Laufey's answer came swiftly. His letter was two lines long and missing basic courtesies, but its contents offered Loki a modicum of hope. They would have a meeting - midday of the following day. Loki threw himself into preparations and contingency planning at once.

Twenty-four hours later, however, he felt no more ready than he had been the day before.

Loki pulled closer the papers Lady Eydis had laid out for him and rubbed his eyes. Eydis' records were full of terse notations and sharp underlines - just what Loki would have expected of Asgard's treasurer. His father too had been satisfied with Eydis' work. His notes were few and his elaborate signature featured on the bottom of each page. But no matter the hand that had written them, the numbers and the words no longer made sense to Loki. No matter how hard he tried to concentrate, the pages blurred together.

'We have compensated everyone for the additional transport needed to bring the Einherjar, their equipment and stocks into the city. As you can see, the cost already incurred is not insubstantial,' Eydis said.

'It will be more challenging to bring goods into Jotunheim and therefore more costly,' Loki replied.

Eydis ran her tongue over her lower lip. 'The throne of Asgard is yours right now, your highness. Only you can determine which expense is justified and which isn't.'

Two tolls came from the belfry; it was half past the hour. Only half an hour more until the moment of reckoning.

'Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.' Loki said in a sullen tone.

He began to gather up the treasury records, but Eydis caught his hand and shook her head. 'I will take care of these. You would be better served heading down and verifying all is in order there.'

'I suppose so,' Loki muttered. 'I doubt more figures will help me at this point.'

He rested his weight on Gungnir and pushed himself to his feet, feeling the weight of every hour he hadn't slept in the past week. As much as he was reluctant to leave the relative serenity of the Council Chamber, his treasurer had a point - he couldn't hide in here for the rest of time.

However, he was all of twenty feet from the chamber's entrance when Tyr descended upon him. The man had taken the time to change into his formal uniform since Loki had seen him last, but he had not paid any attention to his hair or beard, which left him exuding an air of ominous volatility.

'So it is true then. You are going through with this?' he hissed as he forced himself into Loki's path. 'You are willing to negotiate with them?'

Loki inched back until Tyr was no longer in his personal space. 'I am.'

'They are filth. It abases all of Asgard to even contemplate such a thing! You know what they did to your brother and the soldiers who were with him. You saw what they did to your father, to my daughter. It is merely another chapter in millennia of misdeeds. Death is the only thing we ought to offer them.'

'They will offer death to many an Asgardian should we pursue war.'

'Coward,' Tyr scoffed, moving towards Loki once more. 'You are soft, all sorcerers are. You are one-tenth a man my daughter was.'

'It's curious how you never had one positive comment about her while she was around to hear it,' Loki retorted.

Tyr's already agitated expression twisted into a grotesque mask of disdain and his skin flushed an unhealthy crimson. That had been a careless thing to say; Loki realised his mistake at once. Tyr was in a poor state of mind. Loki had been too busy preparing for his meeting with Laufey to enquire about Sif's condition this morning, but things had looked worse, not better late last night. But what was he to do now? Loki was presently the master of Asgard and Tyr had insulted him to his face. It would hardly be fitting for Loki to be the first one to attempt to make amends.

He waited, hoping that Tyr would offer them both a way out, but Tyr merely glared at Loki with disgust.

'There is more to life than honour and the glory of battle, Lord Tyr,' Loki said in the end. 'It would do you well to remember also that I am prince-regent at the present and I expect to be treated with the same courtesy you would offer my father or my brother.'

That, unfortunately, quickened Tyr once more. 'Obsequiousness is not my habit. I offer you the courtesy of my honest opinion, your highness, as I would offer it to any ruler of Asgard.'

'I dare say there is a way to offer your opinion without insulting a person's manhood.'

'Do you think Laufey's words will be mild and sweet?' Tyr smirked.

The old man isn't going to relent on this, is he?

Loki flexed his shoulders, drew himself to his full height and forced all excess emotion out of his words. 'As it happens, Tyr, I'm about to find out. Now, if you intend to be present, we had best head down. If not, step out of my way. I will not be late for this meeting.'

To Loki's relief, Tyr still had the presence of mind to step out of Loki's way and allow him to pass. The sense of relief proved momentary, however, because Tyr then followed Loki to the Lesser Reception Room, always trailing three steps behind him. He fell back only in the reception room's ante-chamber when Lord Agnar called him over.

