The Last Days of Magic and Glory Chapter #7 (moved here from the kinkmeme)
So, remember that story about Loki as a horse? Well they wanted me to move to the overflow post on norsekink, but I was tired of proving I was a human every damn post, so I moved it here. I'll post it all as a full, cleaned-up fic here when I'm done.
Please note, this part contains Thor/OMC and the use of the Agardian equivalent of the morning after pill.
If you're just tuning in now, the story starts here and is a response to this prompt.
This is the story of the time between Sleipnir's birth and his conception (blame mythology for the major plot points). Loki is transformed into a horse who becomes Thor's companion while he deals with a "trial run" of ruling while Odin is sleeping. Basically, Thor is a horrible ruler and lovably dense about where exactly the super smart magical horse came from, Loki is an awesome horse who probably really wishes he could talk, and they both learn a few lessons along the way.
In this chapter, Thor escorts a foreign prince on a hunt. The horse extracts him from the ensuing mess.
Chapter 7: The Thraberbeast and the Prince
Due to Thor’s utter failure at most matters of court, his mother had him escorting Prince Seupu of Alfheim around the palace grounds while she negotiated with his father. The prince was in much the same situation as Thor - not yet on the throne, but being painstakingly groomed for the role. He was also an incredibly handsome man. He had long silky black hair that he kept tied in a braid, pale skin, and glowing golden eyes. He was as tall and broad as Thor himself and rumored to be an excellent warrior and hunter.
After the two of them teamed up to absolutely dominate Sif and the warriors three at sparring, the prince pulled Thor aside, asking in his low seductive rumble, “I prefer to bathe in natural waters and I hear from your mother that riding is a passion. Perhaps you could lead me to a waterfall where we could bathe, maybe camp under the stars?”
Thor smiled. None of his friends understood this newfound passion of Thor’s, but Seupu seemed to get it.
“My horse is currently foaling,” Thor replied, “but we can borrow two of the palace horses and ride out. Shall I retrieve some supplies?”
Seupu shook his head, a wicked grin on his lips. “I have brought some bread and jams, as well as samples of the rich meads of my lands and we are both skilled hunters.”
“And your hunting clothes?” Thor asked, as they were both decked out in their battle armor.
“I prefer to ride in just my tunic. We should retrieve your gear, if you wish it.”
Not to be outdone, Thor smiled. “No, I believe that I, too, have everything that I need.”
So they made their way towards the stables, Seupu making his intentions clear as he gently teased Thor about their sparring session and bemoaned the training period before he would finally become king, all the while touching Thor with a casual possessiveness that Thor found more amusing than endearing. Still, there was no arguing that Seupu was a fine man and someone who Thor would not object to having in his bed, even if they would have to vie for dominance.
Along the path, Thor picked barberries, feeding some to Seupu, who ate them flirtatiously out of Thor’s hand and saving another handful for the horse.
As they entered the stables, Seupu had his arm around Thor’s shoulders and Thor wondered if they’d even make it to the waterfall he had in mind before Seupu made his move.
Thor went automatically to the horse’s stable, petting her nose and offering her the barberries.
“She is rather spectacularly in foal,” Seupu remarked, eyeing her. “But a beautiful animal. What kind of stallion did you breed her with?”
Thor shrugged. “I do not know. I found her wild, probably recently after she was mated.”
“May I?” Seupu asked, his hand reaching out for the horse’s belly. She tried to move away from him, but Thor fixed her with a glare until she submitted.
“The foal has a strong kick!” Seupu exclaimed. “Remarkably strong. Tell me, would you be interested in a selling it or including it as part of the terms of trade when it is born?”
Thor grabbed the horse’s mane before she could bite the prince.
“I had planned to give it to my father as a gift,” Thor lied.
Seupu shrugged. “Too bad. I have a bit of a hobby horsebreeding and we are always looking for new, strong stock for our royal stables. If you come across any other unique animals that you are willing to trade, let me know.”
The horse followed Thor and Seupu as they made their way through the stalls, crowding Thor so much that he had to push her off on more than one occasion.
“I’m sorry you have to stay here,” Thor told her, “but the foal should arrive any day now and you can’t be out in the woods with us.”
The horse nipped him, much to Seupu’s amusement. She didn’t look happy when they selected two large, black steeds. They were Odin’s personal horses, but he did not mind if Thor borrowed them while he as in the Odinsleep. The horse kept trying to block them from leaving the stable, nipping at Thor and whinnying. She almost succeeded in tripping Seupu, but his fast reflexes allowed him to dodge her. She even tried to follow them into the woods, but in condition, simply could not keep up.
“Be a good mother. Now is not the time for adventure!” Thor shouted at her as they galloped away.
Thor’s heart ached, leaving her. He felt as though he was betraying some special thing they shared between them to go riding out into their woods to look at their stars and lay with a foreign prince instead of sleep beside her. But then Thor chided himself for his ridiculousness. She was a horse, not his lover. And thanks to her Thor hadn’t bedded anyone in months. Besides, he was wary of causing another diplomatic incident and incurring his mother’s wrath.
