The Last Days of Magic and Glory Chapter #14

[tzzzz]

In this chapter, Thor and Sif fight at the warrior's council and Thor investigates his own fertility.



Chapter 14:  Preemptive Strikes

Thor felt comfortable, safe, and warm. He felt utterly content. And then something warm and moist touched his foot. Thor shot out of bed, dislodging Loki, who was draped over him, with his head tucked into Thor’s neck.

Wide green eyes met Thor’s at the end of the bed and Sleipnir huffed and nudged Thor’s foot again. The day had barely begun and Sleipnir’s grey coat looked almost blue in the pre-dawn light.

“Thor,” Loki groaned. “Stop fidgeting and go back to sleep. I was comfortable.”

“Sorry, Loki, but I think your son wants to break his fast.”

Loki pushed himself up with a grumble and transformed into a horse in the middle of Thor’s rooms. After Sleipnir had finished suckling, Loki returned to his normal form and collapsed back into the bed and on top of Thor.

Thor wished he could return to sleep, but now that Sleipnir had awakened him, his mind would not quiet. Last night, they had arisen from a long soak the bath only to make love again on Thor’s bed before falling almost immediately to sleep. It had left no time for discussion of the situation in Jotunheim.

But despite the looming meeting of the Warrior’s Council, Thor had another thought on his mind. He had enjoyed lying with Loki to an almost absurd degree, but there was something missing. If it were solely about chasing their mutual pleasure, then Thor would have no problem. He had enjoyed the same acts with many a lover. He’d even enjoyed them with Seupu, despite his deceptions. But what Loki meant to him was far beyond mere pleasure. And Thor wanted to do something that made it special. It felt different than all that had come before, but Thor had no way of articulating that difference. He doubted that Loki would accept a ballad in his honor, or any gifts.

He thought about what Loki had said before: they would have to trade intimacies in order to come closer. Thor’s heart felt open and vulnerable, like it was stuffed full to bursting out of love. But as Loki still kept his secrets, no doubt thousands of them, Thor still kept his body - he kept one thing from all his lovers and what greater act of intimacy could there be than to give it to the one person he loved above all others?

Thor did not know what made him so nervous about being taken. He never doubted for a second that his partners found it pleasurable and he was sure that he would find it pleasurable as well. He knew that part of his fear was that he saw it as weakness. To take another powerful individual in such a way meant that they submitted to have their body breached, potentially injured. Thor would never use it as a tool of actual dominance, though there were many stories of such a thing used as torture, humiliation, a sign of victory, or spoils of war. He would not dream of sullying himself by changing an act that should be about pleasure into one of war and he did not think less of his partners for allowing him to penetrate them.

But it was not something he did. That animalistic part of him, the part that no doubt impelled many a king and warrior to use such an act of war on the body, resisted the idea that he, Thor Odinson, who never allowed anyone to dominate him in battle or in life, would allow such an act of submission.

Could he allow such a thing from Loki? Thor wasn’t sure, but for the first time he could remember, he considered it. In fact, he more than considered it. He was curious. He wanted it. But wanting something and being able to do it were two separate things. Then again, Thor had long mastered his body, had trained himself to push beyond the limits of strength and endurance when needed. He could go months without resting or eating or drinking, lost in battle. He could fight through gaping wounds and broken bones. Thor’s body was his to command as much as the elemental world belonged to Loki. He could breathe through the discomfort of the act and he could force his body to still and let the wound be inflicted. He would win this battle for Loki and for their relationship, because his brother deserved to have everything Thor could give him.

He resolved to visit the healing rooms after the council meeting and discover his fertility status once and for all. At least that way he could ask Loki to reserve some of the anti-conception tea for him if needed.

“Stop thinking,” Loki groaned from beside him.

Normally Thor would have just hit his brother with a pillow, but instead he rolled over, situating himself in between Loki’s spread legs. “I will stop thinking when you make it so.”

Loki’s eyes squinted open and he looked at Thor skeptically. Thor rolled his hips a little, feeling Loki harden in response. He grinned.

“Oh, wipe that smug look off your face. If you’re not careful it might get stuck that way.”