Loki himself hurried into the room proper. Like so many other days, the Great Hall would lie empty today. The purpose of that grand, echoing space was to awe and overwhelm, which often wasn't the sentiment the king of Asgard wanted to communicate while in a diplomatic wrangle. Hence the royal palace had two reception rooms - the Greater and the Lesser.

It was sometimes misconstrued that a reception held in this smaller room was some half-masked insult from the king of Asgard. This was inaccurate. The moniker 'Lesser' referred only to the room's smaller dimensions. The decision as to which room would be used depended primarily on the size of the visiting party and the retinue the Allfather wished with him on the day. Since Laufey wouldn't be present in the flesh and Loki hardly wanted half of Asgard watching the proceedings, the Lesser Reception was the logical choice.

Loki was somewhat surprised to find the room empty. The councillors seemed to be occupied amongst themselves, snippets of their conversation occasionally audible through the open doors leading back to the ante-chamber. Otherwise, all was quiet. The servants had done their work - someone had even had the forethought to swap out the usual tapestries depicting Odin's triumphant victories for pieces featuring less incendiary subjects - and made themselves scarce.

'Loki, there you are,' his mother said as she entered the room and found Loki standing right in the centre, checking that no important detail had been missed. She dismissed her two handmaids and offered Loki the lidded ceramic mug she held in her hands. 'I thought you wouldn't refuse this.'

He accepted the mug and removed the lid. He immediately smelled the nutmeg and ginger in the warm, honey-hued liquid, but there was a sharper undercurrent to it too. No amount of spices could mask the magic. Loki took a sip, which confirmed his suspicions.

'I am aghast, mother,' he said, shaking his head in mock disapproval. 'How many times have you warned me about the dangers of such concoctions?'

'You look to be in need of it,' his mother replied.

Loki took a large gulp and waited until the tingling sensation in his mouth subsided.

'I expect I do. I haven't so much as got a glimpse of my bed for two nights now.' He took a deep breath. The potion wasn't as strong as Loki would have mixed it had he prepared it, but it certainly left him feeling more like himself. 'Thank you, I can already feel it working. How is father today?'

'The same.'

'And Sif?'

Frigga's lips drew together. 'You haven't been told? That... I'm sorry, child. She passed away this morning.'

'Oh,' Loki muttered. 'That explains Tyr's temper earlier. I shall have to give my condolences to Sif's family once this is over.'

'No one will think it a slight to not hear from you at once. You have taken on the duties of the king, everyone understands how busy you are right now.'

Loki nodded absently and turned towards the broad golden throne that dominated the back half of the room. There wasn't much time left. He drank the remainder of the potion and replaced the lid. His heart pulsed, but he couldn't be sure if it was the potion's effects or his nerves getting the better of him.

'I should take my place,' he said softly.

Just as he shifted away from his mother, she rested her hand on his bicep, then pulled the empty mug out of his grasp. 'Loki, although your father seems far from us, it is not so. He still sees all and I know he is proud of you today. As am I.'

'I...' His lips and tongue couldn't quite form the words he was looking for, so he simply nodded.

His mother smiled and withdrew to one of the chairs set up either side of the throne.

And all too soon, the bell tolled out the hour - midday. Everyone who was still standing hurried to their seats.

Once everyone was in position, Loki sucked in a breath and focused his attention on the Eye of Angrboda. It wasn't much to look at. A hollow ring, about two of Loki's hand-spans in diameter, that rested atop a stout alabaster pillar. He sent a spark of magic into the ring, silently thanking his mother for the potion once more - he hadn't considered the strain this exercise would put on his magic.

That was if the meeting would be going ahead. The Eye of Angrboda was merely an unattractive piece of palace furnishing until its counterpart, which Loki had sent over to Jotunheim the previous evening, also stirred to life.

Seconds stretched out into minutes. Everyone gathered grew restless, exchanging meaningful glances as if Loki lacked the peripheral vision to notice their behaviour. He was about to summon the ravens and send them off to Utgard, when the Eye spun. It hummed as it whirled around. Its rotation sped up until it looked like a solid sphere, then it snapped open and projected an image across the entire back half of the reception room.

Laufey sat upon his stone throne, leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees. He had only one person at his side - a female frost giant about an inch shorter than Loki. No doubt Laufey needed someone to work the Eye of Angrboda for him; Loki had never heard of a Jotnar king skilled in magic.

'You have begged me for an audience, prince-regent,' Laufey said. 'I would have thought you would have something to say, yet here you are looking like a doe who has wandered in the hunter's path.'

