Chapter Text
Tapping your foot gently against the chair in front of you, another sigh escaped your mouth as you glanced around.
The girl in front of you was staring down at the book in her hands, eyebrows furrowed deeply in concentration. A small bead of sweat began to roll down her forehead and just ever so slightly, her hands began to shake.
“Alright Jas. Enough for today.” You slipped your hands beneath hers and eased the book away.
“But I was close!” Her auburn ringlets shook out from the tight plait crowned around her hair as she glanced up at you, almost desperate. “I want to prove myself to Odin, at his event this weekend-“
“Jas, you’ve barely begun your training- and you’re still very young. You have all the time in the world to get up to Odin’s standards.” You reminded her, gently knocking her chin with your finger. “But you remember what I said, about Odin?”
“If he asks of my powers, I am to say I am bound by blood oath not to repeat them without my mistress present.” She repeated perfectly, then gave you a pout. “But why?”
“Because Frigga isn’t around anymore to protect us- and Odin is..”
“He is our king.” She said, as if this would mean anything to you. But it hadn’t- not for a long time now.
“He is.” You nodded, unwilling to discuss your thoughts with her. “But he doesn’t understand us like our Queen did- and because I say so. Now run along and find Qorie, I’m sure she’s up to no good.”
The girl in front of you seemed a little confused, but nonetheless offered you a warm smile before darting out into the main hallway in search of her friend.
Jas was too young to understand many things- like why some of her powers hadn’t manifested by now. Why she wasn’t allowed to show her powers to outsiders. Why you wouldn’t allow her to speak to Odin without your presence.
You weren’t her mistress, nor would you ever be. But she had been under Frigga’s care at the time of her death and given her abilities, it wouldn’t be right to have sent her out of the castle. Some of the other, high ranking individuals were uncertain of the decision- citing that you, unlike Jas, had earned your keep here. Your powers were rarer.
But as you reminded them, she was ten. It was hardly as if she had time to earn her keep, given she’d been here since she was just a babe.
She was only one of four of you- the two others were your age, and had been here for a similar length of time though like Jas, their powers differed too. They too, were weaker.
You tided the books away, giving a faint, fond smile down at them all. Frigga had used the same ones to teach you- had taken as much care and time as you tried to take with Jas.
Hands trembling, you watched as Frigga pushed open a small oak door and gestured for you to walk inside. She had collected you ten minutes prior and walked you down here from your chambers, asking a hundred questions about your clothes and your room. Your quietness was not from a place of ungratefulness, but rather fear. She had seemed to sense this, just gently guiding you down the halls.
“This is your study room.”
Your eyes grew wide. It wasn’t as you expected from a Queen- you had expected something sleek and immaculate. Instead, you found a sanctuary.
Books were piled high at every corner and great, beaming streams of sunlight came from every towering window. Trinkets collected over the years decorated most of the desk space and papers, drawings, art covered the rest.
The entire thing had such a sense of home about it, you found yourself instantly relaxing. As if the goddess beside you had put a spell over the place. Perhaps she had.
“Well- my study room.” She laughed. “But you will study here, with me, as much as we can. I will teach you as much as you wish to learn.” Frigga bent into a crouch just behind you, her soft hands settling on your shoulders. Shoulders that had been clothed by the gods themselves.
“I love it.”
Two knocks, loud and sharp, pulled you from your daydream. You glanced around the study, feeling a sudden pang of longing for the Queen, and swallowed it. Brushing your hair out of your eyes, you called for them to enter.
A guard- Mikal- pushed through the oak doors and shot you a smile. Immediately, his nervousness hit you like a tidal wave and you swallowed past it, trying to ignore it’s prickling over your skin.
“Sorry, uh-“ He shuffled inside, stepping around the mess scattered all around. “I have an invitation here. From the King.”
“Oh?”
The cream envelope in his hands was tiny- and you opened it to find an invitation to another, grand party that was being thrown this weekend. Funny, given Odin never used to invite people and simply expected them to show up using mouth of word.
“It’s going to be rather exciting. Performers are coming to do a play.” The guard peered over you anxiously as you read over the invite again. Over that careful, swooping O signed by Odin himself that looked just slightly different than it used to.
“Another? How wonderful.” You resisted rolling your eyes, though it was a challenge. “I don’t think I’ll be attending. Thank his Majesty however, for me.”
Mikal blushed as you slipped the envelope back into his hands with a smile. Another wave of anxiety, and a touch of desire, rushed over you as he bowed and turned on his heels to go.
You waited until he had closed the door behind him before slouching into the seat, sighing. If it wasn’t enough for poor Mikal that you were an empath- and so, knew exactly what he was feeling at all times- it was pretty obvious anyway he had taken a liking to you. He had delivered all of your messages now for two months.
Not that he knew you were an empath. Nobody did, except for a select few like Jas, your friends and of course, the royal family.