They did not ride far into the woods. Despite the fact that Seupu was a skilled huntsman and an excellent rider, Thor did not feel comfortable straying too far from the city with him, made wary by the horse’s anxiety. They arrived at the water and gathered materials for a fire, resolving to bathe after they had caught themselves some game for dinner. Seupu wanted to hunt thraberbeasts, which needed to be cooked soon after capture and whose blood stained clothing horribly. Thor was largely convinced that Seupu only decided such because he wanted to hunt without his clothes.
As they stripped their clothing down, Thor couldn’t help but admire the long lines of Seupu’s torso and his ample muscles. He was not as defined as Thor, but somehow seemed more intimidating for it, like his muscles were the result of survival and desperate fighting and not training. Seupu tied a small piece of leather around his waist to protect his manhood, which Thor saw was quite impressive. Seupu took only a long dagger with him. He meant to hunt traditionally.
When Thor shed his own clothes, Seupu watched with undisguised appreciation, before pressing a chaste kiss to Thor’s lips and a dagger to his palm. It was an elegant one - perfectly balanced and made of the Skystone that grew on Seupu’s world (part of the trade deal their parents were discussing). Skystone was a white moss that hardened like stone when it grew together. It started as a cobweb-like mist, then solidified into messes of gnarled white fibers that twisted together like a bird’s nest, until finally, after a hundred years of strengthening, it became a white stone with twisted detail like marble, capable of being sharpened better and more durably than any metal and light like air.
The knife had runes carved into the hilt - Thor recognized his family name and his own, entwined with those of Seupu’s house. On the blade, magic had written the inscriptions to cut through any spell into the patterns of the stone itself. Such a process required more than 50 years and the hands of the most skilled artisan to arrange the fibers of the developing moss so they would solidify into the correct rune. It was powerful magic woven without the aid of a sorcerer and incredibly valuable.
“A gift to aid the relations between our peoples,” Seupu said, with a wink. “For you to keep.”
Thor pulled him back and kissed him again, deeply, hungrily this time - warrior to warrior. Seupu tasted sweet, like jiberries and herbs. Thor felt himself hardening as he ground against his fellow prince, pulling him down to the soft mulch of the forest floor. Seupu laughed, pushing Thor away. “Not yet, my prince,” he murmured against Thor’s lips. “Let us find dinner first and then I will be happy to continue this.”
Thor wanted to argue, already feeling addicted to the rich taste on Seupu’s lips and the sweet slide of his muscular body against Thor’s own. But Seupu had a point - if they were to catch a thraberbeasts, it was best to do it with the sun high in the sky. It was already mid-afternoon and the longer they waited, the more difficult it would be
The thraberbeasts were large and hairy, resembling a boar with a long prehensile snout and razor-sharp tusks they used for digging into the roots of trees for the grubs that resided there. Like unicorns, they had some magic in them, and were able to make themselves invisible. The forest was full of the creatures that no one could see.
Seupu and Thor collected the herbs for a spell to reveal them and Thor couldn’t help but remember a time long ago, when Loki lead Thor and Volstagg through the forest, eager to show them the revealing spell and to catch their first thraberbeast long before the ceremony of the first hunt. Thor and Volstagg had been hopeless at collecting the proper herbs, and Loki rejected many before they caught on. Thor smiled, remembering a young Loki perched over a pile of herbs, kneeling inelegantly in the mulch and biting his lip in concentration (a habit he had since long trained himself out of). It was one of the first spells that Loki had learned, and like most of their childhood adventures, ended in disaster. Volstagg ended up with a thraberbeast tusk embedded in his buttocks and Thor earned himself his first broken arm. It was also the first time they had discovered Loki’s innate ability to transport himself and Tyr had needed to climb a tree to carry him down from where he’d magicked himself out of fear.
Thor later proved himself by catching a thraberbeast as his challenge on his first hunting day and by now, knew the spell by heart. He let his hands linger as he took the herbs from Seupu, arranging them carefully and tying them with the thick strands of hair from a thraberbeast tail that were the difficult ingredient in the spell. When Thor had asked Loki how the first thraberbeast was caught without the tail hairs of a thraberbeast to make the spell, Loki had explained that a truly powerful mage could see the beasts without a spell. Thor wondered if Loki could see them now.
Thor said the incantation and lit the bundle of herbs on fire. The smoke would reveal any beast it came into contact with, though its form would still be no more than a shimmer, even in bright sunlight. The enchanted knives that Seupu had provided would fully reveal the beasts, cutting through their spells as well as their skin. Seupu must have been set on hunting these particular beasts to have brought both the hair and the special knives for this purpose. Not that Thor blamed him. After Frigga’s admonition, Thor had read the diplomatic dossier on Seupu’s world, so he knew that thraberbeasts were not found there. Their meat was rich and their blood served as an aphrodisiac. It was well worth the effort of catching one, so it made sense that Seupu would want to.
Thor was used to hunting thraberbeasts with Volstagg, who loved thraberbeast stew more than anything. Normally, they’d rigg a clearing with nets and try to herd the scarred beasts into it before killing them. It was less of a challenge, but produced more meat, which was Volstagg’s priority.
