Loki: Game of Thrones

Chapter 23 - Meeting the Imp

Loki was tapped into everything that was happening in Kings Landing. Varys' and Baelish's spies not only served their masters, they also served him. They fed the two council members the information that Loki wanted them to hear. So, when he heard that Catelyn Stark had visited Ned secretly in one of Baelish's whore houses, he was wondering why. Eddard Stark kept the meeting a secret, and Loki was only able to find out about it from little hints in the Hand's body language. Also, one of Baelish's whores was able to confirm it for him after he suspected. Not long after this rendezvous, Loki heard through the grape vine that Catelyn Stark had apprehended Tyrion Lannister on his way back to Kings Landing. He was curious as to why. He knew of the animosity between the two families, but why had Catelyn escalated it to such a degree by taking the 'heir' of Casterly Rock hostage? Something he would have to discuss with her and Tyrion when he got a chance to depart Kings Landing. The God of Mischief could not pick up and leave for another extended period of time, without raising suspicion. He really did not feel like handling Petyr Baelish at that moment.

Sirio Ferrell and Loki did not really get along when they first met. He was the swords master, while Loki was the daggers expert. Obviously, they respected each other in their areas of proficiency; otherwise, the sarcastic banter never ceased. Arya thought it made her classes more interesting. More often than not, she would find a comfortable position on the floor, and watch them. "How many famous knives are there in the world?" Sirio Ferrell asked Loki one day. Loki paused in sharpening his blade, and turned to frown at him.

"Does a blade need a famous name to make it useful?" Loki posed in return. Sirio Ferrell shrugged his shoulder, and Loki rolled his eyes. That was when both masters realized that their student was no longer training. She was observing them closely.

"Did we tell you to stop working?" they said simultaneously. Arya immediately returned to practicing her parries and thrusts. Loki looked back at his fellow instructor, and he sheathed the knife in his vambrace.

"I don't believe in names. A celebrated title does not make something great. It is the hand that wields it, and how good it does its work. Names should be meaningless," Loki commented, thinking of Mjolnir and Gungnir, two weapons he could not brandish. Loki brushed by Sirio Ferrell, and went to Arya. She stopped swinging her wooden, practice sword, and she faced him. "I am leaving for this afternoon. Finish training with Master Ferrell, and I will see you tomorrow," Loki told her. Arya opened her mouth to protest, but Loki brought his finger up. She knew the signal to be silent, and she closed her mouth. Loki nodded to her, and bowed slightly to Sirio Ferrell. The Bravosi acknowledged him with a slight tilt of his own head. Loki swiftly left the chamber, walking down the hall towards his own quarters. As he passed a balcony in the palace, he saw Sansa sitting there with Septa Mordane. The eldest Stark daughter looked up at him, and Loki saw fear of him in her eyes as she stared back at him. Septa Mordane frowned at him, and Loki wrinkled his nose at her. He continued on his way, unraveling the reason for Sansa's new fear. Loki soon brushed it from his mind, and waited until he was in his rooms. Once the door was successfully locked behind him, Loki closed his eyes, and concentrated on finding Catelyn Stark's and Tyrion Lannister's specific energy prints. It did not take him long to locate them in a valley not far from the Erie.

To say that Catelyn Stark was surprised to see Loki appear from the trees, would have been an understatement. She jumped a mile, and her guards all reached for their swords. Loki waved his hand, and for some reason they could not draw their weapons. "What are you doing here, ser sells-sword?" Catelyn asked in an angry tone of voice. Loki just glanced at her, before his green eyes traveled over to Tyrion Lannister. They had never met officially. On the long march from Casterly Rock to Winterfell, Tyrion kept company with the whores in all the villages they stopped at. Needless to say, Loki never frequented those types of haunts, so they missed each other. Now, however, Loki felt like he was standing in the presence of another intellectual. The dwarf must have sensed it as well, for he straightened up.

"You must the sells-sword I've heard so much about. My father speaks highly of you," Tyrion said. Loki tilted his head and walked over to him.

"I am glad to hear that. Your father is a worthy chess opponent. Are you, by chance?" Loki queried. Tyrion grinned, and Loki immediately liked him.

"I like to think I am worthy," he responded. That was when Catelyn Stark came in between them, and Loki shot her a look.

"What do you want? How did you get here?!" she demanded, and Loki rolled his eyes.

"I walked," he responded sarcastically. He waved his hand again, and all the guards sagged to the ground, exhausted from trying to draw their weapons. "Why have you taken this poor, innocent dwarf hostage?" Loki asked her, a light smile appearing in the corners of his mouth.

"That information is not yours to know," Catelyn said, mustering all her anger towards the young god, and putting it into those words. Loki snickered, walking around the men, making them all look at him.

"Oh well, I gave you your chance to come clean," Loki said. Turning around, he folded his arms across his chest, and smirked. "You kidnapped Tyrion Lannister because you believe that he is responsible for the second attempt on your son's life," Loki told Catelyn Stark. Her eyes widened, and he grinned at her reaction to his statement.

"How do you know this?!" she asked. Loki snickered and walked up to where Tyrion Lannister was sitting. He placed his hand lightly on the dwarf's shoulder, and Tyrion felt a chill go through his body. Loki's fingers tightened slightly, and Tyrion straightened up.

"Because I heard whispers that you spoke with your husband and Petyr Baelish secretly in a brothel in Kings Landing," Loki answered. All of Catelyn Stark's men gave her a look at this knowledge, and she looked very perturbed at this news being revealed. "Aw! Was nobody supposed to know that?" Loki queried, putting salt in the wound.

"We had to know who would want to kill my son a second time. Whatever you did, saved him the first time, but an assassin came for him in the night. If Bran's direwolf had not been there..." Catelyn explained, and her voice trailed off.

"He would have been killed. But, he wasn't. And, I believe there was a knife involved?" Loki asked, and Catelyn revealed a very fancy looking blade. Loki took it from her, and admired the intricate hilt, and silver gleam of the metal. "Valyrian steel, and dragon bone. A very expensive blade to say the least. And only a few people in Westeros could own it. Let me guess, Baelish pointed you in the direction of Tyrion Lannister?"

"I do own that blade," Tyrion said, and Loki glanced at him. "But, it was stolen from my belongings a few days before he left Winterfell," he explained. "And!" he added, looking at Catelyn Stark, "I was in the North, pissing off the edge of the wall, when your son was attacked." Loki smiled, and looked back at the wife of the Warden of the North.

"You are letting your anger control you. You're not thinking clearly. Let Tyrion Lannister return to Kings Landing with me, and I will speak up for you with the king," Loki told Catelyn Stark. She raised her head, her eyes narrowed, and her chin jutted out.

"You would speak for me?" she countered, her insolence showing. Loki's lips twitched, and he stepped towards her. Ser Rodrik Cassell moved forward as well, but Loki waved his hand, and he froze. Soon, the sells-sword was face to face with the lady.

"I would protect your husband and daughters from the retribution of House Lannister that is sure to follow when they hear of this. His father and his sister might not care for him, but Ser Jaime does. He is brash and he will let his own dislike for House Stark get the better of him. He will act of his own fruition, and there will be bloodshed. Lady Catelyn, do something intelligent and give me the dwarf," Loki told her. Catelyn's blue eyes flashed, and Loki's green ones narrowed.

"No. I will keep him to face justice for the crimes of his family against mine," Catelyn said. Loki had a feeling she was going to do the stupid thing, and he was not going to keep wasting his time. If Loki was going to put this realm to rights, certain events had to take place. He nodded his head, smirked, and disappeared right before her eyes in a puff of green smoke.