Erosion, part 6
Sep. 12th, 2011 04:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
weirdletTitle: Erosion
Fandom: Thor (2011)
Summary: Response to a prompt
asking for loving-father!Laufey's reaction to losing his child. It
turned into a prequel for the Custody Battle AU.
Warnings: Mono-gendered giants, violence, weird ideas on courtship, and depressed!king in later bits.
...
By the time the fifth attempt was made, Laufey had almost stopped caring.
The winter was long and dark, but that was not the problem. No- the problem was that the heart of the winter was not there any longer, and the ability to wield its strength had long been an aid to their people. The world that loved them so had become that much more hostile.
His people starved. They died by the fangs of beasts that would never have approached the city walls, and quarreled amongst themselves for food and medicine.
The treasuries emptied, and the stored supplies. It was not enough.
There were a few ports, a few paths between the worlds yet, but the ability to transport vast numbers was gone with the Casket. Trade could still be done, but starkly limited, and only through the few back-alleys they now had available to them.
Laufey listened as Nál told him this, and waved him away with blanket permission to do as he saw fit.
The one time his remaining lords had dared approach him face to face, he had reminded them that at any other time in history, any king of Jotunheim would have done much the same as he had. The Casket had long been a source of pride and a weapon of war, and if he was a fool for bringing it forth, could any of them say, if theirs had been the clan holding it, that they would not have used it thus?
And if they wanted to fracture away from his rule, they had better make an effort worth smashing, for he would not simply let them walk away.
A few of them had words to that effect. He slew them and appointed new caretakers for their lands. Nál would scold him for his recklessness, but really, at this point? What were a few new enemies?
...
It got harder to muster effort as what little could be done, was being done.
The thanes had learned better than to come to their king with their complaints. Laufey still held the ultimate right of command, but his power had waned, and his spirit was wounded. They were better off on their own, for all the aid he could muster on their newly isolated world- better to beg forgiveness and avoid the claws of a thrashing, injured animal than ask permission.
He still stood up to challenges. The old beast was too strong to die, but too weak to be of any use. It was said the assassins were getting closer each time, though each one had been caught and slain.
The bodies hung, impaled from stalagmites that the warrior Fárbauti had placed himself.
Not being complete fools- some could argue- one forward-thinking clan chief sought to establish the old custom of keeping hostages as house-guests, playing on the known love of the king for his closest companion, and probable blood-son.
The purge was neither quiet nor discreet. Helblindi was returned safe and sound, and Laufey spent the rest of the season a snorting, blazing embodiment of his old self, shoring up allegiances and turning his own hands to the work of rebuilding. It gave some much-needed relief to those who loved him, and who ruled in his name.
It was enough to thaw the ice around him- for a time.
...
Fandom: Thor (2011)
Summary: Response to a prompt
asking for loving-father!Laufey's reaction to losing his child. It
turned into a prequel for the Custody Battle AU.
Warnings: Mono-gendered giants, violence, weird ideas on courtship, and depressed!king in later bits.
...
By the time the fifth attempt was made, Laufey had almost stopped caring.
The winter was long and dark, but that was not the problem. No- the problem was that the heart of the winter was not there any longer, and the ability to wield its strength had long been an aid to their people. The world that loved them so had become that much more hostile.
His people starved. They died by the fangs of beasts that would never have approached the city walls, and quarreled amongst themselves for food and medicine.
The treasuries emptied, and the stored supplies. It was not enough.
There were a few ports, a few paths between the worlds yet, but the ability to transport vast numbers was gone with the Casket. Trade could still be done, but starkly limited, and only through the few back-alleys they now had available to them.
Laufey listened as Nál told him this, and waved him away with blanket permission to do as he saw fit.
The one time his remaining lords had dared approach him face to face, he had reminded them that at any other time in history, any king of Jotunheim would have done much the same as he had. The Casket had long been a source of pride and a weapon of war, and if he was a fool for bringing it forth, could any of them say, if theirs had been the clan holding it, that they would not have used it thus?
And if they wanted to fracture away from his rule, they had better make an effort worth smashing, for he would not simply let them walk away.
A few of them had words to that effect. He slew them and appointed new caretakers for their lands. Nál would scold him for his recklessness, but really, at this point? What were a few new enemies?
...
It got harder to muster effort as what little could be done, was being done.
The thanes had learned better than to come to their king with their complaints. Laufey still held the ultimate right of command, but his power had waned, and his spirit was wounded. They were better off on their own, for all the aid he could muster on their newly isolated world- better to beg forgiveness and avoid the claws of a thrashing, injured animal than ask permission.
He still stood up to challenges. The old beast was too strong to die, but too weak to be of any use. It was said the assassins were getting closer each time, though each one had been caught and slain.
The bodies hung, impaled from stalagmites that the warrior Fárbauti had placed himself.
Not being complete fools- some could argue- one forward-thinking clan chief sought to establish the old custom of keeping hostages as house-guests, playing on the known love of the king for his closest companion, and probable blood-son.
The purge was neither quiet nor discreet. Helblindi was returned safe and sound, and Laufey spent the rest of the season a snorting, blazing embodiment of his old self, shoring up allegiances and turning his own hands to the work of rebuilding. It gave some much-needed relief to those who loved him, and who ruled in his name.
It was enough to thaw the ice around him- for a time.
...
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Date: 2011-09-14 12:12 pm (UTC)