I appreciate the reviews of EMT1-Alaska, ThePhoenixandtheDragon, and Guest.

EMT1-Alaska, I will do my best to incorporate the Ulu knife into the story. If I am unable, I will incorporate in a different Loki story.

Chapter 12

Mother

While the young men were hoping to sneak back into the royal wing without notice, it was not to be. Farbauti, like any good mother, had decided to go and check on Loki in the early hours of the morning. She was concerned as Loki had left before being discharged. Of course, when she tiptoed as quietly as possible into Balder's room, she found it empty. That prompted her to check the rest of the prince's rooms, the dining room, and the entertainment room. When she could not find her son's and her great-grand-nephew, she went to see the nightshift head guard who told her he did not know where the princes were. Soon all the night guards were searching every corner of the palace and the grounds looking for the young men.

The guards had been looking for two hours with little success, Gangr the head guard was sure that he would lose his job. The nightshift was generally quiet, and he could not understand how he could have lost the young men. Farbauti was frantic by this point. She decided it was time to wake her husband up. She opened the door to their bedroom loudly and then proceeded to throw the window coverings open before shaking her husband, who was sleeping peacefully.

Laufey woke up with his wife shaking him; he wondered what had her in such a state. He took a couple of deep breaths to calm his racing heart and asked, "Love, what is going on? It is too early to get out of bed." Farbauti looked incredulous at her husband; how could he be so calm? She looked at him and said, "Our son's and nephew are missing, and you think it is too early to be up?" Laufey sat on the edge of the bed and pulled his wife into his arms. He whispered into her ear, "Have you had the royal guard look for them?" His wife responded, "But of course. The night guards have been looking for them for at least the past couple of hours." Laufey realized there was no going back to bed. Privately he thought there was nothing to worry about. After all, their sons were young men perfectly capable of taking care of themselves, and Jotunheim was a relatively peaceful realm. He kissed his wife's forehead and told her. "Let me get dressed, and we'll go to talk with the head guard together."

The head guard had ordered his subordinates to search the palace and the grounds a second time. He did not want to be accused of neglecting his duties. One of the young guards found the princes entering the barn and immediately used his communication device to notify his boss. Gangr felt a weight lift off his shoulders and hurried to let the Queen know her son's and nephew had been found. Laufey and Farbauti ran into him on their way out of the Royal family wing. Gangr kneeled and crossed both of his arms over his chest, Laufey said: "Raise Gangr, tell me, do you have any news for us?" Gangr responded formally after standing up, "Your majesties, one of the young guards contacted me moments ago to let me know he has spotted the princes at the stables."

The royal couple decided to go and look for the young men. They ran into them as they were trying to slip into the royal wing through the servant's entrance. The princes realized they had been caught red-handed. Laufey said, "Good morning, boys, where have you been? The royal guard has been looking for you for hours."

Loki figured out he might as well use his good manners and hope for the best. He said, "Good morning, Queen Farbauti and King Laufey." His parents responded, "Good morning Loki" Then his mother noticed that he was only wearing a towel. She walked towards him, placed a hand on his shoulder, and asked, "Why are you not dressed? I thought your brothers were going to loan you some clothes until we got yours made." Before he could respond, Byleistr said, "Mother, do not think so little of us, Helblindi did loan Loki some clothes, but he and Balder decided to go kill a Bilgesnipes, and ruined the clothes they were wearing." Pointing at Balder to make his point, he said, "See, Balder is in the same state of undress." Helblindi would have cuffed Byleistr on the back of the head if not because he was three heads taller than him, he had to content himself with elbowing his ribs. Farbauti looked alarmed and said, "What! Killing a Bilgesnipes!"

Laufey looked at Byleistr and said, "Son, this is no time to joke around, your mother is worried enough as it is." Byleistr immediately responded, "But father, I am not joking, you should have seen!" Seeing that they were surrounded by guards, Laufey decided that this was no place to discuss private family matters. He said, "Boys, go get cleaned up and dressed. We will continue this talk at breakfast, be at the dining room in twenty minutes." They did not have to been told twice. The princes immediately left to do as Laufey suggested. Once far enough, Balder said, "Byleistr, nice of you to throw us under the bridge! Thank you very much, you inconsiderate idiot!" Byleistr said, "What! I did nothing, I only told the truth!" Seeing that a fight was about to start, Loki pulled Balder with him, and Helblindi took Byleistr. In moments such as this, they indeed acted like twins.

