Loki: Storm of Swords

Chapter 19 - Mobilization

Thor watched as the Unsullied all trained against each other in their barracks. They wielded their spears with deadly accuracy and moved as one unit, never hesitating. Loki was talking to a young man, who appeared to be the commanding officer. He was serious and spoke to Loki in a foreign language. For some reason, when Thor attempted the All-Speak to understand them, he could not. Maybe it was because Westeros had been separated from the rest of the realms for so long, the All-Speak was useless. Finally, Loki turned and waved the Asgardians over. Thor glanced and saw the Warriors Three behind him. They all approached. "This is Greyworm. He is the commander-in-chief of the entire Unsullied army. They are the only army directly under the control of Queen Daenerys. The bannermen of House Lannister answer to Tyrion Lannister, queen's consort. Every other house has command of their own serfs," Loki explained.

"Do you have bannermen?" Hogun asked him. Loki tilted his head as he contemplated the best way to respond to that question.

"Not really, no. My house is rather small in that regard. I am considered a one man army; I don't really need bannermen," Loki responded with a hint of a grin on his face.

"But, everyone else has bannermen they can call?" Volstagg posed and Loki nodded.

"House Stark, House Tyrell, House Greyjoy, and the others... they all have men who answer when they summon them to battle. I just have two: Sandor Clegane and Bronn," Loki answered, but he sounded unperturbed by it. "That's all I need."

"Oi! Milord!" called a voice and they all looked up. Bronn was approaching them at a swift pace, and he seemed irritated.

"Bronn...?" Loki asked slowly. Bronn finally reached them, before he spun around and bent over. Loki's mouth opened and closed before he caught sight of his sells-sword's dilemma. He threw back his head and burst out laughing. Bronn glared at him over his shoulder and saw that the Asgardians had all turned bright red. "You think this is funny?"

"It's f—king hilarious!" Loki exclaimed and he clutched his belly as he bent over, splitting his sides.

"Honestly! I don't know if it was your f—king cat, or your psychopathic daughter," Bronn said as he straightened up and tried to covertly conceal the strategic cut in his trousers.

"Oh? Did somebody spot Alfie roaming the keep?" Loki queried with interest.

"Alfie?" Thor asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's the family pet. Alfie was selected by myself from a litter of kittens for Sansa long before we started courting. Alfie is short for Alfheim, the name Sansa deemed appropriate for the little shit," Loki answered and Thor's lips puckered. Loki clearly was not overly fond of the cat he had chosen.

Irony? Thor thought. "So, is anyone else other than the queen calling her men forth for Surtur?" he queried.

"No. Daenerys doesn't want a mass panic, and as yet, we can't summon the bannermen until Surtur truly reveals himself. Daenerys doesn't want to drag any innocents into the fray without giving them something to fight," Loki answered.

"Westeros does not have a standing army outside the Unsullied?" Loki glanced at Hogun, who had been the one to ask the latest question.

"Conscription is not something her grace approves of. There are times of peace, as there are times of war. Men must have something to do in times of peace. The bannermen for the other houses are trained to fight; but they are also smiths, hunters, traders, fathers, and husbands. Daenerys won the war, but doesn't want her reign to be about war. Peace must play a part. These men have to have something to return to when all is said and done. Unlike Asgard, we believe in peace," Loki said firmly, before Greyworm suddenly turned away as somebody spoke to him. Loki glanced up and spoke in the same language as them.

That was when Daenerys came sweeping into the training yard, with Tyrion, Ser Jorah, and Daahrio Naharis behind her. All the Unsullied saluted her, as did Loki, Bronn, and the Asgardians. "What do you think of my Unsullied, Odinson?" Daenerys inquired. Thor studied the men, who were all standing to attention before their queen.

"They are different from what I'm used to, but, diversity is to be respected and even appreciated. I am just so used to the Einherjar, my father's private force. They are more, um... how do I say it?" Thor pondered aloud.

"Armored up?" Loki suggested with a dry smile.

Thor grinned himself and nodded his head. "Indeed. The Einherjar wear golden armor, high helms, and carry heavy lances. The Unsullied seem like an army designed for speed and precision attacks, rather than full frontal assaults," Thor explained.

"Loki and I have devised battle strategies and maneuvers for the Unsullied to use in combat. These came (unfortunately) after the war was over, so I am rather looking forward to them being practiced now," Tyrion stated with an evil smile on his face. Loki also smirked slightly at this and clapped the dwarf on the shoulder.

"I am equally enthused to experiment with them. And as for the dilemma of armor, I have devised a new, flexible chain mail from the rare metal, Valerian steel. I have studied it long enough and hard enough that I can replicate the elements necessary to make it. Without our beloved dragons turning stone into the necessary materials," Loki added, glancing at Daenerys.

"Our?" Fandral posed and Loki nodded his head.

"I gifted one of the dragons to Loki as a reward for his aid during the war. A dragon of his choosing, without it being my beloved Drogon," Daenerys explained. "He chose Rhaegal, the Dragon of Emerald. I am carried by Drogon, the Dragon of Ebony. Sadly, my Viserion, Dragon of Gold, is without a rider. But, he must choose one for himself, but one has not yet proven himself worthy."

"And how did Loki prove himself worthy of riding this Rhaegal?" Thor could now kind of see the correlation between the dragon and Loki's heir.

"After the war, Loki mounted Rhaegal and took him for a ride. Loki returned unscathed and Rhaegal was tamed by him. Now, Loki has a dragon at his beck and call," Daenerys said. As if to prove a point, Loki whistled a long, low three notes (a musical interpretation of 'Dracaris'), and the air became still. The Unsullied all separated and suddenly, there was a hiss. A dragon, unlike any Thor had seen pictures of in Asgardian stories, appeared and flapped its wings in preparation to land. Thor and the Warriors Three took several steps back as the mythical beast touched the ground.

It roared loudly and Loki said, "Fred! Stå ned! (Peace! Stand down!)" The dragon heard its master's order, and withdrew its head.

"Our tongue, Loki?" Thor asked.

"I had to make it so that he would obey me. Rhaegal and I have an interesting relationship, don't we, my beauty?" Loki said the last part to the dragon, approaching it and gripping the bridle that Rhaegal was wearing.

"He designed and made the saddle and bridle himself," Bronn whispered to the Asgardians. "When he rode Rhaegal for the first time, he did it bareback with no guiding ropes." Thor's mouth dropped and the Warriors Three's eyes widened.

"He rode that without any safety gear at all?" Hogun asked, stunned. Bronn nodded his head. Loki whispered to Rhaegal and scratched the dragon beneath its jaw. It growled, low rumbles in its throat.

Loki finally kissed its nose and said, "Min skjønnhet, tilbake til søsken. Kanskje en dag. (My beauty, return to your siblings. Maybe another day.)" Rhaegal pulled away from Loki and began to flap his wings. Loki stepped back and allowed his dragon to fly up into the sky and out of sight. When Loki turned to face the others, Daenerys was smiling. She held out her hand and he took it.

"It always brings me great pleasure to see you interacting with Rhaegal. You make an excellent dragon master," Daenerys told her Hand. Loki grinned before he glanced at Tyrion.

"Maybe Viserion is the beast for you," he suggested and Tyrion shook his head.

"Hell no! That's my wife's domain; not mine," the dwarf responded.

"I think this is your domain," Daenerys said, and she waved her hand, indicating the Unsullied. "In this fight, I want you to have unlimited access of my army. We fight this war on even footing, husband," Daenerys told him. She stooped down and they kissed. Thor saw the approval on Loki's face and that was when he realized.

He arranged their marriage!