Author's Note: I actually don't have anything to say here except that this chapter will switch from Loki's perspective, to Sigyn's, and then back to Loki's. The transitions are... well non-existent. Sorry XD Abbyisswag awww I am so glad you love the story! Guest Good old Thor, being completely thoughtless. It happens to the best of us. Hopefully the sweet little ending made up for the frustration of the rest of the chapter.


Loki had waited a few days after the banquet to call a meeting with the War Council, and they had taken his news about the discontinuation of his work for them about as well as he thought they would… which was not well. They had all of them, save for his father-in-law, done everything but beg him to continue on doing their dirty work. Loki had remained resolute in his decision despite their pleading, fawning, and almost demanding he continue his work for them. In the end, they were forced to accept his choice, and he walked away feeling as if a weight had been lifted from his mind. All of this taken into consideration meant that Loki was a little more than frustrated when he received a summons from the AllFather to attend yet another War Council meeting not a month later…

Loki slung the door to the meeting chamber open rather forcefully fully prepared to unleash a few rather choice words on his father and the Council. Immediately upon arriving in the room however, Loki could sense a heavy foreboding in the atmosphere. He glanced at the strained faces around him, and noticed that a familiar face was missing.

"Where is Lord Halldor?" He inquired.

"Lord Halldor has stepped down from his position with the War Council." Odin stated.

"Just as I had, if I recall correctly." Loki pointed out in a rather annoyed fashion.

"Yes, you have, which is why you should understand the seriousness of the situation that has caused us to summon you here." Odin replied.

"Why did Lord Halldor step down from his post?" Loki asked, intentionally changing the subject.

Something about all of this felt off to him, and he wanted to know why.

"For Sigyn's sake. You know she has taken the last couple weeks of the pregnancy rather hard, and the strain of the pregnancy has been weighing heavily on his mind." Odin explained.

It was a lie.

"Which is why I should be with her." Loki retorted.

He had a feeling that his being here was the reason Lord Halldor had stepped down. His father-by-law was a strong-willed man, and he had been the only one to approve of Loki's decision to stop working for the Council. He had probably fought the idea of summoning Loki to aid them with whatever mission they were about to assail him with, and when the others insisted on dragging him into it Lord Halldor quit his position.

"I understand your desire to stay by Sigyn's side, but I believe that once you see the latest developments in the previous mission that you turned down you will rethink your decision." Odin remarked. "The entire Realm is in danger, including Sigyn."

"Give me the papers. I will take a look over them, and give you my decision in a couple of days." Loki determined, while holding out his hand for Odin to give the documents over to him.

Odin shook his head 'no' however.

"We do not have time for you to look over the papers for a couple of days. You will look at them now and give us your answer straight away."

Loki had been rubbed wrong this entire meeting, and the AllFather's sudden demanding tone did nothing to calm Loki. He did manage to take the papers from Odin without throwing them right back at him though, which, given Loki's temper at the moment, was a fairly impressive feat. Loki scanned the notes swiftly and looked back at Odin.

"These developments certainly aren't good, but I still don't see why I must be the one to go in. The Crimson Hawks are trained to deal with these sort of situations, send one of them in."

"We did, after you turned down the mission." One of the Council members answered.

"And?" Loki asked while turning a condescending eye at the man who had addressed him.

He had no time for the man's patronizing treatment.

"And the warrior in question is now dead."

Loki glanced over the paperwork in his hands once more.

"There is no note made of it here." He remarked offhandedly.

"The file has not been updated. We discovered his death only this morning." A different Council member interjected.

"So this…" Loki began, while shaking the papers in the direction of the War Council members, "isn't the current situation." He finished before throwing the little pile on the table. "How can I possibly make a decision without knowing what situation I will really be putting myself in? You have no idea how your Crimson Hawk member could have made this entire situation even worse!"

"All the more reason for you to go in." Odin countered. "The situation was bad enough before this fiasco, can you imagine the damage that could occur now?"

