Beauty and the Beast

Chapter 39

Loki sighed as he rested in front of the fireplace. He was starting to feel the bone numbing loneliness he'd felt his entirely life after he'd finally started to feel like he belonged somewhere. He missed home and Morgan, but this was for the best. He had to protect her from himself.

He finally managed to doze off and was out until morning when he heard a telepathic voice in his mind, one that always caught his attention. /Darling? Are you alright? Thor sent a raven that there was trouble/ Frigga asked him. Her voice was full of motherly concern.

/No, mother. I'm not alright. And I don't think I ever will be. Not again,/ Loki's voice was soft, the connection weak and ready to snap at any moment. He just wanted to be alone so he wouldn't hurt anyone else. He was ready to give up on everything again. Wouldn't that be better than hurting those he cared about?

That his telepathic voice was so soft, had Frigga dreadfully afraid. She tried desperately to strengthen it on her end, afraid of losing her son. Afraid that if she lost him now, she'd never be able to connect wit him again. /Talk to me, darling. We can figure out whatever happened. We can solve this together,/ she told him as she had when he was a child. A mother's love, a mother's affection and constant ability to make any wrong right. That was what she was offering him, what she always offered him.

Loki scrunched his eyes and snapped the connection. "I'm sorry, Mother," he said softly to himself. Tears came to his eyes at cutting the connection with her. He closed his eyes to get some more sleep, going into a type of hibernation. He didn't want to be found and wanted to be miserable alone.

There were voices a long time later, clearly searching the area. One of them popped the shield he'd placed around the cottage, which woke him, but it was too late. The cottage was stormed with warriors. His hiding place had been found. They found the sleeping Loki, who was only just getting to his feet. "He is dressed as an Asgardian. Take him before the throne. Let the interim king figure out what to do with him," the leader said.

Loki fought, but he was still dazed from his hibernative state. It wasn't long before he was dragged out of the cottage and teleported to the palace. He was dragged before the throne where a male Jotun was sitting with a young female standing at his side.

"Breya, wake him!" a male voice snapped. The girl moved forward, she appeared around the age of a Midgardian teenager. She touched a hand to Loki's head and snapped him the rest of the way out of his hibernative state.

He jolted as he properly took in the scene, looking at the girl in front of him, who was one of the few Jotuns with hair, and looked far too much like a young lady Loki in Jotun form. Loki gasped as he summoned his daggers, glaring around him. "Where am I? Who are you?" He demanded of them all.

"I'm Breya, advisor for the interim king of Jotunheim," the girl explained calmly, not at all disturbed by having daggers drawn on her. She gestured to the man in the throne behind her. "He is Halvar, interim king. He wished to meet the strange Jotun dressed as an Asgardian," she explained. There was something familiar about her and Loki couldn't quite put his finger on it at the moment.

He gripped his daggers more tightly, eying the two Jotuns warily. "I am Loki of Asgard," he finally replied. "What do you want from me?" He demanded in his most regal tone.

Breya squeaked then at his anger and stepped away, her job done. The interim king glared down at Loki. "You are not Asgardian," he replied. Loki was clearly Jotun, despite his clothes.

"I was raised as an Asgardian. I may not be one by blood, but I am by nature. My mother is queen Frigga, my brother is Thor," even now, Loki wouldn't acknowledge Odin. There were murmurs in the court at that declaration.

The king looked more interested. "Then you may be able to help us after all..." he mused. That had Loki's hackles up. "What did Odin do with the prince he stole from our realm?" he demanded, clearly expecting Loki to answer. "And do not think to lie. Breya can smell lies a mile away." That was suspicious. Loki hadn't heard of more beings having his ability to smell lies.

HIs eyes narrowed. "And why do you care?" He demanded as his mind whirled, trying to come up with a way out of this.

"Because with Laufey dead, the throne would fall to one of the princes. The stolen prince is the only surviving one," Breya explained gently when the king just glared.

Loki glared back at the king. "I will not tell you," he snarled

The king glareed. "You will tell us," he replied, even while he was considering what to demand of Frigga to get her son back safely.

"No. You won't be able to get anything out of me. I am the god of mischief, chaos, and lies. I won't tell you anything," Loki protested, though he wasn't sure how he was going to stop the interim king.

/Just tell him/ Breya implored him in his mind. Gods, her magic felt so familiar, nearly identical to his. /I can convince him to send you back to Asgard. Just give him what he wants/ Loki looked at her closer and noticed again how similar she would look to his female form.

/No. I came here to be alone. I cannot go back to Asgard./

/Do you really think he's going to just leave you alone? He'll torture you for information and then ransom you back to your mother once he figures out what he thinks Asgard will give for your return/ she reminded him. The Jotuns could be brutal and pragmatic.

/I have been through far worse than anything your interim king can think up. He will never be able to break me./ Breya could hear the conviction in his voice. Loki wouldn't be broken by a mere Jotun. He'd been through much worse.

She nodded and flicked her hand. There was a shimmer of green magic and she turned to look at Loki. Loki was finally figuring out what it was about her that made her so familiar. She was related to him somehow. A closer look at her magic and he knew for sure. A half sister. "Why are you here, prince?" She asked. Before he could protest, she continued. "Don't worry, he can't hear us. He's currently trapped in a vision of me questioning you for information on the lost prince,"

Loki nodded and since she was his sister, gave a real answer. "I made a mistake. I can't go home,"

"And that led you here, to us? That doesn't seem the wisest plan for someone of your intellect," she snarked. Yep, definitely related.

"The only reason why I'm here is because this was the safest place I could think of. No one back home would think to look for me here,"

She nodded and smirked at him. "And is there any reason I shouldn't tell him that you're the lost prince?"

Of course his half-sister knew who he was, just as he knew who and what she was to him. She was too damn smart for her own good and for her years.

Definitely his sister.