The Family Lokison (Part 4)

One Family to Another (LOKI)

Sigyn worked her tender magic, never ceasing to amaze and honor me. After repeating our vows together, she asked me to hold her deep into the night. She sank against my chest, bundling herself in the blankets of the bed, never once claiming my temperature gave her discomfort. While we didn't make love in our usual way, it was a new kind of intimacy to be naked against her as, well, a Frost Giant instead of a man.

I awoke with her still firmly in my arms, safe because my touch had no malice to drive pain into her. She slumbered peacefully even after I stirred, too exhausted from the excitement of the night before to notice I had gone. While sleeping, she looked younger, less creased and relaxed, and it made me think of the first night I took her to her chamber in the basement—so lush in my arms then, and no less so now. Oh, yes...to be enchanted by the girl on fire meant I'd spend my life impossible to fully chill. I preferred that.

Looking at myself in the mirror to stretch, it occurred to me how never before had I spent so much time in my Jotun skin. I flexed every muscle, impressed with my own physique and how the scars of my past appeared as they might've without the power of the Don to wash them away. I was proud of the wounds that made me who I was. And why not? They were proof that I'd earned the right to keep breathing.

As I slipped into my armor for war council, I didn't bother changing form. No—if I was to confront Thor and expect real change from Modi, I couldn't hide anymore. I had to prove that I wasn't any more fearful than normal. The books from Odin's library were due to be rewritten, so what better way to make such a request than to make sure my side of the story was told?

The boys were still in their room when I left, but that wouldn't last long, even if they were still sleeping. I needed to find Thor and Modi before Vali had a chance to be confronted and challenged. He was a strong spirit, but peer pressure had a way of defying one's nature with ease. If I understood anything about Modi, it was that he had more influence than I was comfortable with.

The palace hallways were a chorus of surprised gasps and dropped items that clashed on the marble floors as I passed. I wasn't sure it was possible to be more self-conscious than I was normally; I smiled at everyone anyway. My cape flowed behind me in a grand display of all I represented. If they didn't believe I was truly called the King of Vanaheim, perhaps they'd presume I meant Jotunheim instead. Who could argue with it?

Council was already busily in session by the time I reached Odin's foyer. My presence was ignored while Odin gave a brief report on the night's developments; that is, until he caught my sight and glared. He immediately went quiet.

Thor scolded from the other side of the table, "Loki, what is this?"

The others turned to face me, and those closest to me withdrew as far as they could. Their collective eyes sent daggers through me, even sharper than the blade Vali threw last night.

I couldn't relent in my quest, however. With a smirk, I scanned them all. "Why, my fellow Commanders, I am here for the same purpose as all of you. Is there something wrong?"

Odin openly groaned in annoyance. "Must you make a spectacle of yourself?"

"Oh, this?" I gestured up and down over my chest. "Forgive me; my sons were under the impression by others in this room that anyone of Jotun blood must be blindly destroyed. I once thought the same, though it's obvious why I feel differently now. Surely all of you can see the error in such blind assumptions?"

They went from silent judgment to whispers I wished could be private like Vanir thoughts. There were hundreds of reasons not to trust me, thousands of stories—some true and some false—that could justify my exclusion. But none of the things they argued for applied to Narvi and Vali. They were innocent. And if I could prove their innocence existed alongside this supposed curse, a secure future for them was far more likely.