something Loki couldn’t name sounded an alarm, but what? The look on the servant’s face? Some sort of premonition? Nothing he could place, but he now deeply regretted agreeing to wear the cuffs that he had to keep pulling his sleeves over. Thor was oblivious. Thor was always oblivious.
You know nothing, Thor Odinson.
“The All-Father requests your presence in his private chambers.”
Thor dropped Mjolnir in the dust and stalked off without a second thought. Come to think of it, probably without a first thought, either. Loki squashed a hope that Odin was summoning them to postpone the coronation. The Nine Realms were never that lucky.
Maybe his parents just wanted one last moment with just the four of them, before everything changed forever. That would actually be nice.
Loki sheathed his dagger at his waist and set off, only to be accosted by the now-even-more-nervous servant.
“Forgive me, my prince, but he specified no weapons were permitted.”
Now, far more alarm bells. They didn’t go everywhere armed, but it was hardly normal for weapons to be specifically disallowed. Bad news then, must be, and Father was worried about how they would react. Loki wouldn’t have even minded except those cursed shackles meant that he was absolutely, completely defenseless. Lacking any alternatives, he unstrapped the knife and dropped it in the dust for the trainers to deal with.
Swallowing his fear, he followed his brother to what felt increasingly like certain doom.
X
Why on the Nine was Father summoning them now, and why was Loki so nervous? Unless he’d pulled some trick, and not gotten caught until just now. Figures. Loki couldn’t let one day go by without trying to steal Thor’s thunder, quite often literally.
That explained the no-weapons order. Father would punish Loki, somehow, and didn’t want Thor interfering. One last act as King before retiring? He probably didn’t trust Thor to handle Loki, and Thor had to admit he wasn’t exactly wrong if so. Loki was and always would be his baby brother.
Their parents chambers were spacious and luxurious, kept immaculate by Mother’s spells rather than servants to allow the royal couple full privacy. Thor assumed it was shrouded from Heimdall’s gaze as well, but he never thought on that for too long. He was glad to have Loki for a brother, and that was all.
Odin stood to greet them as they entered, his face absolutely expressionless. The door closed and locked behind them, and something in Thor said that maybe Loki should have been nervous.
“Where is Mother?” Loki’s voice was tense, terse.
“With Jorgamundr.”
Well that escalated quickly.
Seconds passed, and Thor slowly realized that Odin hadn’t been making some horrible joke. Loki hadn’t said a word, just fists clenched, matching Odin’s expression or lack thereof. He must have known, or suspected, the truth.
Jorgamundr the serpent circled Asgard’s edge, binding the planet together. He’d lived there for eons, consuming the bodies of traitors. Surely Father didn’t mean-
“What-” Loki began, only to cut himself off. Thor had to agree, though. They’d been fine this morning, happily sharing breakfast with no sign of trouble to come. This had hit like lightning out of a clear blue sky. Which was Thor’s job.
Odin continued. “I suppose it is painful. You are to be king. You need to understand, betrayal can come from anywhere.”
With a wave of his hand, Odin summoned Gungnir. Light burst from it and slammed Loki to the ground. It looked to Thor like his little brother was trying to scream, but no sound actually happened. Oh. Loki hadn’t cut himself off, Odin had done it to him.
“Loki, what did you do?”
At that, Loki stopped moving completely and just glared at him. Thor knew a brief flash of guilt for just assuming, but was that really his fault? Loki got up to so much mischief. But no, this was obviously far beyond his usual antics of dyeing Sif’s hair or slicing one leg off of Volstagg’s chair or painting Fandral with indelible costume makeup or-
“I had a daughter, before you.”
Okay, out of all the things Thor had expected Odin to say, that certainly was not on the list. How many more lightning strikes in one day? Unless this were some sort of dream, or test...
“What happened to her?” More relevantly, why did Thor feel like he was in trouble? He’d done nothing. Nothing other than wake up, which considering how this day was going, had most definitely been a mistake.
