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Loki was… disgruntled. It mattered not to Odin or Thor how well he performed as an adviser and diplomatic liaison. All they really paid attention to where the amount of taxes that flowed into Asgard or the newest shipments of Elvish Mead.
His mother seemed to be the only one who truly missed him at all, or seemed appreciative of his accomplishments.
More often than not, he was away from the palace for long stretches. Fortnights spent helping this noble, or that peasant…. He helped to make sure the powerful stayed in power, the working class stayed happily working, and everyone else was given what they needed to thrive and become an asset of Asgard.
To keep the protection they ‘So desperately needed’ from the Golden Realm.
It was such a farce.
Regardless of how Loki had begun to feel resigned and less than enthusiastic about his birthright, he still did a fine job if he didn’t say so himself.
Alfheim was prosperous. The right deals were being brokered to create jobs and everyone spoke with a politeness and overall acceptance of him, even when the whispers followed him. Whispers that never seemed to leave him be, no matter what realm he was forced to traverse.
You see, it was only Midgard that was strictly kept out of interstellar relations. All of the other realms were free to travel where they would. That meant if The Warriors Three weren’t needed for keeping their defenses up, or training the new Elinjhar, they were often seen stopping by one of the best brothels in the universe… which so happened to be on the planet Loki was currently residing on.
Not that they ever tried to hunt him down or invite him to join them.
He’d only ran into them once, but it had been enough to have him trying his best to ignore the things they said too loudly while drunk to anyone that was within hearing distance.
Of course those fools were more his brother’s friends than his.
He tried to not let it affect him as he continued on in the (mostly) thankless job of politician.
Technically, when he thought back on it, he’d only been in this position for a mere 57 years. He was still a babe compared to some of the court here, but he’d been training for this for as long as he’d been able to walk. Because of that, he was doing a fantastic job forging relationships among the elves.
He found himself envying them just a bit from time to time. Class structures as they were, differed greatly from Asgard. More of the general populace were included in the day to day decisions that ran their Capital. While, the rich and noble were still a bit ostentatious, they actually listened to the lower classes and were generally more in tune with what would keep their power balanced and working efficiently.
It was a way of thinking that was so very like how Frigga had taught him about magic. Everything had a price. There was no good without evil, no prosper without sacrifice. A system of checks and balances that kept everyone moving toward their goals. Kept their world working.
It was a world Loki, as a mage, was highly in tune to. It was a world he eventually had come to enjoy more than any other realm.
As such, he’d begun to truly make some rather intelligent acquaintances there. He had hopes that someday they might even evolve into his own group of friends….
So when the whispers started he was disheartened but fortified himself and stood a bit straighter and continued on with the job at hand.
He never changed the way he did his business. He was always polite, insightful, and creative is solving the issues that came up day to day but he internally cursed the Warriors Three and their big mouths.
He’d had centuries of practice ignoring the whispers and rumors, even though they all hurt him in some way, so this would be no different and he was determined to do a good job. For Asgard. For his parents….. And because SOMEONE would have to know what the hell they were doing if Thor took over and his parents were no longer at their sides to help.
Weeks turned into months of political maneuverings…. Loki was mentally feeling the strain, but still pushed onward. He saw his mother via astral projection once or twice a week. She seemed to be the only person who missed him at all…. Until Thor showed up.
He came strutting into the senate hall as if he already sat on Asgard’s throne, and Loki could only straighten from where he had been bent over a map of the latest noble that wanted his input on rerouting his irrigation system to best feed the thousands of acres of farmland he was in charge of. This reconfiguration was very important…. This single farm fed the majority of this hemisphere of the realm. Thor could not have interrupted a more important matter.
But he straightened and clasped his hands behind his back, schooling his face into a cautious smile. He prayed to the Norns that his oaf of a brother wouldn’t manhandle him in front of the nobleman, but Thor, ever the nearsighted Bilgesnipe, nearly knocked him over with the force of his hug. His bloody HEELS left the damn ground! He was lucky the tips of his toes still touched or he was sure he would’ve been SWUNG like a child.
Between the force of the hug trying to crush his ribs, and the motion of being hauled up against Thor’s chest, he caught sight of the elf’s eyes going large as he caught himself before his jaw fell open. Loki tried his best not to roll his eyes, but it was so HARD.
