JULIET STOOD NEXT TO LOKI in the dim room, having changed into more comfortable clothes. With a goblet in his hand, Volstagg said what everyone else was thinking. "We should never have let him go." he shook his head.
"There was no stopping him." Sif said solemnly.
Fandral, who was healing pretty fast, thankfully to his Asgardian powers, added on. "Well, at least he's only banished, not dead. Which is what we'd all have been if that guard hadn't told Odin where we'd gone."
Juliet saw Loki fidget next to her, and he seemed to be staring at his hand, in deep thought, with an unreadable expression. "Loki," she whispered in concern. "You alright?"
"How did the guard even know?"
Loki nodded to Juliet's question and turned around to face the rest of the group. "I told him."
Juliet turned to stare at Loki—she had no idea. "What?" Fandral asked.
"I told him to go to Odin after we left. He should be flogged for taking so long, we should have never reached Jotunheim." Loki said calmly, avoiding Juliet's eyes.
"You told the guard?" Volstagg fumed in disbelief.
"I saved our lives." Loki replied. "And Thor's. I had no idea Father would banish him for what he did."
"Loki," Sif stood up abruptly. "You must go to the Allfather and convince him to change his mind."
"And if I do, than what? I love Thor more dearly than any of you, but you know what he is." Loki spat. "He's arrogant, reckless—he's dangerous. You saw how he was today—is that what Asgard needs from its king?"
Juliet kept quiet the whole time. Although she loved Thor like a brother too, she had to agree with Loki. Thor's actions cost the peace between the two realms, and they should've never gone to Jotunheim to begin with. She was about to follow Loki to see if he was alright, but stayed when Sif went on.
"He may speak of the good of Asgard, but he's always been jealous of Thor."
"We're all upset," Juliet spoke up. "But we all know that we would've died on Jotunheim if Odin had not come."
"Laufey said," Hogun said eerily. "there were traitors in the House of Odin. A master of magic could bring three Jotuns to Asgard."
Juliet shook her head. "If you're implying that Loki betrayed Asgard—"
"Loki's always been one for mischief, but you're talking about something else entirely." Fandral cut in, agreeing with Juliet.
"Loki wouldn't—"
"Juliet," Sif pleaded. "Just think about this—who else would be powerful enough to bring Jotuns into Asgard, at the perfect moment of Thor's ceremony?"
"I know Loki," Juliet's voice wavered, her mind spinning in circles. "Thor's just been banished, please stop and think instead of your emotions...this is Loki, he wouldn't betray us, I trust him." with that, Juliet spun on her heels and left the room, to find Loki to rid of the horrible accusations.
She looked in his chamber, the room he practices magic in, the dining room, the field they used to play in when they were young—there was no sign of him. Shit, she cursed to herself. Where are you, Loki? After a while, she decided to look in the throne room—maybe Odin asked to talk to him.
Just before she entered the throne room, she met up with Sif and the Warriors Three.
"Juliet!" Sif heard her behind them. "We're going to talk to Odin, would you like to join us?"
"Yeah, I was on my way there to check of Loki was talking to the Allfather as well."
The five of them entered the grand room. "Allfather, we must speak with you urgently." Sif demanded.
Juliet froze, along with everyone else at the sight of Loki on the throne. "Loki? Where's Odin?"
Loki had been acting weird ever since they returned from Jotunheim—he had been avoiding Juliet. At first, Juliet thought that it had something to do with Thor being banished, but knowing Loki, that didn't seem like the case, and he's never blatantly ignored her like that.
"My friends." Loki acknowledged them, still avoiding eye contact with Juliet.
"Where's Odin?"
"Father has fallen into the Odinsleep." Juliet had to admit, Loki looked in his natural habitat, sitting on the throne. "Mother fears he may never awaken again."
Excluding Juliet, the four of them stormed towards Loki. "We would speak with her."
"She has refused to leave my father's bedside." Loki drawled, gesturing to himself. "You can bring your urgent matter to me." he leaned forward, standing up from the throne. "Your king."
Hearing the authority in his voice, Sif and the Warriors Three looked at each other and hesitantly kneeled. Juliet still had not made a move, standing in the back of the room, just staring at Loki.
"My King, we would ask that you end Thor's banishment." Juliet knew that they were going to ask him that, and knowing Loki, he probably wouldn't agree.
"My first command cannot be to undo the Allfather's last." there it was. Loki stepped down the stairs. "We're on the brink of war with Jotunheim. Our people need a sense of community, in order to feel safe in these difficult times." he'd always knew what the people want to hear. "All of us must stand together, for the good of Asgard."
Juliet watched as Sif stood up abruptly, before being stopped by Fandral. "Yes, of course."
"Good. Then you will wait for my word."
"If I may," Volstagg began, stifling a laugh. "beg the indulgence of Your majesty to perhaps reconsider..."
