st_ratagem | [Child adventures!] Ancient times

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They weren’t actually supposed to be outside of the palace grounds. Father and Mother both agreed, nine was too young, and Thor had only just started arms training. But Thor had wanted to ‘test his courage’ and apparently that didn’t just mean ‘leave the palace’, it had meant ‘leave the palace, take a skiff, go to island ruin with a door in it, far enough away that you could barely see the spires’.

It was exciting, yes! Still Loki was in trouble much more often than Thor, and he was deeply complicit in the escape thanks to a lot of illusions, was still nervous. Mostly about being blamed if something went wrong. “Did one of the guards tell you about this place?”

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From:

st_ratagem

Loki grinned at his brother and squeezed his hand, then sketched what, to him, were very clearly a series of tune shapes. As he got better, more practiced, he wouldn’t need his hands or the runes, mother said, but for now they helped.

In this case, they helped the brothers disappear from sight.

From:

st_ormbreaker

Thor clasps Loki's hand tightly; they disappeared as much from each other's sight as they did everyone else's. If they lose touch, they'll likely have to grope around blindly for one another again, and that would be noisy.

And right now, Thor's trying not to be.

"Should we just slip through the front with everyone else?" he asks, quietly, breathily. There are many, many people out and about the palace grounds. The place is usually bustling with activity during daylight hours. "It should cover up any noise we make. But if we bump into anyone..."

Well, even Loki's invisibility couldn't do much for that.

From:

st_ratagem

Loki actually shook his head before remembering invisibility. Fortunately, because invisibility, no one saw it. Then he whispered, "No. I know another way in. It's this way." He started to move and tugged Thor's hand so he knew which way this way was.

Technically it was one of several servants' entrances, handy to the kitchens. When food was being delivered in the mornings or at night when leftovers were being handed out, it was busy. The rest of the time, the door was open but almost no one used it. Very useful for someone who wanted to come and go, and maybe get an apple at the same time.

From:

st_ormbreaker

"How did you know about this place?" Thor whispers, mentally recording their journey for future reference."And why didn't you tell me?"

From:

st_ratagem

"I like knowing how things work." Know the rules to break them well, Mother said. "So I pay attention. It's not like this is a secret at all, you know." It wasn't a secret, it was just a thing nobody paid attention to except the people who used it every day. And Loki. And probably Mother.

From:

st_ormbreaker

"It's a secret if no one tells you about it!" Thor's voice doesn't go above a loud whisper, but afterwards, he makes a deliberate effort to bring his voice down to a normal whisper. "I don't want us to keep secrets from one another, okay?"

From:

st_ratagem

"Okay." It was a lie, and Loki knew it. Honestly, Thor probably knew it, too: they were twins, even if he was older and closer to being grown up. Thor knew Loki better than anyone except maybe Mother... no, still better than her. Thor got to see (and feel) the sharp edges.

But Loki loved his brother and at least at the moment he didn't want to fight. (Even if an injured Thor meant he had a better chance of winning. That was love.) So he agreed no secrets even though he intended to keep every one he had until it was time to tell them. "You should watch the servants, brother. They know a lot of ways in and out, and good places to hide."