The baby screamed loudly as it declared to the realm their heir to the younger prince of Asgard had arrived. The healers took him away to give them the time needed to care for you, as you had had considerable difficulty bringing him into the realm.

"Where…" you whined miserably as the healers set about healing the minor wound the baby had made as he was pushed from your body.

"He is just being cleaned up Your Highness, nothing to fret about." One of the younger healers soothed.

"But I…" you wanted to be with him, you felt wrong for him to have been taken from you after you had carried him within you for so long. "Why is it so warm in here; is that for the baby?"

The healers frowned and looked among themselves. "Warm, Your Highness?"

"Yes." You gasped, "It's far too warm here, why?"

"The room has been kept at a constant temperature, darling, it is not too warm." Frigga came over, having been concerned with getting her grandson to settle and not scream the palace down. She placed her hand on your forehead. "You do seem somewhat warm." She noted.

The healers repeated her action and realised it was true, your body was warmer than was normal for an Aesir. "Your Highness, we are going to finish cleaning you up and then we will deal with your temperature, is that alright?" Eir asked, taking charge of the situation.

"Is everything alright?" you asked fearfully. "The baby?"

"He is fine, just tired after his little tantrum. He is his father's son." Frigga smiled warmly.

"Eoin will be so happy." You smiled weakly, thinking of your nephew, your sister's son, who was begging daily since she heard you were carrying a child for a male cousin.

"Yes, we will bring him over in a few moments, but why don't you rest and let the healers tend to you," Frigga suggested.

Nodding slightly, you closed your eyes, not wanting to worry about what the healers were doing to your body. Without intending to, you fell asleep, exhausted after everything that you had to endure to birth your son.

"Darling, can you hear me?" you groaned as you forced yourself awake. You opened an eye to see Frigga standing over you.

"Tired," you dismissed, turning over to go back to sleep.

"Sweetheart, please." You lifted an eyelid irritably. "You need to wake up."

"I just…baby."

"Darling, you had him yesterday, you have been sleeping for eighteen hours, please, you need to get up." Frigga beseeched, but it was no use, exhaustion began to consume you once more.

"So…hot." You moaned once more before you fell into slumber.

"What is it?" Frigga demanded, looking at the healers in front of her. "What has gone wrong?"

"We have no idea," Eir admitted. "We have tried every potion, every spell we can think of, but nothing is quelling the burn that is consuming her blood."

"And my son?"

"He has performed every spell himself, not trusting any other to do it, but it is without success, the princess burns still."

"We will find something soon," Frigga stated, mostly to herself in hope of stopping herself from worrying too greatly.

"Frigga, if I may?" Eir stated, looking at the old Dowager.

"We have been friends since childhood Eir; there is no need for the formalities between us."

"If there is no cure found soon, well…"

"What?" Frigga asked fearfully.

"Well, the princess, her body will not be able to fight this much longer. The heat she is in, it will permanently damage her organs, and in turn…well, she has not much time left." Eir stated sadly. "I'm sorry, my friend."

Frigga swallowed, terrified as to what her close friend was saying. "Does…Does my son know…?"

"I have not told him yet, I…well to be honest, I fear what will occur when he is told, he…"

"I know." Frigga acknowledged. "We all thought him lost to the darkness, until she…" She looked at you, her eyes filling with tears. "What is it?"

"To be honest, we have no idea, as soon as the prince was born, her temperature spiked, there is no telling what may have caused it. Her body has recovered from the birth itself, so I cannot tell."

Frigga nodded and left the room, her head spinning from what Eir had told her, of how bleak it all seemed. She needed to tell Loki, as much as it would kill him, he needed to know. She searched the library for him, but to no avail, then your shared rooms, but again, her search came up empty, she was about to become frustrated when the wet-nurse came out of the new prince's nursery, located in a side room to your main quarters. "Have you seen my son?" She asked the nurse, out of sheer desperation.

"Yes Ma'am, he is with the prince." She indicated to the doorway.

Relieved, though somewhat baffled, Frigga rushed forward to the rooms in question, she stood in the doorway, watching as Loki cradled his infant son to him. "Yes, mother?" he asked, not looking at her. His voice was hushed, but there was no denying the tiredness and anxiety in it.

"Nothing is working."

"I am aware." The baby left out a gurgle as his food settled and he began to feel drowsy. "I wanted him so greatly, did my selfishness have to come at such a cost?" he looked sadly at the boy in his arms.

"She wished for him too, there is no denying that, she read everything she could on how to care for pregnancy that entailed…" Frigga ceased talking. "Loki…" she gasped. He looked at her, waiting for her to say what it was she was thinking. "The baby."

Loki looked down at his son, who had fallen asleep in his arms. "What of him?"

"Perhaps if you were to rest with her Loki," Frigga stated. "In your true form."

"What?" He spat in disgust. "No, absolutely not."

"She is dying Loki, her body is failing her." Frigga cried in desperation. "If her body is so used to carrying a part Jötnar child, the difference of no longer having him within her is causing her body to react badly. She needs to adjust to it slowly."

"You are aware this could kill her?" Loki snapped. The baby began to shift slightly, displaying his displeasure at the atmosphere around him.

"It is the only reasonable thing I can think of," Frigga stated. "She may very well die without it, are you able to live with that. To watch your son grow and know that perhaps if you had been so brave as to try, you could have saved her?" Frigga challenged.

Giving her a sideways glance, he placed his new son back in his crib and walked passed her. "Have Thor bring the Casket to the healing halls." He ordered.

