It took an hour of trying to make sense of contradictory directions before Loki found the cell where Baugi was being held. Confusion reigned in the palace. The permanent guardsmen and the supplementary Einherjar presently stationed at the palace were squabbling over who had precedence in the chain of command and the exact boundaries of their jurisdictions. Thor, meanwhile, was too busy debating Tyr on the best strategy for an assault on Jotunheim to notice the turmoil.

For his part, Loki was almost glad to find himself in a dusty tunnel that wound around the palace's foundations. There were fewer people to contend with down here - all of two guards in the middle of a card game.

They snapped to attention upon Loki's approach and waited for orders, their eyes drifting towards the covered tray in Loki's hands.

'Is this where the frost giant is being held?' Loki asked. He received eager nods from both guards. 'I wish to speak to him.'

'Certainly,' the older of the guards said.

He unlocked the cell to the left of him. The cell was as antiquated as the rest of this wing. No projected barriers, no lamps. Only a coarse, windowless wall and iron beams to make up the other three sides. An unusually low ceiling too; Baugi had to hunch when he stood. Loki suspected this was the sole reason Baugi was being kept in this half-abandoned section of the palace. Tyr, like Sif, delighted in these sorts of petty victories.

'Were your injuries attended to?' Loki asked as he set the tray down on the cell's flimsy table.

Baugi grunted and, limping somewhat, moved a few steps closer to Loki, which Loki was thankful for. The cell lacked light; only the guards' lamps out in the corridor provided illumination. Now that he was closer, Loki could see edges of bandages peering out from beneath Baugi's loose shirt.

'I thought you wouldn't refuse some extra food.' Loki lifted the lid off the tray.

Steam rose up, drowning the cell in the sweet aroma of roasted venison and root vegetables cooked with a generous amount of herbs. The meal had been intended for Loki. His mother knew he often skipped meals while he worked, so she ordered food to be brought to him whether he had asked for it or not.

'Still hot,' Baugi remarked.

'A simple heating spell.'

Baugi's lips twitched with distaste, but he picked up a chunk of venison and bit into it. 'What do you want?'

'I suppose "nothing" would sound insincere?' Loki replied. There was an art to getting information out of a prisoner; Thanos' acolytes had known it well. Loki, however, had spent the past two days buried in musty books and had nothing to show for it. He lacked the patience to play games. 'I want you to tell me about the Bradi.'

Baugi sunk into the lone chair in the cell, then picked up the fork and tried the vegetables. 'No wonder you Asgardians grow fat and spoilt.' He slid his tongue over his lower lip, then went on. 'You're planning to offer me something in exchange, I take it? Sweeter food, a better cell, other such luxuries... The prince of Asgard must be the kindest man in the Nine Realms.'

'Or I can throw you into a dark pit and order the guards to stop feeding you altogether.'

'It was a poor move to bring a fork in here,' Baugi said after a moment's pause.

Loki shrugged. 'I didn't come here unarmed.'

'I can't wield in here. You can?'

'Try me and you'll find out.'

Baugi's forehead creased, but rather than lunge at Loki, he speared another piece of venison and shoved the meat into his mouth. That was a relief. All cells in the palace had warding on them, but Loki wasn't sure what had been used for this lot of cells. Considering the present state of his magic, he could well have walked into a fully warded cell and not noticed the wards bind his powers.

On the other hand, Baugi might be waiting for the right opportunity to strike. The fork had been a bad oversight.

'Do you have a family?' Loki asked in an effort to defuse the situation.

'That's not your concern, one way or another.'

Loki sighed. The last two days had been an exercise in frustration. He wanted to be out with the other teams of sorcerers working to map out where the boundaries between the Nine Realms grew thin, but his magic was too weak for such intensive work. He wanted to learn more about Jotunn sorcery, but the Asgardian libraries possessed all of three books on the subject. Now Baugi refused to cooperate.

'I tried to be civil, but I seem to be getting nowhere,' Loki said. He rested his hands on the edge of the table, making it tilt slightly, and leaned forward so he was within Baugi's striking distance. 'Before I send for Tyr and his men to do their work on you, one more chance. You tell me what you know and I'll arrange for a more comfortable cell for you and if you do have a family, I'll have a message sent to Jotunheim letting them know you're alive. Right now, they have no reason not to think you dead, do they?'

