Things Known

Greater a love has no man than this, that he may lay down his life for his friends.

Prologue: A Bit of Background

October 23, 903 AD

It was the middle of a war, but still the best day of Odin's life. His first child, a son, an heir, had been born. Thor, his son, a strong healthy child, and the boy had already taught him something. Love is not divided, it is multiplied. It only grows as the family grows, he knew that the moment he saw his wife holding his son, her face tired but eyes alight with love for the child in her arms. He was asleep now, lulled to rest by a soft lullaby his mother had sung him, but before he'd been crying like a, well a baby really. He had quite the set of lungs, for one so small.

"Do you wish to hold him?" Frigga asked, looking up at her husband. Odin shook his head, to fearful to wake the child and be subjected to the screaming once more, but he did sit down next his wife, stroke the small head with his battle worn hands. "He's perfect, isn't he?" Frigga smiled. "Our perfect little Thor." Her voice was soft and full of care, the voice of a mother. She would never let anything touch her precious child, never let a soul harm him. She was his mother, no horror of the world would ever come to him if she could stop it, no pain would ever mar him. Her perfect little boy. Her one and only son.

May 4, 905 AD

The war was over, though the cost was great. Many soldiers had fallen in the many battles, and Odin had lost an eye in the final push into the city, but they had won. The threat of the Jotuns was over, peace could be made now, perhaps. Laufey had lost his capital; surely he would fight no longer. Odin didn't want to fight any more, he wanted to be at home with his wife and young son, Thor was just over a year, and Odin had hardly seen the boy since his birth, it was shameful. He was a father now, and though his duty to Asgard was important, his duty to his children was equally vital. Being a prince could not cost Thor a relationship with his father, that would not be right.

Odin was walking through the ruins of the Jotun palace, and as he stepped outside, something caught his eye. He had just stepped into what he figured was the back of the palace; he was looking for survivors of the Asgardian onslaught. What he saw was distinctly not ice or snow, not like everything around him. It moved and that's when he saw what it was. It was a child, a newborn infant laying bare and unprotected on the frozen snow beneath, no attempts to hide the child, or keep him warm, almost as though he was tossed and discarded there like a worthless bit of nothing. The father in Odin raged at whoever had done such a thing to the poor child, and he kneeled down to pick the baby up. He was so small. Ah, that was why he was alone out here, he had been cast off, too small to be taken with them and thus left to die in the cold, alone. The markings on the infant looked familiar.

Oh Norns, it was Laufey's son. This was the prince of Jotunhiem left to die. Odin didn't know why he was so small, but as the cold child cried in his hands, he knew he could not leave him here. It seemed ironic, he was knee deep in Jotun blood and now he was saving what was perhaps the weakest, most helpless frost giant in all the Nine. What would he do with the child? Well, he couldn't take him to Asgard looking like this, Odin knew, so his changed the boy, turned not only his appearance, but made him as much like an Æsir as he could, though the child seemed to insist on dark, green eyes. But they were mesmerizing eyes, so different from any Odin had ever known.

The boy was Laufeyson no longer. No, he was Odinson now. "Worry not, little one, you have a father." Odin whispered, pulling the child close to him and wrapping his cloak around them both. "You have a father."

Frigga knew not what to think when her husband came to her, face bloody and torn, eye missing, but with the other shinning with a strange mix of emotions, of anger and grief, love and devotion all in one. He was holding something, carefully, as though it were fragile and nearly broken. Thor toddled next to her; he'd been quick about walking, though perhaps not the most elegant or steady about it. His wide blue eyes were filled with fear at the bloodied man he barely knew coming towards him. His mother kneeled down next to him, telling him to go to bed, and he scampered off quickly.

"Odin, you scared him!" Frigga chastised.

"My apologies, my love, but there is something we must address." Odin said, and he pulled the child out from under his cloak. Frigga gasped, taking the boy from Odin's bloodied hands as quickly as she could, holding him close to her body. He was so cold. "He is Laufey's son."

"Laufey's son…but, he is Æsir." Frigga said, quietly, looking up. "And so small."

"Too small. Jotun's it seems abandon the runts of their kind." Odin explained.