Instead, Thor and Seupu proceeded with the traditional hunt - to jump on the back of the beast and slit its throat with a knife while trying not to get stabbed by its tusks. The worked well together, unspokenly moving as one in a way that it had taken centuries for Thor and his friends to cultivate. Thor wafted the smoke over the area and Seupu moved to block obvious escape routes as they moved quietly through the underbrush.
The sun was close to setting when Thor finally spotted the shimmering outline of a beast in the smoke. It was huge, coming up to Thor’s waist and with the giant tusks of a mature male. The beasts could feel the smoke pulling at their magic, so there was no point in stealth. Thor gave a warning cry, charging towards the beast and dodging the panicked swipes of its massive tusks. Before Thor could get a shot in with his knife, Seupu had jumped on its back, valiantly holding on as it tried to buck him off. It jostled Seupu such that his knife slipped, accidentally slashing Thor’s palm when he tried to grab hold of the beast to assist.
Thor ignored the pain and used his own knife to cut where he assumed the beast’s back leg to be. After severing the tendon, it would be unable to escape. The runes in the knife did their work, undoing the invisibility spell around the beast and exposing it. Once the creature was visible, Seupu had no trouble slitting its throat and riding its body to the ground.
Thor noticed belatedly that Seupu had a similar cut to Thor’s on his palm, though Thor had no idea if it was from a knife or one of the beast’s sharp tusks. They made quick work of cutting the beast open and removing its internal organs in order to prevent contamination of the flesh. Seupu sliced with bold, clean strokes that spoke to his skill in hunting and in battle. They were both covered in the deep red blood of the beast, practically naked. Thor could not help his arousal at Seupu’s silent competence. Thor had bedded many men and women, ordinarily for their looks or because he felt inclined on that particular day, but there was something about Seupu - an indefinable pull that transcended the mere matter of the flesh.
Perhaps Loki had been right when he told Thor that coupling could be made magical by the things in the soul that bound two people together. Then again, Loki could just have been having Thor on in order to make him feel like an inadequate lover. Once again, Thor resented his brother’s proclivity to lie.
After they finished their clean up, Thor hoisted the beast onto his back to carry back to the campsite. Seupu could not keep his hands to himself, continuously stroking Thor’s back or gripping his waist under the guise of helping him reposition his burden or guide him down a particular path back towards their camp. Thor actually appreciated the latter, as he was not the best tracker and normally relied on Loki or Fandral to remember the path.
When they had finally returned to camp, Seupu used a spell in order to start a fire with the materials they had gathered earlier and Thor quickly sliced up the meat for cooking. They ate their dinner in silence and set the rest of the meat to smoke overnight. They were covered in both blood and ash when they were done, like a strange tattoo covering their skins.
Thor didn’t hesitate a second after finishing his dinner, arousal simmering within him. He practically leaped onto his fellow prince, adding dirt to the mix of substances smearing their skin. The touch was electric and their coupling animalistic. Their blood mingled where they bit each other in harsh kisses and through the cuts on their palms as they clasped their hands together in the dirt.
Seupu used a spell to slick himself and Thor could feel the magic pull deep within him when he entered his companion. Thor pounded in hard and they both reached completion quickly.
“That was amazing,” Thor murmured, collapsing into his companion.
In the morning, they woke dirty and disheveled, washing themselves in the waterfall and coupling again in the rough waters below. Seupu’s long black hair felt smooth and wonderful under the water and he looked more delicate somehow. In fact, with his golden eyes closed, he looked quite a bit like Loki.
They packed the rest of the meat onto their saddles and road back in comfortable silence, contemplative.
It was only when they reached the farmost pasture and civilization that Seupu spoke up. “Do you think we might one day unite our kingdoms?” Seupu asked.
“We already have a formidable alliance,” Thor replied. “But if, once you are king, you wish to annex your kingdom to Asgard, I would not object.”
Seupu laughed. “You are as untrained in political subtlety as my father warned me. I did not mean that we should submit ourselves to you, but truly unite. Through a marriage.”
Thor blanched. He had greatly enjoyed his time with the prince and looked forward to keeping him as a friend and a lover, but was it not too early for Thor to consider tying himself down that way. And based on the great disaster of this Odinsleep, Thor doubted that his father would abdicate anytime soon.
“I hadn’t thought of it,” Thor admitted. “Perhaps one day.”
“Perhaps sooner than you think,” Seupu murmured, one hand going to his belly.
“Seupu, what have you done?”
Seupu shrugged. “I have Frost Giant lineage. But I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about. It is very difficult for men of mixed blood to conceive and I am only 1/16 Jotun.”
Except it had been a full moon and they had mingled their blood and Seupu didn’t seem at all properly concerned about the risk of a child.
Thor did the only thing he could think of - he galloped off, leaving Seupu calling after him.
***
“You were right,” Thor told the horse, hours later after he’d stopped his panicked riding and turned back towards the palace. “I have made a grave mistake.”
The horse turned away from him, pouting.
“I know, you saved me from the snake and from the sea creature. I should have trusted you to save me from a prince with kingly ambitions as well. But honestly, you’re a horse, what should you know about royal politics?”
The horse nudged at her own belly.
