Loki's eyes search his counterpart's face intently for a moment. This is, in effect, the last great secret he has from Thor, and whether he's correct about it or not, he's convinced if it becomes known it will destroy all the bridges they've built between them, for good. He can't forget the look in Thor's eyes after Odin died. This is your doing.

And was he wrong? Not really. Whatever Loki may want to protest; that he had no intention of killing Odin, that the last thing he ever wanted was to see Frigga hurt...his intentions do not now, and have never, mattered. Not when people suffer at his hands.

The ferocity in his gaze dims a little when his counterpart agrees to keep silent on the matter, and he looks away with a shaky breath. "There was an attack by Dark Elves. Malekith and his minions. I was in a prison cell at the time."

"I did not recognize the extent of the attack, or what the target was. All I saw was a breakout in the cells around me, which was clearly intended to create confusion and chaos, and a single spy, riddled with curses. We looked at one another for a long moment...I think we both knew a monster when we saw it."

"I told him to take the stairs to the left, to get past the crush from where the Einherjar were battling the other criminals. I doubted he would be a match for Thor, anyway, let alone Thor and Odin together."

"I did not know he would find his way straight to Frigga's chambers." Tension sings in every line of him for a moment, throat working as if to force down a cry, or a scream.

But a moment later, he's mastered himself again. "It's my fault," he says. "Do not make my mistake."