Empaths weren’t exactly the rarest- you could find at least one on every planet. Jas, Kalie and Genevieve were all empaths. But unlike them, and others, your powers ran deeper. You could break through walls of minds and force people to feel things, or do anything you desired, if you so wished. With just a touch, you could heal any disease, any broken bone.
So, unlike the others, your powers were kept a secret from the world. Frigga had been worried that if one of Odin’s enemies heard of you, they would take you and use you to their own advantage- force you to turn King’s heads cruel, to turn entire empires against Asgard.
Even now, her speeches about your powers didn’t feel true. You didn’t feel as powerful as she claimed you were.
Truthfully, you hadn’t since she died.
Frigga had been like your mother, since yours had died when you were young. Odin had found you and recognised the power within you, taking you home to his wife. It was her who had taken care of you, taught you, held you when you cried. She was your family- and when the dark elf killed her, you felt as if you were staring into the abyss, drowning in sadness.
One morning, Kalie had knocked on the door and informed you about Jas. She had offered to teach her- but given you were the oldest, and most powerful, it made sense for it to be you. It gave you the strength to get up each morning- and sometimes you wondered if this is why Frigga had taken you on. For the sense of purpose.
Clearing away the rest of the papers, you put them to the side and gathered your things. Locking the study shut, you took the passage down into a quieter part of the castle, coming out into an empty hallway.
The east wing, where you and the others resided as well as any visiting guests- not that there were many, if any at all. There hadn’t been since Frigga died. Any sign of life inside the castle had ceased the moment her heart did.
Part of you was grateful for the quiet. The other part of you just tried to get through the day. To avoid the screaming panic inside of you, wondering what next?
Without Frigga, it was time to make your own path. Your own way. But you weren’t even sure where to begin- and how to leave the only place you’d ever known as home behind.
Clipping the holster around your thigh, you frowned as knocking sounded at your door. It was late- and rare, to get visitors at this time.
Decent visitors anyway.
Clamping down on the slight blush wriggling to your cheeks at where your mind had gone, you swung it open- and were surprised to find Mikal standing there, once more today.
“Oh, you’re-“ He ran his eyes over you- over the knives strapped to your legs, the tight armour strapped around your middle. “The uh, King requests you.”
“At this time of night?”
“I was just informed to fetch you, but I wasn’t told why. I apologise.” Mikal stood back, waiting, and you sighed. Slipping the heavy, grey cloak over your shoulders, you followed him out of the room and down towards the throne room.
Gen would be waiting outside in the gardens for you, ready to train. She had come to you some months ago and begged you to teach her the basics- after all that had happened with the Dark Elves and with all of the royals except Odin now gone she wished to know how to defend herself.
You had tried to invite her to your usual training, with Fandral and Hogun, but she had refused, turning a deep shade of red.
Genevieve and Kalie had been raised together by a very rich, proper family. Taught to sit straight, to never speak out of place or say what they were thinking at any given moment. It meant that they weren’t exactly the most comfortable around your friends, or other men in the court, given they had been taught their entire lives that they were simply objects to them- not their friends, or allies. It had taken years to get that idea out of their minds, and it was a slow process.
They were taken in by Frigga not because their parents had died, but because they had been thrown out due to their powers and what that might bring upon their families. Of course, their families couldn’t know the girls were the simplest forms of empaths, barely able to influence an emotion outwit their own- but the damage had been done, and they refused to return even after Frigga told them they’d put them in no danger.
If Sif were here, Gen would perhaps relent slightly train with her- and you wished she was. The maiden was one of the most feared fighters in the galaxy and one of your fiercest friends, who you missed now she was on Earth working with something called S.H.I.E.L.D.
But you still had the others to keep you company, even if Thor was gone off world. You joined them on their battles and missions, as you had done for years, even when you were a teenager.
They too knew of your powers- but they had never truly seen them in action except for when you had healed them back from injuries. You always used your weapons, instead of your mind, on the battlefield.
Malik pushed open the doors to the throne room and gestured for you to enter. You glanced around, noting the few guards around you, but nobody else.
Odin sat slightly slumped in his chair. His hair was ruffled, the top few buttons of his shirt undone and he barely made an attempt to straighten himself up as you approached.
One thing you had learned upon years and years of fighting along side Thor, and his inner circle, was that many people underestimated you. They didn’t expect you to be strong, or clever. For your abilities to be so powerful. They expected you to be another of Frigga’s ladies in wait- quiet. Composed.
Of course over the years, you had learned to ignore those who underestimated you, after one too many fights and bloody noses. You had earned the respect of your friends, one of whom was a God- you didn’t need to listen to those who didn’t see your true potential.
There had only ever been one person who had truly riled you. Had underestimated you at every step, every mission, bothering you enough to often chase you from sleep.
It was because he underestimated you so, that he didn’t think you were clever enough to suspect it was him, Loki god of mischief, sitting upon that throne, and not his father.
