Unbroken

Chapter 43

Loki had gone back to his room to read, he had been there for a while, probably a few hours, and wasn't disappointed when he was interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Come in" he called, glad to have a reason to get his eyes of the book he was reading. Not surprisingly, Thor walked in.
"Hey, how's the reading coming?" Thor asked as he came into the room, he was obviously thinking about something important though, he seemed a little on edge.
"Um... fine I guess. I've been reading through this book and haven't been having too much trouble" he said, and had in front of him was one of the books Frigga had given him. "I get stuck sometimes, but I can normally guess what the word is based on the context" he added, not sure why Thor had come to ask about his reading.
"Okay good. Come with me" Thor said simply as he turned and walked out of the room. Loki quickly got up to follow.
"Is um... is something wrong?" Loki asked as he followed Thor out of the room.
"No, everything is fine. Everything is great actually. I just can't really explain it right now" Thor replied, though Loki still felt a bit uneasy.
They continued to walk in silence until they got to a room that Loki had never been in. Typically it was used for meetings between Odin and other leaders, but when Thor and Loki went in, it was only Frigga and Odin who were there. Thor went and took a set at the table with Odin and Frigga, and loki slowly did the same. He was starting to get really confused as to what was going on.
"Don't worry Loki, you're not in trouble" Odin said, seeing the concern on Loki's face.
"What's going on...?" Loki asked, looking between the three of them. They all exchanged quick looks and then Frigga decided to speak first.
"Okay... Loki, this could possibly be a bit of an uncomfortable conversation, so please don't at any time feel that you have to say something if you don't mean it, we want you to be completely honest with us" she said.
"Alright..." Loki said, still feeling a bit on edge.
"Earlier today, Thor brought something to our attention" Frigga started "he pointed out that you are unable to know what to make of your life,
that you don't know what you are and how you're supposed to act. That's our fault. When we took you from Laufey we didn't think very far ahead, our only concern was getting you away from Laufey, and making sure that he never got you back." She explained, Loki listened with interest, wondering where this was all going, all three of them looked pretty serious and a little bit nervous "thor told us that you still think of yourself as a possession because no one has been able  offer any other tittle for you... Loki the last thing I want is for you to feel like you're a possession, or a prisoner, or anything but completely free. So, we are going to offer you an alternative title" she told him "if you want, we would like to legally make you a part of our family, since we all already see you that way anyway" she said. Loki felt his stomach turn over and the blood rush from his face. When he woke up that morning he was not at all expecting the day to end like this, he couldn't even believe what he was hearing.
"You- you want-" he cleared his throat and tried to clarify his thoughts "make me part of your family? So- so basically..... you want to- adopt me?" He asked, he knew he had to and be misunderstanding, this couldn't be possible.
"Essentially, yes.." Frigga said, she saw that he was in shock and feared he was going to decline "we know you're an adult and don't need a family the way someone still growing up does, but this way you can know where you stand. You can know what you are" she told him, he was still white as a sheet and looked like he might faint right now.
"And I'd- I'd be a-" he wasn't able to finish, if they're making him part of the royal family, then he'd be in the same position as Thor.
"You'd be a prince, yes" Frigga said, she knew that she was just sending him further into shock, but that is what he would be.
"You know, technically, you are already a prince" Thor told him "you're laufey's son, and he's the king. He just never treated you properly"
he added when Loki looked at him like he was crazy. Loki never really thought about that, and he certainly never thought of himself as a prince.
"I'm not- this is- I-" he couldn't speak.
"I know this is a lot to take in" Odin said "if you don't want to accept this we completely understand, and if you decide against it we will simply make you a legal citizen and you can do whatever you want with your life. Either way, you'll be free" he added, wanting Loki to know that he didn't have to accept their offer if he wanted to be free.
There was a long silence, Loki felt his throat closing and he knew that if he tried to speak he would choke on his words. This was all way to good to be true, he was sure that soon he'd wake up from a dream and be back on Jotunhiem.
He was about to be given a home and a family and a title, he would be more than a piece of property, he would be able to talk to people and not feel like they were looking down on him. He couldn't really get his head around that, he never thought his life would really count to anyone.
"You- you would let me be one of you? Really?" Frigga smiled a little bit.
"As far as we're concerned, you already are. This just puts it in writing and makes it official" she told him. "We can give you some time to think it over if you'd like" she added. But Loki didn't really see what there was to think about, why in the world would he turn this down?
"I- I don't think I need time...." Loki said, still not able to believe what was going on. "There's- there's no reason for me to say no..." he added, holding his breath and waiting for their reaction, if they were Laufey it would've turned out to be a trick or a mean joke, and a small part of his mind thought that that's what it had to be, there's no way anyone would want him to actually be part of their family. When he said he wanted a title he never imagined that they would make him a prince, he never imagine that he'd be part of their family, he never thought that they would take him as their own son. But it wasn't a trick, they were all very serious, they all wanted him to be one of them.
"Well then, Loki" Odin said as he handed Loki a piece of paper.
"I just need you to write your name there" he said as he tapped a line at he bottom of the page. Loki now understood why Thor had asked about his reading ability. He didn't try to read everything that was on the page, but he was able to catch the key words and understand that, once he signed his name, the king would be able to stamp the Asgardian seal, and he would be part of the royal family.
Loki took a breath and wrote his name as neatly as possible on the line that Odin had indicated. Odin then took the page back, poured a bit of melted wax in the corner of it, and stamped the royal seal. He then looked back to Loki.
"You're a prince now Loki. Don't ever think you're a possession again"