"Do not call him a runt! It is a shameful thing to say! He is merely smaller, that is all, not a runt like some left behind sickly dog." Frigga snapped.

"Laufey left him in the cold to die. I could not leave him, so I took him here. Now that I have, I know not what to do with him." Odin sighed. "We cannot pass him off to another family, and we cannot say his our own."

"Why ever not?" Frigga asked, rocking back and forth slightly. "He's just a newborn babe, and I have not been out of my chambers nearly since Thor was born. We can simply claim that it was a pregnancy fraught with troubles and sickness, so we did not tell, for fear of the child's life. The last time you were home would be around the right time anyway." Frigga said, clearly convinced of the course of action. Odin smiled, he had wished to keep the child. "What should we call him?" Frigga asked. "Should we ask Thor?"

"Perhaps." Odin smiled. "But I think I may frighten our son. Let us name him ourselves, then you should go introduce Thor to his brother." The king sighed. "And I shall go see the healers." Frigga hummed in agreement, looking at the child lovingly.

"I say we call him Loki." She smiled. "Yes, Loki." Odin nodded; he could not argue with her, not with the way she looked at him, at Loki, how she spoke the name. He gave her a light kiss and walked away to the healing rooms.

Love had multiplied again.

"Thor, Thor come here my son." Thor wobbled over slowly to where his mother was standing in his nursery, holding something small in her arms. He still could not speak, but his bright blue eyes said all he needed to. What is it? Frigga kneeled down slowly, letting her elder son see what she held in her arms. Thor poked at the thing, not sure what it was. It was squishy, and cold. "This is your brother Thor. His name is Loki."

Brother? What did that mean, his brother?

"He's your little brother, and you're his big brother. That means you have to take care of him, you have to protect him. Do you think you can do that?" Thor pursed his lips for a moment, thinking, then nodded vigorously. "Good." His mother said gently. "You must promise to always be good to him, always be his friend, no matter what. Can you do that?" Another nod. Frigga smiled, then stood slowly, walking over to where Thor's nursery was set up, and where she had told her most trusted maid servant to put a second, smaller, cradle. She placed her younger son inside, wrapping the comforters around him. The poor boy had been so worn down from being left in the cold that he was sound asleep. Thor however was wide-awake, and stood by his little brother's cradle all night, staring at the pale little thing that his mother had named Loki, his brother. Thor liked him already, someone to play with and go on adventures with a friend. A friend forever.

March 29, 910 AD

"Come on Loki, faster!" Thor called behind him, trying to urge his little brother onwards, nearly dragging him across the floors of the palace. Loki was more than just Thor's little brother in age, he was quite literally his little brother, at around half Thor's size. They were nearly the exact same age, but Loki had always been much smaller. Boys their age liked to tease Loki for his small size, his lack of strength and his propensity for illness, so Thor rarely played with them anymore. He would have liked to, but Loki didn't like them, so Thor didn't like them either. And they were mean to Loki too, calling him scrawny and weak, and it made Thor's brother sad. No one got away with that. Thor was big for his age, and he used it, but that seemed to make Loki upset sometimes too, so Thor just avoided the boys altogether.

"Thor…I don't feel good, can you slow down please?" Loki asked, almost tripping over his own feet. "Thor…please." Thor slowed down to a stop, turning to his brother and holding his shoulders.

"Are you alright, little brother?" Loki breathed heavily, struggling to catch some air after the run. It worried Thor sometimes, he wondered if there was something wrong with Loki that made him so small and so sick.

"I'm…I'm ok. Just a little tired, that's all." Loki said, smiling up at his brother happily. "Thank you for stopping."

"Of course I stopped. You asked me to." Thor replied.

"I only asked for you to slow down, not stop. But thank you anyway." Loki replied. "Now, where are we going?"

"Father's library! Mother said he could tell us stories tonight!" Thor said, and Loki's face brightened. He loved it when their father told them stories, he loved to hear about the old days, times long gone and fantastic stories of great heroes of old. He dreamed he would be one someday, he and Thor together, great songs would be written about them some day.

Loki was certain as the sun rose in the morning that there would be no tales like the ones told about him and Thor.

Loki watched, a bit confused, as Thor walked out of the room alone. He and Thor were always together, but now his brother was going away. And his father looked very serious.