“You are pregnant so you think you can divine when another wants to get pregnant?”
The horse neighed and then sniffed at Thor dramatically.
“You smelled it on him?” Thor asked. He doubted that even a magical horse could smell machinations to get with child. But there had been something. Thor thought back to the sweet intoxicating flavor of Seupu’s kiss. It had been noticeably herbal - like a potion. And it had been a full moon. And there was a reason that despite the aphrodisiac properties, Fandral never once asked Thor and Volstagg for the thraberbeast’s blood. Thor’s eyes widened. They were all fertility enhancers.
“Horse, I have committed an even bigger mistake than I originally thought.”
The horse did not look surprised.
“I coupled with the crown prince of a powerful ally in the twilight of a full moon,, covered in thraberbeast blood, while our blood mingled through cuts on our hands, and he was most likely taking a fertility potion. If he gets with child, I will have to marry him rather than dishonor him with a bastard.”
The horse looked expectant. Thor pondered the situation again, remembering the few things that Loki had taught him about spell potency. “And it was next to rushing water.” Loki had once said that rushing water amplified the power of spells.
The horse snorted, probably in disgust. She stared at Thor a long time. Thor hoped that she was considering calling Loki back. Loki knew politics and he’d tricked enough princesses and princes. He’d know what to do.
Finally, the horse walked over and nudged Thor in the direction of the palace and eventually the palace gardens. Thor was too anxious to sleep, but the horse did not lead him to the ash tree, but rather to Loki’s garden of spell ingredients. She looked at Thor expectantly.
He looked back at her, equally expectant. Surely she did not expect him to understand for himself.
Resignedly, the horse nudged Thor’s hands towards one plant, then another, then another.
“If you want me to make a potion, you will have to find the spell book and locate the page. The thraberbeast disillusionment spell is one of the only ones I know.”
The horse gave him her ‘I can’t believe you’re this stupid look’ again before nudging his hands towards the final herb. Thor looked down at what she had selected, feeling revelation at the outskirts of his consciousness. He knew these ingredients. He’d seen Loki collect them a hundred times before.
“You are brilliant, horse!” Thor exclaimed. “You must have seen my brother gather these as well. They are for the anti-conception tea that he drinks after he has bedded a man!”
The horse appeared less-than-thrilled by Thor’s praise, but Thor hugged her anyway.
Because Frost Giants were of only one gender, any person with Jotun blood could become pregnant if taken by a man. Odin himself had a small amount of Jotun blood in his ancestry and thus both Thor and Loki had the potential to bear children. Thor, unlike Loki, detested the idea of allowing a man to dominate him, so he had never needed to learn how to brew the tea, but he had seen Loki do it often enough.
There was only one more ingredient that Thor needed, and for that, they would have to return to the forest. Fresh Jojubi eggs were plentiful, but difficult to obtain. Jojubis laid their eggs in the giant trees that grew in the forest along the city’s south wall. Thor would often follow Loki on his quest to the south wall in search of the eggs because his brother was always more pleasant company the morning after he had bedded a man and would often be in the mood to play a game of hide and chase with Thor while they were there.
Thor thought it ironic that the horse now played Thor’s role as companion, while Thor himself had to find the eggs. When they were young and Loki had first invented the spell (to avoid going to the healing rooms and have his nocturnal activities reported to their mother), they had needed to climb the trees. But now Loki had his transportation and Thor his hammer.
It was easy to swing his hammer, vaulting him up and onto a wide branch where a large nest filled with nearly a hundred small eggs rested. Thor grabbed only one egg, which should be more than enough for a single cup of tea. Normally Thor would just jump from the tree branch, but Loki had once cautioned him against it, because the shake of the ground from his landing could dislodge the nest and hurt the future jujubi population.
After a painstaking and exhausting climb down the tree’s wide trunk, Thor found the horse staring at his one egg skeptically. She nudged him and looked back up at the tree.
“More? Unlike my brother, I will only been needing one cup, as I do not intend to bed this man again.”
The horse nipped at Thor’s fingers then nosed the large amount of the other ingredients he’d gathered. It was obvious that she wanted him to make more, but why?
“How many men do you think I will accidentally get with child?” Thor asked, exasperated.
The horse whinyed, nipping Thor again.
The horse had made him gather enough herbs for a whole party to drink the tea. What could Thor possibly do with that much tea?
The horse stared at him expectantly.
“Stop staring at me. You make it difficult to concentrate.”
The horse looked away pointedly.
“What would my brother do in such a situation?” Thor murmured to himself. Loki would have all sorts of underhanded ways to get the prince to unwittingly drink the potion. He could disguise its taste with magic or pour it into his throat as he slept. He could probably even transport it directly into Seupu’s stomach.
But Thor had no such skill. He’d have to rely on deception and deception was not his strength. That must be why the horse wanted enough to feed the whole royal table.
Thor grinned wildly at the horse. “That’s why we need to make so much. So I can give it to the whole table - that way Seupu will not suspect me of anything!”
Once again, the horse appeared nonplussed, as though the solution were obvious.
“You are truly brilliant, horse. You remind me of my brother.”
