Beyla - Loki

A King in Shadow

Frigga's voice trembled, her grief barely leashed. "How could you have done this?"
Tears glassed her eyes as she faced her husband. The chamber seemed to shrink around them, the air thick with the aftertaste of judgment.

Odin's answer fell like iron. "Do you understand what he set in motion? He brought us to the brink of war." The words rang off the stone, heavy with the weight of a thousand years' caution.

"Banishment?" Frigga's composure broke, sorrow and anger braiding together. "You would lose him forever? He is your son." Her hands hovered, as if she could physically draw Thor back from the void the Bifröst had swallowed him into. "Beyla hasn't even been sent there yet-how do you expect him to survive alone?"

Odin's jaw tightened. "What would you have done?"

"I would not have cast him among mortals stripped of what he is," she said, voice steadying. "I would not have the heart for such cruelty."

"That is why I am King." The words cost him. He closed his eye, just once. "I grieve him as you do. But there are things even I cannot unmake."

"You can bring him back," Frigga whispered, the plea naked in her voice.

"No." Final. "His fate is his own."

The silence that followed was a cold thing.

⸻

They gathered by the fire that night-Beyla pressed close to Loki, the Warriors Three slumped under the weight of bruises and shame, Sif watchful and tight-jawed. The flames snapped and spat, throwing shifting light across worried faces.

"We should never have let him go," Volstagg muttered, regret heavy in every syllable.

"There was no stopping him," Beyla said, quiet but sure. The truth of it lay between them like a wound.

"At least he's banished, not dead," Fandral added, grim humor faltering. "Which we would be, if the guard hadn't warned Odin." He frowned. "How did he even know where we'd gone?"

"I told him," Loki said.

The room stilled. Beyla's brows lifted. "What?"

"I told him to go to Father after we'd left." Loki leaned back, unbothered on the surface. "He ought to be flogged for taking so long."

"You told the guard?" the Warriors echoed, hurt and disbelief flaring.

"I saved our lives. And Thor's," Loki replied, unapologetic. A muscle jumped in his jaw. "I did not imagine Father would banish him."

Beyla's palm found his chest, a steadying warmth. "You were looking out for the realm," she murmured-an anchor thrown into the churn. The others shifted, anger cooling by degrees as the logic settled.

"Loki," Sif pressed, urgency cutting through. "You must speak to the Allfather. Change his mind."

"And then what?" Loki's gaze scorched the hearth. "I love Thor more dearly than any of you. But you saw him-arrogant, reckless, dangerous. Is that what Asgard needs from its king?"

He rose and left before they could answer. The door shut on a sharp echo.

Hogun watched it close. "He speaks of Asgard's good," he said, voice low, "but he has always been jealous."

Beyla's head snapped up. "I beg your pardon?"

Sif's mouth thinned. "Don't be coy. We all know you broke the betrothal. Why do you think Loki wanted you to begin with? Because of Thor."

Beyla stared at her, heat flushing her skin-then she shook her head, steady. "Be grateful." Her voice was soft steel. "Loki saved our lives."

Hogun's gaze drifted to the shadows. "Laufey claimed there are traitors in the House of Odin."