Chapter Text
It should have been a day much like any other. It should have been a day just like any other. Yet alas, it was anything but a day as any other.
The Land has been quiet since the first rising of the first sun, and now as the last sun sets, it is quiet still. A whisper is all that is heard, a steady blur of sound carried loosely on the trail of warm winds. The whisper is of a question, a cursed question, a question which if not answered truthfully, if not answered rightly, shall bring forth the end of a man, the end of a King, but most importantly, the end of a Realm.
And it is a question so simple one cannot pause and admire what beautifully crafted malice lies behind it.
The Land has been quiet, and it is quiet still, for its King needs to think, need to puzzle, need to ack. Time has always been short, yet now it is even shorter. Only a few more hours till today shall be tomorrow, and until the King will have to present his answer to King Laufey.
Time had never been so short.
"My King is troubled." A voice touches his ears, a cold, icy voice which drips of willfulness. The voice of a savior, yet also condemner. It is the voice of a monster, a creature of blue skin and red eyes, and its name is that of Loki Laufeyson.
The one whom his son is to marry.
"And I see not the need." The voice continues as the monster's steps draw him nearer to the King. "Have I not given you the answer you have searched for far and wide?"
"Yet I wonder if the price you have asked for it is none too great." Odin confessed, earning a laugh from the creature.
"I see not how it can be too much. A King's head in exchange for a Prince's hand in marriage can hardly be seen as an un-payable price."
"But what of a young one's happiness? How can I deny one that?"
The first answer he had received was laughter, and it is such a wicked laugh. The second one, was mockery: "Oh, you worry too much my King. I am certain your son shall make me happy." And with that, Loki Laufeyson left as quickly as he came, leaving Odin once again alone save for his thoughts.
As the rapidly setting sun set the high mountains on fire and allowed the evening sky to wear its dark cloak lesser beings had named Night, Odin All-Father's one still lively eye gazed upon the wonders of Life, yet his mind was wrapped solely upon the notion of Death.
Odin All-Father had made a mistake. That day when he left to hunt deep within the icy realms of Jötunheimr he had made a mistake. The day he was caught he had made a mistake. The day he had accepted his captor's terms he had made a mistake.
The King of Asgard has made a mistake.
He only hopped beyond all hope that he would not make another come dawn. Tomorrow, it is a question he must answer: if answered wrongly, the price he must pay if that of his life; if answered truthfully, the price is that of his son's happiness.
Tomorrow comes and Odin's answer is truthful.