Sigyn cried her eyes out on her bed for hours. Frigga came a couple of times to speak with her but she was in no mood to hear excuses from Loki's mother. She cried herself to sleep and awoke with a headache. Frigga was there with a glass of water waiting for her.
"Go away."
"You are in a fragile state. You should not be alone."
"Speak your peace and leave me be." Sigyn said.
"Sigyn, we do not know the circumstances under which Loki became pregnant. Please do not rush to judge him."
"Judge him? Didn't you hear him in there? He was so…so…not giving a fuck about hurting me!"
"Come now, you know him better than that." Frigga said.
"I thought I did. He broke my heart."
"I broke his heart by failing to be honest with him." Frigga said. "Odin and I have fought for years over when or if we should tell him his origins. We were torn and there were legitimate and practical concerns that we feared could not be ignored."
"Like what?"
"We don't know a lot about Jotunn anatomy. We do know that they are a race of hermaphrodites but nothing of their mating practices or birthing abilities. Loki might have been compelled to become pregnant Sigyn."
"You think he did it out of mating instinct?"
"Yes. Jotunns are all male in appearance. It would only be natural for Loki to feel sexual attraction to the male form." Frigga said.
"No wonder you and Odin did not object to my marriage. You two were positively ecstatic that Loki would willingly find love with a woman. If you knew his natural inclinations for men, why didn't you tell me? Or him for that matter?"
"You know my husband's opinion of such men. Odin wanted to prove that living among the Aesir, a Jotunn could be trained to act and desire something normal."
"But it's not normal for him! You set us up for failure!"
"Did I ever tell you how my son Baldur died?" Frigga asked.
"I wasn't aware you'd had another son."
"We do not speak of him. Odin has forbade it due to the way our eldest died. Only Asgardians of a certain age remember the prince. Thor was a newborn and does not remember him."
"How did he die?"
"During the war in Jottunheim, Odin had put in him charge of a regiment on the northern front. He'd done well and had made significant inroads to the capitol. But five miles outside of the city, his unit was captured and the men were taken prisoner." Frigga started to tear up. There was a look in her eye of bitterness, which was an alien thing Sigyn did not associate with the queen.
"What happened to them?"
"Odin fought hard to reach them and save them before they were put to death. A simple execution would have been better than what he found. The men were spoils of war you see. Handsome young men in their prime…and the Jotunns were so large."
"They were raping them."
"Most of the men died of anal trauma. Those that still lived, freely fell upon the sword rather than live with the shame. Odin found Baldur surrounded by a mass of them. He'd been dead for hours." Frigga's chin trembled and she pulled out a handkerchief to blot the tears from her cheeks.
"Why did Odin take Loki? Why would he show compassion to a Jotunn runt after such horror?"
"It wasn't compassion. Odin took Loki for a purpose. He's Laufey's first born and rightful heir to the throne. The child in your womb is too." Frigga said.
"Odin wants to wage war in my child's name?" Sigyn asked.
"Eventually, if it suits our needs. We have a rightful claim now."
"You raised Loki. You love him. I know you do. How? After what happened to your real son, how did you find it in you to love a Jotunn baby?"
"He was an innocent child. He smiled at me and when I touched him his magic responded and colored him Aesir. I was smitten. Odin made the camouflage permanent and we hid the truth from him since."
"He said what he did was in his nature. I can't help but feel he's been lying to me our entire marriage."
"Loki loves you Sigyn, of that I have no doubt. I know it is a hard thing to consider in this moment, but I want you to find it in your heart to forgive him this transgression."
"He's pregnant. What is going to be done about that?"
"That is up to Odin."
XxXxXxXx
When the walls of his cells went up Loki was left alone in the dungeon. There weren't even other prisoners around. The barriers, which were normally transparent went opaque. Loki knew it meant that Odin wanted his incarceration to be kept a secret and that set his mind analyzing.