"If this is about what happened in the hall, it was nothing, I was only tired, just a little tired." Loki tried to explain. Odin paused. He didn't know whether he should tell his son or not. The struggle was, the longer they lied to him, the harder it would be to tell the truth. Loki was an intelligent young boy, but he was only five years old, so young to carry something so heavy. But…no. Now was the time, and Odin would deal with the fallout as it came. He would never leave this boy alone to face the life of pain and hurt that lay in front of him, and as much as Odin did not want to inflict such pain on one so young and so loved, he knew he had to do this. He had to tell his son who he was.

"Loki, the story I just told you and Thor, the one about the last battle before the truce, the ending I gave you was not the end." Loki's face brighten at the prospect of more storytelling, then confusion crossed it.

"What about Thor, why isn't he here?"

"Because this story is not for him, it is for you." Odin explained. "After the battle, I was walking through the empty palace, looking for Jotuns who had stayed behind. As I went out the backside of the palace, I found something, or rather someone. A child, a newborn infant, left alone there because he…he was too small. He was Laufey's son, but Laufey did not want him, so he was left behind. I found this child, and…I took him home with me, away from the cold, and changed him to become like an Asgardian." Loki's green eyes were full of worry and confusion.

"What did you do with him?" Loki asked. Odin got out of his chair, sitting down on the ground, next to his son, putting an arm around the tiny shoulders, single blue eye looking into the green ones he'd grown to love so much.

"I made him my son." Loki frowned, and then it seemed to dawn on him slowly. "Loki, that little frost giant was you."

"Me?" The voice was small, scared. "My father left me to die in the cold?"

"No, Laufey left you in the cold. I am your father, whether by birth or no, I am and always will be your father." Odin replied, holding Loki close to him.

"I'm…I'm a frost giant?" Loki looked down at his pale hands, as if he expected them to rebel against him and attack him like a monster.

"You are. But beyond that, Loki, you are my son, you are Frigga's son and you are Thor's brother. None of that has changed, do you understand?" Odin sighed. "We did not tell you before because we wished for you to able to understand what it means. Being a frost giant doesn't make you a monster, or anything less than if you were Æsir. It is not where you are from or what race you belong to that matters." Odin put a rough finger on Loki's chest, over his heart. "It's what's in here that counts. If that is good, then you are good." Loki nodded slowly.

"What about Thor…"

"We have not told Thor, for he cannot keep the secret. You see Loki, while your mother and I know that it is no matter who your birth parents were, there are others who do not see it the same way, and they cannot know the truth."

"But you told me it is wrong to lie." Loki said, and Odin smiled, nodding.

"It is. But in this case, we must lie, to keep you safe."

"Because they would hate me?" Loki said. Odin looked down, and shook his head.

"No, because many people are blind and foolish, they do not see what is in the heart, and look only to the surface. You cannot worry about such people, they are not worth your time or your tears." Loki nodded jerkily. "I know it will be hard, but until you are older, you must tell no one of the truth, Loki. Your mother and I know, but no one else can, do you understand?"

"I do."

"And you know that you can come to us with anything, at any time?"

"I do."

July 19, 912 AD

"When I grow up, when I'm king, I shall go into Jotunhiem and slay every one of the frost giant savages!" Thor cheered, swinging his wooden sword around proudly as he pranced about Loki's room. They spent more time in Loki's room than Thor's, mostly because Loki's was much neater than Thor's was. They had only just gotten these new rooms, the chambers they would live in for the rest of their lives. Well, not Thor, Thor would get the king's chambers when he became king of course. Perhaps the reason the pair was always in Loki's room was because it was Thor who sought his brother out there, while Loki preferred to keep to himself. That was true much more in the last few years, Loki had become more withdrawn and shyer, and it was worrying Thor.

"All of them, Thor?" Loki asked, sounding nervous.

"Of course! I cannot allow monsters like them live on, not when they pose a threat to Asgard." Thor hopped on his little brother's massive bed. Though it was no larger than his own, Loki's bed always seemed bigger, mostly due to it's occupant's small stature. "Not when they may hurt my little brother." Thor smiled, putting an arm around Loki's thin shoulders.

