Fic: A Traitor in the House of Odin (8/14)

[bookishwench]

“Whoa,” Peter whispered, taking in the damage.

Whoever the intruder was, they had obviously been looking for something. The contents of his suitcase had been dumped on the floor and strewn everywhere. The canopy of the bed had been ripped to shreds, and feathers from the slashed pillows drifted through the air. Books had been pulled from the shelves and thrown aside, the furniture was overturned and slit open, and even the charred logs in the fire had been dragged over the carpet and the brickwork of the chimney smashed with what looked like an ax.

“No loss,” Loki said after a few moments, peering in the door. “I never much liked this room.”

“I’m guessing the Emerald Suite fared no better,” Thor said, then strode out the door with the other two at his heels.

He was right. The room was in a similar state of destruction.

“Oh,” Loki said, looking crestfallen. “Yes, that’s much more unfortunate.”

“But what were they looking for?” Thor asked.

“And more to the point, did they find it?” Loki said.

“Unless they’re looking for extra socks and underwear, this is just stupid,” Peter said, staring at the utter disaster in both rooms. “I don’t have much else.”

“Except someone already took something as banal as chocolate bars and turned them into a weapon to use against your character,” Thor pointed out.

“For once, you’re right,” Loki said. “Peter, think carefully. Is anything of yours missing?”

“In all of this mess it’s hard to tell,” he said, finding his toothbrush under a pile of loose feathers. Suddenly, he frowned.

“What?” Thor asked.

“Do you think they were looking for my Spider-Man suit?” Peter asked.

“It would probably make the most sense,” Loki admitted. “I take it you didn’t bring it with you as I didn’t see it in your bag?”

“Actually, I’m wearing it,” Peter said. “I wasn’t sure what going through the Bifrost would do to Mr. Stark’s tech, but I figured it was better to be safe than sorry.”

“Well, they weren’t successful in finding it at least,” Loki said. “Still, it’s another sign that whoever is doing this seems completely capable of slipping in and out of the palace without drawing any attention. Also, there must have been a racket when they were tearing the rooms apart, yet no one noticed.”

“Magic again?” Peter asked.

“Most likely,” Loki agreed. “They certainly didn’t have any qualms about letting us know they’d been here, though.”

“They’re attempting to intimidate you,” Thor said.

“It’s not working,” Peter said firmly. “I’m really sorry it happened, though.”

“It’s no fault of yours,” Thor said.

“No,” Loki said, making a few motions with his fingers that somehow made most of the feathers dissolve. “Regardless, leaving the palace for the night is probably wise. Whoever this is seems far too familiar with its layout. Any other guest room would probably suffer the same fate, only this time while it was occupied.”

“Over my dead body,” Thor growled.

“And I’m not exactly defenseless either,” Peter said.

“True enough,” Loki said with a smile, “but still, it’s probably better to get away from all this. I don’t expect we shall sleep much tonight, though.”

“Traditional enough for a campout,” Thor said.

“Come along, Peter,” Loki said, trying to lighten the mood. “Let’s see what else we can recover from your bag aside from a toothbrush. It would be a shame to lose your colorful pajamas emblazoned with that detestable, tinkering Midgardian oaf.”

Loki grinned at him, though, and Peter knew he didn’t really mean the insult at Tony.

Within half an hour, thanks in part to Loki’s magic cleaning up bits of the room in small bursts, Peter had managed to pack an overnight bag with a few essentials. Granted, one pair of his socks was still dangling from the portrait over the fireplace.

“Leave them,” Loki said, looking at them appraisingly. “They make rather an improvement over having the glowering visage of my grandsire sneering down at us.”

Not long after, the three of them were heading out the front door. In only a few minutes, Peter found himself at the stables once again. Unfortunately, the stares of some of the people they passed made it clear that many of them were sure Peter had been behind poisoning the horses.

“Ignore them,” Loki said quietly. “You know what you did and didn’t do.”

Even the stable master looked at Peter with hesitation when he came through the door. Thor, however, took over.

“We are in need of a good, steady mount for our guest,” he said, slapping Peter on the shoulder. “What horses are not spoken for?”

The man gave a noncommittal grunt and pointed towards three stalls. One held a white horse, the next a bay, and the third a dappled gray.

“Fine,” Thor said, though Loki was frowning, his eyes going from horse to horse.

“Gray,” Loki whispered very quietly to Peter.

“Would the gray horse be okay?” Peter asked.

The man grunted again, then left, presumably to get a saddle. As soon as they were alone, Thor and Loki turned to Peter.

“No offense meant, but with your lack of horsemanship, the other two were practically an attempt to kill you,” Loki said. “That white stallion threw Volstagg not two weeks ago and landed him in the healing room. As for the bay, she has a tendency to gallop off if she isn’t properly taken in hand.”