Loki rubbed his temple. Odin had been wrong about several things in this meeting, like lying about the reason Halldor had stepped down from his position, but he was right about this. The situation had been out of control before, which means it would only be worse now. He really was the only one capable of putting an end to it… a rather bloody end, but an end. He had promised Sigyn that he would be there for her though…

"Sigyn is in more danger from this threat than her pregnancy." Odin assured, as if he had read Loki's mind.

Odin was right.

"I'll have to go dark for probably a month… how exactly are we going to explain my absence when the entire Realm knows I have a pregnant wife?"

"There is no reason we cannot say I am sending you off to the outer villages once again. Sigyn is not so far along in the pregnancy that people will be likely to question it." Odin responded.

Loki still did not feel completely comfortable with this situation, but he left the War Council's chambers an hour later having accepted the mission. The difficult part now would be telling Sigyn. He found her in the gardens basking in the sun. She didn't hear him approach, so he took a few minutes to stand back and watch her. She was currently journaling, and those stubborn strands of hair that refused to stay in her up-do framed her face tenderly. She looked so peaceful sitting there, which relieved Loki's worries slightly. The past few weeks had been difficult for her, so it was nice to see that she at least felt well enough to sit outside. Her temperature had been dropping dangerously low, and neither he nor the healers could explain it. She was also just beginning to show, and the deep green gown she was currently wearing was still a bit too large for her. It didn't bother Loki however. Sigyn still looked like the most stunning creature in the Nine Realms to him. He could have stood there admiring his wife till he had to leave that evening, but he finally decided that it was time to break the not so happy news to her. He gave a little clearing of his throat to warn Sigyn of his presence, and she looked up to see him striding her way. She closed her journal and gave him one of her soul-stirring smiles.

"You should be resting." Loki noted.

"I feel better when I sit in the sun." Sigyn justified.

"I see." Loki remarked before taking a seat next to her.

"What's wrong?" Sigyn asked.

"The Council summoned me today."

"The War Council? What did they want from you?"

"To take on the mission I turned down almost a month ago…"

"And you have relented." Sigyn pronounced before he could admit it.

"I have… the situation has gotten worse, one of the Crimson Hawks has died trying to fi…"

Sigyn placed a finger to Loki's lips.

"There is no need to explain. You do not break your promises to me lightly. If you have accepted this task, then it must be extremely important."

Loki took the palm of her hand and kissed it.

"Sometimes I think you make things too easy on me." He remarked with a smile.

Sigyn rolled her eyes happily before asking her next question.

"How long will you be gone?"

"Approximately a month."

"A month?" Sigyn repeated in surprise. "And when are you leaving?"

"This evening…"

Sigyn's face fell at the news, and Loki felt his heart constrict. How could he leave Sigyn here alone for so long without any forewarning?

"I'm sorry I couldn't put this off for a few days." He apologized, knowing full well that an apology was a weak pittance to offer her.

"It is better that you aren't. The sooner you leave, the less time I have to dread your departure, and the sooner you can complete your task and return to me."

Loki pulled Sigyn in so that her head rested on his shoulder.

"So how shall we spend our time together before I leave?" He asked.

Sigyn perked up immediately.

"We could discuss baby names." She offered. "The healers said that we should be able to determine if the baby is a boy or a girl in a couple of weeks, and I think we need to narrow down our list. I was thinking that Sigrid, though a lovely name, is just too similar to too many names in my family. I can imagine Siggy getting very confused trying to keep the baby's name straight if we named her that. I do think I like…"

And off Sigyn went. Loki did actually have an opinion on the matter, but he knew better than to interrupt Sigyn on the topic. He would let her talk till she had made every comment that her heart desired, and then she would ask him for his input. Some men probably found their wife's long-winded talks to be annoying, but Loki found it to be endearing. Sigyn was so logical in the way she approached everything, and listening to every last detail of her reasoning was interesting to him. She paid attention to detail, and she analyzed things, people, and situations better than even he could most of the time. Her sharp mind would never cease to captivate Loki. He eventually did get to give his input on the subject, and by the time the discussion was complete, they had narrowed their lists down significantly. The pair took an early dinner in their chambers, and then Loki set off, but not before showing Sigyn how much he would miss her.

