Liesmith Chapter 2
Title: Liesmith, Chapter 2
Warnings/Notes: Same as last time around
Summary: Loki becomes a prince and Thor meets other people
Previous Chapter
***
Chapter 2
He finds Mother speaking with aesir that he has not met before. They are in one of the wide rooms with long tables covered in food and drink that Loki doesn’t need to eat. Eir had sent him to fetch her, and he is good and does what he is told (most of the time) so he walks up to her and calls her name. Mother stands very still (he looks at the others standing there, all of their eyes are wide, he wonders if they might fall out), then her hand is on his shoulder, gripping tightly. It does not look like she is grabbing at him, he notices as she walks him across the room which is silent, but it is tight and pinches. One of the other women whispers “mother” and he is passed off quickly to a hand maiden who leads him out of the room.
Fulla guides him through the halls with a firm hand on his back.
“Best not to say anything,” she tells him. “Be quiet, listen, and do as you’re told. She cannot be that angry.”
Eir stands quickly from her seat when the door to her chambers opens and they walk in. She moves to them in such a way that he thinks she flies. “What has happened?” He does not understand why everyone is tense.
“I told Mother you needed her.”
Eir looks at him very quietly and then rests a hand on his shoulder. “Loki, stay here.” She shuts the door behind her when she leaves, stepping close to Fulla in confidence.
Loki stays.
Fulla returns later, bearing a glass of water
“The Queen is not pleased with you,” she tells him. He sips the water; the coolness of it seeping into his body makes him feel more solid. “There is nothing to be done now,” she paces, “so we will have to make the best of it. What were you thinking, addressing Frigga so…”
At first he is not sure who she is speaking of, then thinks Queen and Mother.
“Frigga?”
Fulla turns to him mid-pace and explains.
-
He is introduced to the court within the week.
Loki Odinson, the second prince of Asgard.
“Rumors had spread,” Fulla whispers to him, fixing the collar of his new jacket before he is led in. “Everyone knows now. You will have to be a good boy. A good son.”
Make your father proud.
Except Father is not father. He is unsure why no one had told him before (“Why would it think that,” not-Mother had raged. He tries not to remember). It is a title. And he has been told one day he will get his own.
“You are not Father,” he says to not-Father (Odin, he must remember) after the introduction, they are waiting for the final preparations of the celebration. Not-Mother is talking to Thor quietly in the corner before they are to entire the banquet hall together. The Allfather lifts his chin up so that their eyes meet.
“I am now.”
“Why did you never correct me?”
“It did not occur to me that I should want to.”
There is a feast afterward, and Loki sips cool water and sits with his Family and smiles shy smiles as he is greeted by courtiers one by one. Some bring gifts, they are put in a pile and he does not see them again. It is still early when Frigga sends him away with Eir, announcing that he is young and tired. That they do not want to overwhelm him so soon.
Thor is allowed to stay because he is bigger, but Eir says she will go back for him later (she doesn’t, she stays with Loki because the new room is big and cold and he doesn’t like it there alone). On his way out, Thor says goodbye and calls him brother and asks if they will still play in the morning. Loki nods.
-
It is not long after Loki’s introduction to the court that Thor begins his training.
He comes back the first week, bursting into Loki’s new room, and chatters about weapons and wrestling, glowing with excitement, showing Loki every bruise and scrape. And Loki listens to his prince (brother). Frigga has already told him that Loki will not be trained, even when his is “of age,” because she will not give him the opportunity to use that training against her son. Until then the thought had never crossed Loki’s mind.
Regardless, Loki enjoys listening to Thor’s stories, if only to see the animation on the boy’s face. Even if they are not together all the time, even though he is no longer Thor’s alone, these moments are still just for them.
It isn’t until the day Thor begins to talk of the other boys he trains with that Loki grows concerned.
He will never be allowed to join Thor, and the other boys have something that Loki cannot provide. He is slimmer than them, though faster, and wiry. Loki wants to match them in strength, to prove he can still be useful even if he is forbidden from learning the act of battle. So he goes to the library again, the first time since he had been caught, and decides that if he cannot learn the act of it, then he will learn the art of it.
He studies strategy and strengthens the glowing in himself that he can feel, but not define. Magic, Eir tells him. Be cautious.
He floats a book down from the high shelves in front of the attendants. No one says anything.
-
On the eve of his fifth official Nameday celebration there is an attack, and it is not on Thor.
He was a safe guard for Thor, Frigga had told him this. Loki was under illusions of nothing else. She had hoped he might distract further attempts at her son’s life.