'How generous,' Baugi said. 'You must have great need of me.'

'The Bradi, Baugi. Our scholars say they are a clan gone extinct even before the wars began. So how can one of them be opening a portal for you now?'

The frost giant gritted his teeth for a long moment before he answered. 'Near extinct. A few remained. Children who couldn't make the sacrifice.'

'Keep talking.'

'You don't know much at all, do you?' Baugi grabbed the last of the venison. 'The Bradi were a strong clan, the best wielders came from them. Their leader was the one who created our Casket. But she alone couldn't give it the power it needed, so she and all the wielders of the Bradi clan poured themselves into the Casket. Only those too young to wield remained.'

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'And those children would be grown by now, their children too.'

'Sigran, the one who opened the portal for us, is young, but she's said to have rediscovered many secrets of her fore-bearers. She's making a name for herself in Laufey's Hall.' Baugi snickered. 'And some have said Helblindi had his father's weakness for Bradi women.'

Loki raised his eyebrows. 'Laufey's wife is Bradi?'

'No, both his wives came from warrior clans. His lover was Bradi,' Baugi replied and flung the fork down back onto the tray. 'Does that satisfy you? I want to sleep.'

Satisfy? Loki bit back a laugh. Baugi just opened the door for another two dozen questions.

'How was the Casket made?'

'If you want to know that, you need to ask the dead.'

----------------------------------------

Loki found himself in a better mood the next morning. Tyr had finally reined in his squabbling lieutenants, so there was an air of order in the palace again. And while a great deal of work remained in the mapping of areas affected by the Convergence, under Frigga's direction, the Asgardian sorcerers had at least now hammered out the methodology for the process.

For the first time since Loki had travelled back, he and his parents had an opportunity to eat breakfast together. Thor hadn't joined them, but then he rarely did. Sometimes he liked to sleep in after a late night. More often, he woke up with the dawn and after snatching a quick breakfast from the kitchens, headed to the training grounds where he could be found until the sun was high in the sky.

Still, even with Thor absent, Loki relished this private family time. While they ate, Frigga fretted over the state of her garden and with an indulging smile, talked about the budding romance between two of her handmaids. Odin, in turn, talked about his desire to enjoy his days now that Thor held Gungnir. He wanted to take Sleipnir out to the mountains and revisit the wild trails he had enjoyed in his youth.

When he asked if Loki would be interested in accompanying him, something snapped within Loki. He supposed there had been moments like these in Frigga and Odin's last years, but Loki - either lost to the wilds of the universe or locked in Asgard's dungeons - hadn't been privy to them.

'I'd love to,' he muttered as he threw up his hands to cover his expression. He made a show of rubbing his eyes and faked a yawn. Not his best work, but it would suffice. 'Pardon, I was up late last night.'

But the Norns had never been kind to Loki and his hour of peace drew to a close when Tyr threw open the balcony door.

'The king is gone,' Tyr declared. His beard was untrimmed and cheeks flushed scarlet. He turned for a moment, then pushed out in front of him a mortified looking Einer, one of the younger sorcerers assisting with the portal research. 'Thor took my daughter, a squadron of my men and those three idiot friends of his into Jotunheim last night.'

Frigga sucked in a breath while Loki swore.

'What possessed him to do that?' Loki asked once the curses flying out of his mouth began repeating themselves. 'I'm guessing by your manner, Lord Tyr, you knew nothing of this. Why is that? You're the king's military adviser.'

Tyr's brows knotted together. 'We quarrelled last night. Thor left in a sour mood, but I didn't anticipate he would do this.'

I should've.

'It appears we all underestimated my son's temper.' Odin said. He set down his mug and drummed his fingers against the tabletop. 'What part did the sorcerer play in this?'

Tyr nudged Einer forward.

'Thor, um,' Einar shuddered and planted his eyes firmly on his shoes. 'The king approached me while I was working late in the library last night. He was looking for his brother, but the prince was nowhere to be found. Disappointed, he was about to leave, but then he asked me if I could open a portal for him. I said I could. So he...he ordered me to do it.'

'The one near the Weapons Vault?' Odin asked.

'Yes.'

'Bloody f...' Loki cut himself off when Frigga threw him a reproachful look. He took a moment to try to strip away the venom on his tongue before he spoke again. 'You didn't think to tell anyone that the king left Asgard?'

