Poisoned
“You’ve got a stalker, majesty.” Thor glances up at the Valkyrie, then behind him. The princess who had been following him into the feasting hall is very suddenly fascinated by a worn tapestry hanging on the wall. He sighs.
“She’s been dogging me all day.”
“So, will you take her to bed? Or shall I…console her?”
“You’re welcome to console her in any way you see fit, my lady.” Thor winks. “I think my taking her to bed might send some unintended signals. I wouldn’t want her to get the wrong idea about the depth of my feelings for her.” Which were quite shallow, Thor admits to himself. She was pretty, but slightly boring. Perhaps if they had more time to get to know each other, but since Thor and the Valkyrie would be departing after dinner and Thor had been rather unimpressed with her at lunch, it was useless. He’d barely spared her more than a passing thought until the Valkyrie pointed out her lurking.
“Hm, yes.” The Valkyrie leans against the wall, sweeping her blue cape to the side. “Her father’s definitely after you for a husband.”
Thor blinks. “Husband?! Why in the Nine-”
“You’re a very eligible bachelor, your majesty, especially for younger princesses. You’re still a king, but an impoverished one without a homeland, so while you’ll still have to marry noble, heiresses are out of reach. Fourth daughters, like your little shadow, who stand to inherit nothing of their own, will be all over you, all across the galaxy. You should probably prepare yourself.”
“It sounds exhausting.”
“Yeah, poor you, disappointing pretty maidens across the galaxy. How sad. Oh. That’s the bell for dinner.”
“Don’t drink too much,” Thor warns. “I want to be back at the ship at a reasonable hour.”
“You got it, majesty.” She flips her hand in a little wave as she turns towards the table.
Thor is seated on the highest dais, next to, of course, the poor princess. Her father the king, ever hopeful, kept glancing over at her and Thor as she tried to engage him in conversation. It’s no use. Thor is in some kind of mood, growing withdrawn and reserved through the meal. Valkyrie sits among the common folk, keeping to herself for once.
She probably shouldn’t have told him all that about the suitors. She’d learned from Loki that he’d had a bit of an affair with a mortal woman recently, though things seemed to have cooled. Plus, there was that simmering reluctance to be king that Thor still hadn’t quite shaken. Despite having taken up the mantel, and not doing too terrible a job at it, it seemed like occasionally he forgot he had ascended to the throne. Reminding him of his eventual duty to marry a noble woman of some kind and produce heirs only served to make him sullen. He seemed content enough to remain a bachelor, with an equally oblivious Loki being the only remaining heir to the throne. Loki seemed to forget his own place half the time as well.
They were a mess, the Valkyrie reflects, watching the princess try to draw Thor into conversation again. Asgard destroyed, the remnants held together by two royals who seem hellbent on ignoring the fact that they are royals. We really are screwed. But as she downs her glass of ale, she thinks Asgard actually might be better off this way.
She’s on her second glass of the dark, barley ale they brew on this planet, when something at the main table catches her eye. Thor, leaning back, pressing a hand to his chest. A look of pain on his face as he stumbles back from the feasting table, his veins turning a bizarre purple color.
She’s on her feet in a second, as chaos breaks.
“Your majesty!” The young princess gasps, hand pressed to her chest.
“Our guest has been poisoned! Fetch the palace healers!”
The Valkyrie rushes up to the dais and grabs Thor by the arms. “Thor, what-”
“Can’t breathe,” He coughs out. His chest heaves with the effort of drawing breath and his eyes grow glassy. “Can’t…Loki-” Valkyrie doesn’t know if Thor is mistaking her for Loki, telling her to say goodbye to Loki for him, or telling her that Loki can help, but for her own sanity and sense of control over the situation she chooses to believe it is the third.
“Loki…his magic?” She whispers to him. She think he might nod but in the next moment his eyes roll back in his head and he falls into a dead faint, collapsing to the ground.
“The healers are on their way,” The king says quickly. “We will get him to a private room, and the healers will take care of him and he’ll be fine in no time, my lady.”
“No, I will take him back to the ship.” She says firmly. She stands over Thor’s unconscious body.
“My lady, I must insist.”
She doesn’t know what’s going on, but something inside her is screaming to take Thor and run. He makes a choking noise behind her. Her heart is pounding with fear, and that little voice just keeps saying run, run, run—
“No, we will return to the ship.” Loki will be able to fix this, She attempts to calm herself. That’s what Thor was trying to tell you. His magic can burn the poison out of him in a minute, it’ll all be fine.
“Lady Valkyrie, we can handle this, my daughter has much experience caring for the ill as a volunteer in our hospital, she can take care of him.”
“I’d be happy to do it, my lady.”
The Valkyrie grits her teeth and stands her ground. “The king needs his brother, a powerful mage. Our ship is the best place for him to be healed, especially if someone in the court wants him dead.”
“I really must insist, lady.” The Valkyrie draws her sword.
“Back off! Fetch us a horse and let us go!” The king tries to argue, but a flash of Dragonfang and a flex of her muscles ceases argument. One of the palace guards help her to carry Thor, listless and coughing, to a horse and cart provided.
“Are you certain you should not stay-” She flashes the guard a glare and he silences. Before she leaves, she touches Thor’s check.
“Hold on, majesty. We’ll be home soon.” She pushes the horse as fast as it will go, across the fields and towards the ship.
Heimdall meets her at the entrance.
“Take him to the infirmary, I’ll get Loki.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t know, poison in the meal, something like that, Loki should be able to burn it out.” She runs, finding Loki in their room reading. “You have to come quickly, Thor’s been poisoned.”
His eyes go wide. The book falls from his fingers. “What? Why? By whom?”
“I’m sure we’ll figure that out later, but first you have to fix him.” They rush through the halls.
