Unbroken

Chapter 51

Loki suddenly felt his face get hot, Thor had been watching them kissing? Why? Why was Thor even here? Loki had never been able to care about anyone before, and he certainly never had anyone care for him in return, why did Thor have to interrupt them?
Thor was quiet for a moment and all three of them felt very awkward, then finally Thor explained why he was here.
"Um... Loki, father wants to see you. I think it's about what happened with Jalil" he explained. Loki now felt a little nervous, he had attacked a counsel member and Odin was probably angry about it.
"He- wh-why? He wasn't even there" Loki said.
"Well people talk. He wants to see you in the throne room" Thor said, then quickly turned around and left loki and Trinity alone again. Loki felt his stomach knot up, he was in deep trouble, he had gotten too comfortable and he stepped out of line.
"Hey, it'll be fine" Trinity said, lightly brushing Loki's arm. Loki swallowed and nodded.
"I hope so.." he said.
"I'll walk in with you and wait outside the throne room" she said, she didn't want to just have him go to see Odin alone.
Trinity grabbed Loki's hand and walked back Into the palace with him. she was as irritated as he was about Thor's interruption, but she tried to not let loki know, maybe if she kept acting like everything was great, he'd feel better.
Finally they got to the throne room, which was the only part of the palace that was locked off to guests (other then bed chambers).
"See you in a few minutes" Trinity said with a warm smile. Loki just nodded and entered the throne room. Odin was the only person there aside from the guards.
"Loki, there you are" Odin said as he stood up and approached Loki. Loki stayed quiet, he was trying to read Odin's face but that was a difficult task, and Loki already had it in his head that Odin was furious with him. It was hard to be objective in his judgment of Odin's expression.
"I heard what you did to sir Jalil" Odin said "you got him in an armlock and pinned him against the wall. Why?" Odin asked. Loki held his hands behind his back so that he could fiddle with them without Odin seeing.
"He was... he was drunk and was shouting at one of the maids. I was trying to get him to stop, but he ignored everyone... I didn't use force until he tried to slap her" Loki told him. Odin was quiet for a minute and seemed to be thinking about his next words carefully.
"You involved yourself in a fight between him and the maid. Obviously your getting more comfortable with your position, you're less cautious around people of authority." Odin mused. Loki felt more nervous every second.
"Sir, I didn't-" Odin cut him off.
"Do you have any idea who Jalil is?" He asked. Loki swallowed hard.
"Yes sir.. Thor told me that he's-" again,  Odin interrupted him.
"A member of the counsel. He told you he was a member of he counsel, but did he also add that he's a general in my army?" Odin asked. Loki's face became more pale.
"He-".
"Did he mention that Jalil, the man you pinned again the wall, is one of the most highly respected men in the military? Did he mention that to you Loki?" Odin asked, keeping a terrifying level of calm. Loki felt like he was going to have a heart attack right about now.
"He- he didn't- he only told me he was a counsel member" Loki said back, his fear coming through in his voice a bit.
"Then why did you think no one was helping that maid? Did you think everyone else was just a coward? Why didn't you let the guards take care of it?" Odin asked. Loki was starting to feel a little defensive, the guards weren't taking care of it, that's why he had to intervene, and now he's going to get in trouble for it?
"The guards weren't doing anything. No one was. I was just trying to save a woman from being abused by a drunk man" Loki said back, the fear had left his voice.
"You attacked a respected general in order to defend a maid?" Odin challenged.
"Yes" Loki said back.
"Why? It wasn't your concern" Odin said to him.
"I wasn't your concern, yet you saved me from Laufey" Loki replied, which seemed to take Odin by surprise. "I did the right thing, like you did for me. He was going to hurt a woman because she made a mistake, no amount of authority or status justifies that" Loki added. Odin looked at his for a moment.
"You fought a high ranking soldier and a counsel member. Are you a soldier Loki? Are you a counsel member?" He promoted, Loki knew he was making the post that only a soldier had the right to stand up to another soldier.
"No sir, I am not either of those things" he said, finding it odd that he was suddenly able to stand his ground. Loki was expecting Odin's anger to be unleashed, but he surprised Loki with his next question.
"Would you like to be?" Odin asked him. Loki's confusion was every visible. What was happening?
"You- what?" Loki asked. Odin smirked slightly, which was the first change of facial expression he'd had for his entire conversation.
"Loki, you stood up to someone in authority because you knew they were wrong, you were able to win a fight without drawing blood, and you were able to convince him to leave while speaking quietly and with dignity. I could use someone like that on the counsel and as a soldier. Thor tells me you're doing very well in your training as well." He said, Loki was still a little baffled "I wouldn't be putting you in charge of anything yet, you'd have a very low position to start, and I wouldn't try to accelerate your training. But we have to deal with enemies and politics quite often, and you were able to end a fight and convince an angry drunk man to walk away. That's a skill that can be honed into something very useful" Odin explained. Loki lost all his words, he couldn't be on the counsel, is Thor even on the counsel? Even if his position is low, he'd still be on the counsel.
"I- I don't think I'm-" Odin held up a hand, silencing Loki for the third time tonight.
"Don't answer now. Think about it and let me know when you're sure. But know that what I'm offering you isn't going to put you in a confrontational position, the only thing I'd be asking from you would be some advice and your willingness to attend meetings" Odin told him. Loki remained silent. "I apologize for interrupting your date, you can return to her if you wish. Maybe she'll have some thoughts on the matter" Odin said. Loki nodded a bit and turned around. He was still mind blown, but Odin seemed to enjoy leaving him that way, or maybe Odin just didn't realized that he kept doing extraordinary things for Loki.
Once Loki got out of he thrown room he saw Trinity there waiting for him.
"Is everything okay?" She asked when she saw the look on his face, which was pure shock.
"Yeah... he- he offered me a position on the counsel..." Loki said. Still feeling shocked. Trinity's face lit up with pleased surprise, and Loki couldn't help but feel a sense of warmth course through him. Her smiled was contagious.
"Loki that's amazing" she said "What did you say?" She asked, being very excited for him, he was continuing to move away from his life with Laufey.
"Nothing... he told me to think about it" he told her. She nodded a bit.
"That's good, I'm sure you'll make the wise decision" she said. Loki nodded a bit and took a deep breath. This was insane and he needed something else to think about before his brain exploded... they stood in silence for a minute before Loki realized that he could hear the music coming from the ballroom.
"Would you like to finish our dance?" He asked her, remembering how he was able to forget his worries when they danced and when he kissed her.
"I'd love too" she said. He took her hand in his and they walked to the dance floor.
Loki's mind was still on what Odin had told him though... there's just no way he could accept, that would be crazy right? Then again, a few months ago if someone suggested that he be a prince, he would've thought they were crazy