Loki Origins (Young Loki) 21: Checkmate

“I am not too sure about this…”

“Well… I believe he is ready. He is doing such wonderful things every day without even thinking about it. It is clear he has an extraordinary mind in that little head of his and it is our duty to encourage him.”

“You do have a point, but it would be a shame to take away his childhood by making him undergo such rigorous…”

“My Lady, it will not be rigorous to him… he will enjoy it and he will flourish! In the same way Thor has taken so well to the sword, Loki will undoubtedly blossom in the arts of the mind.”

 

The two women looked over at the little boy sitting on a large bearskin in the middle of the nursery. He was content to play with building blocks at the moment, but he had taken a long time to settle this morning. Although he had seemed to have become used to the absence of his older brother, whom he loved dearly, there were still times where he grew restless and became upset about having no one living with him in the nursery and his mother and his nanny were trying to come up with ideas to keep him occupied. Because of the many demonstrations they had witnessed of his quick mind in his short life, it was only natural that they decided to give him things to do to stretch his logical thinking and imagination. Today, Fulla had suggested they get the chess set out.

 

“I will send for the Warmaster General,” said Fulla, “he loves to play chess. He says it is all the training a true war strategist requires.”

“Not yet!” Said Frigga, “Allow us to have a few games first so that Loki can learn some rules and tactics.” She glanced at Loki; children loved it when they were able to match or even beat grown-ups in competitions and her young son was no exception.

“Very well. I will set it up out on the balcony. It is a beautiful day and we should enjoy it. The fresh air will invigorate our minds!”

“That sounds perfect!” Smiled Frigga, “Would you bring some refreshments too, please? Perhaps some iced tea for us and… lemonade for Loki?”

 

Fulla rose and went to the large chest containing toys and games, “It would be my pleasure.” She said, “I am so excited to see this. How are your chess moves these days?”

Frigga pulled a comical face as she went over to Loki and knelt down beside him, “Not too good, I confess.” She said and laughed as her little boy jumped up and threw his arms around her, almost knocking her over.

“Móðir!” he exclaimed, hugging her tightly, and she squeezed him back before drawing him close and kissing him on the top of his head.

“Come my son, we have a new game to play.”

 

She stood and Loki looked up at her from bright blue eyes sparkling with excitement. One of his favourite things to hear from his mother was “We have a new game.” It always meant that there was something interesting or thrilling to discover and he could hardly contain himself as his mind whirled around with all manner of possibilities. He held tight onto her hand with both of his and jumped up and down as they followed Fulla out onto the balcony.

“What is it? Oh, what is it Móðir?!” His little voice was squeaky with anticipation.

“Sit down here and watch what Fulla does now. This is a game called ‘chess’…”

“Oh! Oh! Fadir loves chess!” interrupted Loki, now bouncing on his chair and pointing at the chequered board on the table, “He plays against his War Masters and sometimes I get to watch!”

 

Frigga met Fulla’s eyes across the table as she started to place the pieces on the board and a wry smile crossed the Queen’s lips; chess, it seemed, was not a new game to the little boy after all. They both knew that this was not going to be as straight forward a lesson as they had at first thought.

“How often have you seen Odin play?” Enquired Frigga, moving Loki around in his chair and indicating that he should settle down.

“Many times.” Said Loki in a confident little voice. “If I finish my history reading early on Wodensday afternoons, then he lets me in to the War Room and they play the best of three.” He shifted in his chair, giggling, “He does not always win, you know?!” he grabbed Frigga’s hand almost conspiratorially and whispered, “He gets quite cross. It was scary at first, but now that I help him he does not lose as much.”

Fulla’s hand paused in mid-air, holding the black suit’s Queen as she stared incredulously at Frigga. “When did you start watching your father play?” she asked Loki, who smiled and took the piece from her to position on the board.

“Oh ages and ages ago. Before he took Thor to the training grounds. Before… before my birth celebration.”

Fulla, as ever, was impressed by Loki’s advanced thinking and speech. For his very young age, he was able to vocalise his thoughts in an advanced manner with a wide vocabulary and this was part of what had led her to convince Frigga that this intelligent little boy should be pushed to allow his mind to reach its full potential.

“Then you should find this quite enjoyable.” Said Frigga and she pointed at the board, “Which colour, my son?”