"We're done!" Loki ordered. The four of them turned their back on the new king, passing by Juliet as they walked out.
"I wouldn't bother, if I were you." Sif whispered to Juliet. "But then again, I don't quite understand him like you do."
Juliet sighed, running her hands through her hair before approaching Loki at his throne. "What is all this?"
"Well, as I had explained to dearest Sif and the Warriors Three back there," Loki sneered at their names. "Odin has fallen to an unexpected sleep."
"Cut the crap," Juliet snapped. "I know you, Loki and you've been acting weird since we've got back. I'm sure you don't have to be sitting in this throne 24/7, so let's go somewhere more comfortable."
Knowing there was no use arguing with Juliet—not that he wanted to, Loki followed her out of the throne room and into her chambers.
"Are you sure you just wanted to talk?" Loki raised his eyebrows. "You could've just told me, love."
Juliet rolled her eyes, kicking off her shoes as she lay down on her bed. "Muffliato," she waved with her hands.
"That's a new one," mused Loki. "What does it do?"
"Allows for us to have a conversation without those idiots listening. If anyone else tries to listen, all they will hear is a buzzing." Juliet smirked, crossing her arms around her chest. "I invented it a while back, just never gotten the chance to use it."
"How useful." Loki was always impressed with the type of magic Juliet yielded—it was very different, but also somewhat similar to the magic him and Frigga had.
"So," Juliet said, elongating her o. "Why are you acting so weird?"
Loki started pacing around her room. "I'm not."
"Sit down and take that absurd thing off your head." Juliet said, poking his back with her feet. "And yes, you are, you've been avoiding me the whole day and now you're suddenly king?"
"I've just been shocked about Thor's banishment. I'm your king, you can't tell me what to do." Although Loki was the God of Mischief and well, Lies, he despised lying to her.
"Bullshit," Juliet called, her curly hair sprawled out on her pillow. "And, I'm sorry—my king, please sitteth down on mine own humble sleep chamber and taketh off thy headdress."
Loki rolled his eyes and fought a smile that was creeping up on his face. He liked how she'd always get straight to the point, and never sugarcoated anything—like he did quite often—and wasn't afraid to swear when she wanted to, even though it was frowned upon in Asgard as a noble woman. He placed his beloved helmet on her bedside table to lay down next to her on the bed, his own black hair fraying out next to hers. "I just needed space to think."
"About what?" Juliet breathed, not exactly understanding where Loki was going at.
Loki shifted his body so that he was facing Juliet, who turned to look back at him. "Why do people lie?"
"You tell me, you're the God of Mischief." Juliet met his striking green eyes and sighed, seeing no emotion behind them. "I can see through your illusions, Loki."
"And would you rather lie to a person you care about, or keep it a secret?" Juliet's chest clenched as she saw the pain behind the real Loki's eyes, hers softening as she reached over to play with the ends of his hair.
"Everyone keeps secrets, right? But sometimes keeping a secret for a long time can lead to a series of lies."
"Yes, yes it does." For a split second there, he had even considered telling her of his true heritage, but restrained himself when he saw the smile on her face as she braided the ends of his hair. How could she be around a Frost Giant like him—his natural appearance was probably horrid, she had seen the Frost Giants herself today.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Juliet sighed softly. "We can talk about something else to take your mind off all the shit that went down today."
Loki motioned with her hands to continue.
"Well," Juliet giggled. "I suppose it would be entertaining to see Thor throwing a hissy fit on Earth."
Loki grinned. "And make a fool out of himself? Definitely."
"What if he fell in love with a girl and brought her back?" Juliet thought outloud. "Epic love story—throw in Odin— the cuckoo father, you—the brother that tries to steal her away from him—oh no!—She can't decide which brother she wants! Then in comes Sif—the jealous ex—let's pretend Thor and Sif dated, and of course, me, the amazing big sister figure that protects her from everyone."
Loki raised his eyebrows, the corner of his mouth twitching upwards before letting out a laugh. Juliet had never noticed how contagious his laugh was until now, realizing how unreal she sounded.
"As if I would want to be with a mortal," Loki scoffed.
"Ouch," Juliet said teasingly. "I'm only half Asgardian..."
I'm not even Asgardian, Loki wanted to say, but his lips kept shut. "You're different, obviously. At least you have magic."
"Oh," Juliet said. "So if I didn't have magic we wouldn't be friends?"
Just friends, Loki. he thought. "Of course not." he looked at the time and forgot that Frigga had asked for him to meet her. I don't want to see fath—the old, lying son of a bitch—I'd much rather stay here.
"I've got to go meet mother." Loki sighed, standing up, running his hands through the braid Juliet made, earning a pout from her.
"Duties call, my king." Juliet waved her hand sarcastically, taking the enchantment off. "Give your mother my love."
"I needed this." was all Loki said as he left, with his helmet tucked under his arm.