It was never easy for Sigyn to watch her husband take off into the night, but it was particularly difficult this evening. She stood alone in their bedchambers looking about wistfully. There was absolutely nothing in them that interested her at the moment. She considered going to the library to fetch a book, but she found that she didn't have any desire to read. The idea of going to spend the evening with Thor, Sif, and the Warriors Three crossed her mind, but they would immediately ask her where Loki was and she didn't feel up to lying to them.

She was already carrying too many lies concerning Loki.

It had been almost a month since her heated conversation with Odin, but Loki had still not been told of his Frost Giant heritage. Sigyn had come close to telling her husband on several occasions, but she kept holding out that the AllFather would take it upon himself to do it. After all, he really should be the one to tell Loki.

Unable to come up with any activity that even remotely interested her, Sigyn decided to go to bed early. She curled up in bed and snuggled against Loki's pillow. It couldn't replace the comforting sensation of curling up against Loki, but his familiar smell always helped lull her to sleep. She slept rather restlessly that evening, and the evenings following it. She assumed sleeping was difficult for pregnant women, but the problem was compounded for her due to her temperature often plummeting dangerously low when she wasn't staying active. Sigyn resorted to sleeping on the settee by the fire, which did help some. How Loki hadn't managed to connect her sudden temperature drops and spikes with the baby was beyond her. Perhaps he had connected the two, but didn't realize the nature of the connection? That was the most likely explanation. As if carrying a child that could potentially kill her wasn't enough, she was now carrying the burden of Loki's absence. His missions for the War Council were always dangerous, but this one was likely the most dangerous of them all. One man had already been killed trying to do what he was attempting now. That was hardly a comforting thought.

Sigyn was approaching the four-month marker for the pregnancy when the dizzy spells began. Her body temperature began to stay depressed below its natural level for longer periods of time causing her circulation to slow down, which ultimately led to a deficiency of blood flow and increased dizziness. The spells grew worse and worse, and she was eventually instructed to stay in bed by the healers. They were all flabbergasted by Sigyn's odd symptoms, and they could do nothing but watch as her situation went from bad to worse alarmingly fast. Signy, Frida, and Frigga all spent long hours by Sigyn's bedside, but Sigyn became less and less responsive to them as the days dragged on. Sigyn began to find herself in a semi-conscious state. She knew when she was awake, but her senses seemed clouded.

The pain set in next.

Sigyn could have sworn that her contractions had started she was in so much pain at times, and the only thing she could think about was Loki. She wanted nothing more than her husband by her side, and though she asked after him, he never came. How much longer was he going to be away? Why couldn't the War Council just tell Loki what was happening and bring him back? Sigyn began to think that the pregnancy would be the death of her, but just when the symptoms reached their worst point, they disappeared.

The pain was gone.

The dizzy spells ended.

Her temperature seemed to right itself once again.

The healers were stunned by her seemingly sudden recovery, and though they couldn't determine why she had experienced what she had, Sigyn believed she could. Her baby was part Frost Giant, and was therefore going to have a lower body temperature than her. It was said that even being touched by a Frost Giant would be enough to give you frost bite, and while her child wouldn't have quite that ability, it would still probably be a cold enough temperature to explain her body's drastic reaction. Yes, Loki was somehow able to regulate his body temperature, or at least his mind was unconsciously able to, but even then he was still very cold natured. He absolutely loathed the summer months, and even found the late spring and early fall to be a bit too warm. This control was something that their child wasn't going to have in its early development, but perhaps it was developed enough now to sense the harm that it was causing to its mother. Maybe it had learned to regulate its body temperature. Whether she was correct in that assumption or not, Sigyn couldn't say, but it was the only explanation that made any sense to her.

A few days after Sigyn began showing signs of improvement, the healers released her to sit in the gardens or the library, though they recommended that she never leave her room by herself in case something should happen. This new mandate meant that Frida found herself spending a lot of time at the palace. Sometimes she would bring Siggy, who would scold the baby for misbehaving, and sometimes she would come alone. The month of Loki's departure came and went; yet he did not return. She received no word from her husband, but a message from Odin and the War Council informing her that Loki would be away for a little longer. Sigyn waited up every night for him in the hopes that the "little longer" they had spoken of would end that evening, and every night she was disappointed. It was on one of those evenings that Sigyn's worst fears came true.