He kept his daggers sheathed through sheer willpower and the voice of his mother echoing in his head not to make a scene or cause dishonor to the family.
….Even IF Thor had a minor stabbing coming for how he was relegating Loki from politician to feckless little brother in front of a man that would surely spread this as gossip before the day was done!
Sometimes he truly wished he had turned out a bit LESS like Frigga and the Vanir, and a bit more like his Aesir father. Then maybe he wouldn’t be so lithe and easy to maneuver for Thor.
Once back down fully on the ground, it was all Loki could do to keep the poison inside as he tried to calmly and assertively direct his beastly brother to greet the OBVIOUSLY prominent person to whom they currently stood in front of.
In the end, Loki just shook his head as he closed the doors to his office in the senate. The noble had nearly run away as if he was on fire to tell the rest that he had met the great Prince Thor. How Prince Loki was obviously a sly little weasel Odin had put in place to spy on them.
His dark thoughts had made him tell his brother he was too busy with other important affairs and couldn’t accompany him to the tavern. He didn’t need more of the natives seeing how vastly different he was to the future King of Asgard.
Thor didn’t even bother to come back that night, or the following day as he had obviously found some drinking friends, or a few bed partners to spend his time with. Perhaps he’d originally set out to spend time with his brother, saying he had missed him, but in all reality, he just was too easily swayed by alcohol and beautiful women.
It hurt a bit more than Loki really wanted to admit that he wasn’t that important to his brother after all…. But he got back to his duties as usual. Drafted the new design for the irrigation systems and sent word to the noble that had so hastily departed yesterday.
He tried to work even when the man came back and was a bit more quiet than before.
He tried to ignore how he felt as if he was being watched carefully in case he was trying to trick them into a faulty system.
Loki could do nothing but his duty and do it to the best of his ability, even though his heart was sinking faster as the day wore on.
Even the serving people grew quiet when he appeared… their murmuring voices hushed in an instant as he went about ordering his meal.
It was so unbelievably unfair.
He was nothing but kind and fair to these people and he’d even begun to think of this realm as more to his liking, more ‘home’ than the golden realm was to him…. He was ready to dig in and really help it to prosper as it should. Now he was looked at with suspicion. Why?
Because he wasn’t broad and muscular? Because he didn’t break tankards on the floor and bellow like a drunken heathen?
This wasn’t the way his life was supposed to be. He was supposed to be Thor’s right hand. The one that made things happen. The one that knew the answers and could be called upon to help solve the problems of all the realms.
Instead, for days that turned into weeks after Thor’s visit, he felt alienated. Watched. The people he had begun to care for had grown even more reserved around him. He felt more like an unwanted hindrance to them, than an actual confidant and problem solver.
He’d had such practice ignoring the whispers, he didn’t even try to hear what was said anymore.
In his morose state, he’d begun avoiding his mother’s call. This past week she had tried every night, but with the wards he’d placed, she couldn’t project into his chambers anymore without coming off as incredibly rude. Frigga was anything but that, but because of his avoidance, it came as a HUGE shock, nearly 4 months after Thor had visited, that he received a raven letter. It stated that the coronation would be moved up and was being held in less than a week. Frigga pointed out that she really needed to speak with him and nearly begged him to come home early.
If there was anyone in all the worlds he would suffer through the pomp, circumstance and belittling for, it was her.
He didn’t even tell anyone in person about it, just left a letter on his door stating that he had to be back in Asgard for a brief time for his brothers coronation, he hoped to see some of them there yada yada…. It was all so very empty feeling to him.
The time was finally here. His training was going to be put to the truest test imaginable. Reigning Thor in was going to be a full time job, and he knew his chamber in Alfleim was going to have to become smaller…. Less like an entire home, and more like a business office with a backroom to sleep in should the need arise.
He wasn’t really looking forward to bouncing all over the Nines cleaning up his brother’s messes for the rest of his life, but he was resigned to his fate.
Everyday leading up to the coronation, more dignitaries came. He and his mother were in charge of seeing to everyone’s needs and getting them whatever they wished for. It was a bit like organizing chaos, but they seemed to do alright.
Though he kept up appearances, he could tell Frigga was shooting him thoughtful or concerned looks. Truthfully, he was surprised at so many Elves and Vanir showing up. He supposed it was natural, as Frigga was Vanir. Thor was related to their royals as well.