"What if they are not all savages? What if they are not so different from us? That's what mother and father say." Loki mumbled. Thor looked down, he knew well that his parents didn't like his proclaiming that he would wage war on the frost giants, but it got him such cheers from all the other boy's his age…

"I just don't want them to hurt you, Loki. If anyone ever hurt you, I would not rest until they had been brought to justice."

"Frost giants have not hurt me." Loki mumbled, though he knew in his heart that wasn't true. Frost giants had tried to kill him the day he was born. But Thor couldn't know that, Thor could never know.

"I know they would try." Thor replied. "But it doesn't matter, if you do not want them harmed, I suppose I'll have to leave them." Loki raised an eyebrow at his brother. "I see it worries you when I talk about these things, so I will not talk about them. I love you little brother, I want to see you happy." Loki smiled a little at Thor, though his heart was not truly in it. He knew the thoughts had not left his big brother, they never would.

Thor could never know. If Thor knew…

No. It would never come to that. Loki was determined.

"Come outside Loki, it's such a nice day, and I miss you." Thor urged. Loki smiled, this time a truer smile. Thor had missed him; he'd missed Loki's company. Perhaps Loki should not try to simply hide himself away, maybe there were other ways to keep his secret and still be the same brother to Thor as before.

Yes, he could do that. Loki was determined.

August 17, 982 AD

"Thor, why don't you just pay attention when we are being taught and then you wouldn't have this problem." Loki growled, sitting on his bed cross-legged as Thor paced back and forth in front of it. They were teenagers now, and the next day was a test in their tutoring, and Thor, well he hadn't paid attention in any of the classes he was actually at, the rest of the time he was sparring with his new friends, the warriors three. Loki liked them well enough. They were a bit older then him and Thor, but they were good company, especially Fandral, who took more notice of Loki than his friends, even going so far as to compliment Loki on his words, which had gotten him into both princes' "like" book. They were the first sparring buddies Thor had that Loki could tolerate, mostly because they didn't only talk about how they were going to kill all the frost giants when they were older. It was a nice change for the hideaway Jotun.

"I'm busy Loki, I have no time for lessons!" Thor countered. "Now, keep telling me what I need to know." Loki sighed and shook his head. Some things never change.

May 13, 996 AD

"And your name is…"

"I'm Sif, daughter of a nobleman and soon to be warrior of Asgard." The woman said proudly, brushing her golden hair off her shoulder, bright blue eyes shining with confidence. "And who are you?"

"Prince Loki." He replied, rather nonchalantly, picking up one of the many things in the market stall near him. He wasn't really wearing anything that would have tagged him as the prince he was, but that was the point, he didn't want to be noticed.

"Yes, and I'm the queen." Sif said sarcastically. "Who are you really?" Loki raised an eyebrow, putting the item he'd picked up back down.

"Prince Loki." He said again. Sif took a step back, looking his up and down.

"You're too short, too skinny."

"So people keep telling me. However, Lady Sif-"

"Not Lady Sif, just Sif. I am no lovely lady to hang on some nobleman's arm." Sif snapped back. "And stop lying to me, you are no prince, you're dressed like a common man!" She exclaimed, motioning to his clothes.

"I like these clothes." Loki said, brushing himself down. "They are very comfortable."

"I'm sure they are, after all you must travel in them. You are clearly not Asgardian." Sif frowned then. "Where is your bag, you look like a traveller…"

"I told you, I'm Prince Loki. I just dress like this so people don't pay attention to me, that's all. Apparently it works too well, because you cannot even recognized the only person in Asgard who has black hair and green eyes, the second prince, as who he really is." Loki crossed his arms, getting a little upset now. It was then that it dawned on her, and her face dropped. Loki smirked. Well, that reaction was worth it. "Now, Sif, what were you saying about being a warrior of Asgard?"

August 17, 1482 AD

"Thor, stop pacing. You're making me nervous." Loki chided his brother as they stood outside Eir's rooms. Their mother was inside, and the occasional screaming told the pair of 500 or so year old brothers all they needed to know. Their mother was in labor, and Thor was having fits.

"Making you nervous? Should you not already be so, do you not care?" Thor yelled, making Loki take a step back.

