A Gods Favor

Unraveling

Elora sat beside Fandral on a settee as she finished closing the wound on his shoulder. After Yrsa had brought Elora her supplies the princess had gone to Himinbjorg to see if Heimdall would check in on her now banished brother.

"We should never have let him go." Volstagg spoke as Elora stood and walked over to him, taking more salve from a tin to work on his arm as Hogun paced in front of them.

"There was no stopping him," Sif's voice was tired and barely more than a whisper.

"At least he's only banished, not dead," Fandral sat up, pulling an undamaged shirt on. "Which is what we'd all be if that guard hadn't told Odin where we'd gone."

Volstagg hissed at the burn of the salve on his skin before asking. "How did the guard even know?"

"I told him." The sound of Loki's voice made Elora tense. The prince hadn't spoken since he'd entered the room and told them of Thor's banishment, only stood unnaturally still off to the side in deep contemplation.

"What?" Fandral turned.

"I told him to go to Odin after we'd left." The prince's voice became angry as he rubbed at his wrist. "He should be flogged for taking so long. We should never have reached Jotunheim."

"You told the guard?" Volstagg shouted his question and Hogun stopped pacing as he watched Elora move toward the prince.

"I saved our lives," his tone was one of authority as he spoke and when Elora reached him and tried to inspect his wrist for injury he yanked his arm away with a fierce glare and she rolled her eyes before sitting beside Sif. "And Thor's. I had no idea father would banish him for what he did."

Elora dropped her head back onto a cushion as Sif rose and began to plead. "Loki, you must go to the Allfather and convince him to change his mind."

"And if I do then what? I love Thor more dearly than any of you even through our spats, but you know what he is. He's arrogant, he's reckless, he's dangerous. You saw how he was today. Is that what Asgard needs from its king?" With a hard look around the room Loki stormed off and Elora stood, walking to pour herself a large glass of wine.

"He may speak of the good of Asgard but he's always been jealous of Thor." Sif said and she spun on her heels.

"And you lot following behind Thor and worshiping him, doing whatever he said without question, has done nothing to assuage that jealousy." Elora spoke into her goblet as she took a large swig. "Did I not tell you you would need to reign him in? As his council you are supposed to keep him from letting things get this far! Do not act as if all or in this case any blame lies on Loki's jealousy."

Sif's face went red as she stepped to Elora but Volstagg spoke first. "We should be grateful to Loki, he saved our lives."

Hogun, who had been silently watching until now as he puzzled something out in his head, finally spoke. "Laufey said there were traitors in the house of Odin. A master of magic could bring three Jotuns into Asgard."

Fandral rose and came to stand beside Elora who had gone very still. "Loki has always been one for mischief but you're talking about something else entirely."

"I might be but think about it." Hogun focused in on Elora who was biting her lip in worry. "You have traveled the realms and you have trained in magics. How many people could aid Jotunheim in getting past Heimdall?"

Elora took a deep breath as she licked her lips. She had been thinking this very thing all afternoon but she hadn't wanted to believe it, didn't want to speak it out loud for fear it would become a reality. "The realms are full of magicians but the Allsight is a powerful gift. In Asgard I can think of only four, maybe five people strong enough to accomplish such a task," she closed her eyes and leaned into Fandral for comfort, wishing desperately that Yrsa was here to reason these ideas away but also thanking fate she wasn't present to hear the accusations against her brother. "And only two of those people were at the castle today."