Loki, as it turned out, would not let Thor take him with Sleipnir in the room, but he seemed perfectly content to duck under the covers and make Thor cease all coherent thought if Sleipnir was awake but chasing butterflies on the terrace. Thor gladly returned the favor before settling with Loki against him.

“You must help me with the Jotun situation.”

Loki grumbled, burrowing his face into Thor’s chest.

“Come on, we are princes, we cannot escape these matters entirely.”

“I could. If I had stayed in the wilds with Sleipnir, I could be free of all this.”

“You would prefer the existence of a horse to being a prince?” What Thor really wanted to know was if Loki preferred to wander than to stay here with him.

“These are your duties, Thor. I’m not sure father would approve of me helping you.”

“Since when have you cared for father’s approval?”

Loki looked bewildered. “Sometimes I wonder if you know me at all, Thor. Since always.”

Thor frowned. Then why was Loki always making mischief? Why did he not focus more on his fighting skills and less on magic, as Odin desired?

Clearly Thor’s thoughts were plain on his stupid revealing face because Loki poked him hard in the side. “I seek father’s approval for being who I am, not some shadow of what you already are, Thor.”

Thor didn’t entirely understand the difference, but Loki was missing the point as usual. “I am sure that father would disapprove of us both if you let me accidentally start a war with Jotunheim in his absence.”

Loki nodded. “Father has always said that a great king does not seek war, but he prepares for it. Our last war with the Jotun was devastating. More so for Jotunheim than for Asgard, but I’ve seen the intelligence reports from Jotunheim and Sif related to me the current status of our own warriors. If it comes to war, we will win. But without the Casket, the Jotun have very little to lose. They will fight until we are crippled and they are dead.”

“If they are plotting an incursion into Asgard, then we will have to fight until it is so,” Thor argued.

“There are ways other than war to stop a plot, Thor. A plot is just a harmless thought before it is executed. There are greater forces in the universe, brother, beyond the Nine Realms. There are enemies much deadlier than the Jotun and we cannot afford to lose our strength on a Jotun rebellion if it means we will not have the strength to defend ourselves.”

“What do you mean?” Thor asked. Thor was of course aware that there was entire universe outside the Nine Realms and that in all probability parts of it were inhabited. But he had paid careful attention to all his lessons in War History and there had never been an attack from outside. “How do you know of this, Loki?”

“I have travelled beyond the arms of Yggdrasil, brother. I have seen truths that confuse and terrify.” Loki lowered his head, speaking now to Thor’s chest in his shame. “I may even have drawn the curiosity of horrible things.”

Thor sat up, forcing Loki off him. They faced each other: Thor with the furs still draped around him and Loki crouched on their pillows like a bird ready to take flight. “Why didn’t you tell me of such adventures, Loki? I would have . . .”

“You could not have journeyed with me, Thor. They were exercises in dark magic that stretched my power, to fling my consciousness to the far realms of space. It was projection. I still do not know how to fully transport myself there.”

“If I could not go with you, you could have told me of the threat.”

“You were not in a position of power before. I suffered enough, knowing what was out there. I did not need to ruin your innocence as well. I made our father aware of the situation. Surely, you do not think that our slow increases in training efforts and recruitment of sorcerers was due to the Jotun, a race we have had peace with our entire lives.”

Thor stood, changing into his ceremonial armor angrily. “You hold your secrets so dearly, Loki. Did you not think I needed to be aware of such things when I took over father’s duties on the War Council?”

“Tyr knows. He would have told you if I did not.”

“Why would you tell Tyr and not your own brother?”

Loki sighs. “I love you, Thor, but love does not override practicality. Trust me, you do not wish to be burdened with all that I know. If I know things you do not, it is not because they are secrets but because you would not be helped by knowing them.”

“Move the words about all you like, Loki, but the naked truth is that you believe you deserve to keep things from me.”

“And if I do?”

Thor knew enough of strategy to recognize a long siege when he saw one and the siege on the fortress of Loki’s secrets must wait for a more favorable season. “Thank you, Loki. I now understand the consequences of a war with Jotunheim,” Thor forced out. Thor always had difficulties stepping away from arguments, but with the War Council meeting only moments away, he did not have time. “Now what do you suggest I do?”