“How could you let this happened?” Loki snaps.
“I didn’t let anything happen, it just fucking happened.”
“You’re supposed to-”
“What? You want me to test every bite of food-”
“I’d like you not to let your king be murdered,” He spits, but sounds so terrified that the Valkyrie lets the conversation drop.
When they get to the infirmary, Loki stumbles to Thor’s side, green light already blooming on his hands. Thor is still choking, the violet veins standing out even more starkly from his pale skin as his back arches with the need to breathe. Loki presses down on his chest, squeezing his eyes shut. The green light chases out the poison, scouring it from Thor’s veins. When he’s done, the violet is gone and Thor’s breathing evenly.
Loki lets out a breath, shoulders relaxing as the panicked tension drains from him.
“See, I knew you could do it,” The Valkyrie says faintly. Her hand is shaking. She squeezes it into a fist to get it to stop. Loki doesn’t respond, his eyes still closed. He moves one of his hands to Thor’s forehead and they glow green again. “What are you doing?”
“Finding the source.” He says. “It’s odd, it wasn’t quite enough to kill him, just right on the edge…It’s natural too, some kind of plant. Who could have…?”
“I think I can help with that,” Heimdall says gravely. “I can see the poisoner.”
They combine Loki’s magical investigating with Heimdall’s Sight and five minutes later, Loki and the Valkyrie are on their way back to the castle. He grabs her hand and in a blink they’ve traversed the two miles from the ship and are in the castle, past all the guards and fortifications. Loki walks a little ahead, his long legs carrying him quickly to the hall, cape sweeping behind him. He is radiating pure fury. He throws open the door.
The feast has dispersed in the wake of the chaos but the king and two of his daughters, including the princess who had been so enamored with Thor, still sit around the raised table, deep in conversation.
“What is this? Who let you-” The guards rush at them and Loki’s magic pushes them all back.
“So that was your master plan? Poison my brother to delay us, nurse him back to health, so he would feel so grateful, all in the vague hopes you can foist off one of your unmarried daughters on us.”
Understanding dawns on the king’s terrified face. “Your highness…”
“Told you he was a powerful mage,” The Valkyrie says with a wicked smile.
“Were you just too unskilled for a love potion? Or were you just too lazy, wanting to take the easy way of a quick poison instead of brewing something yourself?” Loki climbs the stairs.
“These accusations are-”
“How dare you touch him!” He draws a knife.
“Papa!” The princesses are swept aside by Loki’s magic as well, pinned to the walls.
“Your highness, we can talk about-”
Loki shoves him hard against the wall, knee pressed hard against his chest. He holds the knife to the old king’s throat. “I should kill you for hurting my family,” He presses the knife harder in, drawing a thin line of blood. “I should kill you to spare any other poor souls who find their way into your clutches and you decide are eligible suitors for your whore daughters. I should fucking kill you for touching him,” He snarls.
“My prince,” The Valkyrie says. Loki glances back at her and she inclines her head, raises an eyebrow in warning. “Perhaps we should be merciful.” Killing the king would cause more problems for them then it would solve, especially since it would really only solve Loki’s rage. Loki looks at her for a long moment.
His hand shakes on the knife.
“I really want to kill you. But she’s right. I won’t. You’re very lucky.”
“I-”
“No speaking.” The king’s jaw snaps shut. “Don’t speak to me. I’m going to give you a very, very generous warning,” Loki points the knife in his face. “I will have our Watcher keep an eye on you. If you pull this on anyone else, I will come back here and slit your fucking throat. If you try to contact or communicate with my brother or any Asgardian of any rank, in any way, I’ll make it even slower. Do you understand?” The king nods desperately. The magic releases and Loki steps back, letting him fall to the floor. “Let’s go home, Valkyrie.” As he walks down the steps green light sparks in his wake. The flowers on the table wither and die.
The Valkyrie snags a bottle of wine off a table.
“And I’m taking this.” She waves at them and follows Loki out.
The green light spreads. All across the castle and a mile in every direction, every green and living thing at once crumbles into dust.
Loki doesn’t stop shaking in fury their entire walk back to the ship. They could teleport, but it seems like he needs to walk off some of his rage, so the Valkyrie doesn’t ask him to use his magic, or complain about the trek.
“I’m sorry,” He says when they’re in sight of the Ark. “I shouldn’t have accused you of…letting this happen. I know it’s not your fault.”
“Thanks. Didn’t take it personally. I know you were scared. And you were kind of right, I should have been watching more closely, I should have felt that things were off.”
“He’s just…I don’t really have anyone else.”
“I know, highness. I know. And I’m sorry I didn’t let you kill the old man. But hey, you scared the fuck out of him. And doing that to all the plants? They’ll probably be telling legends about you for years to come.”
Loki manages a shaky smile. “I really wanted to kill him,” He says petulantly.
“I know. Me too.” The climb aboard, already hearing Thor’s voice. “But it’s better this way.”
“What do you mean, you let them go back?” Thor paces, scrubbing a hand over his short hair. He looks completely back to normal, if a little paler than usual.
“Your majesty, you should sit-”
“Thor, they’re probably fine-”
“I’m going after them.”
“Not necessary,” Loki says. “We’re back.”
Thor spins. “You fools, what were you thinking?”
“I don’t know that I was thinking, I was so angry.”
“You weren’t thinking, of course you weren’t thinking.”
Loki touches the center of his brother’s chest with the light of his magic sparkling at his fingertips. “Hm. How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine.” Loki waits another moment before he releases the seidr, satisfied. Then he throws his arms around Thor’s neck. Thor smiles and rests his hands loosely on his brother’s back. Over Loki’s shoulder, he and the Valkyrie meet eyes.
“No more disappointing maidens for a while now, I think.” He says with a small smile.
“I heartily agree, majesty.”