Loki: Storm of Swords

Chapter 21 - A Face & A Name

Daenerys had the throne room cleared of unnecessary persons and Loki walked up to his children. He nodded to Clegane and Sif and they stepped back. Sif joined her friends, while Clegane walked over to where Daahrio Naharis and Greyworm were standing. "So? How was the mortal in a fight?" Volstagg asked when Sif joined them. She glanced at Clegane and saw that he had just been looking at her. He quickly averted his eyes and turned back to where both Loki and Sansa were standing with their children.

"He was dedicated. You would think I would say a demon, unstoppable, or something like that. But... I admired his persistence. He would let Hel take him to Niffleheim if it spared Rhaenar and Ragna," Sif answered. She was genuinely impressed with the Hound's prowess. She could tell that he was not a creature of grace like she was, or even of stealth, like Loki. He fought to kill. No middle ground. She could admire that in a man.

"Have you any care for what might have happened to you?" Loki asked, looking seriously down at his two children.

"We protected each other. Nothing happened," Rhaenar responded and Sansa shook her head.

"You did protect each other. But you must not invite trouble," Sansa said and both Rhaenar and Ragna raised their eyebrow.

"Who said we invited trouble?" Ragna queried.

"You fought the demon," Loki stated and Ragna wrinkled her nose up at him before glaring at Rhaenar.

"Hey, it's not my fault he can't read my mind because I can block him," Rhaenar retorted.

"I didn't read your minds," Loki said firmly as he stood up straighter and fixed them with his viridian gaze. "I read Clegane's and Sif's." The Asgardian straightened up, but the Hound looked unperturbed by this. As if he expected his lord would do it immediately.

"We are going to be warriors when we grow up," Ragna said.

"Which means now is the time for training, not fighting," Loki counseled. He squatted down to look Rhaenar and Ragna in the eyes. "I understand your desire to prove your worth. I was once like you: eager to please a proud father." This made Thor glance down at his own feet. He recalled those days too. "Thankfully for you, I am easy to please. You are my children. Your smile makes me smile. Also, you breathing makes me smile. Leave the protecting to Ser Sandor Clegane, and Sif Sylvansdottir; that is their job. You hide, you help each other get away. For god's sake, you're both six!" Loki covered his mouth and Sansa put her hand on his arm. "Someone attempted to kill Thor and myself when we were young, did I tell you this?" Loki queried. Thor felt Sif lightly touch him as he stiffened. He remembered. "They wanted to eliminate our family, and they trapped us in our room. I used my magic and concealed us, protecting us until the Einherjar arrived." Both Rhaenar and Ragna exchanged a look before they glanced up at their father. "I was so scared, but I thought of my bro- Of Thor, and I saved our lives. I did not fight. There is wisdom to be taken from this." Loki gathered both Rhaenar and Ragna into his arms and stood up. He kissed their cheeks and turned to their mother. Sansa wrapped her arms around them and did the same.

"You two keep each other safe, and when told to stay away, you stay away!" Sansa warned.

"Yes, Mother," both Rhaenar and Ragna answered.

"I'm the one who gives them the lecture, and their mother is the hero," Loki said as he spun his children away from Sansa and stole a kiss from her pink lips. A wolf whistle rang out from Daahrio, who got a death glare from Sandor.

"Well, I am very happy that the children of House Frostborn were unharmed in that confrontation," Daenerys interrupted with a smile at the two in question, "I am wondering why that thing went after them."

"It wanted their deaths," Sif said and they all turned to her. "He called them 'bastards and children of lust'." Loki stiffened a little and glanced at Sansa. Only those Westerosi in the room knew that both Rhaenar and Ragna were conceived outside the marriage bed. They had been at the godswood that night and had seen their parent's binding. No one else; the lower nobles, lesser houses, or the common folk, were aware of their unconventional making. It was most certainly not something they wanted whispered about. Catelyn would swoop down from the North just to make a nuisance of herself.

"Then we must assume that this particular shadow was one of my making," Loki stated and everyone glanced at him. "I am the product of my creator. Blame him for my transgressions." Loki said the words and stepped away from his family, standing before the throne. "Your grace, I fear this enemy is my fault."

"Your fault? How can it be your fault if you slew all your enemies during the war?" Daenerys asked.

"Was there any you left alive?" Tyrion queried and Loki's eyes immediately shifted to Robb Stark. The Warden of the North must have sensed who it was and he turned pale.

"Who was it?" Daenerys demanded.

"Petyr Baelish, the Littlefinger," Robb Stark said. Daenerys leaned back in her throne and looked at Tyrion beside her.

"Varys and I mentioned him in the past. He was the Master of Coin under Robert Baratheon and then under Joffrey Baratheon. He worked closely with my father and was apparently a mortal enemy of our beloved Hand," Tyrion said. Daenerys glanced up at Loki and saw how he had gone back to his family. He picked up Ragna and brushed several strands of her fiery red hair away from her face.

"He grew up knowing the Tully family, and fell in love with Catelyn Tully," Loki explained. "As they grey older, she kept him at arm's length, but he wanted something more. When she was betrothed to Brandon Stark, Eddard's older brother, he almost lost his life, but Catelyn pleaded with her future husband for his life and he was spared. He made himself a rich and powerful man by taking down others. And when I returned with Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon, I saw how he behaved around my wife." Sansa frowned a little and reached down, touching her son's cheek. "He had shifted his obsession from Sansa's mother to her. I warned him off, but he took her disappearance hard. And he blamed me."

"So this is revenge," Thor said and he stepped forward. "Your grace, if I may?" Daenerys nodded her head and Thor took the floor. "I have seen what revenge has done to people, to realms. It is a poison that leaches through the blood and takes over the mind and heart. If this is indeed this Littlefinger that Loki fought before, he will try again."

"From whence did he get the power?" Hogun asked. "He was a mortal man, with no such gifts before."

"Powers like that can be attained through one method: the selling of a soul." Daenerys closed her eyes and muttered something in Valerian.

"Blood magic," Sif supplied and Loki nodded.

"If Baelish wanted the power to have his revenge on us, going to Surtur and selling his soul to the demon would have been the way to achieve that power. Now, at least, we know who one of his lieutenants is. But, this also means we must be all the more vigilant," Loki said. Daenerys glanced back at Robb Stark.

"Return to Winterfell and send out word to your banners. House Targaryen must not be the only house that is prepared for this. Inform your nobles of what you know, but do not cause a panic. We cannot afford chaos," Daenerys ordered and Robb bowed.

"And what of me, your grace?" Jon Stark asked.

"Please remain here, in Kings Landing. I'm sure the Lord Frostborn would appreciate another helping 'hand' with his children," Daenerys responded and laughed when Loki shot her a look.

"Really? A pun?"