“And this one?” Peter said nervously.

“That’s Cloudburst,” Thor said, walking over to the horse and patting its rump affectionately. “He’s one of Poptart’s foals. I don’t believe he will let you come to any harm.”

Peter wasn’t so sure, but he also wasn’t about to tell Thor that. Loki went to Vicious’s stall and was greeted with a high-pitched whinny of welcome from the black horse, while Thor carefully saddled Poptart, checking all the while that he was no longer ill. Meanwhile, the stable master fastened the buckles and reins on Cloudburst. Peter tried to watch exactly what he was doing, but it was hard to remember everything. Vicious’s eyes followed him, their bright red depths seeming to find him still severely lacking. She emitted a tiny, dismissive puff of steam from her nostrils and then ignored Peter completely. Desperate to prove he wasn’t completely inept, he tried to find something useful to do.

“Do we need to bring food and water for the horses?” Peter asked.

“Water won’t be a problem,” Loki said, stroking his horse’s nose. “The rivers of Asgard are clear and wholesome to drink. We were not such fools as to poison them as Midgardians have done with their own.”

“Loki—” Thor started reprovingly.

“No, he’s got a fair point,” Peter said. “And food?”

“While the grass is good as well, a few bags of oats won’t go awry,” Loki said. “We can grab them from the pile near the stable door.”

“I’ll get them,” Peter offered, already jogging towards the bags.

They were stacked just outside the open door of the stablemaster’s office. Peter didn’t intend to overhear, but it was impossible to miss the conversation.

“—stupid Midgardian brat,” the man said, then he heard what sounded like someone spitting on the floor. “I thought for sure he’d pick the white horse. The second prince intervened, though, more’s the pity. Dishonorable as they both are, it fits that they’re as thick as thieves.”

“An apt turn of phrase,” said a deep voice Peter didn’t recognize. “The story is all over that somehow the little pig stole the coronation crown right from under the Einherjar’s nose, but Prince Thor found him out and had it returned to its rightful spot before anyone was the wiser. Apparently he didn’t wish to publicly humiliate the boy, though I don’t see why he bothers. A good whipping would improve his behavior, I warrant, and there are whips enough a-plenty within arm’s reach.”

Peter, carrying several bags of oats, silently returned to Thor and Loki.

“Yes, that should be enough,” Thor said, then abruptly changed his tone to one of concern when he saw the expression on Peter’s face. “Something’s happened. What’s wrong?”

Peter gave a glance towards the office door and minutely shook his head. Loki gave an answering nod and shot a look to Thor, who frowned but changed the subject.

“When are the Warriors Three and Lady Sif arriving?” he asked. “I had thought they would be here by now.”

“Then speak of joyous tidings and fair fortune, for here we are!” called out Fandral as all four of them rounded the corner of the stable.

“Wonderful!” Thor said, grinning broadly. “We have just finished readying ourselves. As soon as your horses are prepared, meet us in the training ring. Peter needs to become acquainted with his mount.”

Peter smiled weakly. Loki handed him the reins to the dapple gray, who looked enormous to him even though he was one of the smaller horses.

“Uh, hi,” Peter said to the horse gently. “I’m, um, Peter Parker? We’re going to be travelling together, so I hope I don’t do anything stupid and upset you, Cloudburst.”

By now he was walking slowly behind Thor and Loki, who were silently grinning at one another as they listened to Peter carrying on a complete one-sided conversation with his horse, including asking his pardon ahead of time for whatever he was about to do wrong and complimenting him on his handsome coat and mane. There may also have been a nervous request not to be thrown off and pummeled under the horse’s hooves.

However, Peter quickly learned three things as soon as he got into the training ring. First, Cloudburst was not only very smart, but also very well-behaved. He seemed nearly as invested in helping Peter get his bearings as Peter was. Second, whether it was because of his spider senses or just dumb luck, he was really good at understanding what the horse needed him to do and figuring out if something was going wrong. Finally, most startling of all, he found out he liked riding.

“Excellent!” Thor bellowed as Peter trotted around the ring. “It is as though you had been born in the saddle!”

“A most uncomfortable position for his mother, I should think,” Loki said with a chuckle.

“Yes, his ability to ride so well is nearly magical, I should say,” Thor said, giving Loki a significant look.

Loki kept his mouth shut and gave an innocent look that he had probably perfected moments after he had learned to speak. He clicked his tongue at Vicious, who reared up and dashed towards the gate, stopping so abruptly that most riders would have slid right off, particularly if they were riding without a saddle or reins, which he was. Loki, however, merely patted her fondly and produced a sugar cube out of thin air, popping it in her mouth.

