King Freyadóttir and Eirlys had already left the chamber by the time Loki was summoned. Thor, however, remained behind. He stood near the tall windows, staring out across Asgard without really seeing it. His mind was still caught on the word Odin had spoken earlier.
Marriage. Eirlys.
The two thoughts had been circling endlessly in his head, refusing to settle into anything sensible. He could still remember the faint colour that had risen to her cheeks, the way she had suddenly found it difficult to look at him. A small part of him had wondered whether she had felt the same strange uncertainty he had. He had not yet decided what that meant. The doors opened and Loki stepped inside. He paused when he saw Thor still there, then looked toward Odin and Frigga. Their expressions were unusually composed.
"There is something we need to tell you," Frigga said.
Loki's eyes narrowed slightly as Odin spoke of the future, of alliances, of the friendship between Asgard and Vanaheim. Then came the word that immediately caught Loki's attention.
Marriage. A wedding in the palace. After so many years without one. Loki's mind worked quickly. He did not need to ask who.
Eirlys had only just returned to Asgard after years away. Thor had been waiting for her. They had embraced as though no time had passed. She had laughed with him, followed him through the palace, and then stood beside him when marriage had been mentioned, her cheeks turning pink before she hurried away.
Of course, It had to be Thor and Eirlys. Something inside Loki tightened. He kept his face perfectly still, but the thought of it struck somewhere far deeper than it should have.
Eirlys. Thor's Eirlys.
The idea had always bothered him in ways he had never admitted, even to himself. She had belonged beside Thor for as long as Loki could remember. She had shared his childhood, his adventures, his laughter. She understood Thor in a way Loki never had. And now she would belong to him too? Not merely beside him.
To him. The thought made Loki's jaw clench. He hated how easily his mind conjured the image. Eirlys standing at Thor's side as queen, wearing Asgardian gold, smiling at him with that warmth she had shown in the corridor, probably more.
Something hot and bitter twisted through Loki's chest. He had spent his entire life watching Thor receive things that seemed to come effortlessly to him. Love. Praise. Loyalty. A future.
And now, apparently, Eirlys too. His hands curled slowly at his sides. He barely heard Frigga continue speaking.
"She will need time to become comfortable with everything," she said gently. "It has been years since she lived here, and there has been much change."
Loki forced himself to listen.
"You should spend some time with her," Frigga continued. "Be kind. Make her comfortable around you."
That finally pulled him from his thoughts. Loki looked at his mother, confused by the request but still convinced he understood its purpose. After all, if Eirlys was to marry Thor, then Loki would soon be her brother-in-law. He could manage civility or a smile. Even if the very thought of watching her become Thor's wife made something inside him want to tear the entire palace apart.
Then Frigga finished her sentence. "Especially now that she is to be your bride."
Silence.
Thor turned around so quickly that even Odin's expression shifted. Loki simply stared at his mother. His bride?
For a moment, neither brother seemed capable of understanding what they had just heard. Thor looked from Frigga to Loki, then toward the doors through which Eirlys had disappeared.
Loki's mind went completely blank. Then, slowly, the meaning reached him.
Eirlys. His Eirlys.
The anger that had been burning inside him only moments ago vanished beneath something far more bewildering. She was not going to belong to Thor. She was going to marry him. And suddenly, every forbidden thought he had tried to push away since seeing her in the corridor became impossible to ignore.
Thor could not remember the last time he had been this furious. For several moments, he simply stood there, staring at his parents as though they had spoken in a language he did not understand. His gaze moved from Odin to Frigga, then finally to Loki, whose own expression had gone strangely still.
His Eirlys? Loki's bride.
The thought struck him again, and this time there was no confusion to soften it. His own parents had decided this. After everything. After his exile to Midgard, after the destruction of the Bifrost, after nearly losing his father and returning to a kingdom that barely resembled the home he had left, this was what they had chosen to do.
Thor's hands tightened into fists. "How could you?" His voice was low, but the anger beneath it was unmistakable.
Frigga took a step toward him, but Thor moved away.
"How could you even think this was appropriate now?"
Odin's expression remained stern. "Thor, you misunderstand the purpose of—"
"No." Thor's voice rose. "I understand perfectly."
He turned toward the doors through which Eirlys had left only moments ago. His chest felt tight. She had come here expecting to see him. She had smiled at him, embraced him, spoken to him as though the years apart had meant nothing. She had trusted this place to still be home.
And they had been discussing marriage behind her back. His marriage to Eirlys had seemed strange enough when he had first thought it was being proposed. But now that he knew it was Loki, another feeling had begun mixing with his anger.
Fear. Not for himself. For her.
Loki had tried to seize the throne. He had deceived all of them. He had nearly destroyed Asgard. And somehow Odin and Frigga thought it was reasonable to place Eirlys beside him?
"She deserves better than this," Thor said bitterly.
Loki's head tilted slightly. That tiny movement irritated Thor more than it should have. His brother looked almost amused.
"Thor," Frigga said softly, "this is not a punishment for Eirlys."
"It feels like one." His words echoed through the chamber.
The anger in Thor's voice unsettled both Odin and Frigga more than either of them cared to show. They had seen their son furious before, but this was different. There was hurt beneath it, the kind that came from feeling betrayed by the very people he had trusted.
Odin remained outwardly composed, though his father's heart ached at the sight of Thor standing before him, still carrying the wounds of everything he had endured on Midgard. He had sent his son away to learn, to change, to understand the weight of a crown. He had never intended for Thor to return believing he was being punished again.
Frigga felt the same guilt more sharply. She knew why they had chosen Eirlys, trying to protect Loki from himself, and Eirlys from the consequences of leaving him entirely without guidance. But looking at Thor now, she wondered whether they had been too quick to decide the fate of two young people without giving either of them a voice.
And when Thor demanded to know what he was being punished for, Odin understood the terrible mistake his son was making. Thor believed Eirlys had been taken from him as another consequence of his failures. Neither parent had meant for him to feel that way.