Disclaimer: I own nothing that Marvel does.

Expect very slow updates now class has started.

Chapter 1

"My Lady it is over! The AllFather has defeated the jötnar." Valencia called out as she pushed the doors open.

Frigga felt something inside relax at the excited voice of her handmaiden as the younger woman rushed into her chambers, skirts held up to allow her to run without tripping. And now she could hear the triumphant shouts beginning in the streets outside the palace. After so long their men would soon be home. How many would never return home or come back in grave need of aide? She stood from her spinning wheel and went to the window to see the people celebrating as word spread. Keen eyes saw the Observatory light up with the activation of the Bifrost for the first time in over a year. "Come, there is much to do to welcome our men home." Frigga was soon dressed in a fine gown of green and gold, her hair expertly braided, and then she swept from her chambers, walking swiftly for the Throne Room to welcome her husband home.

For now, Thor was left with his nurse aide, too young to understand what was happening. Odin had been gone so long she feared Thor would not know his own Father anyway and did not want to risk a temper tantrum before the court. Their son had come as a shock, the Aesir did not have many children thanks to their long lives, finding herself pregnant after only half a century of marriage had been a surprise. She hadn't felt at all ready but the first time he had held her golden son in her arms she had loved him. He may have her hair colouring, but he was definitely his Father's son in every other way. All of Asgard had rejoiced in knowing the Throne was secure and she had become loved for bearing the Royal Heir and so quickly.

Until the war had taken Odin away she had been viewed very much as an outsider, she was the price of peace between Asgard and Vanaheim where her eldest brother ruled, but with Odin's absence, plus Thor's birth, the people had warmed to her, coming to see her as a fair arbitrator when they brought her disagreements to work out. She did not rule as even Regent, Asgard was far too male dominated for that, but the man left in charge had no time for the little problems, so she listened and helped. Frigga and her siblings, male and female, had all been raised to rule, they had no restriction on who could take the Throne and she put those lessons to good use among the people. She did wonder how Odin's daughter, Hela, would have been received had she not been so lost to violence and the need for battle and had remained Odin's heir. Many chose to forget how Odin's reign had begun, Frigga was careful to always remember the kind of King he was capable of being. She did not love Odin, that may come in more time, but she was determined to be the best Queen she could be.

Frigga was surprised to see Odin coming towards her, rather than going straight to the Throne room from the Observatory. His armour had seen a basic cleaning at some point, but she was shocked to see a rough patch over one of his eyes. He seemed to have aged centuries since last she had seen him. He was cradling a hand to his chest as if… carrying something? "Husband?"

Odin smiled at the sight of his Queen as she walked quickly towards him. He had missed the comforts of home, his wife and son the most. "Wife," he returned the greeting and leant in to kiss her cheek once she was close enough. He felt her fingers brush over the skin near his eye and sighed as the pain faded as her Seidr did its work to ease his pain and help heal the wound.

"The war is truly over?"

"Yes, the jötnar are defeated, the Casket taken to the Treasury." He shifted the bundle and she looked down, warm brown eyes widening.

"'Odin?"

"An orphan in need of a home," he told her, he would not speak of the child's true ancestry.

Frigga lifted the babe into her own arms and peered down at the dark hair and fair skin, such uncommon colouring for an Aesir. "The poor boy, has he any other family?"

"None, I had thought your handmaiden might wish to take him in?" He knew the poor girl would soon receive the tragic news of her Husband's death and a child to raise could be a help to her grief.

Frigga smiled as startling green eyes opened and was shocked to feel magic within the child. Thor had no more magic than most Aesir but this boy… "Why can we not keep him? It would good for Thor to have a sibling close in age," she offered.

Odin hesitated, the idea did have merit. This boy could make a good companion for their son and no one would expect the second born to take the Throne. Trained correctly perhaps he could be Thor's General one day. Even better, perhaps they would one day have a King of Jötunheim who favoured Asgard. "Very well, what would you name him?"

Frigga gently stroked a cheek and then looked up at husband, "Loki."

"See him to the nursery then, our people await."

Frigga carried Loki off to meet his older brother with a smile. The people would rejoice at having another Prince and it would be an easy lie, all knew she was a Sorceress and very capable of hiding the signs of pregnancy. Thankfully Odin had returned briefly to Asgard when the Jotun had been pushed from Midgard before he had launched the attack on Jötunheim, the timing was workable. With the war, allowing others to know she was with child would have been dangerous and made her more of a target. The only people who may suspect would be those who had been with Odin when he found the child and after when he had been carrying him. Her women would never say anything.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Frigga stormed through the Palace, scattering servants and courtiers alike in her wake. After three hundred years of peace and being the type of Queen Asgard expected, many had forgotten she was a powerful Sorceress and trained to fight, they were being reminded now as she flung open the doors to her husbands' study with a save of her hand, taking Odin by surprise.

"Leave us," he commanded, and the room swiftly emptied. "What has happened Frigga?" He had seen her this mad only once before, when there had been an attempted kidnapping only hours after Thor's birth, by the time he and the guards had arrived they had not been needed.

"They dared harm a Prince of Asgard!" She answered, and Odin rose to his feet in alarm.