The ever present whispers returned. People stopped talking when he entered a room. It was aggravating to say the least! Something was going on….
The evening of the coronation began like all other big events in Asgard, with Odin addressing the masses, Frigga at his side silent but glowing none the less. It left the brothers in the passageway behind the throne waiting for their cue. Loki was spiraling further and further into his self deprecating mood, while Thor actually seemed slightly nervous. Though he was quick to tell Loki he’d never been nervous in his entire life…. (lie).... Loki couldn’t do much but try to focus his brother on what was to come, give his calming words and wait for everything to start.
Loki was called before Thor was, so with one last supportive smile to him, he took his place beside his mother to wait.
It was after Thor was announced and had begun walking towards the dias, that the first body materialized to block his path. All the warriors lining the path snapped into an aggressive pose as Odin rose and shouted indignantly. One person was blasphemous! He would have his head for disrupting the ceremony! Loki could only stare wide eyed as he recognized the person standing, offering no offensive moves toward Thor or the Elinjhar.
Just as one soldier stepped out to grab the man by the arm and yank him away, another….. And then another person popped up.
Some popped into place with the same hue of burgundy light. Meaning one mage was sending most of them. Many of the Elves were teleporting themselves…. He couldn’t fathom what was happening and as Odin stood seething, Loki could almost swear he saw the ends of his hair curling up smoke from his mighty temper, barely held in check.
It would have been all out melee if Loki and Frigga hadn’t stepped down a stair on the dais and cast a shield down the line of struggling people and soldiers. It effectively kept both groups from maiming each other while they sorted out the problem at hand.
Odin turned an accusing eye on him but briefly to see if he could determine if Loki had any idea what in Hel was going on.
He didn’t.
Odin’s voice boomed out, making lesser men quake, but the rather large group by now, just huddled together and faced his wrath.
What came out of their mouths stunned more than just Loki.
He couldn’t see, but Frigga’s face was torn between pity for Thor and elation for Loki as she ascended the dias to slide her hand onto her husbands arm and listen. She had to more than once, remind Odin that the will of the people, ALL the people was important to a unified universe. The Nine would descend into full blown chaos if they were to carry on with naming Thor Future-King when so many, from half of the realms clearly were ready to fight to the death to put Loki in his place.
Their arguments? Couldn’t be refuted, even by Odin.
Loki was amazing at his job. He treated them all fairly, with creativity and intelligence. He was a natural leader, one that cared about the people he served. They argued Thor was the exact OPPOSITE of what they wanted in a leader!
Loki was so stunned he couldn’t even force himself to look for Thor’s blustery red face in the sea of faces. In the most pivotal moment, amidst the voices of the people that renounced him, Thor dropped Mjolnir in shock.
He tried but could not lift it again.
With widened eyes, Thor looked to Odin to tell him what to do.
Loki would never forget the pronouncement that echoed with the reverberation of the Odinforce amplifying it for the thousands in attendance.
“Until such a time as every realm accepts Thor as King, our son Prince Loki will reign over the ones that do not. We will not force obedience when your choices are still the Sons of Asgard. Your voices have been heard here this day. May you not live to regret them.”
A large blast of light flung out far and wide from the spear as Odin struck the marble floor three times.
The first blast changed Loki’s armor to be mostly gold with only a bit of black and green.
The second created an intricate woven crown of gold on his head. It was much more subtle than the monstrosity that was supposed to be Thor’s. Loki would bet that the Odinforce had split the amount of gold in Thor’s crown to create two separate ones…. He was just glad it wasn’t heavy…. Or atrocious.
After the third strike, the spear vanished and reappeared in his hands.
Loki stared for more than a few seconds. The greatest weapon in Asgard was allowing him to yield it. He was flabbergasted. He could only look up in confusion between his father, who looked almost ready to burst a blood vessel, and his mother, who shone with her joy in his accomplishment. (Even though he had never thought he would ever gain even a fraction of the esteem his brother claimed.)
He felt amazed and as if he was moving through thick molasses as he took his place on the dais and slowly accepted his new role. He’d never in all his life thought anyone but his mother would ever truly see him for who he was or what he could do for the realm.
In revolting in such a peaceful way, the Vanir, Elvish and even a few Jotun had unequivocally given their opinion. They had chosen Loki to lead them and whether he had ever even dreamed of such a thing or not, Loki was determined to lead them well.