"You are panicking enough for the both of us, I think. I'd rather not join in, unless you grow ill from worry and then one of the healers will have to worry over you instead of our mother, so calm down, will you!"

"Calm down, Loki? Are you mad!" There was another ear splitting scream, making both of them wince. "Or perhaps deaf?" Thor snapped once it passed.

"Firstly, that is normal. Secondly, it's Eir in there, mother will be fine!" Loki said.

"How can you be so sure?" Thor asked.

"Because I trust people. You should try it sometime Thor, it's incredibly freeing." Loki replied. Thor turned away, he should know better by now than to start a war of words with Loki, they'd grown up together, and Thor had never once felt as though he'd really won an argument, he'd just been more stubborn on some occasions. He could always manage to be obstinate enough to wear Loki down.

"I wonder what it will be like, having another brother." Thor mused. "It's only ever been the two of us, it will be strange, having another." Loki shrugged.

"I finally get someone to boss around. It will be nice, I think." Thor chuckled at his brother's words, then winced as another scream lanced through the air. "And hopefully this ends soon, my calm is wearing a bit thin."

September 30, 1497 AD

"What part of 'I'm busy' do you not understand?" Loki asked, pulling another journal away from his younger brother, about ten years of age in Midgardian time.

"The busy part, I think." The boy smiled up at him, grabbing one of Loki's books from the selves in his room and plopping down on the bed.

"Baldur, I really do have things to do."

"I'll be good." Loki drew his lips into a thin line. His little brother spent a good deal of time with him, too young for now to go to the rings where Thor spent much of his time, so Loki took care of him. It got annoying sometimes, because now Loki never got any time to himself as it was now taken up by Baldur, and his time with Thor was shrinking. It was a little sad at times, Loki felt as though he was drifting away from Thor, something he would never forgive himself for if it did happen. But Baldur was his little brother, and Loki adored the boy. Even if he did have terrible timing. "Actually, I have a problem."

"What sort of problem?" Loki asked, looking through his desk. Where was that stupid little pendant? Where did it go?

"Kinda a big problem, brother." Loki sighed and turned around. Brother was more important than trinket. "Sorry. It's just, you know those nightmares I told you about, the ones where I die?"

"Did you go to Eir like I told you?" Loki asked.

"Yeah, but nothing has helped. I'm scared Loki, what if…what if it's a vision, like mother gets sometimes?" Loki sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. What could he do to soothe his brother's worries? Oh, that's it! Loki began to hunt through his bookshelves, before he came up with what he was looking for. He shuffled through the pages, finding the spell he wanted.

"Ah, here it is."

"What is?"

"A ward spell. It will keep you safe, so no harm with come to you." Loki answered, making Baldur beam. The boy quickly shut the book he had been half reading, making Loki wince in his thoughts, that was an old book, and shouldn't be closed so harshly. He bounced to the edge of the massive bed, leaning over the front of the book Loki had opened and placed there. The elder brother gently pushed the boy's head out of the way of his reading, but Baldur still bounced excitedly. "Alright, sit still, I've never used this spell before…"

April 28, 1643 AD

The great hall was cleared of everyone except three figures, Odin, Baldur, and Loki. Baldur was glaring at his older brother icily; standing by his father's side while Loki was in the center of the room, looking small and almost afraid.

Odin did not know what to think. Everything was stacked against Loki, as had been proven already in the more formal trial that had come before this. Had Loki's nature finally gotten to him, had he become power hungry, jealous, angry, murderous? Was it true, what most of Asgard claimed, what Odin had tried so hard to keep Loki from believing, were frost giants born evil? Was murder in Loki's blood?

He wanted so desperately to be wrong, but facts could not be denied.

Loki was still in a whirlwind. He was racking his brain, trying desperately to think of a way out of this situation, but it just wasn't working. For once, Baldur had out maneuvered him. He'd gotten cocky, he'd thought himself cleverer, a few steps ahead at every turn, he never expected this. He had to hand it to Baldur; it was a very cunning move, to use Loki's reputation and personality against him. Of course no one believed him when he tried to explain like he had moments before in the public trail. Speaking of which, why had it been a public trail? That was a bit odd, for something so devastating to the nation as a fracture within the royal family.

