Bibbidi Bobbidi Asgard: A Cinderella AU (Loki x F!Reader)

Chapter 17: Victory or Valhalla

Warnings: major character death, violence, injury, blood

They were alive. But for how long they would stay that way, you weren't entirely sure.

It was a strange sight to behold, the royals in a perfect line on their knees before their grand kingdom. You had never seen them in such a terrible state. Black and blue, each wore their bruises like a second skin covering them from head to toe. Brynjar's supporters had not relented once throughout the night and had clearly taken every opportunity to strike a blow (figuratively and literally) at the crown.

Lesser men would have long since given up the fight but it was obvious that, even in their beaten states, the royals were far from submitting to Brynjar. They showed their strength and determination in completely different ways but it was as plain as day for all to see.

Thor thrashed against the shackles that held him down, anger in his eyes, brewing with the strength of a great storm. The chains that bound him were perhaps the thickest you'd ever seen, reserved for restraining the wild and most dangerous beasts of the kingdom. Even they with such incredible strength strained against his efforts. However, every time the prince got close to snapping one of the many chains that held him, one of the many guards assigned to him would clobber him around the back of the head to discourage Thor from attempting any further escape.

Beside the prince, also bound and centred for all the see, knelt Odin. To add insult to injury, the soldier tasked with guarding the king held Gungnir against the back of his neck, practically begging for an excuse to use the famous spear against its previous owner. For all the king's boiling anger and hatred, in that moment he looked nothing more than an old and brittle man. Without his armour, he commanded little of the strength for which he was most famous and all the rage in the world did little to make him appear a true threat.

On the complete opposite side of the spectrum sat Frigga. Chained and on her knees like the others, the queen somehow managed to maintain the air of strength that her husband did not. She held her head high, burying all of her emotions deep beneath her calm outer shell. Beaten as she was, sporting perhaps the deepest gashes on her skin due to a lack of protective armour over her now terribly torn golden dress, she still shone with the gentle light of the stars. Beauty and grace in the face of her impending death, Frigga held her attention on her youngest son, her attention devoted entirely to keeping him safe. No matter how much the guards at her side ordered her to stop, she continued to mumble some kind of protective chant to keep Loki with her and stop him from slipping away.

It wasn't easy for the queen. With every passing second, Loki was slipping closer to death. There was not a single stretch of skin unmarked by bruises or cuts. He was chained like the others but no guards bothered to stand by him for he was little more than a heap on the ground. Someone had obviously tried to set the prince on his knees but it had ended with him doubled over, so in pain that he drifted between consciousness and unconsciousness as if they were one state. It was clear that Loki had no idea what was going on around him, too far gone to have any control over his thoughts or actions. If not for Frigga's constant charms, he would long since have crossed to Valhalla.

Altheda held you back, her hand gentle but firm on your shoulder as you peered around the column. You wanted nothing more than to run out and hold the prince in your arms, however selfish a desire that may have been. You knew you should be grateful to Altheda for preventing you from giving in to those stupid desires but couldn't help wish to be there with Loki. Especially if these were to be his final moments, he shouldn't have to face them alone.

"So many came," Inga said, her interest more on the crowd in the palace court than the royals. The mix of people present told an interesting story, for sure. There were those who had come out of morbid curiosity; an execution was a rare thing on Asgard and satisfied a very particular taste when it came to entertainment. Others, a small but rowdy proportion of the crowd, had been driven by a genuine hate for the royals. They cheered and chanted as the guards beat Thor back into place, finally seeing the justice they believed they were owed.