"Who? Please, calm yourself and explain."

"Loki lays within the Healing Rooms under Eir's care. If Heimdall had not summoned us…" she shook her head.

Odin relaxed some, Loki…not Thor. His heir had not been harmed. "What has happened to anger you so?"

"A group of older boys thought it would be entertaining to lock Loki in the forge, we found him unconscious from the heat. Loki has never handled the heat well and they knew that. They nearly killed him!"

"It was just some boyish fun, I am sure they meant no real harm. Loki will recover."

"This time, had we been only minutes later we would be mourning our son. The boys responsible are the sons of some of your personal guard and their taunts were very pointed. I have never asked of Loki's heritage, but I have had my suspicions and it appears others do as well. Who were his parents?" she demanded, she did not care if her son was Asgardian or not, but others would. Since the end of the war Jotun's had become the monsters of childhood nightmares. It wasn't right but there was little she could do to stop it, if her suspicions were correct then such attitudes could only hurt her son.

Odin hesitated but he had not seen Frigga this enraged since early in the war against Jötunheim, a band of Jotuns had managed to invade the Palace near the Royal quarters, they had come across Frigga and her ladies. A swift fight later and no Jotun was left alive with only one of the women injured. "I found him within the Temple on Jötunheim, abandoned and far too small for a giant's offspring. He would not have survived if I did not take him."

"Then I know what I am looking for in order to help him handle the heat better, it would have been helpful to know this from the start," she left to tend to her son, finding a worried Thor hovering at his brothers' side.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

"Once mankind accepted a simple truth; that they were not alone in this universe. Some worlds man believed home to their Gods. Others they knew to fear. From around the cold and darkness came the Frost Giants. Threatening to plunge the mortal world into a new ice age," Odin spoke as they walked through the treasure vault towards the far end. "But humanity would not face this threat alone. Our armies drove the Frost Giants back into the heart of their own world. The cost was great. In the end, their king fell. And the source of their power was taken from them. With the last great war ended, we withdrew from the other worlds and returned home at the realm eternal, Asgard. And here we remain as the beacon of hope. Shining out across the stars. And though we have fallen into man's myths and legends, it was Asgard and it's warriors that brought peace to the universe." He smiled as they stared at the Casket in awe. "But the day will come when one of you will have to defend that peace."

"Do the Frost Giants still live?" Loki asked innocently.

"When I'm king, I'll hunt the monsters down and slay them all! Just as you did, father," Thor grinned, excited by the idea as he looked up at his Father who smiled indulgently.

"A wise king, never seeks out war. But...he must always be ready for it," he warned as he walked away. Thor and Loki grinned at each other before running to catch up with him.

"I'm ready, father." Thor bounced in excitement.

"So am I!"

"Only one of you can ascend to the throne. But both of you were born to be kings!" they left the treasury and he sent the boys off to their lessons. There was still the possibility of putting Loki on the Throne of Jötunheim, he was Laufey's child and therefore had the birthright.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Loki sat on the windowsill, looking down at the training yards briefly before going back to his book. It was easy to pretend he did not mind the growing distance between him and Thor as his brother ran off on adventures with the 'Lady Sif and the Warriors Three'. No matter how hard he tried he could not fit the mould of typical Asgardian Prince or Warrior. He was too skinny, too dark haired…but he tried. He missed when they were younger and inseparable, but it seemed ever since their Father had spoken of them both being born to be King that they had been pushed apart. And how was that possible? Thor was the elder and therefore the heir, Loki had been born as second Prince, how could Father say he was born to be a King? Thor seemed to take it to mean that if he did not measure up then Loki would be named the next King.

Loki didn't want the Throne though, why would he want to rule a people who looked down on him? So what, if he preferred books over swords? He just never let anyone see exactly what books he generally read…magic was not highly favoured in Asgard, unlike several other realms. It was his secret, one he kept even from Thor and Mother.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Frigga watched from the shadows as her sons practised with their Father, saddened by what she was seeing. When they were done Thor scampered off with Odin following while Loki collapsed on the grass. Thanks to her magic he no longer had a problem with the heat, but she could do nothing to make him like Thor. She moved from the hidden alcove and joined Loki on the grass, gathering her skirts so that she could kneel beside him. "Do not fret my son," she soothed, and Loki started slightly. "If everyone was the same the universe would be a very boring place to live. You are Loki, not Thor or Odin or even Frigga. You will have your own gifts."

Loki shifted uncomfortably at her words, did she know? "I just want Father to be happy with me."

"Your Father loves you Loki, he is not always good at expressing such things," she ran her fingers through his hair. "Come, if the sword does not suite you there are other weapons available, despite what the weapons masters may insist," she stood and held out her hand which Loki took, following her to her chambers. Once there she showed him her own weapons, a light weight sword and many daggers, even throwing knives, and she smiled as his eyes widened in awe. "Choose a weapon my son and we shall begin." Frigga watched him and smiled as he choose two long daggers, he was built for speed, a shield would weight him down so he had the spare hand for another blade. Soon it would be time to teach him the ways of magic as well but for now that could wait.

TBC…