She had been experiencing discomfort the entire night, but that wasn't an uncommon thing for pregnant women. It was obvious at this point that Loki wouldn't be returning to her yet, so she placed her book on the table in front of her and made a motion to get up. Immediately upon rising to her feet, a gut wrenching pain shot through her abdomen. Sigyn's breathing began to quicken as she tried to get the pain under control. A second jolting sensation struck her, and she knew she had to get to the healers. Sigyn gripped on to the back of the settee and used it as a support as she made her way to the door. Once in the main corridor, she began to make her way towards Livia's room. Livia was the maid who was assigned to attend to Sigyn and Loki's wing of the palace, and she had been staying in one of their spare bedrooms while Loki was away in case Sigyn needed anything during the night. Fortunately the room was close to Sigyn and Loki's chambers, and Sigyn was able to get there just before a third wave of nauseating pain struck her.

"Livia…" Sigyn called as she knocked on the door.

Sigyn could hear the maid rustling about inside the chambers, and was grateful that the door soon opened.

"Princess Sigyn!" The maid gasped as she took in Sigyn's current state. "What has happened!?"

"I need to get to the healers." Sigyn gasped out.

Livia threw her arm around Sigyn to help support her as she shuddered in pain. Without another word, the maid helped Sigyn struggle along the corridor. Sigyn's mind became more and more clouded as they walked, and she felt herself collapse to the floor at some point.

"Princess Sigyn!"

She could hear Livia call out her name several times and she tried to reply, but she wasn't sure if the words floating in her mind had actually come out or not. She finally managed to get one sentence out.

"Leave me here… go get help."

Livia's eyes flashed in uncertainty for a moment, but she then wrapped her arm around Sigyn once more and continued making her way to the healers. The moving was slow seeing as Livia was barely able to support Sigyn's weight, but the maid trudged on all the same. A male voice ringing through the corridor stopped Livia, and she almost collapsed with Sigyn in tow.

"Sigyn? What is wrong!?"

It was Thor's voice.

"He must be retiring to his chambers after spending the evening with Sif and the Warriors Three…" Sigyn mused internally.

"She came to my chambers saying she needed to get to the healers." Livia explained.

"She came to your chambers? Why didn't she just ring the bell?"

The bell. In her panic Sigyn had forgotten all about the bell that Loki had left her to summon Livia to their chambers should she need her.

"I do not know. She didn't say what was wrong, but she was having trouble walking so I helped her keep her feet for as long as I could. She collapsed a few minutes ago and told me to go get help, but I couldn't leave her by herself…"

"You did the right thing." Thor assured.

Sigyn felt herself lifted off the ground, and she could feel that she was now in Thor's capable hands.

"Go get some sleep." Thor suggested to Livia as he turned to take Sigyn the rest of the way to the healers.

"Forgive me, My Prince, but I will not be able to sleep now. I want to go with you…"

"Very well." Thor replied.

Sigyn began to feel the contractions come in steady waves, and the last thing she could remember before the pain fogged her mind completely was Livia's frightened voice.

"My Prince, she's bleeding…"

The sun was just beginning to rise when Sigyn opened her eyes next. The pain had ceased, but she found herself to be too tired to sit up. She turned her head to see Livia sleeping in a chair next to her bedside, and that is when she realized that she was in the chambers of the healing room. She felt just as exhausted as she might have felt after having trained with Loki for an entire day, and she wanted nothing more than a drink of water before going back to sleep. She reached out and touched Livia's knee, startling the poor maid awake.

"My Lady! How do you feel?" She asked in a hushed tone.

"Better… may I have some water?" Sigyn requested drowsily.

Livia nodded and quickly went to fetch a glass. She filled it from a pitcher on a nearby table and brought it back over to Sigyn. She managed to drink it all, with a little assistance from Livia, and laid back down on her pillow. Her world began to spin, and she realized that Livia must have slipped something into her water. The maid smiled softly.

"Its ok, the healers said it would help you to sleep." She assured kindly.

