Adopted

2. My King

The moment you've woken up the next morning, you immediately run down the stairs, to check up on Odin, yet while you are running through the halls, you accidentally bump into Loki. And even though you don't really feel like talking to him after what he has said to you yesterday, he already starts talking to you.
"Hello, little sister, where are you rushing off to so quickly ?" Loki asks with a small smile.
"How can you be in such a good mood after what happened ?" You raise an eyebrow and look up into his eyes.
"Are you talking about Odin ?"
"Yes, of course I am talking about Odin. What happened yesterday wasn't normal, Loki. I want to know where he is."
Loki's small but charming smile appears on his face again.
"There's no need to worry, little sister-"
"I'm not your 'little' sister !" You say, raising your voice. You were, in a way, his sister. You were smaller than him, younger than him, and he always called you little sister, yet right now he was getting on your nerves, mainly because you were extremely worried about Odin and because of what he said yesterday about your father.
"Odin has fallen into the Odinsleep", Loki explains. He starts to walk away from you, but you follow him.
"Where is he ?"
Loki doesn't give you an answer. He continues to walk until he stands in front of the throne of Asgard.
"Loki, you have to tell me-"
"He is in his room." He gets closer to the throne and sits down on it. "Mother fears he might never wake up again."
You look at Loki, and notice the sudden change in his behavior. Then, Sif, Fandral, Volstagg and Hogun appear in the hall. By seeing the looks on their faces you know that they find this situation just as weird as you do. They start asking Loki questions about Odin, what has happened to him and that they want to speak with Frigga, but Loki stops them.
"You should leave your urgent matter to me-", he says. He stands up from the throne and walks down the steps. He passes you and looks at the four friends, before continuing his sentence.
"-your king."
Sif, Fandral, Volstagg and Hogun kneel before Loki, slightly hesitating.
"King ?" You ask. You don't kneel before him. Loki turns around and looks at you with a soft smile.
"Yes, little sister. Odin can't protect the realms from his bed, someone has to do it."
You start thinking. As much as you would like your brother Loki sit on the, he shouldn't. Thor should, but he is banished.
"But now that you're king, you can lift Thor's banishment !" You say, your face brightening up.
"I agree with Nanna, my King", Sif says. Loki turns his head and looks at Sif again.
"My first command cannot be to undo the Allfather's last. We're on a brink of war with Jotunheim. Our people need a sense of continuity, in order to feel safe in these difficult times. All of us must stand together, for the good of Asgard", Loki explains. You notice that Sif is getting angry. She stands up and wants to walk up to Loki, but Fandral and Hogun stop her and grab her arms.
"Yes, of course", Fandral says, smiling weakly. You look down at the ground, not sure what to think of the situation.
"If I may beg the indulgence of your Majesty, to perhaps reconsider-"
"We're done !" Loki scoffs at Volstagg. They all stand up and leave the throne room. You give them one last glare, yet they don't look back at you.
"How can you do this, Loki ? Your brother has been banished, now that you're king, you can lift his banishment."
Loki ignores you and walks back to his throne. He sits down on it and looks at you again.
"I've told you already, little sister. I am not going to undo father's last command. Thor is on Midgard, where he will stay", Loki says, as calm as possible. You bite your lip softly and stare at your brother, who's sitting in the throne.
"I am sure that you must be feeling really bad after what happened yesterday, that you've found out that you're a Frost -", you shut your mouth, knowing that Loki knows what you're talking about. "What I want to say is, I'm here. I know what it feels like, being lied to."
Loki looks at you before you bow lightly and leave the throne room, on your way to Odin's room. You knock softly, but when you hear Frigga's voice, you carefully open the door. She smiles once she sees you.
"How is he ?" You ask, biting your lip. You come closer to Frigga and look at Odin, who is peacefully laying in his bed.
"Steady. Nothing has happened yet," Frigga explains, "but I'm sure he's going to be alright."
"Loki said that you're afraid he might never wake up again."
Frigga looks up at you, and you look back into her eyes.
"He's our new king."
"I know", Frigga says. "We can't protect Asgard without a king, Nanna, and now that Odin has fallen into the Odinsleep, someone has to take his place, until Odin will wake up again."
"I'm sure Odin is going to be alright", you say after a long silence. You smile weakly and give Frigga a kiss on her cheek before you leave the room.

Something had to be done. Something had to happen. No doubt that Loki would be a great king, but it wasn't quite normal that he didn't want his brother to return. You had to go to Thor yourself.