Now he was being sentenced, a more private matter. Which was why Loki was afraid. Why did father deem it necessary for even Thor and his mother to leave, so that only the accuser and the accused stood before the All-Father. Everyone knew that the verdict was guilty, but the sentence, well the thought of it had Loki squirming.

Because somewhere in the back of his mind he knew what it would be. He just refused to believe it. His father wouldn't do that to him. He couldn't.

Odin loved Loki. Didn't he?

April 30, 1643 AD

All of Asgard had gathered, though Thor wished they had not. But who could resist seeing the would-be murderer of Asgard's youngest prince killed. Thor was pretty sure he could, as it was his younger brother being killed. A brother for a brother. It wasn't right. But Loki had denied nothing; he just kept insisting that Baldur was going to try to kill Thor and Odin and that someone had to stop him. That had been the final straw for everyone, and Loki was going to pay for it with his life. Thor did as he must now, stood beside his father, and watched. Baldur was standing beside their mother, who was trying not to break down. She was about to lose her son, who could blame her?

Baldur's shoulder was still bandaged from where Loki's arrow had hit him. It was so odd to see Baldur wounded; Loki's spell had always protected him. But since Loki made the spell with a loophole, everyone accused him of plotting this from the very start. Thus, all Asgard now hated Thor's brother, more than they ever had before.

Sif and the Warriors Three stood off to the side. Sif and Fandral looked distraught, Fandral trying to comfort Loki's closest friend, as Sif tried to keep a stony face on. Her whole world had been shaken to the core by Loki's betrayal, and Fandral was another of Loki's close friends, they had seen none of this coming. It was so strange, so out of the blue. All too quickly, everything had collapsed.

But, standing before them now, Loki did not seem to mind their stares of hatred burning into his back. Instead he just stood, stoically, waiting for it to come. He was to be killed in the manner that he tried to kill Baldur, with an arrow to the heart. Theoretically, it would be painless, instant. The archer was one of the best in Asgard, but Thor was pretty sure he was a bit unnerved. It was one thing to call for the prince's blood, another entirely to actually take his life as he looked at you with those annoyingly calm green eyes. The archer was only one of the best, mostly because Loki was the best, which led Thor to wonder how, if he really intended on killing Baldur, he missed.

"Proceed." Odin's voice shook the slightest bit as he gave the final order. Loki drew himself up as the archer drew his bow. Thor wished Loki would say something, or at least have some emotion other than quiet acceptance on his face.

The archer took aim. The hall fell silent. Thor looked away.

It was so quiet, the thud was audible. But what followed was gut wrenching, the shuffling, stumbling of feet, and gasping for air. Thor looked back, and saw as Loki fell, arrow sticking from his chest, which heaved up and down, his eyes wide with pain.

He missed! The archer had not missed by much, arrow striking just to right of it's mark, but the pain that would cause, dragging this out... Frigga gave a small wail of horror. Loki was curled in on himself, hands still tied behind his back. There was really only one way to make this horror show pass, take the arrow from Loki's chest, and shoot him again. The archer seemed to know this, and moved towards Loki's shuddering form. Apparently, the archer cared little for the prince, as he used his boot to roll the choking prince onto his back, pin him down and pull out the arrow roughly, making Loki let out an involuntary cry of pain as it was torn from his chest. Thor saw many in the crowd look away. They had gotten far more than the asked for. The archer didn't bother to step away; he aimed his arrow right at Loki, and drew back.

"Stop!" Frigga screamed, getting up from her seat. All eyes were on her as she rushed forward, trying desperately to get to Loki before he slipped away. She kneeled down by his side, and Thor watched as his mother tried to comfort Loki in his last moments. Eventually, Loki's body stilled, his chest ceased to rise, and the sound of his ragged breathing left the chamber. Frigga didn't move, but held him close to her still, singing a familiar lullaby as she rocked back and forth. Thor went to her, and drew her up and away from his brother, whose eyes were closed, looking so peaceful he could be asleep, if not for the blood that seeped from his mouth. Frigga cried softly as Thor led her away, distantly hearing his father dismiss the crowd.

Just like that, Thor's life changed forever.

The dates are all completely arbitrary, just there to give reference of passage of time. Don't read too much into them.

~Ariyah's Rider