It stung how accurate the assessment was. As haggard and bent as Laufey was, seated amid shadows and unpolished stone, Laufey was nothing less than a master of his kingdom. Loki, on the other hand, squirmed upon a throne intended for a man twice his size. Worse yet, he was surrounded by a gaggle of advisers. The seven of them and his mother were all ready to jump in should anything go amiss.

What was I thinking to have them all here? I work better alone.

'Greetings, King Laufey,' Loki said as evenly as he could manage. 'I thank you for acquiescing to this meeting. Relations between our two realms have taken an unfortunate turn in recent days, I believe it is in our mutual interest if we do not allow the situation to escalate further.'

'Why are you the regent? Is Odin too decrepit now to be lifted out of bed and sat upon that gilded eyesore?'

'I believe this is solid gold, not gilded. As to my father, he rests in Odinsleep.'

'A pity. I would have welcomed his face heavy with knowledge that his son is in my hands to do with as it pleases me.'

Loki wrapped his left hand around the decorative armrest of the throne and reminded himself that Laufey wouldn't miss any opportunity to bait him. 'I want proof my brother remains in your custody and that he has not been mistreated.'

'I have him. Don't fret, pup.'

Laufey straightened his back and rose, confirming for Loki once and for all that his birth-father was as tall as the frost giants were reputed to be. He moved slowly, his steps uneven. The projection from the Eye tracked him, but the effect was somewhat disorientating - it took Loki a moment to realise that Laufey had merely crossed to the back half of the hall.

And there was no doubt Laufey still had Thor. Two chains, suspended from the ceiling, held Thor's arms above his head. Another two snaked across the ice-covered flagstones and met at an unsightly metal contraption that girt Thor's torso. The need for the chains was questionable, however, Thor was slumped down on his knees and his head hung limp. His hair obscured his face so Loki couldn't tell if Thor was conscious.

Loki glanced to his mother. Her face was ashen and she had pressed her hands over her mother, but she had the presence of mind to keep quiet. Agnar and Tyr, on the other hand, were muttering among themselves. Loki lifted Gungnir an inch into the air and sharply brought it down, startling them into silence.

'I cannot tell if he lives. In fact, I cannot be certain this is my brother, not some facsimile. I wish to speak to Thor before we go on,' Loki said.

'No.' Laufey grabbed a fistful of Thor's hair and pulled Thor's hair up until Loki could peer into the incandescent crimson swirling within his brother's eyes. 'He sleeps. I would not want to disturb his sweet dreams. Of course, if you insist on definitive proof, I would be happy to slide my knife into his throat and verify that he still bleeds.'

Loki forced a smile. 'You do that and I'll be forced to do some very unfortunate things in return.'

'I wonder if you'd have the stomach.'

I had stomach enough to murder you once. Right now I wouldn't be upset to do so a second time.

'If we can get to the heart of the matter?' Loki said. 'I am willing to make concessions in exchange for my brother's safe return to Asgard and to ensure that the past is consigned to history. Tit for tat attacks will only bring more grief upon our peoples.'

Laufey released his grip on Thor and headed back to the comfort of his throne. 'Tit for tat? Your newly-crowned king and two dozen warriors walked into Jotunheim without warning. What transgression did Jotunheim commit to warrant this?'

'You have killed or injured nearly all the warriors that accompanied him. Moreover, you have captured our king. Has Asgard not paid for its folly?'

'Your brother has. Asgard? Not so much. This was a military incursion into our lands. A violation of the peace treaty signed between us.'

'Prince Helblindi brought his warriors into the heart of Asgard first. You violated the treaty, not Asgard,' Lord Agnar said.

'Helblindi violated the peace and he paid for it with his life.' For the first time in Loki's memory Laufey's words lacked a derisive undertone. 'I accept the punishment the Norns have apportioned to the prince for his hubris. I neither knew of his plan nor would have condoned it should he have shared it with me.'

'He was your son. How could you be wholly ignorant?' Loki asked.

'Does Odin know all that you entangle yourself in?'

Loki had to concede the point. He could imagine Helblindi as a young prince eager to prove his worth to his people and to his father, who would rush into an ill-conceived adventure to reclaim the great prize of Jotunheim. Thor wouldn't have hesitated if such an opportunity presented to him. At the same time, Laufey could well have lied. It afforded him no advantage to admit he had a hand in his son's gamble and Helblindi wasn't around to tell anyone otherwise.