Loki helped himself to Balder's clothes, and soon the brothers were walking towards the dining room. Loki felt anxious, it was his first family breakfast, and he was already in trouble. He did not think he had done nothing wrong, but when had that got him out of punishments? Helblindi sensed the distress of Loki through their twin bond. He walked towards him, threw an arm around his shoulders, and said, "Don't worry yourself, brother, you and Balder did nothing wrong, even if you had, our mother is more bark than bite." Loki gave him a half-smile and hoped for the best.

Loki studied the dining room; it was beautiful and had a homey feel to it; the table was round. He did not know where to sit, so he waited until everyone else was at their seat before choosing an empty one between Helblindi and Balder. The men waited for Farbauti and Bestla to sit down before sitting down themselves. The servants came out with several trays that they positioned in the middle of the table. Loki noticed the middle of the table rotated to make it easy for all to reach the different platers. He waited for others to start serving themselves before he began serving himself. He was unsure what the various dishes were, but he had always enjoyed trying new foods when he visited different realms.

Farbauti decided to explain the different dishes to Loki. They had several pastries stuffed with fruits, a traditional Jotun breakfast infusion that contained caffeine, smoked fish with crackers, a couple of different juices, a tray with fresh fruit, and breakfast porridge imported from one of Jotunheim trading partners. Loki was ravenous, so he helped himself to a little of everything, thinking he could have seconds once he figured out what foods he liked best.

Once all had served themselves, Farbauti looked at her sons trying to appear stern, but her concern for them leaked through. She turned towards her sister-in-law and said, "Bestla, have you been informed that my son's and your grandson thought it a good idea to leave the palace at night to hunt down a Bilgesnipes." Bestla closed her eyes; she did not know if she should laugh or cry. Instead, she smiled as she reminisced about raising her sons. The former Queen of Asgard knew she had been lucky raising Balder, who until now had given her very little trouble or reasons to worry. But she understood that would change, now that he could see; after all, Balder was a son of Odin, her most troublesome child who seemed to have war in his blood. She finally opened her eyes and looked at Balder, who looked back at her with a serene expression.

Laufey seeing the distress of his wife and sister, decided to question the boys. He looked at each one of them and said, "I am waiting for an explanation of why you thought it was a good idea to leave the palace at night to hunt a dangerous beast." Helblindi decided to take the lead as he clearly did not want Byleistr to get them in more trouble. He said, "Father, I believe Byleistr, in his haste to answer mother, has misrepresented the facts of what happened. In fact, while we did leave the palace at night, our intention was to visit the healing springs, which we did. It was while we were there that a Bilgesnipes appeared out of nowhere. Loki and Balder had no choice but to attack the beast before it harmed us. I am ashamed to say that Byleistr and myself took so long to act that by the time we tried to help, my brother and cousin had already dispatched the beast. So, as you see, we did not purposefully place ourselves in danger. Loki and Balder acted in self-defense, and to protect Byleistr and me."

Laufey was silent for a few tense minutes. He could understand his son's and great-nephew desire for adventure, but that did not excuse placing themselves in danger. He said, "My son's and nephew, while I understand that you did not intend to place yourselves in danger, I do have to wonder what made you think it was a good idea to leave the palace at night without Royal Guards to accompany you and keep you safe. This family is fortunate to have a well-trained warrior like Loki, who, with the help of Balder, was able to dispatch the Bilgesnipes. However, Loki is still recovering, and Balder, while coming from a long line of strong warriors, is only now able to use his vision and has not had time to adapt to it. I am not going to punish you as no one was hurt, but if you ever decide to leave the palace without a Royal Guard escort at night and without informing someone of where you are going, there will be serious consequences."