She is right.
Loki is attacked by a sorcerer. He had been unprepared, his reaction time sloppy. He will be better next time; he swears it (he is). The event does not last long (that he has been told), but the world had gone dark and broken. He remembers very little and what he does still have is corrupted and in a haze. He reaches for the memories and they scatter like birds. When he wakes up the man is gone and there are voices speaking. Father is there, mother is not.
He recognizes the other voice. Eitri, Loki did not realize the dwarf had come to visit for the feast.
“I need to know how,” Father says. “It might happen again.”
He watches them, blinking sleepily, as the dwarf sighs. Eitri turns back to Loki, waving a hand above his face. The world goes dark again.
The next time he wakes he is in his room and remembers nothing. There is a dull ache behind his eyes.
-
He is recovering when his brother barges in the room. Thor’s cry of “BROTHER!” echoes in his skull and Loki winces, only noticing that others have trailed in behind Thor when one of them speaks.
“If he’s as ill as you said, then why are you yelling.”
“I am doing no such thing.”
“You are a terrible liar.”
There are two with him, another stands by the doorway.
The female, dressed in pants and a tunic with her hair tied up in a tail, smacks Thor on the back of the head. There is a pale-haired one that wanders the room, poking at things, and the one by the door is dark like Loki, but stern in the way that Frigga is; Loki does not think he likes him.
He also does not know what to do. He has little experience with others outside of Eir and his family, but decides that continuing to lie in bed was not an appropriate response, so he sits. The pale-haired one drops down to lean against the edge of the bedside table and winks.
“Ah,” he preens. “The elusive second prince. We finally meet.”
“… yes?”
“However were you able to stay unnoticed in a palace full of vultures?”
“Practice, I suppose.”
“You should stick to me,” he grins. “I’ll take care of you.” The young woman smacks the flat of her hand against Thor’s chest, still annoyed. “Are you alright?” the pale-haired one asks when Loki does not respond.
“I am…” he searches for a word, “satisfactory.”
“Well, listen to you, better mouth than your brother has,” he turns to yell, “THOR! Stop blundering around like a bilgesnipe!” before returning his attention to Loki. “Volstagg, he’s the big one, couldn’t come up. You’ll meet him later. I’m Fandral the Dashing.” The young man puts such emphasis on the last word that Loki nearly laughs in his face. “Hogun is the quiet one; Sif is hitting your brother.”
Fandral takes a seat on the bed and then lies down, stretching out beside him like a lazy cat. “Thor told us he had a little brother ages ago, but I could never convince him that we needed to meet you.
We’re going to raid the kitchen,” Fandral nudges him. “Come with us?”
He does.
-
Sometimes Thor’s friends come to visit him.
They talk, they bring food, lots and lots of food (He had indeed met Volstagg later, who was in turn quite fond of Loki because he gave him his share of treats), they stage elaborate displays of bravery and heroism in the halls and sneak into the wine cellar in a move that could only have been accomplished with Loki’s help.
He is in the garden one day and Fandral shows up at the wall, leaning over the stone structure with a glint in his eye and teasing on his lips. Loki has taken to ignoring him unless he is teasing someone else, in which case Loki joins in and they are a force to be reckoned with.
“I never imagined you would be so small. Are you sure you’re a prince?”
Loki throws a wad of dirt at him.
They invite him to join them for training and he has to decline, but is unable to give them a proper reason why, which leaves him feeling inadequate and unhappy.
The queen keeps him inside for a long time, the guards do her bidding (the gardens his only sanctuary), until he can change into a bird and free himself. It takes a long time. The change is against his nature.
He does it anyway.
For meals he learns how to weave illusions, to mask his lack of appetite (or presence) so others think he is eating (or there). He learns to shroud himself and takes to making leisurely walks around the palace to test his skill. Then outside of the palace. The only eyes he can feel on him are those of the gate keeper, a passing glance. Loki still considers it a success.
There is another feast that night and Loki pretends it is for what he has accomplished. After a round of boasting, as if there are actually rounds as opposed to a solid block of ego and arguments, his father turns to him and almost smiles in the way he does while in public. It is a knowing smile and in its wake Loki feels warm and happy and pleased with himself.
“What else would you like to learn?” Father asks him.
The next time he travels in shadows there is a raven that watches his movements.
Father does not tell him to stop.
-
He has not seen his brother or their friends in a week; their visits had become a common occurrence.