Whatever the truth, Loki saw no victory in calling Laufey out on this.

'It seems both parties have cause to be aggrieved,' he said instead. 'But there is no sense in counting punches placed and blows received for the rest of our lives. As long as I have your word we can put this behind us, I will be content. I will authorise to return to Jotunheim the bodies of the slain and Baugi, the frost giant captured after Prince Helblindi's incursion into Asgard. I am also willing to offer substantial economic -'

'I cannot return the Asgardian dead, we burned them. Only ashes and armour remain, you are welcome to that. Your brother too, as long as you return the Casket of Ancient Winters.'

Here it is. He is as predictable as the tides.

'That -' Loki waited until his advisers finished their incredulous mumbling, then went on. 'That is out of the question.'

'The Casket rightfully belongs to Jotunheim.'

'If you possess the Casket, what is to stop you from invading Midgard or another planet? No, you cannot be trusted with it.'

Laufey leaned back and furrowed his brows as if to feign confusion. 'Yet you want me to release your brother on your word, and your word alone, that the conflict between us has ended. He is the king of Asgard. Once he returns, he will sit upon the throne, not you. What is to stop him from ignoring all you have promised and launching an attack on my people once more?'

'If that is what he chooses to do, I will personally beat him until he comes to his senses,' Loki replied. 'But the point is moot. The Casket is not yours any longer. It was taken as wergild for the Asgardian and Midgardian lives the Jotnar took in the last war. I will pay for my brother's release in gold, in silver, in Asgardian goods, in favourable trade deals and in master craftsmen to work on projects in Jotunheim. I will not hand over the Casket to you.'

Around him, his advisers sat up straighter. This was their moment. Loki didn't possess the in-depth knowledge of Asgardian resources and economic situation that his father commanded after centuries on the throne; he needed to rely on expert knowledge if he were to negotiate a fair deal for both Asgard and Jotunheim.

Laufey's lips curled with distaste. 'I have no need to wrap myself in gold or dress myself in silks, nor do my people. I do not care about trade deals and I do not want any of your craftsmen. We have skilled labourers enough; we are not the primitive savages you claim us to be. I will have the Casket.'

Loki sighed. Anyone would have anticipated the frost giants' would demand the Casket in exchange for Thor's return. But only a fool would believe that Asgard would ever hand the Casket back into Laufey's hands and Loki had never noted any signs that Laufey was a fool. He would demand and try to cow Loki into submission. At the end of the day, Laufey would accept that Thor's ransom would be paid with lesser treasures and trinkets.

'How can I make this clearer for you? The Casket will not be a part of these negotiations,' Loki said.

Patience is the quickest path to victory here.

'If that is so, I do at least appreciate the symmetry to this affair. Odin took my son, I now took his son in return.'

'You said yourself, Helblindi's end was the result of his own actions.'

'I do not speak of Helblindi.' Taking advantage of Loki's confusion, Laufey pressed on, his words becoming progressively more animated. 'There was a child born at the close of the war. Well-loved and regretfully, left unattended. The Allfather stumbled upon it. I wonder if he took the time to search for the child's parents before he claimed it for Asgard. You remember, Lord Tyr. You remember, don't you? A blue-skinned infant wrapped in a blood-red cloak.'

Loki clenched the Gungnir, his knuckles turning white. He glanced to Tyr, but he couldn't make out the man's thoughts from Tyr's expression. Loki didn't dare to look to his mother. One glance in her direction would betray far too much.

'I don't know what you're talking about.' Loki shook his head, trying his best not to keep his panic out of his voice. 'Do you want -'

'Or maybe the skin wasn't blue by then; magic can do wondrous things. Still, it cannot strip away all. Blood remains true. After all, someone had to show Helblindi the path into Asgard.'

'What?' Have you any proof of this?'

Loki didn't even care that his words were drowned amid the uproar from the rest of the people in the reception room. His insides were twisting onto themselves and he was sure there wasn't a drop of blood left in his face.

'You have many councillors, prince-regent, why don't you send them to find what the truth is?' Laufey grinned. 'It seems we are at an impasse here and I am done talking. If Asgardians want their king back, they need only to come to Jotunheim and lay the Casket at my feet.'

The projection blinked out. For all the noise in the room only seconds before, silence now reigned.

This is fucking perfect.

Loki rubbed his face. 'Nothing but lies and mockery. This is what you get for trying to reason with a frost giant. Fine!' He let out an irritated snarl. 'Fine, so be it. We march on Jotunheim.'