Loki shrugged. “Anything other than a military response. King Laufey has disappeared because he does not wish to explain what he is currently doing. But the Jotuns have always been a secretive people, especially concerning the inner workings of their culture and their biology. We do not even know what they eat. We must rely on the fact that it makes no sense for Laufey to start a war now when he is even more desperately outmatched than last time. No, the best option is to wait for the spymaster to return to illuminate Laufey’s purpose. But some small act to show who is in control is probably warranted. You can send more men, or take a few of the liars in for questioning at your sentry post. Whatever you do, Laufey’s deputies will not start a war in his absence, so it does not entirely matter. Send a second spy after whoever will undoubtedly go to tell Laufey of your actions.”

“And what small act do you suggest.”

“Let the Council decide. We should let them think they have some power in all this.”

“And . . .”

Before Thor could finish, the bell on his door rang. He opened it to find Sif waiting on the other side. She did not wait for an invitation to enter.

“Thor.” She kissed Thor on the cheek. “Loki.” She nodded to where Loki was still laying on the bed, obviously naked and not particularly ashamed. Thor had expected that Loki would make himself invisible, but instead he stood and walked to the dresser, which Thor noted now contained some of Loki’s clothes. Loki pulled on a pair of supple leather pants and a tunic before greeting Sif with a kiss.

“Are you prepared for today’s Council, Sif?” Loki asked.

“As prepared as I can be,” Sif replied, still looking a little alarmed by the state of undress she had found Loki in. He eyes darted back and forth between the brothers suspiciously.

“Yes, it is a difficult decision - what is happening on Jotunheim.”

“Do you have an opinion on the matter?”

Loki smirked. “I have many. But, I should not waste your time. Please escort my dear brother to the council chambers for me. I must make a small trip to the South Wall.” Thor briefly wondered if Sif knew about Loki’s special anti-conception potion and what a trip to the South Wall ment. He must have mentioned it to her over the years, but he did not know how likely it was that she remembered.

Thor blushed, which only made Loki grin. Whether or not Sif knew of the potion soon became immaterial because just so there was no doubt about the changed nature of their relationship, Loki shimmied up to Thor and pressed a lingering kiss to his lips.

Sif just rolled her eyes and grabbed Thor by the elbow, practically dragging him out the door.

The second the door shut behind them, Sif hissed. “What the hell was that?”

Thor didn’t see much point in denying it. “I took your advice of long ago. Loki and I are now lovers.”

“That much is obvious. What I mean is: why does your brother know about the matters of the Council?”

“They are not confidential, Sif.”

“According to the Council’s charter they are.”

Thor frowed. He did not know there was a charter, let alone manage to read it. “Loki is a prince as much as I am. He has a right to know.”

“I doubt your father would see it that way.”

“That, we will find out when he wakes.”

Sif took Thor’s statement for the dismissal it was and they made their way to the Council Chambers in silence.

After the formal introductions, Tyr began the meeting with new information from Jotunheim. “My fellow councilmen, I’m afraid that I come bringing sad tidings. Our sentries using magically calibrated spyglasses have detected a great magical glow emanating from the Dawn-side of Jotunheim. We must assume that King Laufey is there and that he is using massive amounts of magic for some unknown purpose.”

The councilmen immediately broke out into outraged shouts, some banging on the table, and arguing amongst themselves. Thor expected no less from a group of seasoned warriors, but was there really anything to argue about? Performing such magic under the watch of Asgard and refusing to explain it - surely this was an act of war. And its timing was not a coincidence. Laufey had no doubt heard that Odin slept and Thor was now on the throne. It was a test of Thor’s resolve and it would be met with the show of force it deserved. “Laufey is preparing for war.” Thor’s voice boomed, silencing the other council members. “And we will give it to him. Call your designation houses to amass their warriors and we will march on Jotunheim!”

“Thor!” Sif shouted sharply. “Such actions are foolish. We do not know what it is Laufey is doing. We cannot go to war without that knowledge.”