A/N: Next part is the birthing scene. I didn't watch a truly horrifying video on youtube for nothing (seriously, I think this may be singlehandedly responsible for pushing back my childrearing timetable by a couple of years).
Next Chapter: The Birth
Please note, this part contains Thor/OMC and the use of the Agardian equivalent of the morning after pill.
If you're just tuning in now, the story starts here and is a response to this prompt.
This is the story of the time between Sleipnir's birth and his conception (blame mythology for the major plot points). Loki is transformed into a horse who becomes Thor's companion while he deals with a "trial run" of ruling while Odin is sleeping. Basically, Thor is a horrible ruler and lovably dense about where exactly the super smart magical horse came from, Loki is an awesome horse who probably really wishes he could talk, and they both learn a few lessons along the way.
In this chapter, Thor escorts a foreign prince on a hunt. The horse extracts him from the ensuing mess.
Chapter 7: The Thraberbeast and the Prince
Due to Thor’s utter failure at most matters of court, his mother had him escorting Prince Seupu of Alfheim around the palace grounds while she negotiated with his father. The prince was in much the same situation as Thor - not yet on the throne, but being painstakingly groomed for the role. He was also an incredibly handsome man. He had long silky black hair that he kept tied in a braid, pale skin, and glowing golden eyes. He was as tall and broad as Thor himself and rumored to be an excellent warrior and hunter.
After the two of them teamed up to absolutely dominate Sif and the warriors three at sparring, the prince pulled Thor aside, asking in his low seductive rumble, “I prefer to bathe in natural waters and I hear from your mother that riding is a passion. Perhaps you could lead me to a waterfall where we could bathe, maybe camp under the stars?”
Thor smiled. None of his friends understood this newfound passion of Thor’s, but Seupu seemed to get it.
“My horse is currently foaling,” Thor replied, “but we can borrow two of the palace horses and ride out. Shall I retrieve some supplies?”
Seupu shook his head, a wicked grin on his lips. “I have brought some bread and jams, as well as samples of the rich meads of my lands and we are both skilled hunters.”
“And your hunting clothes?” Thor asked, as they were both decked out in their battle armor.
“I prefer to ride in just my tunic. We should retrieve your gear, if you wish it.”
Not to be outdone, Thor smiled. “No, I believe that I, too, have everything that I need.”
So they made their way towards the stables, Seupu making his intentions clear as he gently teased Thor about their sparring session and bemoaned the training period before he would finally become king, all the while touching Thor with a casual possessiveness that Thor found more amusing than endearing. Still, there was no arguing that Seupu was a fine man and someone who Thor would not object to having in his bed, even if they would have to vie for dominance.
Along the path, Thor picked barberries, feeding some to Seupu, who ate them flirtatiously out of Thor’s hand and saving another handful for the horse.
As they entered the stables, Seupu had his arm around Thor’s shoulders and Thor wondered if they’d even make it to the waterfall he had in mind before Seupu made his move.
Thor went automatically to the horse’s stable, petting her nose and offering her the barberries.
“She is rather spectacularly in foal,” Seupu remarked, eyeing her. “But a beautiful animal. What kind of stallion did you breed her with?”
Thor shrugged. “I do not know. I found her wild, probably recently after she was mated.”
“May I?” Seupu asked, his hand reaching out for the horse’s belly. She tried to move away from him, but Thor fixed her with a glare until she submitted.
“The foal has a strong kick!” Seupu exclaimed. “Remarkably strong. Tell me, would you be interested in a selling it or including it as part of the terms of trade when it is born?”
Thor grabbed the horse’s mane before she could bite the prince.
“I had planned to give it to my father as a gift,” Thor lied.
Seupu shrugged. “Too bad. I have a bit of a hobby horsebreeding and we are always looking for new, strong stock for our royal stables. If you come across any other unique animals that you are willing to trade, let me know.”
The horse followed Thor and Seupu as they made their way through the stalls, crowding Thor so much that he had to push her off on more than one occasion.
“I’m sorry you have to stay here,” Thor told her, “but the foal should arrive any day now and you can’t be out in the woods with us.”
The horse nipped him, much to Seupu’s amusement. She didn’t look happy when they selected two large, black steeds. They were Odin’s personal horses, but he did not mind if Thor borrowed them while he as in the Odinsleep. The horse kept trying to block them from leaving the stable, nipping at Thor and whinnying. She almost succeeded in tripping Seupu, but his fast reflexes allowed him to dodge her. She even tried to follow them into the woods, but in condition, simply could not keep up.
“Be a good mother. Now is not the time for adventure!” Thor shouted at her as they galloped away.
Thor’s heart ached, leaving her. He felt as though he was betraying some special thing they shared between them to go riding out into their woods to look at their stars and lay with a foreign prince instead of sleep beside her. But then Thor chided himself for his ridiculousness. She was a horse, not his lover. And thanks to her Thor hadn’t bedded anyone in months. Besides, he was wary of causing another diplomatic incident and incurring his mother’s wrath.
