Chapter 21: Double Trouble

~§~ Lady Sif ~§~

Sif had struggled to remain composed throughout the feast. The dream, no… nightmare, had disturbed her. She had seen that Jane was alive, unharmed, but it left her with too many unanswered questions. Where had the blood on her dagger come from? She had racked her mind, trying to think, but no explanation that she could think of made sense.

She had sat quietly, watching everyone. A feeling of satisfaction as she watched Loki and Katirya came over her. She was glad that she had been right, that Katirya had not betrayed Loki. Seeing them together sent a pang of longing through her. Frigga had been too close to the truth when she had spoken to her earlier. She still had feelings, strong feelings for Thor.

Unfortunately, Thor did not return them. He only had eyes for Jane Foster.

She left the feast as soon as she could. No one seemed to notice her leaving; they were too intent on the celebrations. She walked down the deserted streets, uncertain where to go. Eventually she found herself outside the healers. The door opened and Eir walked out.

"Lady Sif?" Eir asked, clearly surprised to see her standing there. "Is there something you need? I would have thought you would be up at the feast."

"I just left. I am… " Sif stammered, unable to finish.

"My lady, you have been acting strangely today. Why don't you come inside and we can check you over," Eir offered.

"No, I am fine. It was just a dream I had. It disturbed me more than I realized. I am sorry to have troubled you," Sif turned and left.

She walked down the street rapidly, trying to get as far away from the building where her rival for Thor's affections lay in a coma.

~ß~ Katirya ~ß~

Katirya woke, feeling Loki's body wrapped around hers. She sighed happily. "Twins," she said succinctly.

Loki's eyes flew open. "What?"

"Twins, our next children will be twins," she replied with an impish grin on her face.

"Are you…?" His gaze raked down to her belly.

"No, at least, I do not think so, but maybe," she replied. "But no matter, I do know that our next children will be a set of twins. A boy and a girl."

"A girl?" Loki smiled. "A little girl? How do you know?"

Katirya shrugged. "I just do."

Loki frowned, then slowly sat up

Katirya moaned as she felt the warmth of his body leaving her space. "Where are you going?"

"It is morning. We do need to get up, make an appearance. We cannot stay in here for the rest of our lives," Loki pointed out. "Besides, I am hungry."

"How can you be hungry after last night's feast?" Katirya laughed lightly. She had observed him trying every single dish placed before him.

"I think it was the… um… dessert, that I partook of much later that is the reason for my sudden need to eat again." He wrapped a robe around his body, then padded softly to the door. Opening it slightly, he motioned to the servants to approach.

Katirya heard him quietly ordering a breakfast to be brought to their rooms, and then he told the servant notify Thor and the others that they would meet at noon. She wondered what time it was, then noticed that the sun was well up in the sky. Dawn had long since come and gone.

She stretched her arms and rolled over. Searching around the bed, she found nothing to wear. What happened to the dress she had worn last night?

"You left it out on the balcony," Loki answered her question.

She blinked, knowing she had not spoken aloud, then laughed as she remembered how the dress had ended up out there. "I do hope it is not ruined. It is such a lovely dress."

"I will get you another if it is, but I am fairly certain someone has brought it in and hung it up somewhere. However, it might be a bit too formal for day wear," he replied.

"True, but unless someone has sent my clothes up from Sif's, I have nothing to wear."

"I honestly do not mind that…" Loki began, sitting down on the bed next to her.

"Wait, I thought you were the one who said we had to get up…" she pretended to glare at him.

"No, I only said I was hungry for breakfast," he growled back at her.

An hour later, fully dressed, he finally entered the outer room. Breakfast was waiting for him, and he caught the knowing smiles on the servants. He chuckled softly to himself, knowing privacy was not something he would ever enjoy again. Then his eyes landed on the pile of clothing - Katirya's clothing that had been at Sif's. He vaguely wondered what all they had overheard, but obviously Kiri's lack of clothing had been one thing.

Pointing to the clothes, "The Queen might have need of some of those."

Two of the woman picked up the pile, while a third threw open the door. They disappeared into the room, returning a few minutes later smiling broadly.

"Congratulations, my lord," one finally spoke.

He blinked. Hadn't she said she wasn't sure?

Katirya appeared, sitting down across from him.

"I thought you said you weren't sure," he said, raising the topic of twins immediately.

"I wasn't, but…"

Frigga entered the room. "Finally! I was beginning to wonder if you two would ever get up." She sat down at the table with them. A servant brought three plates of food, setting them down on the table.

"Kiri has decided our next children will actually be twins," Loki announced.

"Twins? How exciting, already?" Frigga looked closely at Katirya, scrutinizing her.

Katirya nodded. "I think so…"

"She says she is not sure," Loki added.

"But you know you'll have twins? Then it must be so! I am so excited!" Frigga clapped her hands together. "Now that it is settled, let us eat."

Katirya looked from Frigga to Loki then back again. Shaking her head, "You definitely take after your mother. The only one missing is Volstagg. He never misses a meal."

The door burst open as she finished, admitting Thor. The very man Katirya had just mentioned followed him closely.

"We were just speaking of you," Katirya nodded to Volstagg.

"No, we were discussing the fact…" Frigga began.

Katirya cut her off as she finished the sentence. "…that it was odd that food was being served and Volstagg was noticeably absent."

Loki started to laugh. Thor looked at his brother, completely confused.