“You dare call me a fool, Lady Sif?” Thor grunted, turning in anger on the one council member that was supposed his ally. Sif, as usual, refused to be intimidated when Thor stepped menacingly into her space.

“I’m not calling you a fool, Thor.” Sif rolled her eyes irreverently. “I wouldn’t dare. But the idea that we would go unprepared into war against a people with whom we have had peace since you and I were babes is foolish.”

“Laufey has flouted our authority and that of our king enough,” Ve shouted. “It does not matter if he is preparing for war or not. His behavior violates our treaty and he must be shown his place!”

Several of the warriors, the ones who had fought with Ve in the last Jotun war, all clapped their hands in agreement.

“He thinks Asgard weak without the presence of Odin. But we are strong with a will and a prowess in battle that even Odin underestimates,” Ve continued. “I will summon my warriors and we will fight hard to prove that the Jotun shall not take advantage of our prince.”

“I have no doubt that you will,” Thor replied. In the back of hia mind he remembered what Loki had told him about the need to maintain their forces, about the Jotun’s desperation and the threat in the void, but the situation had changed. Laufey was using powerful magic and if he used this unknown power against Asgard, then there would be no army left to fight the foreign power that Loki feared.

“I agree with Lady Sif,” Tyr replied. “I do not think we have enough knowledge to go to war. In the very least, this magic could be a trap or it could have nothing to do with war and simply be a Jotun habit of some sort. For all we know the phenomena is natural. The Jotun do have a natural connection to their land that is poorly understood. We must find out more before we act.”

Tyr had a good point about the potential for a trap. Thor did not relish the idea of arriving on Jotunheim blind. “You are right. We must wait for more information before we attack. But King Laufey is courting war. We will prepare for a preemptive strike while we await the word of our spymaster. Can Heimdall provide any information?”

Sif shook her head. “He has not been able to see Laufey since he disappeared from the palace days ago. Perhaps the magical field the sentries observed is obscuring his view. He says that otherwises things are unusually quiet on Jotunheim.”

“All the more reason to punish Laufey. One of the terms of the treaty was that he would hide himself from Heimdall’s gaze.”

“We cannot go to war over one treaty term!” Tyr argued. “I suggest that you visit the palace yourself, Prince Thor. Demand Laufey’s presence and if he will not appear, demand to speak to a giant with the authority to negotiate.”

“If what he prepares on the Dawn-side is a weapon of war that he only needs more time to finish, we will be allowing him a delay that he will use against us,” Ve argued. “You were not there, younglings,” he said to Thor and Sif. “Laufey is ruthless. He was ruthless when he tried to conquer Midgard, ruthless when he took the All-Father’s eye, and ruthless to his own people in their shameful surrender. He put the Hill Giants into a frozen sleep when they lost the war and I would wager my tankard in Valhalla that he wakes them now as an army.”

“I will not go to war on your word,” Tyr replied. “It does not matter how much you wager. War is risk enough; we cannot gamble on that which we do not know. We must wait. I do not dispute you - if it is proven that King Laufey is preparing for an invasion of Asgard, then we must attack. But if all he is doing is raise his army, then we should allow him to.”

Tyr’s statement was met with shocked gasps.

“Without the Casket of Ancient Winters or the Bifrost, he has no way off that frozen rock. An army just gives him more mouths to feed. We cannot allow him to trick us into bringing the war to Jotunheim, where he can kill our warriors without finding a means to travel to other worlds.”

“You would prefer that he bring the fight to Asgard?” Thor demanded.

“I would see him prove that he is really a threat before we play into his trap.”

Thor looked a Ve and the other holdouts, but they did not have a response.

All eyes in the room looked to Thor and he swelled with pride for a brief moment, happy that he had earned enough respect for them to cede to him the final decision.

“Then it is settled. Asgard prepares for war. We await only the return of our spymaster to tell us what Laufey is doing and whether he has discovered the means to leave Jotunheim.”

The other warrior’s pounded the table, signaling their agreement.

After the meeting, Thor and Sif made their way to the training rooms in silent anger. Thor was proud that he managed to keep enough control to not start shouting at Sif there in the hallway. Sif looked similarly enraged.

