"Allfather! My Lords!" The King's HighGuard knelt as he approached his sovereign and the two young princes with the much anticipated news. "The Queen has succesfully given birth...to a daughter. A healthy girl-child, My King."
Odin smiled at the news and motioned for the messenger to rise. "Thank you Alfr. Tell Frigga I am coming to see her." He instructed. The servant rose at once and left to do as his King requested.
Thor, the elder son of Odin grew wide eyed with excitement when he heard the guard's words. "Did you hear that? We have a sister, Loki! A sister!" He turned to face his younger brother who seemed a bit less excited about the situation than he did.
"So?" Loki shrugged as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
"Come." Odin placed a guiding hand on each of his sons shoulders. "Let us go and meet our new Princess, shall we?" He led the way to the Queen's Chambers where the midwives were already carrying away the soiled sheets and other things from the area.
Loki sniffed the air gingerly with distaste while Thor pushed slightly ahead of his Father and Brother as the guards admitted them to his Mother's room stopping suddenly in his tracks when he saw the little bundle the Queen was cradling between her arms.
"Hey!" Loki protested when he failed to notice his brother's abrupt standstill and collided into his back.
"Frigga, my Dear!" Odin hurried past his sons and knelt at his wife's bedside. Frigga turned to acknowledge him and reached with one of her hands to stroke affectionately yet a bit wearily at his face.
"My Love. Come meet our new child. You too, Boys." She turned to gesture towards her sons who did not look as if they knew how to react to the object their Mother held with such tenderness and care.
Odin gently stroked back the swaddling cloth from his newest child's face. "Ah...she is as beautiful as her Mother." He praised chuckling a bit as the baby reacted a bit to his touch.
Thor reached to touch the tip of her little hand which barely was visible over the top of the blanket. "Hello there. I'm your Brother, Thor." He smiled though the infant did not open her eyes or react much to his touch.
Loki stood silently by staring at his new sibling with uncertainty in his eyes. He made no move to touch her or even to speak to her as his older brother had done.
How silly. The young prince thought as he watched his Mother coo at the infant while gently smoothing the pale fuzzy tuft of hair that covered the top of the baby's head. She's just a baby. She can't understand what we say.
"She will need a name." Odin spoke, breaking into Loki's thoughts. He reached to take his newborn daughter into his own arms and raised her up so that she seemed to glow under the light of the late evening sun.
"A name fit for the Daughter of Odin. A name like...Frea. Frea Odinsdottir." Odin smiled as he pronounced the name.
Frigga matched his smile. "Frea." Thor turned to exchange glances with Loki. "I like it. Don't you, Brother?"
Loki shrugged. "I suppose. Father, might I be excused to continue my studies?" He turned to face his Father without so much as blinking at his sister.
Odin turned his attention to his younger son. "Of course, Loki. Thor you best run along too. There is still lots to be done before our Princess is presentated to the realm." The Allfather smiled and rocked the little royal infant in his arms affectionately.
Thor frowned and turned to stare after his brother who was already halfway up the stairs to the door of his Mother's Chamber.
...
"Loki, you should really give our sister a chance. She may be an infant, but she's already quite strong. A lot stronger than some of my sparring partners might I add. Not to mention, prettier. Let her hold your finger. See how strong she is." Thor chuckled as he let his three month old sister grab his finger again.
Loki scoffed from the corner of the room where he was sitting, a book propped up on his lap. "No thank you. And most infants are...pretty." He sighed and licked his finger before turning a page.
Thor frowned at the tone in his voice. "Why do you always do that?"
"Do what?" Loki remained calm and nonchalant.
"Every time someone so much as mentions Frea you turn surly and uninterested. You never want to be near her either." Thor added. Loki slammed his book shut.
"I just don't have time to fuss over her. Master Rennell is going to test me next week and I need to practice." The younger prince stood roughly adjusting his cape before flouncing from the nursery where his elder brother had dragged him in.
Thor sighed and glared slightly after him before returning to his attention to his cooing sister. "Don't mind him. He's just jealous because Mother no longer has as much time for him now." He whispered tickling the baby's tummy as she lay staring at him with wide innocent eyes.
"I bet if he gave you a chance though he wouldn't think you're so bad. Right Frea?" Thor continued. Frea burbled as if agreeing with her brother.