They did not ride far into the woods. Despite the fact that Seupu was a skilled huntsman and an excellent rider, Thor did not feel comfortable straying too far from the city with him, made wary by the horse’s anxiety. They arrived at the water and gathered materials for a fire, resolving to bathe after they had caught themselves some game for dinner. Seupu wanted to hunt thraberbeasts, which needed to be cooked soon after capture and whose blood stained clothing horribly. Thor was largely convinced that Seupu only decided such because he wanted to hunt without his clothes.
As they stripped their clothing down, Thor couldn’t help but admire the long lines of Seupu’s torso and his ample muscles. He was not as defined as Thor, but somehow seemed more intimidating for it, like his muscles were the result of survival and desperate fighting and not training. Seupu tied a small piece of leather around his waist to protect his manhood, which Thor saw was quite impressive. Seupu took only a long dagger with him. He meant to hunt traditionally.
When Thor shed his own clothes, Seupu watched with undisguised appreciation, before pressing a chaste kiss to Thor’s lips and a dagger to his palm. It was an elegant one - perfectly balanced and made of the Skystone that grew on Seupu’s world (part of the trade deal their parents were discussing). Skystone was a white moss that hardened like stone when it grew together. It started as a cobweb-like mist, then solidified into messes of gnarled white fibers that twisted together like a bird’s nest, until finally, after a hundred years of strengthening, it became a white stone with twisted detail like marble, capable of being sharpened better and more durably than any metal and light like air.
The knife had runes carved into the hilt - Thor recognized his family name and his own, entwined with those of Seupu’s house. On the blade, magic had written the inscriptions to cut through any spell into the patterns of the stone itself. Such a process required more than 50 years and the hands of the most skilled artisan to arrange the fibers of the developing moss so they would solidify into the correct rune. It was powerful magic woven without the aid of a sorcerer and incredibly valuable.
“A gift to aid the relations between our peoples,” Seupu said, with a wink. “For you to keep.”
Thor pulled him back and kissed him again, deeply, hungrily this time - warrior to warrior. Seupu tasted sweet, like jiberries and herbs. Thor felt himself hardening as he ground against his fellow prince, pulling him down to the soft mulch of the forest floor. Seupu laughed, pushing Thor away. “Not yet, my prince,” he murmured against Thor’s lips. “Let us find dinner first and then I will be happy to continue this.”
Thor wanted to argue, already feeling addicted to the rich taste on Seupu’s lips and the sweet slide of his muscular body against Thor’s own. But Seupu had a point - if they were to catch a thraberbeasts, it was best to do it with the sun high in the sky. It was already mid-afternoon and the longer they waited, the more difficult it would be
The thraberbeasts were large and hairy, resembling a boar with a long prehensile snout and razor-sharp tusks they used for digging into the roots of trees for the grubs that resided there. Like unicorns, they had some magic in them, and were able to make themselves invisible. The forest was full of the creatures that no one could see.
Seupu and Thor collected the herbs for a spell to reveal them and Thor couldn’t help but remember a time long ago, when Loki lead Thor and Volstagg through the forest, eager to show them the revealing spell and to catch their first thraberbeast long before the ceremony of the first hunt. Thor and Volstagg had been hopeless at collecting the proper herbs, and Loki rejected many before they caught on. Thor smiled, remembering a young Loki perched over a pile of herbs, kneeling inelegantly in the mulch and biting his lip in concentration (a habit he had since long trained himself out of). It was one of the first spells that Loki had learned, and like most of their childhood adventures, ended in disaster. Volstagg ended up with a thraberbeast tusk embedded in his buttocks and Thor earned himself his first broken arm. It was also the first time they had discovered Loki’s innate ability to transport himself and Tyr had needed to climb a tree to carry him down from where he’d magicked himself out of fear.
Thor later proved himself by catching a thraberbeast as his challenge on his first hunting day and by now, knew the spell by heart. He let his hands linger as he took the herbs from Seupu, arranging them carefully and tying them with the thick strands of hair from a thraberbeast tail that were the difficult ingredient in the spell. When Thor had asked Loki how the first thraberbeast was caught without the tail hairs of a thraberbeast to make the spell, Loki had explained that a truly powerful mage could see the beasts without a spell. Thor wondered if Loki could see them now.
Thor said the incantation and lit the bundle of herbs on fire. The smoke would reveal any beast it came into contact with, though its form would still be no more than a shimmer, even in bright sunlight. The enchanted knives that Seupu had provided would fully reveal the beasts, cutting through their spells as well as their skin. Seupu must have been set on hunting these particular beasts to have brought both the hair and the special knives for this purpose. Not that Thor blamed him. After Frigga’s admonition, Thor had read the diplomatic dossier on Seupu’s world, so he knew that thraberbeasts were not found there. Their meat was rich and their blood served as an aphrodisiac. It was well worth the effort of catching one, so it made sense that Seupu would want to.
Thor was used to hunting thraberbeasts with Volstagg, who loved thraberbeast stew more than anything. Normally, they’d rigg a clearing with nets and try to herd the scarred beasts into it before killing them. It was less of a challenge, but produced more meat, which was Volstagg’s priority.
Instead, Thor and Seupu proceeded with the traditional hunt - to jump on the back of the beast and slit its throat with a knife while trying not to get stabbed by its tusks. The worked well together, unspokenly moving as one in a way that it had taken centuries for Thor and his friends to cultivate. Thor wafted the smoke over the area and Seupu moved to block obvious escape routes as they moved quietly through the underbrush.