'He forbid me to! He told me they would all return by morning, but then it was morning and I became worried, so I went to find someone who could help, but Lord Tyr already knew.'

Tyr let out a derisive snort. 'Does he think me incompetent? As if I wouldn't notice my men missing.'

'It took you long enough though, didn't it?' Loki replied.

'Where were you last night, your highness? Perhaps your tongue would've produced a miracle my counsel wouldn't. Of course, you only ever -'

'I had questions for the frost giant.' Loki said. 'Question his guards if you will, you will find nothing untoward in my behaviour. On the other hand, you, Lord Tyr, have done nothing other than salivate at the prospect of a new war with the Jotnar.'

'Enough!' Odin ordered and everyone in the room froze. 'Tyr, ready your men. Frigga, have the sorcerers on alert for any intrusions. Loki, come with me. We need to consult with Heimdall.'

----------------------------------------

'Are you aware my son went to Jotunheim?' Odin asked. Without waiting for Heimdall's answer, he went on. 'Do you see Thor now?'

Heimdall stared at Loki. The staring in itself wasn't new. The interactions between Heimdall and Loki had at times been less than amicable. And yet, he had never looked at Loki quite like that. Distaste, repulsion, anger - all that was familiar. Fascination wasn't.

Great. One more complication I don't need.

Loki nudged his head towards the opening to the Bifrost. Odin's mind was on Thor at the present, but unless Heimdall managed to tear his eyes away from Loki, even Odin was bound to notice Heimdall's behaviour.

Thankfully, Heimdall seemed to remember himself. He turned his back to Asgard's gleaming towers and peered out into the endless murk of the universe. Silence stretched until Loki could almost hear his own heartbeat.

'I feel his life force,' Heimdall said at last. 'Yet I cannot see him. It is strange. There is a veil on him, where there should be light there is only darkness and what sound seeps through the veil offers me no clues about Thor's location.'

'What of his companions? Twenty of the Einherjar went with him, so did the Warriors Three and Lady Sif,' Odin pressed. His words sounded calm, but Loki stood next to his father and he couldn't avoid noticing the way Odin's hands refused to still.

'I see Lady Sif and the Warriors Three.' Heimdall turned back around to face Odin and Loki. 'Four Asgardian soldiers are with them. They are lost amid wood and snow, but fear and grief drive them on.'

'And Thor isn't with them?' Loki asked.

'I cannot see him, so I cannot say for certain.'

'Thank you, Heimdall,' Odin said.

Loki looked to his father in hope of answers. Heimdall could be fooled, Loki knew a couple of ways to hide himself from Heimdall's eyes, but what the man had described with Thor sounded different. Was Thor injured, fallen prey to some Jotunn weapon? Fear and grief and a mere four soldiers where there should have been twenty suggested something dark had taken place.

'Too many unknowns here,' Odin spoke softly. 'Meanwhile, Tyr still needs more time to ready his men.'

'Do we need more Einherjar in Jotunheim?' Loki replied. 'The numbers Thor took with him is not so far from the strength Helblindi brought into Jotunheim, there is a sense of proportionality. An army sends a different message.'

Odin adjusted the edge of his eye patch. 'I am glad at least one child of mine is not eager to settle every problem with sword and spear. However, I fear, one way or another, blood will flow today. Heimdall, send a message to Lord Tyr to continue the preparations in our absence. Loki and I will go to Jotunheim; listen for our voices on the winter winds.'

Heimdall jerked his head in agreement and lifted Hofund, the great sword he used to open the Bifrost.

While Heimdall readied the Bifrost mechanism, Loki squared his shoulders and checked the straps on his armour. This wasn't a surprise. He had tried to be optimistic over the past three days, but ever since he first saw the frost giants in Asgard a trip to Jotunheim had seemed an inevitability sooner or later. Loki was glad that at least his father was with him.

The Bifrost spun open before them, flooding the world with more colours than any eye could ever perceive. Odin remounted Sleipnir and led him onto the bridge. Loki hurried to his own horse, but the chestnut was still young and lacked Sleipnir's experience. He baulked at the Bifrost's light and fury. It took several reassuring neighs from Sleipnir and Loki promising a large bag of sugar when they returned before Iiro finally moved forward.