You had suspected it for some time now, even if others hadn’t. Even when others had cited his odd behaviour to Frigga’s death and Thor’s refusal to immediately take up the throne. You had known something was off, and the few conversations he’d had with you these past few months only furthered your belief.
“Good evening.” Odin called out.
You walked to the bottom of the stairs beneath the throne and then bowed, knee dipping towards the marble, before straightening. “Good evening, your Majesty.”
He gave you a slight smirk, his eyes noting your armour and your cape. “Going somewhere this late?”
“Just training, sir.”
He narrowed his eyes slightly. “I didn’t realise Hogun trained this late.”
“He doesn’t.” You offered a bland smile- and pretended to brush over the fact he knew who you were training with. Odin didn’t notice that, ever. “I am training with another student- she is waiting for me in the gardens.”
“Well, I won’t keep you long.” He gestured to one of his guards. They disappeared through a back set of double doors, and a moment later returned, guiding a young girl out of the shadows. She was clinging to her evening robes, biting her lip nervously.
You offered a comforting smile to Jas as she walked to your side. “This is about my student your highness?”
“I found her wandering the lower halls today. Asked how her training was going, how her powers were progressing- and twice, she repeated that she could not inform me. Not due to a..blood oath.” The King swallowed- hard. There was a faint gleam of horror in his eyes.
Blood oaths weren’t looked well upon. They meant ripping a deep cut into someones hand, and your own, and usually forcing them to vow something. If they broke the vow..it meant death, in most scenarios.
“I would prefer to speak without the girl here.” You informed him, gently squeezing her shoulder. She trembled slightly- probably in fear, of the man sitting in front of you both as he examined the two of you.
But you were not trembling, nor afraid. For he was only a boy, wearing a mask.
Odin nodded- and Jas was escorted back out, towards her chambers. You waited until the doors had shut behind her before turning your gaze back to the god lounging upon the throne.
Anyone would rightly be horrified you had seemingly forced a child to do this terrible act- anyone but Odin.
“Blood oaths have been banned for centuries. If you are caught given one, it can be punishable by death.” To your surprise, he didn’t look entirely giddy to tell you such news.
But if he was truly Odin, he wouldn’t need to tell you this at all. You knew they had been banned for centuries and knew exactly how cruel they could be.
The scar winding from your wrist to your finger was the result of one- and it had come from Odin himself.
Part of you was tempted to throw his entire circus act up into the air right now and remind the King of such act. Ask why he himself then, had decided to inflict it upon you when you were just a child?
But you knew it had to be his son underneath his skin- and the last thing you wanted was for the god to know of your pain. You didn’t want him to feel any kind of pity for you nor give him any idea that you hated Odin as much as he had. God forbid he think the two of you have a thing in common.
Since you were children the two of you had never gotten along, not even slightly, despite your shared love for the Queen. You had been friends with Thor whilst he had lingered in the shadows with his cruel comments and hurtful words, picking on every weakness, every flaw. Often besting each other in combat, the two of you had never been able to go out onto missions alone, given you’d often end up fighting each other.
There were a few, rare moments where Loki had perhaps seen a version of you that was weak or vulnerable in all the years you had lived on Asgard- but you pushed them out of your mind, pretended they didn’t exist.
“She isn’t under blood oath.” You informed him and he relaxed ever so slightly. “She is told to say that, for her protection.”
“Is she..?” He tilted his head, gesturing as if to say like you?
“No, and I suspect she won’t be. But this was something Frigga requested of us, to keep us as safe as she could.”
You stiffened as the faintest wave of pain shot through you, like bullets soaring through your skin. It stopped as quickly as it had begun, as if being stamped out, and the feeling was nursed into a prickling sense of pride and agony.
If anyone had power like you had, they would know it was not Odin who sat before them. His pain for Frigga had been more ache like, in the background, amongst his other emotions.
The prince was in agony over her death and even if he wasn’t revealing himself to you with his foolish mistakes and lack of knowledge, you’d know it was him.
You always knew his pain signature.
“I see.” He ran his eyes over you once more.
Some, smaller part of you wished to expose him just to see him again. Just to see those stupid, cruel eyes crinkle as they say something particularly venomous. You had hated him your entire life, hated the way he stripped you bare with so little words- and yet, when you heard the elves had killed him, there was something hollow inside of you.
“May I go?” You turned slightly, remembering Gen. She would be furious.
“You may.” He nodded, waving you off. He didn’t even bother to watch as you bowed again and darted out the throne room, jogging towards the gardens.
Maybe you had felt so hollow when he died because he was the only one who loved Frigga like you had. He was the only one who knew your pain.
Or maybe it was the faint memories of him appearing at your door, released from prison, saying he was going to the Dark World in a few hours with Thor- and the fact he had spent those few hours in your bed, mouth exploring every inch of your body.
Whatever it was, the day you realised he was alive and pretending to be Odin, that hollowness had immediately brimmed over with icy rage- and it wasn’t going to return to anything warm and fuzzy anytime soon.