It is a good time, Loki decides, to visit the practice yards. He wants to watch them spar. The illusion he throws on allows him to walk through the bustling palace halls and out into the open area of the fields. He takes a moment to breathe in deeply, and then continues on his way.
The official practice is over, he is glad to note. Only Thor and their friends are left, the last few stragglers heading out as Loki approaches. He stands against the fence, arms crossed on the top rail, still holding his cover a bit longer before letting it go.
Sif and Hogun are battling each other in the ring, intense and focused as always.
Fandral looks at him, and Loki raises his fingers in greeting but the other man’s expression turns worried, his body tightens.
That’s odd.
The others don’t notice him until the fight has ended, too busy jeering and cheering their friends. Sif is breathing heavily, leaning some of her weight on her practice glaive when she realizes he is there. Frandal begins to speak, but is cut off by Sif’s grin. It is all teeth. “My friend,” she performs a perfect half bow in a way that can only be mocking. Loki steps back. She turns to address Thor. “I thought you said it wasn’t allowed outside.”
Then it hits him, oh.
Oh.
He looks to Thor, can feel his eyes widening.
“Brother?”
Thor does not answer him.
“I told you,” the crown prince addresses his friends, “that this doesn’t change anything.”
Hogun snorts, but is otherwise silent.
“It changes everything, Thor. All this time, everyone in Asgard has been convinced there is a second prince. Treating that like royalty. A little piece of drift wood they picked up to distract you as a baby. What kind of twisted game are you playing at?”
It takes Loki longer than it should to realize that the question at the end was directed at him, which only seems to reinforce Sif’s opinion that he is slow, like a child’s toy.
Fandral stands by the side awkwardly, the only time Loki can remember seeing the man anything but overly confident. Volstagg lifts his head from where he was digging around in a rucksack.
“Sif, I’m not sure if-“
“Oh, come on. It’s not even real.”
Loki leaves.
He doesn’t bother spelling himself invisible, doesn’t even think about it. Can’t think. Can’t do anything. Just- there is-
There is so much in him that he doesn’t know how to deal with it. And at the same time there is nothing, nothing at all. And his chest is hollow.
Attendants and courtiers alike scatter in his wake, giving him wide berth. Loki feels no satisfaction in this, nor in any door that slams behind him. Then he hears the footsteps.
Thor follows him.
“What is wrong?”
Loki turns around to face him. Very slowly.
“What is wrong? What. Is. Wrong?!”
“Yes, that is what I-“
“Why would you do that to me?!” He screams (screeches, he is shrill. It is almost embarrassing). “Why would you LET them STARE at me like that?! Like I’m NOTHING!” A servant passes by, looking through the doorway at them and he only then remembers where they are, the doors around them slam shut on their own accord. He casts wordless blocks to keep the noise in the room because he knows he will not be able to keep it inside himself.
Loki is beside himself. He is angry and betrayed and alone.
“I have sworn them to secrecy,” Thor says hotly. “I do not understand why you are so upset.”
Thor will never understand.
He seals the doors and leaves him trapped in that segment of the hall for hours, only releasing the binds when father gives him that look before dinner.
Who wants to spend time with boar-headed overgrown children anyway, books are more interesting.
-
Shortly after he is discovered, Hogun, Volstagg, and Fandral take to calling themselves the Warriors Three. When he hears this, he makes sure to remind Sif extensively that she was not included. When Sif take a swing at him he is not a surprised, and he kicks her legs out from under her before she realizes he knows how. It deteriorates from there.
People see the two of them fighting on the grounds and then, at a time when he wants nothing more to do with them, he is obligated to be a part of their lives. After Frigga hears about the incident she no longer wants him in the palace.
The hidden prince is among the people.
Sif laughs.
He goes on their adventures because he has to and saves their lives and is mocked.
He grows used to the feeling.
-
The ceremony is extravagant. Over-blown.
He walks through the throne room in a mockery of the way Thor had during his title ceremony. It is for show. The crowds cheer, but it is not for him. It is for the monarch, for the family. It is not for the lie (although they don’t know that is what he is).
Loki kneels, feels every one’s eyes on him, but more importantly he feels his father’s eyes. He is given a helm with horns of the Ibex. The mountain goat. A sure footed creature that lives on the crumbling surface of sharp peaks, where a wrong move could mean their death.
He does not appreciate the sentiment.
When he is given his title there is a hush. Loki smiles.
The God of Lies.
Everyone thinks he is granted the title because he lies, but he knows that it is because he is the lie. The best lie.
And he will live up to his name.