“She betrayed us to Laufey. She bore him a child-”
Loki flinched, tried to sit up, but Odin slammed Gungnir into his chest with a burst of green-gold that somehow made Thor think a spell had ended, rather than began, one that he’d not even realized had been going on. Not that he had an eye for that sort of thing, that was Mother’s-
In an instant, Thor snapped out of whatever haze had clouded his mind. Loki was his brother (nephew?), no matter where he’d come from. He’d never thought too hard about that sort of thing anyway- what sibling ever did?
“Loki-”
Loki was gasping for air as Odin stripped his magic from him, fingers turning blue and shaking badly. Thor smacked Gungnir to the ground with his bare hands, only now realizing he’d left Mjolnir on the training grounds. He deeply regretted that fact as he wrapped his arms around his little brother, clutching him as tightly as he could. Probably too tight for him to breathe. If he had his hammer, would he just fly out of here?
Go where?
Thor realized he was shuddering violently, drawing a concerned look from Loki’s newly red eyes and the surrounding deep blue. Thor believed Odin’s claim, but Loki was still Loki. Still Thor’s best friend. He couldn’t imagine life without him.
“Why are you telling us this now? Why tell us at all?”
“My son, you are to be king. You must understand what it means to be betrayed. And what is to be done with traitors.”
“He’s done nothing.”
At that, Loki tensed, just slightly. Thor cursed internally. What did you do, brother?
Odin shook his head. “Not him, that traitor daughter of mine. Traitors don’t deserve to have living children.”
What? How many entire families has he wiped out because of some perceived betrayal?
Nice work, “future king”. You didn’t even notice.
“I’m not going to let you touch him.”
“Oh, I won’t be.” Odin drew a dagger from his waist and extended it to Thor.
“No.”
“You want to be King. This is the price.”
“I would rather die.”
Predictably, Loki stiffened in shock and tried to push Thor away. That stung, more than Thor had expected. Was it so foreign to Loki that Thor would willingly die to protect him? Maybe he’d just skipped straight to assuming everyone was betraying him today. Wasn’t much of a leap, truth be told.
At that, Odin smirked. “I believe you. But ask yourself, are you truly willing to hand the throne back to me, knowing the truth of it? How many more deaths would result?”
I don’t care. Loki’s my brother.
Thor shook his head, dragging Loki to his feet. “No. I won’t.” They would just leave, find somewhere to go where they couldn’t be found-
Loki shook his head, still under whatever force kept him from speaking.
“Brother? What-”
Bearing an air of resignation, Loki took the dagger from Odin and handed it to Thor. Thor accepted it by instinct, brain not processing why Loki wasn’t fighting back. Even gagged and bound with some unknown shackles that Thor had finally realized were discreetly hidden under his sleeves, Loki shouldn’t be this accepting of death. This was so wrong.
Loki pointed to his heart, then waved his hand near his chin, and Thor flashed back to an evening in Frigga’s garden where she taught them a song with a sign for “mother”. Oh. Translation: just do it, and I’ll be with Mother. Both of them, gone in one day. He’d never thought that the grand beginning of his glorious reign would bring with it so many endings.
“Loki...”
Loki laid his hand on Thor’s cheek, then took the hand holding the dagger and held it to his own chest. Easy enough then. Nothing he hadn’t done before countless times. Except Loki this time, and this was so utterly wrong. But he had to do it. It wasn’t right to sacrifice all of Asgard just to save one life that no longer valued itself. Even if it was the one life he would have sacrificed all Nine Realms to save.
“I love you.”
Their eyes met, and Loki nodded. Thor murmured a soft apology and pushed. It felt so wrong, sliding in with difficulty, than too easily, than hitting something even tougher that must have been his heart. Buried to the hilt, it pulsed a few times before becoming horribly still. Thor withdrew it, and Loki collapsed in his arms.
The clatter of the dagger on the polished gold floor and Thor’s own heavy breathing were the only sounds to break the grim silence. He gently laid his brother on the floor, then turned to the man he would never call Father again. No words came.
Completely expressionless, Odin opened the door to the room and waved a hand out of it invitingly. Thor shouldn’t have been shocked. That cavalier attitude towards what had just happened hardly stacked up against engineering it in the first place.