The sun was close to setting when Thor finally spotted the shimmering outline of a beast in the smoke. It was huge, coming up to Thor’s waist and with the giant tusks of a mature male. The beasts could feel the smoke pulling at their magic, so there was no point in stealth. Thor gave a warning cry, charging towards the beast and dodging the panicked swipes of its massive tusks. Before Thor could get a shot in with his knife, Seupu had jumped on its back, valiantly holding on as it tried to buck him off. It jostled Seupu such that his knife slipped, accidentally slashing Thor’s palm when he tried to grab hold of the beast to assist.
Thor ignored the pain and used his own knife to cut where he assumed the beast’s back leg to be. After severing the tendon, it would be unable to escape. The runes in the knife did their work, undoing the invisibility spell around the beast and exposing it. Once the creature was visible, Seupu had no trouble slitting its throat and riding its body to the ground.
Thor noticed belatedly that Seupu had a similar cut to Thor’s on his palm, though Thor had no idea if it was from a knife or one of the beast’s sharp tusks. They made quick work of cutting the beast open and removing its internal organs in order to prevent contamination of the flesh. Seupu sliced with bold, clean strokes that spoke to his skill in hunting and in battle. They were both covered in the deep red blood of the beast, practically naked. Thor could not help his arousal at Seupu’s silent competence. Thor had bedded many men and women, ordinarily for their looks or because he felt inclined on that particular day, but there was something about Seupu - an indefinable pull that transcended the mere matter of the flesh.
Perhaps Loki had been right when he told Thor that coupling could be made magical by the things in the soul that bound two people together. Then again, Loki could just have been having Thor on in order to make him feel like an inadequate lover. Once again, Thor resented his brother’s proclivity to lie.
After they finished their clean up, Thor hoisted the beast onto his back to carry back to the campsite. Seupu could not keep his hands to himself, continuously stroking Thor’s back or gripping his waist under the guise of helping him reposition his burden or guide him down a particular path back towards their camp. Thor actually appreciated the latter, as he was not the best tracker and normally relied on Loki or Fandral to remember the path.
When they had finally returned to camp, Seupu used a spell in order to start a fire with the materials they had gathered earlier and Thor quickly sliced up the meat for cooking. They ate their dinner in silence and set the rest of the meat to smoke overnight. They were covered in both blood and ash when they were done, like a strange tattoo covering their skins.
Thor didn’t hesitate a second after finishing his dinner, arousal simmering within him. He practically leaped onto his fellow prince, adding dirt to the mix of substances smearing their skin. The touch was electric and their coupling animalistic. Their blood mingled where they bit each other in harsh kisses and through the cuts on their palms as they clasped their hands together in the dirt.
Seupu used a spell to slick himself and Thor could feel the magic pull deep within him when he entered his companion. Thor pounded in hard and they both reached completion quickly.
“That was amazing,” Thor murmured, collapsing into his companion.
In the morning, they woke dirty and disheveled, washing themselves in the waterfall and coupling again in the rough waters below. Seupu’s long black hair felt smooth and wonderful under the water and he looked more delicate somehow. In fact, with his golden eyes closed, he looked quite a bit like Loki.
They packed the rest of the meat onto their saddles and road back in comfortable silence, contemplative.
It was only when they reached the farmost pasture and civilization that Seupu spoke up. “Do you think we might one day unite our kingdoms?” Seupu asked.
“We already have a formidable alliance,” Thor replied. “But if, once you are king, you wish to annex your kingdom to Asgard, I would not object.”
Seupu laughed. “You are as untrained in political subtlety as my father warned me. I did not mean that we should submit ourselves to you, but truly unite. Through a marriage.”
Thor blanched. He had greatly enjoyed his time with the prince and looked forward to keeping him as a friend and a lover, but was it not too early for Thor to consider tying himself down that way. And based on the great disaster of this Odinsleep, Thor doubted that his father would abdicate anytime soon.
“I hadn’t thought of it,” Thor admitted. “Perhaps one day.”
“Perhaps sooner than you think,” Seupu murmured, one hand going to his belly.
“Seupu, what have you done?”
Seupu shrugged. “I have Frost Giant lineage. But I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about. It is very difficult for men of mixed blood to conceive and I am only 1/16 Jotun.”
Except it had been a full moon and they had mingled their blood and Seupu didn’t seem at all properly concerned about the risk of a child.
Thor did the only thing he could think of - he galloped off, leaving Seupu calling after him.
***
“You were right,” Thor told the horse, hours later after he’d stopped his panicked riding and turned back towards the palace. “I have made a grave mistake.”
The horse turned away from him, pouting.
“I know, you saved me from the snake and from the sea creature. I should have trusted you to save me from a prince with kingly ambitions as well. But honestly, you’re a horse, what should you know about royal politics?”
The horse nudged at her own belly.
“You are pregnant so you think you can divine when another wants to get pregnant?”
The horse neighed and then sniffed at Thor dramatically.