Thor chuckled. "Don't worry. I'll always take care of you no matter what. I promise." He bent and kissed the baby on her forehead tickling her with the long tendrils of his golden hair.
"You'll make her sneeze! Ignorant Oaf!" Loki suddenly reappeared at the nursery entrance, his spell books still clutched his pale marble like hand.
Thor turned abruptly at the exclamatian not expecting his brother to have lingered. "I will not. Besides I thought you didn't care for Frea." He gave his brother a pointed look, causing him to falter briefly.
"I...I don't." Loki turned quickly, leaving the room this time. Thor smirked after him before looking back down to continue playing with his baby sister. "We'll soon see about that."
...
"Mother?" Loki quickly entered the library where his Mother usually sat pouring over a large text of some sort after dinner. He was surprised when the library was empty save for the old bookkeeper.
"Fenrir, where is my Mother?" Loki addressed the old librarian who looked up from the manuscript he was cleaning when he saw the young prince.
"Her Majesty, the Queen, your Mother is in the royal nursery I believe attending to the Princess." Fenrir answered readily adjusting his spectacles before continuing. "Is there something I might assist you with, my Prince?"
Loki shook his head. Only his Mother could help him with the question he had. Well she and his tutor Master Rennell, but Master Rennell was the one testing him on his spell knowledge.
"No. Thank you Fenrir." He nodded his appreciation to the librarian for his help before leaving the library and heading in the direction of the nursery where his baby sister lived when Thor or her nursemaid weren't playing with her in the gardens.
It still incensed Loki a little when he thought of how his Mother despite having employed a well skilled and kind hearted nursemaid still insisted on being heavily involved in the care of her newborn child.
She hardly had enough time to help Loki with his magic now as she used to before and whenever he'd come to her even just to seek solace after a long day of training and studying, he always found her busy nursing Frea or bathing her or trying to soothe her to sleep.
"Ah Loki! Come in! I was hoping to find Thor, but I have no more time." Frigga turned from the large cradle which she stood over, smiling at her younger son as she held out a round white bundle to him.
Loki wrinkled his nose as the baby's face into view.
"Will you please hold your sister and watch her for me until I get back? Your Father the King has asked that I be present tonight at the Council and I've sent the nursemaid on an errand." The Queen gently positioned her younger son's arms before placing the cooing infant into them.
"She shouldn't need anything other than company since I changed her napkin and she was fed less than an hour ago."
Loki looked down on the little child with distaste seeing a spittle of saliva on her chin. "Actually Mother, I was hoping you could help me with a spell I am having trouble mastering. Master Rennell is going to test me on it in two days." He looked pleadingly at his Mother hoping she would agree to help him and turn his sister over to the care of his elder brother.
Instead of taking the child from him, Frigga bent and kissed the top of his head tenderly before cupping her hand about his cheek. "I wish I could help you my son, but first I must attend the Council. Take care of Frea till then and until the nursemaid returns. I will try not to be long." She promised.
This answer was most unsatisfying to the young demi god who did not want to wait or watch his baby sister even for a second. However, he knew better than to protest further the word of his mother the Queen no matter how gentle and kind she was.
So he nodded his head and tried to appear accomodating. Frigga then kissed him again this time against his right temple then hurried from the nursery, leaving Loki alone with his tiny sister.
As soon as his mother's footsteps had faded from earshot, the little princess suddenly began to bleat and cry, startling the Prince who did not know that such a loud powerful sound could come from something so small and delicate.
The sound quickly became irritating to Loki however and he soon became desperate to make it stop. Looking about, he half hoped that his Mother might hear the crying and quickly return to soothe the infant.
Of course the Queen did not return and as the babe continued to wail and squirm in his arms, Loki's desperation quickly grew.
Resigning himself to the fact that his Mother would not return, the young prince wandered through the grand nursery chamber hoping to find something that would distract the baby and stop her loud pitiful cries.
Coming upon her cradle, Loki set the infant inside it covering her with the soft blankets and setting the doll which had been gifted to her at her presentation ceremony beside her.
To his dismay, the child only began to wail harder even knocking the doll away with one of her tiny little arms.
Inwardly Loki groaned though his irritation was slowly changing into sympathy for his sister. "You just want Mother to come back, don't you? So do I." He muttered, though of course the babe paid him no attention.
Sighing to himself, Loki reached through the sheets and picked up the baby again, this time holding her against his chest before walking over to the chair where his Mother usually sat when she was holding Frea.