Interlude: Hrøkkva
Warnings/Notes: Same as last time around
Summary: Loki becomes a prince and Thor meets other people
Previous Chapter
***
Chapter 2
He finds Mother speaking with aesir that he has not met before. They are in one of the wide rooms with long tables covered in food and drink that Loki doesn’t need to eat. Eir had sent him to fetch her, and he is good and does what he is told (most of the time) so he walks up to her and calls her name. Mother stands very still (he looks at the others standing there, all of their eyes are wide, he wonders if they might fall out), then her hand is on his shoulder, gripping tightly. It does not look like she is grabbing at him, he notices as she walks him across the room which is silent, but it is tight and pinches. One of the other women whispers “mother” and he is passed off quickly to a hand maiden who leads him out of the room.
Fulla guides him through the halls with a firm hand on his back.
“Best not to say anything,” she tells him. “Be quiet, listen, and do as you’re told. She cannot be that angry.”
Eir stands quickly from her seat when the door to her chambers opens and they walk in. She moves to them in such a way that he thinks she flies. “What has happened?” He does not understand why everyone is tense.
“I told Mother you needed her.”
Eir looks at him very quietly and then rests a hand on his shoulder. “Loki, stay here.” She shuts the door behind her when she leaves, stepping close to Fulla in confidence.
Loki stays.
Fulla returns later, bearing a glass of water
“The Queen is not pleased with you,” she tells him. He sips the water; the coolness of it seeping into his body makes him feel more solid. “There is nothing to be done now,” she paces, “so we will have to make the best of it. What were you thinking, addressing Frigga so…”
At first he is not sure who she is speaking of, then thinks Queen and Mother.
“Frigga?”
Fulla turns to him mid-pace and explains.
-
He is introduced to the court within the week.
Loki Odinson, the second prince of Asgard.
“Rumors had spread,” Fulla whispers to him, fixing the collar of his new jacket before he is led in. “Everyone knows now. You will have to be a good boy. A good son.”
Make your father proud.
Except Father is not father. He is unsure why no one had told him before (“Why would it think that,” not-Mother had raged. He tries not to remember). It is a title. And he has been told one day he will get his own.
“You are not Father,” he says to not-Father (Odin, he must remember) after the introduction, they are waiting for the final preparations of the celebration. Not-Mother is talking to Thor quietly in the corner before they are to entire the banquet hall together. The Allfather lifts his chin up so that their eyes meet.
“I am now.”
“Why did you never correct me?”
“It did not occur to me that I should want to.”
There is a feast afterward, and Loki sips cool water and sits with his Family and smiles shy smiles as he is greeted by courtiers one by one. Some bring gifts, they are put in a pile and he does not see them again. It is still early when Frigga sends him away with Eir, announcing that he is young and tired. That they do not want to overwhelm him so soon.
Thor is allowed to stay because he is bigger, but Eir says she will go back for him later (she doesn’t, she stays with Loki because the new room is big and cold and he doesn’t like it there alone). On his way out, Thor says goodbye and calls him brother and asks if they will still play in the morning. Loki nods.
-
It is not long after Loki’s introduction to the court that Thor begins his training.
He comes back the first week, bursting into Loki’s new room, and chatters about weapons and wrestling, glowing with excitement, showing Loki every bruise and scrape. And Loki listens to his prince (brother). Frigga has already told him that Loki will not be trained, even when his is “of age,” because she will not give him the opportunity to use that training against her son. Until then the thought had never crossed Loki’s mind.
Regardless, Loki enjoys listening to Thor’s stories, if only to see the animation on the boy’s face. Even if they are not together all the time, even though he is no longer Thor’s alone, these moments are still just for them.
It isn’t until the day Thor begins to talk of the other boys he trains with that Loki grows concerned.
He will never be allowed to join Thor, and the other boys have something that Loki cannot provide. He is slimmer than them, though faster, and wiry. Loki wants to match them in strength, to prove he can still be useful even if he is forbidden from learning the act of battle. So he goes to the library again, the first time since he had been caught, and decides that if he cannot learn the act of it, then he will learn the art of it.
He studies strategy and strengthens the glowing in himself that he can feel, but not define. Magic, Eir tells him. Be cautious.
He floats a book down from the high shelves in front of the attendants. No one says anything.
-
On the eve of his fifth official Nameday celebration there is an attack, and it is not on Thor.
He was a safe guard for Thor, Frigga had told him this. Loki was under illusions of nothing else. She had hoped he might distract further attempts at her son’s life.
