The light was fading when Alorah felt the pangs grow stronger. It won't be long now, she thought with a mixture of relief and dread as she eased herself out of the warm bath. Her child would be born before midnight. She did what she could to ignore the pain as she draped the robe over her shoulders and walked slowly to her bedchamber, one hand cradling her bulging stomach. She walked around the room, lighting candles that made the serene ice blue walls glow. It hadn't been easy for her to stay in the Jotunheim during the pregnancy, though she'd learned much of the world that would be her child's home. There would be no way of keeping it from Odin any longer. She did not dare to think of what would happen then. All that mattered was the child.
Whispers had surfaced throughout Asgard and Alfheim of this child, this half-breed. It would be feared, perhaps even hated by the gods. She shook her head, banishing the thought from her mind. It was of no matter to her. She loved the child, awaiting its birth with hope and happiness. This was what she'd wanted. Her heart's desire. She'd kept the babe secret from the All-Father, Odin, and the other gods. She'd kept it from the creature that sired it. At the thought, she shuddered. No. Laufey must not know the child existed.
She lay in the bed, her breaths coming faster as the pain mounted. There were no midwives to tend her, no others to ease the suffering. She was alone. Such horrible pain! She felt as if she were dying, if such a thing was possible for an elf. Slightly hysterical; she laughed at the thought, A full, lusty sound that made the foundation of the room shake. She wanted to laugh at that, but couldn't as another contraction threatened to break her. Bearing down as the contractions rolled together, she focused on her heart's wish. And pushed. The tiny infant squalled its way free of her.
Alorah cried as she saw her child, her son. The babe shook his fists at the air as Alorah cradled him, rocking him gently. She'd done it. Nothing mattered more than the little bundle that sucked at her breast. She could face everything else without fear now. "You shall be called Loki , and know that above all else, you are loved." The thundering began, and Alorah held Loki close. "The prophecies tell of your birth, little one." She had no need to check her son's skin. She knew the blue hue would be there; a symbol of night and the threat of the darkness. "Do not fear, for one day you will have the power to end this war. It is your destiny."