"I'm coming to that," Loki said thoughtfully. "At the same time you send the message to Thor, you send one to my father."
"Your father?" Kevan asked, wishing he could remember more of the old legends. He resolved to brush up on them if he kept this job.
"Odin," Loki explained. "He's Thor's father too and he's still the head of the family. The old man is a stickler for convention, so you merely send him a message asking to call on him first before visiting Thor. Better not mention that you've already met me. The old man will be pleased that a mortal recognizes that he's still the head of the house. While you're talking to him, casually mention that you're going to challenge Thor to three new riddles. Be sure to stress the new."
Kevan nodded. He could see little sense in any of this, but was willing to grant that this was possibly because he was a stranger in the land.
"My father," continued Loki, "is a real pig for knowledge. He'll try to pump you for the answers to the riddles. If you refuse then he'll show up at Belskirnir and he'll make Thor accept the challenge, just so he can hear the answers."
"You're sure?" Kevan asked.
"Positive. The old man will go through anything just to learn something new. He once gave up one of his eyes just for one drink from Mimir's well of knowledge. Another time, he hung in a trance from Yggdrasil, with his head in Niflheim, for nine days in order to learn to write runes. You can't miss if you do as I tell you."
Some of Loki's confidence surged through Kevan. "This is mighty nice of you, Mr. Loki," he said. "Isn't there something I can do to repay you?"
"I guess not," Loki said sadly, "There is only one way in which these chains can be broken and I doubt if you could manage it by yourself. It's really not too bad—although I do get rather bored at times just standing here and seeing the same things all the time. It was a pleasure to talk with you."