Frigga wasted no time with his request, immediately rushing out the door as two nursemaids entered to care for the prince while she and his father tried to save his mother.

Thor had not been king for long, half a century meant he was still figuring many aspects of Kingship out, but he was getting there slowly. One of the areas many thought him a fool was when he gave Loki the role of General and as his right-hand man. He had done so to quell his brother's rage at their father's injustices against him, and in truth, Loki thrived, being just the man to aid his brother in his role as King. He was informed of Loki's true heritage, and in his mind, it meant little. They did not share blood, but they had shared a brother's bond for many centuries, and that is what mattered to Thor. When his mother demanded he retrieve the Casket of Ancient Winters, he was somewhat concerned as to the reasoning behind it, but when told of the severity of his sister-in-law's condition, he did not question again and retrieved the icy-blue glowing hyperrectangle personally. It sent a chill through him as he brought it to when it was required, and as soon as he came to the healing rooms, he placed it on a surface close to his brother, looking at him hopefully, secretly wondering if his hands would ever warm again. He noted immediately, that only the royal family were present.

Loki looked at the casket for a few moments, then back to you, pearls of sweat dripping from your head as your body tried to regulate its temperature. "What if it kills her?"

"Then it only hastens what is already happening," Frigga replied bluntly. "Her body is failing Loki, much longer, and even our greatest healers will not be able to fight the inevitable."

Taking another moment to look at you, he extended his hands forward, as soon as they touched the Casket, he felt the magic put on him by his adoptive father leave him and his skin turn blue. He refused to look at anyone but you, focusing on what you needed of him. He walked over to the bed you lay on, and slowly reached down, frightened at the idea of harming you, but when the tip of his finger touched your hand, the skin did not blacken and burn. It felt like magma against him, but after a moment, it seemed as though the limb was cooling slightly. "Leave." He ordered.

"Loki…" Thor began.

"I am going to have to strip down so to allow as much of our bodies to touch as possible, and the last thing I want is for you to be gawping open mouthed at my wife." He growled.

"I would not gawp." Thor dismissed.

"Are you saying she is not worthy of such attentions?" Loki growled.

"Norn's, there is no safe way to answer this," Thor stated.

"Enough," Frigga ordered, deciding for the sake of your recovery to wade into the situation. "We will wait outside, I will come and check in ten minutes, alright?" Loki nodded. Both left, leaving you alone with your husband.

"Had I known carrying him would cause you this distress my love, I would never have asked you to carry my child." He stroked your check with his blue hand. A sigh of relief left you, and he knew he had to continue. "Should you wake during this process, please do not find me grotesque." He prayed as he used his magic to strip you both to your undergarments and lay down beside you. The heat you were emitting was uncomfortable against him, but as soon as the cold touched you, you pushed back against it unconsciously, as though you knew it was the only way to save your life. "I cannot be without you, my love, I need you, we need you. He is so perfect, as he only could be, with you as his mother." He smiled, putting your hair behind your ear; before tucking his arm around you. "He is not fussy, so I win that wager, you thought he would have my dramatics." He smiled sadly, thinking of the playful arguments you had had while you were pregnant. "Please my beautiful dove, fly back to me." He pleaded once more.

You had felt as though your very soul was on fire, as though there was lava within your veins, it burned so greatly you pleaded for death to take you; but it had not. You had come close to waking a few times, hearing murmurings around you that you had suspected were from your family around you, but you could not make out what they were saying, nor could you wake to speak with them. Your thought flickered towards your baby, you knew it was a boy, but nothing else, you had wanted to hold him, to bring him to your breast, but you had not been able to, instead the fire consumed you, and you fell into a painful slumber.

The cool that you felt against your back felt like Valhalla against your burning skin, and not swiftly enough, it moved through your body, quelling the fires that burned within you. Finally, you felt comfortable once more, before you began to fill slightly cold and shivered. Opening one eye, you looked around, shocked to see a blue arm wrapped around you, jumping slightly, you nearly fell from the bed.

"Got you." Loki's reflexes kicked in before he even woke fully.

"Loki?" you looked at him in shock.

"Hello my love, how are you feeling?" He asked, looking at you analytically.

"I…I'm fine, what happened you?" you questioned.

"Me? Well…"

"What's happening Loki?" you began to become scared. "Why are you like that?"

"Do you remember anything?" he asks calmly, you simply shake your head. "After you birthed our son, you became ill, gravely ill." He explained. "You got a temperature, nothing could quell it; except my turning to this form apparently."

"I..." you looked at your stomach, "My baby…"

"He is fine; he just is resting in his nursery. I will get him for you in a moment. How are you feeling?"

"Sweaty." You groaned.

"Well, how about we have you washed up, and when you are feeling better, we get you something to eat and introduce you to our son." He smiled kindly, playing with your hair, his skin alabaster white and his eyes as green as luscious grass once more.

"Why are you looking at my like that?" you asked in concern.

"I almost lost you." He stated. "And I could not bear the thought of such."

"I'm here." You whispered, bringing your lips to his.

"No more." His own voice seemed to be even quieter, "I cannot go through that again."

"At least we know what to do next time." You grinned.

"No, no next time." He stated sternly.

"You forget my love, you are a sex fiend at heart, and the thought of my body altering again to carry another of your children will persuade you otherwise." You grinned as you kissed him. "Now, show me, my son."

"Our son." Loki corrected.

"I did the hard work." You argued.

"Need I remind you, if I didn't do the hard work, he would not have existed, I nearly exhausted myself creating him?"