She is right.
Loki is attacked by a sorcerer. He had been unprepared, his reaction time sloppy. He will be better next time; he swears it (he is). The event does not last long (that he has been told), but the world had gone dark and broken. He remembers very little and what he does still have is corrupted and in a haze. He reaches for the memories and they scatter like birds. When he wakes up the man is gone and there are voices speaking. Father is there, mother is not.
He recognizes the other voice. Eitri, Loki did not realize the dwarf had come to visit for the feast.
“I need to know how,” Father says. “It might happen again.”
He watches them, blinking sleepily, as the dwarf sighs. Eitri turns back to Loki, waving a hand above his face. The world goes dark again.
The next time he wakes he is in his room and remembers nothing. There is a dull ache behind his eyes.
-
He is recovering when his brother barges in the room. Thor’s cry of “BROTHER!” echoes in his skull and Loki winces, only noticing that others have trailed in behind Thor when one of them speaks.
“If he’s as ill as you said, then why are you yelling.”
“I am doing no such thing.”
“You are a terrible liar.”
There are two with him, another stands by the doorway.
The female, dressed in pants and a tunic with her hair tied up in a tail, smacks Thor on the back of the head. There is a pale-haired one that wanders the room, poking at things, and the one by the door is dark like Loki, but stern in the way that Frigga is; Loki does not think he likes him.
He also does not know what to do. He has little experience with others outside of Eir and his family, but decides that continuing to lie in bed was not an appropriate response, so he sits. The pale-haired one drops down to lean against the edge of the bedside table and winks.
“Ah,” he preens. “The elusive second prince. We finally meet.”
“… yes?”
“However were you able to stay unnoticed in a palace full of vultures?”
“Practice, I suppose.”
“You should stick to me,” he grins. “I’ll take care of you.” The young woman smacks the flat of her hand against Thor’s chest, still annoyed. “Are you alright?” the pale-haired one asks when Loki does not respond.
“I am…” he searches for a word, “satisfactory.”
“Well, listen to you, better mouth than your brother has,” he turns to yell, “THOR! Stop blundering around like a bilgesnipe!” before returning his attention to Loki. “Volstagg, he’s the big one, couldn’t come up. You’ll meet him later. I’m Fandral the Dashing.” The young man puts such emphasis on the last word that Loki nearly laughs in his face. “Hogun is the quiet one; Sif is hitting your brother.”
Fandral takes a seat on the bed and then lies down, stretching out beside him like a lazy cat. “Thor told us he had a little brother ages ago, but I could never convince him that we needed to meet you.
We’re going to raid the kitchen,” Fandral nudges him. “Come with us?”
He does.
-
Sometimes Thor’s friends come to visit him.
They talk, they bring food, lots and lots of food (He had indeed met Volstagg later, who was in turn quite fond of Loki because he gave him his share of treats), they stage elaborate displays of bravery and heroism in the halls and sneak into the wine cellar in a move that could only have been accomplished with Loki’s help.
He is in the garden one day and Fandral shows up at the wall, leaning over the stone structure with a glint in his eye and teasing on his lips. Loki has taken to ignoring him unless he is teasing someone else, in which case Loki joins in and they are a force to be reckoned with.
“I never imagined you would be so small. Are you sure you’re a prince?”
Loki throws a wad of dirt at him.
They invite him to join them for training and he has to decline, but is unable to give them a proper reason why, which leaves him feeling inadequate and unhappy.
The queen keeps him inside for a long time, the guards do her bidding (the gardens his only sanctuary), until he can change into a bird and free himself. It takes a long time. The change is against his nature.
He does it anyway.
For meals he learns how to weave illusions, to mask his lack of appetite (or presence) so others think he is eating (or there). He learns to shroud himself and takes to making leisurely walks around the palace to test his skill. Then outside of the palace. The only eyes he can feel on him are those of the gate keeper, a passing glance. Loki still considers it a success.
There is another feast that night and Loki pretends it is for what he has accomplished. After a round of boasting, as if there are actually rounds as opposed to a solid block of ego and arguments, his father turns to him and almost smiles in the way he does while in public. It is a knowing smile and in its wake Loki feels warm and happy and pleased with himself.
“What else would you like to learn?” Father asks him.
The next time he travels in shadows there is a raven that watches his movements.
Father does not tell him to stop.
-
He has not seen his brother or their friends in a week; their visits had become a common occurrence.