Loki felt confused, was that it? They would be facing no real punishment. He wisely continued eating without manifesting his surprise. Farbauti pursed her lips, her husband was too soft with the boys, but she was not going to questions his authority before the whole family. She would talk to him privately, plus she had her own ways of punishing the boys. Bestla knew that punishing the young men for doing what came naturally at their age would not help at all. She knew from experience. The best she could hope was that Balder would trust her enough to talk to her when he needed consul. With a little luck, she would be able to keep him away from his most dangerous impulses.

Farbauti sighed and turned to look at Loki. She said, "Loki, after breakfast, I have scheduled an appointment with the Royal tailor." Loki gave her a genuine smile and responded, "Thank you, Farbauti, I appreciate your concern for my wellbeing." She smiled sadly at her son, wishing that he did not feel the need to be so formal with her. She hoped that time and patience would help them build the relationship Odin had denied them by stealing her baby boy. After breakfast, Loki followed his Jotun mother, who took him to the room they had prepared for him while he had been in the hospital. She told him, "Son, this is to be your room, I do not know your taste, but Balder told us you favor the color green, so I had the drapes and your bedspread made of that color, we did not add many decorations as I would prefer for you to make it your own."

Loki looked at the room appreciatively. It was slightly larger than his rooms at Asgard. The entrance of the room opened into a small receiving room with a few comfortable chairs, then came his bedroom, which had a large poster bed in the middle with two matching nightstands, a bench by a large window. He had a large bathroom that included both a nice shower and a bathtub. The bathroom opened to a large walk-in closet that, at the moment, was empty. He also had a small library. It was stocked with a few books that, for what he could tell, were mostly about the history of Jotunheim. A door at the library opened to a medium-size balcony that had a table and chairs. As the rest of the palace, the walls were built of ice blocks, the floors were made of polished ice, and the doors were made of beautiful Jotunheim wood. The furniture was made with a combination of materials.

Loki looked appreciatively at the room, and looking at Farbauti, said, "It is a beautiful room, thank you. It is so much more than I deserve after all the harm that I have brought upon this realm." His mother could see the sincerity of the statement and noticed that his eyes were shining with tears. Wanting to offer him comfort and without thinking, she hugged her son, saying, "Loki, love you are my son, and to me, you deserve this room and so much more." Loki could feel the love in his mother's hug and in her words. The love cut through his defenses, and taking comfort in her warmth, he wept bitter tears for all the pain and losses he had recently undergone. She gently rubbed his back and ran her hand through his hair, feeling privileged at the opportunity to console her son. The moment was interrupted by a knock at the door.

Loki quickly straightened himself up and walked to the bathroom to wash off the evidence he had been crying. His mother waited until he had closed the bathroom door before saying, "You may enter." The Royal designer entered and bowed respectfully before his Queen. The Queen smiled at him and said, "Vornir, I appreciate you answering my call this morning. My son Loki requires a wardrobe." Vornir had just learned of the lost prince miraculous return and felt privileged to be able to serve another member of the royal family. He looked at his Queen, saying, "It is my duty and honor your majesty." Loki came out of the bathroom, his mother told him, "Come Loki, I would like to introduce you to Vornir, who is here today to take your measurements and make recommendations on a wardrobe for you." Loki walked to his mother, smiled at the man that was with her, and told him, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Vornir, my mother speaks very highly of you." Vornir bowed respectfully, aware that he was before his Crown Prince. He said, "It is an honor to meet you, my lord." After the introductions, Vornir asked Loki to take his clothing off, keeping only his undergarments. He first took measurements and then questioned Loki regarding colors and styles he favored. He showed him several samples of excellent materials and offered him a catalog of styles. It took them a couple of hours before Vornir left, saying that he would deliver at least part of the wardrobe in three days.

Loki looked at his mother and told her, "Thank you, mother, I have no way of repaying you all of your kindness." Farbauti took Loki's face in her hands, and looking at him with shining eyes, told him, "But you have already repaid me, my son, by giving me the honor of calling me your mother." A tear ran down her cheek. Loki raised his hand and wiped the tear off her face and said, "I am sorry, mother I did not mean to make you cry." The Queen embraced her son and whispered, "My son, these are the happiest tears that I have shed in a long time."

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