With that, Sigyn's world faded for the second time that night. It was almost midday when she was awoken again by the sound of voices. She lay still with her eyes closed to try and catch what the speakers were saying before betraying the fact that she was indeed awake.

"She only woke up once…" that was Livia's voice, "she asked for water so I gave it to her, along with the sleeping power that the healers gave me. She was asleep before she could ask me anything else."

"So she does not know?" That was her mother's voice.

What was her mother doing here? Had her odd little spell been that serious?

"No, My Lady, she does not." Livia responded.

"Do you think it was wise not to tell her when she awoke the first time?" Her father asked.

Her spell must have been very bad indeed if her father was here too. Either that, or something had happened to Loki. Strangely enough, she wished it was the former.

"We thought it best that she hear the news from us." Odin explained.

"Then we should have been sent for immediately." Hallsteinn insisted.

Goodness, was there some sort of family get together at the palace today that she hadn't been informed of?

"There was nothing that could be done at that point. Allowing Sigyn some time to rest was the best course of action. We wanted her to be fully aware of what exactly we were saying to her when we delivered the news." Frigga expounded.

There was a heavy silence in the room. Sigyn had known something was wrong by the sound of their voices, but the sound of their silence was even more foreboding. Unable to take the anticipation any longer, Sigyn began to stir. By the time she opened her eyes, all the eyes in the room were looking over her, though none of the eyes were the green orbs that she really wanted to see.

"Sigyn, how are you?" Her mother asked, while taking a seat by her bed.

"I am well enough. What happened?"

"You went into a premature labor." Signy explained.

"A premature labor?" Sigyn asked while looking at the faces in the room. "And the baby?" She asked, her eyes landing on Frida.

Her elder sister was trying not to cry, and Sigyn knew the answer to her question.

"You've lost the baby." Signy answered in as soothing a tone as possible.

Sigyn didn't have to be told twice. She curled up on her side as her body began to shake. Her mother wrapped her arms around her, and began to stroke her hair.

"Why isn't Loki here?" Sigyn asked in between sobs.

"Odin has sent word to him, but we don't know how long it will take the message to reach the outer villages." Frigga responded.

"I want Loki, I want my husband." Sigyn demanded between her tears.

"I know you do darling, I know you do. He is coming to you even now, I am sure of it." Signy assured softly.

"Darling, please drink this." Her father requested, while holding out a glass to Sigyn.

Sigyn shook her head 'no.' She knew that there would be something in the drink that would put her back to sleep, or at least in a semi-state of consciousness.

"Sigyn, please drink it." Halldor requested again.

Sigyn turned her head away as her father pressed the glass to her lips.

"Sigyn, drink it." Her mother demanded.

Sigyn grudgingly did as her mother bid her, and she was soon fast asleep.

Loki's bloody mission had come to a bloody end just as he had suspected it might, though it had taken him longer to complete than he had originally supposed it would. Sigyn would be rather upset with him, and Loki smiled at the scolding he would get. He didn't mind being scolded if it meant that he was once again home with his pregnant wife. His journey back to the palace seemed to take ages, but it made the arrival all the more joyous. He was informed immediately upon his return to join the War Council in their chambers by a guard, but Loki brushed him off. He would see Sigyn first, then he would meet with the Council. Loki walked as quickly to their chambers as possible, but Sigyn was not there. He hadn't seen her in the gardens when he passed them, so he headed towards the library. On his way there he ran into the maid assigned to their living quarters, Livia.

"Prince Loki!" She gasped in surprise while dropping into a curtsy. "I am sorry, I did not realize you were back."

"It is quite all right, I just returned."

"So you have seen Princess Sigyn then?"

"I have not, I was about to look for her in the library."

"The library, My Prince? Why would she be in the library?" The maid inquired, genuinely confused.

"Well she was not in our chambers or the gardens…"

"My Prince… she would not be in any of those places given her condition." Livia interrupted.

Normally Loki would have had words with a servant who had the audacity to interrupt him, but Livia seemed to be seriously concerned about something and she was rather young so he would let it slide this time.

"Given her condition?"

"Prince Loki, did you not receive the news? The Queen had said that the AllFather had sent word to you of what happened, and that you would return as soon as possible."

"The news, what news!?"