The second they were alone in their training rooms, Thor shouted, “How dare you undermine me in front of the Council, Sif! We are on the brink of war and the last thing they need to see is weakness in their leader!”

“We are on the brink of war because you declared it so!” Sif shouted back, not afraid to insert herself in Thor’s space. “And I would never undermine you in front of warriors under your command. That much, you know. But this is the Warrior’s Council. If you do not intend for us to discuss what should be done freely and passionately, then you have no need of a council at all. Or is it that I dared to defy you? Tell me, Thor, did you invite me to the Council as a distraction for the others and as a pawn you could control or did you genuinely desire my advice?”

Thor shrugged. “Loki was the one who told me to invite you.”

“Is that it?” Sif shouted. “Is it Loki who pulls the strings to send us into war with Jotunheim? I know he is your brother, Thor, now your lover, but we both know that for all his cleverness, Loki cannot be trusted to pursue any interest but his own. We must think - what is his game in all this?”

Thor shook his head, ashamed. “There is no game. Loki does not want to return to court and Loki cautioned me to do anything except what I did today.”

“There is always a game with Loki. Like the one he is playing with you now.”

Thor practically growled at Sif, walking into her until she was forced to step back, her back to the wall. “Loki is not playing a game with me. He loves me.”

“I don’t doubt that he does,” Sif replied. “He always has. But for Loki loving you does not mean giving you your freedom. That little display this morning? We both know that he could have easily hidden himself. No, he wanted me to know about the two of you. He wanted me to know that he has control over you.”

“He doesn’t have control over me! Were you not listening, Sif? I just did the opposite of what he told me to do.”

“Or did he tell you to do that so that you would do the opposite and feel guilty afterwards?”

Trying to figure out what Sif was saying made Thor’s head spin. “I do not believe that Loki is manipulating me. But even if he is, it is impossible to know what it is he actually wants and doing the opposite of what I believe to be right is most likely more disastrous than letting him have his way.”

Sif didn’t seem to have an argument for that, so she changed tactics. “Then if he is not manipulating you into war, then Loki agrees with me! Why won’t you listen to the both of us?”

“Sif, a moment ago you were trying to convince me to do anything but what Loki wants me to do and now you use him to support your own position?”

Sif shrugged. “I know your current plan of action is wrong. Loki knows it and I believe you do as well. At the next meeting of the Council I expect you to come to reason.”

And with that, Sif stalked out. Thor sat in silent contemplation for a moment, wondering what he needed to do now. He knew he had acted rashly and he trusted Loki’s counsel, as well as Sif’s. But it could be that the Jotuns were really preparing for war, even though Loki said it did not make sense. The Jotun were monstrous creatures with their own evil motivations and their own secret ways. Perhaps something else was driving them to war, something unknown to even Loki. Or maybe they just wanted war because they liked it. The history books made much speculation about their decision to invade Midgard all those years ago, but it had always seemed to be without reason to Thor.

No, Thor would not recall the order to ready the troops. Even if the spymaster returned with good tidings, the exercise would be beneficial for the warriors. It would put them on guard and they could arrange for some large scale mock battles, which Odin had not commissioned in some time.

Thus resolved, Thor decided to continue with his plan for the afternoon - to head to the healing chambers and then return to his rooms to lay with Loki once again - hopefully before he told Loki about his decisions in Council.

Thor did not like the Healing Chambers. Despite the warm golden lights and the homey feeling that the healers tried to project in the design of their space, no one had pleasant memories of the Chambers. Thor had worse memories than most. Normally children were not allowed inside unless they were ill and without the dangers of battle, children almost never needed the care of the main ward. But when they were children, Loki suffered from a terrible malady that caused him to periodically break into such fevers that he was confined to the Healing Chambers for weeks on end. In the delirium he would call out for Thor and not quiet until Thor was lying next to him, awake but forced into stillness by the heavy weight of the healing field around them. Thor forever associated the healing rooms with his brother’s pale sweat-drenched face and his screams and how Thor felt so utterly helpless to protect him.

