Truths, Lies and Bilgesnipes [Complete]

Chapter 1

Author's Note:

Thanks for checking out the story. A few things I'd like to note first up:

1. A warning -- there is a child in considerable pain in the first chapter. Matters improve after that, but if that's not something you're not comfortable with, it might be best to skip this one.

2. I've taken considerable liberties with the physiology of bilgesnipes.

3. The plan is to update this fic fortnightly.

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There were thirteen of them seated around the circular table and a further thirty-five relegated to the chairs that lined the walls. Odin knew this exactly because, despite his best efforts to lend his attention to his chancellor's thorough and sage remarks about the pearl and semi-precious gem trade between Asgard and Alfheim, his attention kept straying. He simply found it more diverting to try to pick which of his staff and which of the elven delegates looked the least enthused to be stuck in these negotiations for the next week.

He noticed at once, therefore, when someone hesitantly pushed open the side door. Findur, one of the senior palace guards, crept through the narrow gap he had afforded himself and skirted the edge of the room. There was no need for this act; no one had missed his entrance and no one was about to ignore it. His unscheduled intrusion was the most noteworthy event to have come out of nearly two full days of meetings.

Findur caught Odin's eye and although his helmet concealed much of his face, there was something in Findur's expression that left Odin uneasy. He motioned for Findur to hurry along and tilted his head up as Findur crouched down to whisper into Odin's ear.

'Sire,' Findur whispered, 'the Chief Healer has asked the queen to come down to the Medical Wing urgently. It concerns the princes, particularly Prince Loki. Since her majesty's travelling, we thought you would want to know.'

Odin pushed his chair back a fraction until he could face the guard. 'Do you know anything more?'

'No, sire.'

Odin had just enough self-possession to remember that the physical health of the two heirs to the throne of Asgard was a matter of vital importance to the state — a fact Eir, the palace's most senior healer, would be well aware of. She was no doubt attempting to avoid sending wild gossip flying through the palace and inevitably, out to the city beyond.

Her reticence with the facts didn't help Odin of course. Likely, Loki had played with some spell he shouldn't have tried and Eir wanted Frigga's assistance in dealing with the aftereffects. Yet the 'urgently' in the message didn't sit well with Odin. He'd had trouble enough concentrating on the proceedings before, now he had no hope of keeping his mind on track and they had at least another two hours of work here before they finished for the night.

'Please continue without me,' Odin said loudly enough for his words to cut across Agnar's continued exposition on peculiarities of import duties and export tariffs on various categories of pearls. 'I must briefly attend to a pressing matter.'

He didn't give the light elves time to respond. They were a haughty people and Crown Prince Amhlaith, who led the visiting delegation, was proving to be a particularly prickly specimen of his kind. Odin and his cabinet would have to smooth over this moment; Amhlaith was sure to take Odin's abrupt departure as a slight. Presently, Odin didn't care, he hurried over to the Medical Wing.

On arrival, he found the admissions bay empty, but the treatment room just past it was bursting with uniformed healers and trainees, the bulk of them crowded around a single Med Cradle. Odin almost missed Thor, who had pressed himself against a side wall. In the few patches that weren't streaked with mud, the boy's face was decidedly white.