"Do not ask, brother. I am not about to explain," Loki gestured to the empty chairs at the table. "Have a seat and join us."

"Marriage clearly is good for you, Loki," Thor said as he sat down. Two more plates of food were brought out for the new arrivals. Thor dug his fork into the pile of pancakes. "I have not seen you this happy since we were young children."

"Indeed. Oh, we are having twins next, thought you might like to know," Loki spoke nonchalantly.

Thor practically spit out his food. "What? Twins? But Kiri has only been back for a day!"

Frigga burst out laughing. "I do hope you are correct, for the news will be spread about the realm within an hour." She looked pointedly at the servants in the room. All were standing staring at the party at the table.

"Our next children will be twins, but I am just not certain if I am indeed pregnant yet. As you point out, brother dearest, I have only been back one day," Katirya rolled her eyes as she spoke.

"So how do you know this?" Thor asked, perplexed.

"I just do," Katirya pronounced, then returned to her breakfast. "Now, that is settled. No more talk of twins until I know I am indeed pregnant." She looked at the servants. "Understood? Not a word until I say so."

The servants nodded vigorously.

"But…" Loki prompted. "You did say that you thought you might be." He looked at the plate she had in front of her. It had been overflowing with food when it had first been set down, but was now completely empty. "And it looks like you are eating for three…"

Everyone but Katirya laughed as they noticed the empty plate. She simply looked at one of the servants and asked. "In that case, may I have another?"

A servant quickly refilled her plate and the others watched as she tucked away the food.

"There is one way to find out for certain. Let us speak with Eir," Katirya finally said. "AFTER I finish eating."

Following breakfast, Katirya led the way towards the healers. "I think you are all crazy, but if it will make you happy to know for certain…" she muttered as she walked.

"Well, it would be nice to know," Loki said eagerly. He was carrying Kai as they walked.

"And it would be a reason for another celebration!" Volstagg chimed in.

Everyone laughed at his comment, knowing the prospect of another feast was at the heart of Volstagg's comment.

When they entered the building, Eir emerged from the back rooms almost immediately. Katirya wondered if she had been waiting for them. Eir smiled broadly as soon as she saw them.

"I hear congratulations might be in order, my lady," Eir spoke once they were all in the room. Hlif entered and walked directly up to Loki. He handed his son over to her for the moment.

"I shall see to his needs, my king," Hlif spoke quietly.

"Thank you," Loki said, then looked to Eir. "You know already? So much for the servants promising to remain silent."

"News such as this is grand for the city. New life is always cause for a celebration. Now, my lady, if you will just come with me," Eir directed Katirya back towards one of the rooms.

"Loki, you had a part in this, so you had best come with me," Katirya said jokingly.

They were gone for several minutes, before Loki returned. "She was correct. Twins it is!" His pronouncement was greeted with cries of joy and congratulation from the others.

Thor clapped Loki's shoulders, "Brother, you amaze me every day! I would never have imagined you as a father."

Loki looked askance at him. "Was I that bad?"

Katirya finally reappeared to be greeted with cheers of congratulations.

Eir followed in her wake. "I would be remiss if I did not mention this, but we had an odd visitor last night. Sif was back here again, last night. She keeps talking about a dream," the healer said quietly. "I am worried about her and she refused to come in and allow me to check on her."

The mood of the group altered subtly at the news. Katirya finally spoke up. "I, too, am concerned about Lady Sif. She has been acting rather odd since yesterday. Perhaps the news of the twins will help! Let us go find her and be the first to tell her, before it gets all over Asgard."

"I fear you are too late for that, my lady," Eir grinned.

"Well, maybe she hasn't heard it yet," Katirya replied. "Now, may we leave Kai here for a short time whilst we seek out Sif?"

"Hlif will take care of him. She adores him almost as much as you do, my lady," Eir replied.

~§~ Lady Sif ~§~

Hogun turned a corner and practically ran into Sif. "Sif! What are you doing here? I would have thought you would be up with Kiri."

"Why would I be with Kiri?" Sif looked at him strangely. "She has Loki now."

"You haven't heard the news?" Hogun asked her.

"What news?" Sif asked.

"Kiri is pregnant again. It is all over Asgard. I think I heard they are expecting twins this time, but I am not certain of that. I was in the process of trying to track them down to find out for sure, although my source assures me it is true. Care to join me?"

"Twins?" Sif's face brightened at the news. "That is indeed wonderful. Who is your source?"

"My servant, and we all know how accurate the servants' gossip is," Hogun chuckled. "They seem to know more than we do about everything."

Sif laughed. "Well, indeed it must be true then."

"And of course with the celebrations still ongoing, this will add even more excitement. I wonder if they will announce it tonight?" Hogun speculated.

"If they do, perhaps we ought to give them a gift?" Sif considered this. She knew there had been no chance when the announcement about Kai had occurred. Things had been intense.

"That is an excellent idea! Let us go find something together," Hogun offered.

Sif considered it, then nodded. "Yes, it might do me some good to do some shopping."

"I have never known a woman who did not enjoy shopping," Fandral's voice popped in from behind them. "May I join you? I believe Volstagg was with the happy couple this morning, so we shall perhaps include him in our gift? If I may also join in with you, that is?"

"Indeed you may, and it is an excellent idea to offer a gift from the four of us. And if Volstagg were left to his own devices to select an appropriate gift, we can be sure it would involve food," Hogun added with a chuckle as the three friends headed towards the shops.