Thor forced his heartbeat to calm as he approached the golden doors. A grown man, a warrior, should not feel such apprehension to enter friendly chambers that had only cured himself and those he loved. He did not feel the slightest trepidation entering a stronghold of giants or the nest of a dragon, but the place of his childhood nightmares still scared him.

“Prince Thor!” Eir rushed over to Thor, eyeing him critically. It was probably Thor’s own fault that she reacted this way - he only came to her when grievously injured and could not convince Loki or one of the lower mages to heal him.

After a moment spent inspecting him, Eir frowned. “What brings you here, my prince?”

Thor looked around the rooms. There was only one warrior in a healing sleep, but he still felt exposed. Perhaps he should just leave and return when there was no one else here.

“Well?” Eir demanded impatiently. He had always found her unnaturally abrasive for a healer, but it was refreshing to not be treated with complete deference every once in awhile. And Eir’s stern demeanor was effective in keeping Thor in compliance with her recovery plans.

“I have a question,” Thor replied reluctantly.

Eir followed his gaze to the one sleeping patient. “Would you prefer to speak in the Meeting Room?”

Thor did not find the Meeting Room more pleasant than the other parts of the Healing chambers - it had been where Eir had reluctantly delivered news of Loki’s fevers. Thor had felt even more powerless in the bright, calming space that was designed to disarm his rightful fear and sorrow. However, he did appreciate the privacy.

“Now,” Eir said, taking a seat on the comfortable chair opposite him. “What can I do for you?”

“As my father has Jotun blood, I would like a test of my fertility.”

Eir nodded, summoning a few supplies to grind with the mortar and pestle on the small table next to her chair. “Is there a particular reason you seek the test at this time?” Her voice was bland, not even particularly curious, but the impertinence of the question peeved Thor nonetheless.

“I do not see how it is relevant to you,” he snapped.

Eir sighed, putting down her work to lay a cool hand on top of Thor’s. “You have always been so fiercely determined to fight your battles alone, ever since you were a boy. I ask not because it is relevant to me, but because it is relevant to you and as a healer, I have a duty to care for you.”

“And how will telling you that help me.”

“Well, if you are seeking knowledge about your fertility in order to bear a child, then I can help prepare you. If you are seeking to avoid conception, there are potions and spells.”

“I already know a potion,” Thor replied proudly. He’d even used it to drug a prince.

“Of course. Your brother would have taught you his method. It is fairly complex and not necessary for those who do not have the highest levels of fertility. If you are closer to the range of most Aesir of mixed blood, I can cast a spell that only needs renewal once a year.”

Thor frowned. “So Loki is unusually fertile?” Thor asked, thinking of all those times they went together to collect the Jujubi eggs for the tea.

Eir laughed. “Your brother is so fertile he could become pregnant if someone looked at him wrong.”

Thor gaped. Perhaps that was why Loki was so unsociable.

Eir took in Thor’s expression and laughed harder. “I say that in jest. But Loki has been cursed with a level of fertility closer to that of a Jotun. He developed that potion because the ordinary spells and potions would not work on him.”

“If they didn’t work, then he has been with child before?”

“Perhaps that is something that you should discuss with him yourself. Your brother did do the right thing and came for the fertility test the moment he felt he might desire to lay with men. It was hundreds of years ago. It surprises me that you have taken so long to come to me. Especially considering your recent courtship of Prince Seupu.”

Thor hated the palace gossips with a passion. “I am not courting Prince Seupu.”

“But you do lay with men.”

Thor nodded.

“But you have not allowed any man to take you?”

Thor shook his head. It was easier than explaining exactly what it meant to be considering this now.

“I assume that you intend to do so soon. Is your sudden change of heart due to a desire to conceive?”

Thor shook his head violently. Just because he was ready to entertain the idea of Loki taking him did not mean that he could stomach the thought of having a child, let alone carrying it himself. Sleipnir was enough work and he was a horse. Thor could not imagine how trying an Aesir child could be.

“Well, then, in the likely case that you are fertile, I can cast the anti-conception spell on you.” She handed over a glass of water with the paste she had been grinding dissolved within it. “Here, drink this and take off your chest plate.”

The green liquid tasted foul, but Thor complied.