One last glance at Loki, who might have been sleeping with the bloodstains hidden by his dark clothing, yielded a gruff “Just leave it; you can deal with it later”. It. Not even “him” anymore. Thor made a mental note to “deal with” Odin first thing after the blasted coronation. That would feel good.
“Should I-” his voice sounded hoarse, but no matter, “-at least clean up first?”
Odin glared at him. “No. You don’t need to be ashamed of the blood. Besides, the common people won’t even notice.”
With a dark expectation that Not-Father was probably correct, and his brother’s blood still wet on his hands, Thor went out to a cheering crowd to be crowned King of Asgard.
X
“My King.”
That voice.
Thor stood on the edge of the planet, face-to-face with Jorgamundr. The giant serpent, large enough to swallow a horse without flinching, kept himself behind the wall surrounding Asgard. Beyond that, anyone venturing into his domain was considered his prey. Tempting, after the day’s events. But there was one thing left to do before he could consider such an act. He turned to face the self-deposed king.
“What happened to Mother?”
Odin sighed. “She protested, long ago, when I had the traitor executed. I told her from the beginning what I intended for the traitor’s child, but she still objected when the time came. Perhaps I should not have allowed them to bond, but-”
“What. Happened.”
“I told her if she couldn’t handle what was to be done, then she was a traitor just as much as my once-daughter, and she knew what that meant. She said nothing after that, just walked into the water without looking back. I suppose she may have hoped I would call her back, but I had everything I needed from her a long time ago.”
“Did you ever love her? Or any of us?”
“What was the point?”
Even after everything, that still hurt.
The two of them watched Jorgamundr’s scales shift and glitter in the starlight, reflect in the smooth water, for a long time. Then Thor broke the silence.
“Guess what I think you should do.”
Wordlessly, Odin entered the water, scattering the stars on its surface into ripples. As soon as he crossed some invisible line, the serpent lunged, and soon enough, the night was peaceful again, ripples fading away to mirror-smooth again.
It did nothing to fix Thor’s twice-broken heart.
X
“My King.”
Thor spun on his heel, brief irritation at being kept from sleep fading quickly as he realized who had spoken.
“Sif, we’re not in ceremony. Call me Thor in private, and that’s an order.”
Breaking her formal demeanor, Sif threw her arms around him. With some reluctance, he responded. He wanted his mother, his brother. Some part of him wanted the father he’d thought he had, but that part was small and fading fast.
Sif broke away and put her hands on his shoulders.
“Where’s Loki?”
Thor glanced at a nearby clock. “A good twelve hours, and finally someone notices.”
“There were rumors even before the coronation that the Queen had been executed...”
“Unlike most rumors about the royal so-called family, that one’s actually true.” Thor realized he was still holding a mug of ale, and downed it in one go before smashing it on the ground with what Loki would have called “excessive force”.
“Whether it was true or not, it worked. No one wanted to question anything, least of all why Loki was also missing, or why you had blood on you. Thor, you know I’m your friend. You can tell me anything. I promise.”
Thor burst into tears.
X
Loki hadn’t moved, and Thor had to suppress a wave of disappointment that it wasn’t just one of his usual tricks. Their entire lives, it had seemed Loki was incapable of fulfilling expectations.
“I’m sorry, Thor.”
“Thank you, Sif.”
Silence fell again.
“Thank you, also, for coming to find me. No one likes to acknowledge that the mighty King of Asgard needs help just as much as anyone else. More so, even.”
“Well, I l- I care about you more than I can really explain. Just- take care of yourself, okay? Asgard needs you.”
Sif left to her own purposes, and Thor sat alone with his baby brother. Part of him wanted to run after her, kiss her, proclaim his love in return, make her his queen-
Would he be any good at having a family? He hardly had a good example of how to be a husband, or a father. And yet, it was expected of him. At least he had plenty of time to figure it all out.
If only something could be done about Loki.
X
Saturday is the day of Saturn, father of the Olympians. Knowing from past experience that a son would ultimately, inevitably overthrow his father, he consumed each of his children upon their births. His wife ultimately hid the youngest child, who once grown turned on his father to save his siblings. Destiny fulfilled itself, because Saturday’s child works hard for a living.