If Odin planned to execute him he wouldn't care if all of Asgard knew he was down here. Except he probably cared about appearances and did not want the kingdom to know he was pregnant. If Odin planned to keep him alive he wouldn't want anyone, not even the guards to see his expanding belly. Loki thought of the child then. What was Odin planning to do about it?
Alone, with little hope of rescue, and the revelation that he was a Jotunn monster, Loki broke down and cried. The cell was devoid of any furniture and he could only curl up into the fetal position on the floor as he wept. He thought of Thor and wondered what his brother was doing. If Odin had figured them out? What would Odin do if he found out?
A day went by, then two and no one came down to his cell. Meals appeared and then the empty tray disappeared after a time. Loki felt himself going mad with every possible scenario his clever mind could concoct.
XxXxXxXxXxXx
A knock came at the door of Odin's office and he gave entry.
"Come in." He said. Sigyn entered and took a seat in the chair across from her king. "I was wondering when you would seek me out." Odin said.
"What are you going to do about Loki?" She asked.
"I haven't decided. For now, I'm keeping him in the dungeons until he gives birth."
"And his child?" She asked. Odin sighed.
"The child will be given over to a noble family. No one can know the truth of its birth, until it is advantageous to reveal it."
"You're not going to kill it?" She asked.
"No. The child has value." Odin said.
"You're talking about Jotunnheim." Sigyn said.
"Yes."
"And what of your designs for my child?"
"Depending on the gender, if Thor's child is a boy and yours a girl for example, they shall be betrothed to each other. If, however, you should bare Loki a son he will join Loki's child in my campaign to take the throne of Jotunnheim."
"What of Loki?"
"That depends a great deal upon you, young lady. Loki is now a liability. The truth of his origins needs to stay secret until the day war is declared. Until then, the general population cannot know Loki is Jotunn. His pregnancy cannot become public knowledge. Your marriage would have to continue on and Loki would have to control his disgusting urges."
"And if I don't want my marriage to continue?"
"Then Loki will remain where he is."
"I want to talk to him." She said. Odin nodded and excused her. He ordered the guards to lead her to his cell and only when the men were gone did the opaque barrier clear.
"Loki!" Sigyn cried out. She'd never seen her husband in such a state and for a moment she forgot the wrong he'd done her. His eyes were bloodshot from crying and his hair a sweaty tangled mess. He looked dehydrated.
"Sigyn! Sigyn darling I thought I would never see you again." They shared a tender moment, looking longingly at one another until Sigyn could no longer hold back the question burning in her mind.
"Why did you do it? Was it lust? Instinct? Or something more?" Sigyn asked. Loki wanted so much to tell her the whole truth. That he loved Thor and her in equal measure. That he felt lust and desire for them both and held both of them in his heart. But Odin was listening.
"I felt compelled. I'd been fucking you for days and no matter what I tried I could not find relief from the burning desire in my loins. I felt this need to be penetrated. Only when that happened were my symptoms alleviated." Loki said. This part at least was true, minus the glaring omission.
"Who?" She asked.
"You know I cannot tell you. You know what Odin would do to the man that did this to me. Who he is, is unimportant. He served his usefulness."
"You don't love him? Swear to me you do not love him."
"I don't love him. Sigyn, what is going to happen to me? Has my father told you?"
"He hasn't fully decided, but the baby is to be taken from you when it is born." She said. Loki nodded and tried to hold back a sob.
"Of course." Loki's jaw trembled as he said it and he burst into tears. Sigyn leaned forward, wanting so much to comfort him. "I don't want to lose it. It's my baby. I could part with it no more than you could part with yours. I can feel it inside me now. The flutters in my stomach that I thought were digestion, it's the child moving in me." Loki said as fat tears splattered on the cell floor. Sigyn considered the predicament. She thought about the hurt done to her heart and found forgiveness there. Whether or not Loki was telling the truth she did not know. She just knew she could not hold it against him to act as his nature dictated.
"Perhaps you don't have to." Sigyn said. Loki looked up at her with hopeful eyes. "You and I became pregnant at about the same time. The children will be due around the same time. As far as anyone knows, I'm carrying twins."