The maid seemed alarmed that Loki didn't know what she was talking about, and she lowered her gaze.

"It is not my place to tell you, My Prince. Princess Sigyn is with the healers, you should seek her out there."

With that Livia gave a quick curtsy and beat a hasty retreat. Loki turned quickly on his heel and almost ran towards the healing rooms.

"Where is Sigyn!? Where is my wife?" Loki demanded upon throwing the doors to the healing chambers open.

Several healers rose to their feet in surprise at his intrusion, but none of them volunteered to be the one to tell him what was going on. Eir came into the main chamber from a different room upon hearing his voice, and she beckoned him to her. Loki reached the head healer in a few strides, and then followed her into the room she had just come from.

"I was told Sigyn was here. Is she?"

"She is." Eir confirmed.

"What happened? Why was she brought here?"

"She had… an incident four nights ago, so she was brought here."

"An incident? What type of incident?"

"She began having contractions in the middle of the night."

"Contractions? Sigyn went into labor?"

Eir nodded.

"How? She was barely four months pregnant!"

"We are still not sure why she went into a premature labor."

"How is she? Is she all right? Where you able to stop the labor?"

"Sigyn is… as well as can be expected physically. She has asked after you constantly though, and she refuses to eat. We have also been forced to sedate her to get her to sleep. As for the labor… once it starts there is nothing we can do to stop it…"

Eir fell silent, and allowed Loki a moment to process her words.

"Nothing you can do to stop it? So the child… our baby…"

"Your baby was stillborn." Eir stated sadly, but firmly.

Loki began to feel light-headed, and he had to lean against the wall for support.

Their child was dead.

The baby he and Sigyn had tried so hard for had been taken from them before it had even been born. He silently cursed the Norns. Was he not allowed any happiness? Was Sigyn always to be chased by death? Didn't they deserve some reprieve from hardship after all they had suffered?

"My Prince, you should collect your thoughts and then go to Sigyn. I fear for her mental health. Her family has come to comfort her, as have your mother, and even your brother, but they have done little to assuage her grief. She needs you more than anything or anyone else right now." Eir urged.

Loki hadn't failed to notice that Eir said nothing of his father. Had Odin been unable to face Sigyn after having taken her husband away from her? The AllFather and the Council had failed to inform him of Sigyn's miscarriage, and Loki knew they had done so deliberately. They knew that if they had told him, he would have dropped everything and come to his wife's side.

Four nights ago.

Sigyn had suffered alone for three full days.

Loki's rage began to swell. He would never allow something like this to happen again. The Council could beg, threaten, and bribe him all they liked. Loki would never work for them again, not while he had Sigyn to look after.

After giving himself a few moments to pull himself together, he instructed Eir to take him to Sigyn. The healer led him to a private chamber where Sigyn lay motionless on her side in a small bed. She didn't stir as he and Eir entered the room, so Loki was forced to go kneel by her bedside to get her to look at him.

"Sigyn…" He cooed softly, while bringing his hand to rest on her cheek.

"Loki…" She replied in what was barely a whisper. "Have they told you?" She asked in a small and frightened voice.

"Yes, they have told me."

Sigyn's eyes began to fill with tears that began to slide steadily down her cheeks.

"I am sorry Loki…I am so sorry…" she sobbed.

"Sorry? Sorry for what, My Love?" Loki asked as he tried to brush away the little droplets of water from Sigyn's face.

"Its my fault… I lost our baby!" She shouted unexpectedly.

Loki was startled by her sudden outburst, but he quickly hushed her. He went to sit on the side of the bed and pulled Sigyn into his chest.

"Nothing is not your fault, Sigyn. Losing our baby was out of your control. I am simply glad that I still have you..."

Sigyn clutched his shirt and cried into his chest for a bit before she looked up despairingly into his eyes.

"The AllFather said he had sent word to you, why didn't you come to me?"

Loki's rage began to fester again, and his response to Sigyn held an edge of coldness to it.

"Because Odin never sent word. He lied."

Sigyn's gaze turned stoney at the admission, and Loki vowed that the second he could leave his wife's side he would release his full fury on Odin and the War Council, for both of them.