After Thor had finished the glass and stripped out of his armor, Eir reached out her hand, laying it over Thor’s stomach. Thor felt a warm, tingling sensation and then the skin under Eir’s hand glowed a placid white.

“Interesting,” Eir commented. “I would have thought that with your brother’s fertility being what it is, you would undoubtedly be fertile as well. But it seems he drew all of the luck in inheritance.”

“So I’m not fertile?” Thor asked.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, this is glorious news. I must tell . . .” Thor stopped himself before he could say Loki’s name. He hoped that Loki consented to return to court soon. Secrets and lies, even those of omission, were not among Thor’s talents. “My lover will be happy to hear of this as am I. Thank you, Eir. I try not to visit these rooms often, but I am appreciative of the work you do.”

He kissed Eir on the hand and practically ran down the corridor. Thor felt unburdened. He would never have to deal with the forced delicacy of being with child or the spells and potions needed to prevent it. Thor had been opposed to the act of being taken as well, but he found that with the fertility question out of the way, he was almost excited about giving it a try. Perhaps he should have listened to Loki and had his fertility tested long ago.

Thor burst into his chambers to find Loki sitting in the middle of the bed, trying to coax Sleipnir up onto the mattress to take a nap with him, but the foal seemed suspicious of the way the mattress dipped beneath his hooves and whinnied and ran all the way outside in fear.

Thor took the opportunity to fling himself onto the bed, pinning Loki and devouring his lips in a questing kiss.

“Mmmm,” Loki hummed. “What has you so happy, Thor? Did the meeting go well?”

Thor frowned. In his trepidation and later elation he had completely forgotten about the council meeting. “It was not entirely satisfactory,” he hedged.

Loki rolled his eyes. “What did you do this time?”

“I may have ordered our warriors to assemble.”

Loki swatted him hard on the back of the head. “You did the one thing I told you not to!”

Thor smiled sheepishly. “I did not deploy them.”

“Oh, that makes it much better. Now we only have all the warriors of Asgard ramped up and ready for war and the citizenry terrified of what it might bring.”

“What is wrong with being ready for war?”

“Thor, we have had an unprecedented age of peace. We’ve had only few skirmishes here and there, and yet our very culture demands that a man prove himself in battle. The warriors go on petty quests and sing tales of times you and I barely remember. Now that you have promised them the taste of war, it will be as difficult to pull them back as it is to return a beast to a cage.”

“But we will have war!” Thor exclaimed. “There is a great magical light coming from the Dawn-side of Jotunheim. What could it be if not a means of war?”

“If it is just a magical light, it could be anything in your imagining. You are the most bloodthirsty of all the bloodthirsty warriors in this kingdom so of course you see it as tool of war. We must wait and we must try to negotiate. Or have you forgotten already the greater war that looms in the void beyond the arms of the Yggdrasil? If Laufey intended to attack us, he would need the boon of surprise. He would be solicitous to our queries so that we would not discover his plans. As they say, a man carrying a dead body in a sack will follow all the rules of the tavern.”

“Maybe he does not care for surprise. The Jotun are vile, evil monsters. It is in their blood to make war. He has heard that the All-father sleeps and that his incompetent son is on the throne. He is mocking what he perceives to be my weakness.”

“Yes, Thor,” Loki used his most patronizing voice - the one Thor hated. “The Jotun have war in their blood and Laufey is a reckless and arrogant as you are. That’s why we have had peace for a millennium. That’s why he negotiated a treaty with our father. You must wait, at least until the Spymaster returns.”

“I have already promised Sif that I would do that.”

“Good, at least I know there is one on the Council who listens to reason.”

Thor laughed. “If you think Sif an ally, then you are mistaken. She has been accusing you of manipulating me.”

Loki smirked, rolling over so that he straddled Thor and pressing a soft kiss to his lips. “So what if I am?”

“I told her that if you are manipulating us then we are too stupid to figure out how, so we might as well just do what we otherwise would.”