“I will fetch some drinks,” said Fulla, “Don’t start without me!” The Lady In Waiting left for the kitchens and Loki peered thoughtfully at the chess board. After a few moments, he sat back a bit and smiled at his mother.

“I will take the black suit, Móðir, so you can go first.”

 

Frigga smiled amusedly at the young boy she called her son and nodded, “Thank you, Loki. Always a gentleman.”
“Oh, no Móðir. It was not simply manners; I just want you to have a chance at winning.”

The beautiful Queen of Asgard stared at Loki as he examined the board, straightening the pieces up as he waited for Fulla to return. Of course, there was no arrogance in him, no snobbishness or over confidence in his own ability. In the manner of a three – nearly four – year old, he was simply being truthful and telling it how he saw it. She laughed inwardly; Loki was going to be a truly delightful child to watch growing up and she very much looked forward to being there to help him develop what would undoubtedly be a wealth of talents.

 

The sound of voices came from inside the nursery and it was with surprise and happiness that she saw Fulla arrive with the Warmaster General, who was carrying a large tray bearing drinks and small dishes of snack foods. A glance between the two women quickly established that his arrival was purely by accident and not engineered on Fulla’s part, but it was a nice surprise, as Loki usually only saw him during weapons training or on the odd occasion he had been allowed into the War Room. He had not gone to the training camps with the Royal Party because he was left in charge of Asgard’s military requirements when the All Father was away and he had been on his way to observe some of the older children being trained by the Weaponsmaster when he had bumped into Fulla. He liked Loki, but had seen already that the little boy was not very interested in the more brutal side of combat; he seemed to prefer instead the rather basic curriculum on strategy that was delivered once a month to the children of the higher ranking families. Upon learning that a chess lesson was about to take place, he had asked to come along so that he could see the young Prince in a different setting and perhaps get a better measure of his character.

 

“Oh!” Piped up a little voice and he was met with an eager young face as Loki spotted him, “Please, may I play you? After Móðir, of course!”

“Yes, my Prince. It would be an honour.” He replied and everyone took a seat to watch the first match. Frigga pressed a small button on the edge of the ornate chessboard and the squares became illuminated around their edges. A second later, the pieces started to come to life; the White King yawned and reached up to adjust his crown, a couple of his pawns squabbled about the squares they were on and then swapped places, one of the black rooks rotated slightly and then the board grew quiet as everyone waited for Frigga’s opening move. Loki was absolutely delighted with the chess set before him. He had never seen an animated one before, as the one used in the War Room was a rather old and battered wooden affair. The pieces in front of him were amazing in their detail and very closely resembled creatures from all around the Nine, with Elven bowmen representing the white pawns, Stone Giants the Rooks, Frigga the white Queen and so on. He looked up at his mother and watched her with eagerness as she considered how to start the game.

 

As he watched her studying the pieces, something strange happened. Her appearance subtly altered and the golden sparkles that she gave off all the time and which only those with The Sight could see became brighter. A second image of his mother seemed to overlay the one everyone else could see, only this one was made up of a thin layer of those very golden sparkles and this one turned to look at him. As the ‘real’ Frigga reached forward with her hand, the ghostly golden Frigga mouthed “Queen’s Pawn to D4.” Loki stared, boggle-eyed, as the real Frigga carried out the move a few seconds later. The little boy looked round at everyone else and then back at Frigga, who was still shadowed by her golden image. She was looking at the board and she nodded as if confident in her opening move. As she sat back and looked at Loki to see what he would do, a puzzled look crossed her face.

“Loki, is anything amiss?” She asked, wondering why his blue eyes were set on her in a wide-eyed stare. He blinked – almost in a guilty fashion as small children do – and shook his head quickly as the golden image faded away.

“No Móðir. Can I have my go now?” He held his hand out towards the board, his small fingers waggling impatiently. He had seen this opening move before and wanted to try a response he had seen Odin play for the next move.

“Of course, go ahead.”

“King’s Pawn to D5.” He said, moving the piece, which was an Orc brandishing a wicked looking weapon. It took on an aggressive stance as it came face to face with the graceful white Elf, who immediately stood tall and notched an arrow in response. Loki looked at his mother and then at the Warmaster General, who winked at him. Frigga steepled her fingers under her chin and Loki was astounded as her golden double reappeared, reaching out an ethereal hand and trying moves out on the board with golden sparkling copies of the figures sitting there. What was he seeing?