“You smelled it on him?” Thor asked. He doubted that even a magical horse could smell machinations to get with child. But there had been something. Thor thought back to the sweet intoxicating flavor of Seupu’s kiss. It had been noticeably herbal - like a potion. And it had been a full moon. And there was a reason that despite the aphrodisiac properties, Fandral never once asked Thor and Volstagg for the thraberbeast’s blood. Thor’s eyes widened. They were all fertility enhancers.
“Horse, I have committed an even bigger mistake than I originally thought.”
The horse did not look surprised.
“I coupled with the crown prince of a powerful ally in the twilight of a full moon,, covered in thraberbeast blood, while our blood mingled through cuts on our hands, and he was most likely taking a fertility potion. If he gets with child, I will have to marry him rather than dishonor him with a bastard.”
The horse looked expectant. Thor pondered the situation again, remembering the few things that Loki had taught him about spell potency. “And it was next to rushing water.” Loki had once said that rushing water amplified the power of spells.
The horse snorted, probably in disgust. She stared at Thor a long time. Thor hoped that she was considering calling Loki back. Loki knew politics and he’d tricked enough princesses and princes. He’d know what to do.
Finally, the horse walked over and nudged Thor in the direction of the palace and eventually the palace gardens. Thor was too anxious to sleep, but the horse did not lead him to the ash tree, but rather to Loki’s garden of spell ingredients. She looked at Thor expectantly.
He looked back at her, equally expectant. Surely she did not expect him to understand for himself.
Resignedly, the horse nudged Thor’s hands towards one plant, then another, then another.
“If you want me to make a potion, you will have to find the spell book and locate the page. The thraberbeast disillusionment spell is one of the only ones I know.”
The horse gave him her ‘I can’t believe you’re this stupid look’ again before nudging his hands towards the final herb. Thor looked down at what she had selected, feeling revelation at the outskirts of his consciousness. He knew these ingredients. He’d seen Loki collect them a hundred times before.
“You are brilliant, horse!” Thor exclaimed. “You must have seen my brother gather these as well. They are for the anti-conception tea that he drinks after he has bedded a man!”
The horse appeared less-than-thrilled by Thor’s praise, but Thor hugged her anyway.
Because Frost Giants were of only one gender, any person with Jotun blood could become pregnant if taken by a man. Odin himself had a small amount of Jotun blood in his ancestry and thus both Thor and Loki had the potential to bear children. Thor, unlike Loki, detested the idea of allowing a man to dominate him, so he had never needed to learn how to brew the tea, but he had seen Loki do it often enough.
There was only one more ingredient that Thor needed, and for that, they would have to return to the forest. Fresh Jojubi eggs were plentiful, but difficult to obtain. Jojubis laid their eggs in the giant trees that grew in the forest along the city’s south wall. Thor would often follow Loki on his quest to the south wall in search of the eggs because his brother was always more pleasant company the morning after he had bedded a man and would often be in the mood to play a game of hide and chase with Thor while they were there.
Thor thought it ironic that the horse now played Thor’s role as companion, while Thor himself had to find the eggs. When they were young and Loki had first invented the spell (to avoid going to the healing rooms and have his nocturnal activities reported to their mother), they had needed to climb the trees. But now Loki had his transportation and Thor his hammer.
It was easy to swing his hammer, vaulting him up and onto a wide branch where a large nest filled with nearly a hundred small eggs rested. Thor grabbed only one egg, which should be more than enough for a single cup of tea. Normally Thor would just jump from the tree branch, but Loki had once cautioned him against it, because the shake of the ground from his landing could dislodge the nest and hurt the future jujubi population.
After a painstaking and exhausting climb down the tree’s wide trunk, Thor found the horse staring at his one egg skeptically. She nudged him and looked back up at the tree.
“More? Unlike my brother, I will only been needing one cup, as I do not intend to bed this man again.”
The horse nipped at Thor’s fingers then nosed the large amount of the other ingredients he’d gathered. It was obvious that she wanted him to make more, but why?
“How many men do you think I will accidentally get with child?” Thor asked, exasperated.
The horse whinyed, nipping Thor again.
The horse had made him gather enough herbs for a whole party to drink the tea. What could Thor possibly do with that much tea?
The horse stared at him expectantly.
“Stop staring at me. You make it difficult to concentrate.”
The horse looked away pointedly.
“What would my brother do in such a situation?” Thor murmured to himself. Loki would have all sorts of underhanded ways to get the prince to unwittingly drink the potion. He could disguise its taste with magic or pour it into his throat as he slept. He could probably even transport it directly into Seupu’s stomach.
But Thor had no such skill. He’d have to rely on deception and deception was not his strength. That must be why the horse wanted enough to feed the whole royal table.
Thor grinned wildly at the horse. “That’s why we need to make so much. So I can give it to the whole table - that way Seupu will not suspect me of anything!”
Once again, the horse appeared nonplussed, as though the solution were obvious.
“You are truly brilliant, horse. You remind me of my brother.”
A/N: Next part is the birthing scene. I didn't watch a truly horrifying video on youtube for nothing (seriously, I think this may be singlehandedly responsible for pushing back my childrearing timetable by a couple of years).
Next Chapter: The Birth