Sitting down, he lowered the infant down onto his lap and stared at her reddening little face which was crumpled up with tears at the moment.
Growing aggravated with the loud piercing noise she was making, Loki rocked the babe slowly wondering what to do. If the baby continued crying a servant would soon come to see what the matter was and his Mother might even be displeased if she found out he did nothing to soothe her.
She might even refuse to help him master his new spell.
Looking about in desperation, the young demi god finally noticed an intricate little silver mobile which his Father had had hung up over the princess's cradle soon after her birth.
Seven tiny crystal pegasuses and cherubs with precious gold stones for wings hung from it.
As he watched the tiny figures sway slowly from the golden hook on the ceiling, an idea came to the young prince's mind. Recalling to himself the animation spell he had recently mastered, he lifted a hand towards the mobile.
Immediately, the intricate silver pieces began to move and swivel in all directions until the tiny crystalline winged horses started to move on their own, tossing their manes and kicking their fore feet into the air.
Flicking his wrist, Loki muttered a soft incantation causing the tiny figurines to neigh and whinny softly as they floated around the air coming closer to where he sat with his infant sister on his lap.
Seeing the strange yet wonderous sight above her, the babe soon ceased crying and instead stared seemingly awestruck at the little winged horses who pawed the air, sending up little magical poofs of magic sparkles as they did so.
Delighted when the glittering substance fell over them, Frea let out soft squeal of a laugh, reaching one of her chubby little arms as if to touch the mystical substance.
Loki found himself smiling too at his sister's cheerful amusement. Not even his own Father paid him so much attention when he'd demonstrate his charms and spell work. And Thor was by far the worst audience he ever had.
"Oh you like that, do you? Well just wait, cause I can do much more." The young sorceror bragged, raising his arm again. This time, he turned his attention to the little cherub charms hanging on the mobile.
With a wriggle of his fingertips, he sent the little angels flying off their hooks in a v-shape formation like the birds near summer's end.
Maintaining his concentration, Loki manipulated the spell so that the little cherubs began to change formation shapes starting from an eight pointed star to a heart, then to the symbol of eternity. All the while they moved, they sang one of Queen Frigga's best lullabies.
The babe laughed and waved her arms even more with delight at hearing the music. Pleased, Loki used his magic to make all the figures gather in a line and bow to the tiny princess like after one of the royal theatre performances his Father sometimes ordered for special banquets.
"Oh!...Your highness I...I had no idea...that is Queen Frigga instructed me..." The nursemaid struggled to find words as she gaped at the young prince upon finding him in the royal nursery with the baby princess.
Loki looked up from his fun and sighed though he was glad to see the nursemaid.
Finally! This is my chance to hand my little burden over and go wait for Mother at the Council Chamber so I can get her help on my new spell. He thought, sending the figurines back to the mobile before making to rise from his chair.
At that moment the baby suddenly nestled into his tunic, startling the young prince since he wasn't expecting the tiny little creature to do such a thing.
Looking down, Loki saw that the babe was becoming drowsy and smiled as a yawn escaped from between her tiny puckered lips.
She watched me perform my spells with such avid interest until their antics wearied her out. Not even Father acts as interested as she did. The young Demigod leaned over and drew his infant sister gently closer to him before speaking to the nursemaid.
"My Mother the Queen has asked me to look after the Princess until she returns from the Royal Council." He responded formally to the young woman as she stood unsure of what to do as the only instructions she recieved from her mistress was to complete her errand as soon as possible so that she may watch over the Princess while the Queen attended to her other duties.
Sensing her awkwardness, Loki waved his free hand in a dismissive manner at her. "Go on Lyra. I can stay with my sister until my Mother returns. Go and await her Majesty's summons." He ordered, uttering a slight barely noticeable smile to the maid before returning his attention to his infant sister who was now sleeping peacefully in the circle of his other arm.
Nodding her understanding, the nursemaid bowed at once, secretly pleased that the younger prince was finally beginning to accept the newest member of his family. Having been appointed Princess Frea's nurse since the first hours of her life, she was no stranger to the slight animosity Loki had had towards his baby sister for the past couple of months, unlike Prince Thor who almost immediately took to the baby.
"Yes my Prince. As you command." She turned quickly to exit the nursery, leaving the little princess to rest in safety and contentedness in the security of her brother's newly loving embrace.