“Mmmmm,” Loki murmured, giving Thor another lingering kiss. “That’s the smartest thing you’ve said since you came home.” Thor thrilled at the fact that Loki called his chambers home, but kept his joy to himself. “And even if I am manipulating you, it is no one’s interest to go to war with Jotunheim. Not yours, not Laufey’s, not Asgard’s, and certainly not mine. When the spymaster returns, I will go to Jotunheim myself if I have to in order to ensure peace.”

“And your determination to remain hidden?”

Loki sighed. “We are princes, Thor. It is useless to deny it. If the fate of the kingdom rests on our shoulders, what we want must come second.”

“And Sleipnir?”

“Surely I will not be in Jotunheim for long. Now, are you going to tell me why you were so happy when you walked in here? I doubt you were practically skipping because you put us on the brink of war.”

Thor grinned. His ego had taken a beating from Loki’s reprimand, but he was excited to tell Loki the news and to give him a great gift. “I went to Eir to have my fertility tested.”

A slow sweet smile dawned on Loki’s features. “So you would like for me to have you the way you have so enjoyed having me?”

Thor nodded, pulling Loki down against him for a lingering, passionate kiss. “The news is even better! I am not fertile so we need not worry about the consequences.”

It was horror to see the smile fall from Loki’s face. He pulled away, turning his back to Thor and sitting with his feet dangling off the edge of the bed.

Thor frowned in confusion. “This is joyous news, Loki. Surely you did not wish to see me carrying your seed. As much as I love you and would love to one day make a family with you, you know that biologically we are brothers and cannot.”

Loki remained silent, so Thor grabbed him by the arm and forced him around to face Thor again. He would have an explanation.

“Thor,” Loki’s eyes were glassy but he still did not cry. “If you are not fertile and I very much am, we cannot be brothers. The rules of biological inheritance for that particular trait determine it to be so.”

Loki looked serious, but it could not be. Loki might be different than Thor in practically every way, but they fought together, played together, grew up together. They were brothers. Thor refused to believe that their parents had lied to them about that.

Loki waved his hand and Thor could see the slight mist of a tear evaporate from the corner of his eye. He turned to Thor and kissed him gently. “We should be happy. If we are not brothers, then we can one day begin a family, maybe even wed. That is your grand dream, isn’t it?”

Thor did not have a grand dream. He was loath to admit it, but he never did spend much time thinking about the future. He knew that he loved Loki more than he ever thought possible. He did not want their relationship to end. But marriage and a family were not options so he hadn’t thought on them.

But as much as he wanted Loki as lover, partner, even queen, he wanted him as a brother just as much. On one hand the fact that they might not be related legitimized their current relationship, but if their relationship had been leading to romance all along, it also invalidated the thousand years of brotherhood that Thor would not trade for anything in the universe.

“It cannot be true. You can’t make assumptions based solely on this one thing. I could have something else wrong with me that makes me infertile even though my inheritance suggests I should be. You could have had a fertility spell cast on you at some point. Or one of those random changes in inheritance occurred. Eir was surprised by the result, but she didn’t say anything about the possibility that we might not be related.”

“But it makes sense, Thor. It explains why we are so different, why we do not look alike, why you have absolutely no magical ability while I have an excess, why you are so strong while I have always been sickly, and why our father has always favored you. It even explains why mother was so concerned about me finding out a secret that she would use magic on you. I have long suspected that they have been keeping something of this magnitude from us.”

Loki moved to stand, but Thor did not let him. He used his strength to pull Loki down into a strong embrace.

“Let me go, Thor. I want to be alone.”

Even if Thor had wanted to, he didn’t think he could convince his arms to release. “No. I will not release you so you can go shatter yourself in solitude. Even if we are not brothers, my love for you will not diminish. We must apply the same logic to the situation as you have applied to the Jotuns. There are many possible explanations and we must know for certain before we make conclusions.”

“And how are we going to know for certain?”

“I will investigate.”

Thor expected some comment about his naivety, utter lack of stealth, and limited deductive reasoning capacities, but Loki just nodded into his shoulder, no longer bothering to evaporate his tears.

Sleipnir returned at the sound of his father’s quiet sobs, even allowing Thor to bend down and scoop him up onto the bed so that his soft coat and sweet nature could provide much-needed comfort.

Next Chapter: Thor Odinson, Spymaster