By now, the Warriors Three and Sif had joined them. Fandral was eyeing Peter critically, frowning, but said nothing about his horsemanship. Hogan was lost in a conversation with Sif about a new shield design, and Volstagg and Thor immediately started trading jokes and laughing heartily.

“At this rate, we should make camp sometime around tomorrow afternoon,” Loki said with a roll of his eyes. “Gentlemen and lady! Shall we not ride out?”

“I thought you didn’t want to go,” Thor said.

“I don’t, but standing about the training ring like an oddly assorted collection of potted plants is no improvement,” Loki said.

“Potted plants?” Fandral said.

“It’s called a simile, Fandral,” Loki said disdainfully.

“I’m aware of what it is. It just sounds ludicrous,” Frandral spat back. “Your wit is dulling, o clever one. Perhaps you have spent too long in the company of the fly-lived mortals.”

Fandral gave a pull on his horse’s reins, making him rear up like a stallion on the cover of a melodramatic romance novel, and rode out second, just behind Thor, with Hogan and Volstagg behind him. Loki, Sif, and Peter left together, trailing slightly behind.

“Now, what happened back at the stables?” Loki asked as soon as he was certain the others were out of earshot.

“Ehm,” Peter said, not certain how much to say in front of Sif.

“I swear to you, Lady Sif is trustworthy,” Loki said. “You may speak freely.”

Peter considered for a moment, then nodded. He had no real reason to trust Sif himself, but if Loki had faith in her, he took him at his word. Very quickly, he informed them of what he had overheard.

“And you didn’t see this other man?” Loki said.

“No, I only heard his voice,” Peter said.

“Do you think you could recognize it again if you heard it?”

“Maybe? It didn’t really stand out that much,” Peer said.

“Sif, have you heard anything about the coronation crown being stolen and returned?” Loki asked.

“No,” she said. “If it truly is a widespread rumor, I never heard it, but then I’m not much for gossip. Volstagg would be the one to ask; he never tires of listening to tattling tongues. Did any of that really happen?”

“Someone stole it and hid it in Peter’s bag. I returned it myself, and I’m certain no one saw me,” Loki said. “It should still be shut in its chest, none the wiser that it was ever removed or replaced.”

“Then who started the rumor?” Sif asked.

“Whoever stole the crown would be the only other one to know it was gone,” Peter said.

“Yes, but they also knew it had been returned,” Sif said. “Shouldn’t they have thought it was still sitting in Peter’s luggage, waiting to be found?”

“Except someone ransacked Peter’s rooms today,” Loki said. “We thought they were looking for his Spider-Man armor, but that may not have been the goal. Perhaps they were checking on the whereabouts of the crown they planted.”

“They got something else wrong, too,” Peter said. “They said Thor had it put back. They left you out of it completely.”

“Yes,” Loki said, “and with my reputation, most gossips would be all too eager to throw my name in at the slightest suggestion of something being amiss. It’s an odd oversight.”

“It also suggests that this so-called invisible intruder wasn’t in Peter’s room when the crown was found,” Sif said. “It’s a small detail, but you’re right, Loki, they would have brought you into it if they knew.”

Peter winced.

“I’m used to it,” Loki said to him, waving his hand lightly. “Besides, normally they would likely be right. I’ll let Thor know about this when I’m certain we won’t be overheard. I’m more glad than ever that we aren’t in the palace, though. If anything happens out here, the story shouldn’t spread as quickly and any damage can be contained. Come on. We’ve fallen behind.”

The Warriors Three and Thor were still visible further along the trail, and it didn’t take more than a few minutes for them to catch up. Hogan was expounding upon the virtues of hand-to-hand combat over archery, with Fandral shaking his head in disagreement. Thor and Volstagg were watching the pair of them with amusement.

“And what nefarious plotting have you three been up to?” Thor said, chuckling.

“Yes, now that Loki and Sif are friendly again, we have to worry about bedrolls filled with itching powder once more,” Hogan said.

“Please,” Loki said, waving the idea away. “I would never do something that plebeian. Now, tucking rags scented with bilgesnipe musk into your saddle blankets during their mating season might be amusing, but sadly, that time won’t come again for almost a year.”

“Oh, no worries,” Sif said cheerfully. “I believe there is at least one rogue female still wandering about in search of a mate.”

Volstagg suddenly looked rather pale, but Fandral smacked him on the back of the head.

“He’ll behave if only for the sake of our honored guest,” he said, though it wasn’t clear if Fandral was being sarcastic or not.

“Perhaps,” Loki said innocently, then slowly unfurled a smile that was only a hair’s breadth away from complete lunacy, “or perhaps not.”

If Peter hadn’t known him so well, he would have been more than a little worried what he might do. As it was, he was still planning to check his saddle blanket, just to be on the safe side.