“Bishop’s Pawn to C4.” Everything snapped back to normal as the real Frigga moved her piece and Loki shook his head as he made himself concentrate on the game in front of him. He made his countermove, just as he had seen Odin do a few weeks ago and waited for Frigga to make hers. Fulla and the Warmaster General were watching with interest, but Loki could tell that they did not see the other-worldly Frigga as he did. In addition to the sparkling golden shades of movement, he could hear her whispers as she mused upon the moves which were possible, yet neither of their spectators gave any indication that they could hear this sibilant voice.

 

Then his young mind added two and two together and came up with, well, infinity.

 

He was reading her thoughts! He realised that he was seeing Frigga’s ideas about what she could do next being played out in her mind. As they continued the game, Loki read what she hoped he would do next so that she could put a specific strategy in place and after about half a dozen moves, he decided to test it out by doing something completely different. Frigga’s forehead creased as she frowned at the unexpected and admittedly clever move – or that is what Fulla and the Warmaster saw, but Loki saw something quite different and it rocked him to the core. The ethereal golden Frigga which was superimposed over the real one suddenly turned to him, looked right at him and her voice came through in his mind loud and clear:

 

“Loki! Are you peeking?”

 

The young Prince was so shocked at this that he leapt out of his chair and the chess board went flying as he knocked it with his tummy. Fulla and the Warmaster General both looked surprised, but started to pick the pieces up, which had become inanimate once they had become separated from the board. However, Frigga paused for a few seconds, giving Loki a most peculiar look before joining in with the tidying up.

“Is everything alright my Prince?” Asked Fulla, placing some of the pieces back on the board, where they started to brush themselves off and straighten their clothing.

“Yes, yes, I am well. I just… I need to go to the bathroom!” Loki hurried out of the room in the direction of the bathroom, leaving the bemused adults behind. Frigga took the box for the chess set and began to place the pieces in their plush velvet niches. “I think that is enough for today.” She said firmly, “I think he is due for his nap soon and chess can be a little tedious when one is sleepy.” She smiled at the Warmaster General, “Thank you for coming by. Perhaps you can play the Prince another time?” She held out her hand as the burly warrior bowed to kiss it and bade them farewell. Fulla took the chess set back to the toy box and then made her excuses before leaving; Frigga seemed to be in a determined mood and was giving off very clear signals that she wished to have a private conversation with her son.

 

After a few minutes, the Queen saw Loki appear, looking at her with uncertain eyes; he was holding onto the wall as if it offered him some sort of protection and her heart melted. Beckoning to him, she smiled and they both went over to the soft play area where there were lots of sumptuous cushions and bean bags. They settled in amongst them and Loki lay with his head on her lap, whereupon she stroked his brown hair as she began to speak.

 

“So, you are capable of communicating with your mind, Loki. Another talent to add to the list.”

“What does it mean, Móðir? Am I in trouble?” Loki’s voice was small and, just as Frigga had guessed, was growing a little sleepy. She reflected on the moment she had felt a presence in her mind during the chess game, and her surprise when she had found Loki’s sparkling blue Seidr phantom staring at her. Perhaps not as much of a surprise as Loki clearly had when she used her own inner self to ask him if he was peeking!

“No, you are not in trouble with me. You were simply trying to discover what it was you could see and I have to admit I did not know you were there until I heard you thinking ‘Is that Móðir’s mind?’!” She tickled him under the chin playfully and he giggled as he shrugged his shoulder up in reaction. “Other people do not like it, however, and you know defence of the mind is one of the most important subjects you will learn as a child of the Royal House.” Loki snuggled against her more closely, getting comfortable and she continued, “How did you do it?”

“I do not know, Móðir.” Replied the little boy, and now she could hear the barely held back tiredness in his voice; it was definitely nap time, “I just saw your other Móðir. The golden sparkly one… and she…” Loki’s head grew heavy in her lap and Frigga realised he had nodded off.

 

The talk about how to read minds without being detected would have to wait until another time, but she knew it would have to be soon. This talent was one that was best left as a secret for as long as possible, for it was an advantage that few were lucky enough to have and many were quick to use as a reason to repudiate the telepath. For those unlucky enough, it was a talent that could lead eventually to loneliness and that was something Frigga did not want Loki to experience.