It is a good time, Loki decides, to visit the practice yards. He wants to watch them spar. The illusion he throws on allows him to walk through the bustling palace halls and out into the open area of the fields. He takes a moment to breathe in deeply, and then continues on his way.
The official practice is over, he is glad to note. Only Thor and their friends are left, the last few stragglers heading out as Loki approaches. He stands against the fence, arms crossed on the top rail, still holding his cover a bit longer before letting it go.
Sif and Hogun are battling each other in the ring, intense and focused as always.
Fandral looks at him, and Loki raises his fingers in greeting but the other man’s expression turns worried, his body tightens.
That’s odd.
The others don’t notice him until the fight has ended, too busy jeering and cheering their friends. Sif is breathing heavily, leaning some of her weight on her practice glaive when she realizes he is there. Frandal begins to speak, but is cut off by Sif’s grin. It is all teeth. “My friend,” she performs a perfect half bow in a way that can only be mocking. Loki steps back. She turns to address Thor. “I thought you said it wasn’t allowed outside.”
Then it hits him, oh.
Oh.
He looks to Thor, can feel his eyes widening.
“Brother?”
Thor does not answer him.
“I told you,” the crown prince addresses his friends, “that this doesn’t change anything.”
Hogun snorts, but is otherwise silent.
“It changes everything, Thor. All this time, everyone in Asgard has been convinced there is a second prince. Treating that like royalty. A little piece of drift wood they picked up to distract you as a baby. What kind of twisted game are you playing at?”
It takes Loki longer than it should to realize that the question at the end was directed at him, which only seems to reinforce Sif’s opinion that he is slow, like a child’s toy.
Fandral stands by the side awkwardly, the only time Loki can remember seeing the man anything but overly confident. Volstagg lifts his head from where he was digging around in a rucksack.
“Sif, I’m not sure if-“
“Oh, come on. It’s not even real.”
Loki leaves.
He doesn’t bother spelling himself invisible, doesn’t even think about it. Can’t think. Can’t do anything. Just- there is-
There is so much in him that he doesn’t know how to deal with it. And at the same time there is nothing, nothing at all. And his chest is hollow.
Attendants and courtiers alike scatter in his wake, giving him wide berth. Loki feels no satisfaction in this, nor in any door that slams behind him. Then he hears the footsteps.
Thor follows him.
“What is wrong?”
Loki turns around to face him. Very slowly.
“What is wrong? What. Is. Wrong?!”
“Yes, that is what I-“
“Why would you do that to me?!” He screams (screeches, he is shrill. It is almost embarrassing). “Why would you LET them STARE at me like that?! Like I’m NOTHING!” A servant passes by, looking through the doorway at them and he only then remembers where they are, the doors around them slam shut on their own accord. He casts wordless blocks to keep the noise in the room because he knows he will not be able to keep it inside himself.
Loki is beside himself. He is angry and betrayed and alone.
“I have sworn them to secrecy,” Thor says hotly. “I do not understand why you are so upset.”
Thor will never understand.
He seals the doors and leaves him trapped in that segment of the hall for hours, only releasing the binds when father gives him that look before dinner.
Who wants to spend time with boar-headed overgrown children anyway, books are more interesting.
-
Shortly after he is discovered, Hogun, Volstagg, and Fandral take to calling themselves the Warriors Three. When he hears this, he makes sure to remind Sif extensively that she was not included. When Sif take a swing at him he is not a surprised, and he kicks her legs out from under her before she realizes he knows how. It deteriorates from there.
People see the two of them fighting on the grounds and then, at a time when he wants nothing more to do with them, he is obligated to be a part of their lives. After Frigga hears about the incident she no longer wants him in the palace.
The hidden prince is among the people.
Sif laughs.
He goes on their adventures because he has to and saves their lives and is mocked.
He grows used to the feeling.
-
The ceremony is extravagant. Over-blown.
He walks through the throne room in a mockery of the way Thor had during his title ceremony. It is for show. The crowds cheer, but it is not for him. It is for the monarch, for the family. It is not for the lie (although they don’t know that is what he is).
Loki kneels, feels every one’s eyes on him, but more importantly he feels his father’s eyes. He is given a helm with horns of the Ibex. The mountain goat. A sure footed creature that lives on the crumbling surface of sharp peaks, where a wrong move could mean their death.
He does not appreciate the sentiment.
When he is given his title there is a hush. Loki smiles.
The God of Lies.
Everyone thinks he is granted the title because he lies, but he knows that it is because he is the lie. The best lie.
And he will live up to his name.
Interlude: Hrøkkva