Something clawed at his chest insistently, pulling his focus away from the conversation he was trying to have. A one way conversation, as it happened. The maiden on the riverbank didn't seem inclined to tell him where he was or how he'd ended up this far from the palace with no memory of how he'd gotten there.

She stayed silent, dark hair rippling gently in the breeze as he shot question after question at her. Her imperturbable face broken only by a tiny, smug smile. She appraised him with cool amber eyes, completely unconcerned with his obvious agitation.

And now something was pulling him away. The thing grasping at his tunic, though invisible, invaded the quiet space with a desperate plea. "Loki!" He still couldn't see anything, looking around wildly for the speaker. The voice felt familiar, like someone his very molecules recognized.

But instead of getting the answer he wanted, the woman spoke a firm order instead. "You'd better listen to her. Sounds important."

"Oh now you decide to talk? I demand to know how I got here and how I can get back!"

"I just told you," she spoke lazily, the smile now quite prominent though no less smug. "Listen."

The disembodied voice called again. "Loki! I need you!"

Those three words did it. He awoke with a start to find Erna trying to get his attention, one hand scrabbling at his chest and one clutched around her abdomen. "Erna, what is it? Are you hurt?"

"Hurting, but not hurt." He had trouble parsing together her words. She must have seen his confusion and elaborated. "My waters have broken. The baby's coming."

Her breathing was a bit ragged, but now that she'd awoken him her tone was so maddeningly calm. Thick and stupid, his mouth couldn't seem to catch up to his thoughts. A groggy, "what," was all he managed in response.

"I've started having contractions, Loki. I'm in labor."

"Labor?" Honestly, he was even embarrassing himself now. He mentally berated his own paralysis.

"You need to help me to the healer's suite and see that Eir is summoned." She hissed in a breath, face contorting in pain as another contraction hit. It was several moments before she opened her eyes again.

That was apparently the jolt he needed to regain control of himself. "Yes. Of course." He sprang out of bed and ran around to her side, almost knocking her bedside table over in his exuberance.

Brow creased with worry, he helped her to her feet, only then noticing the sizable wet patch on her nightgown. "I should get you something clean to wear."

The look she gave him was equal parts exasperation and adoration. "That's very sweet, but we can send a maid to fetch what we need once I'm with the healers."

Another thought struck him with the same frenetic speed as the first. "Should you be walking right now?"

"Loki," she explained patiently, "it's very early on. I should be fine to walk if you're here to help me when a contraction comes."

Before he could blurt out anything else, she started moving, all but dragging him along with her. Their path through the corridors proceeded at a slow pace, but no slower than she was walking anywhere of late. He was happy to note that little detail. The first guard they ran into was sent to rouse the healers and then double back and wake up Erna's handmaidens.

As they settled her into the bed of Eir's choosing, he struggled to define all the feelings at war within him. He was absolutely petrified, a thousand scenarios involving complications swimming through his mind, but there was also excitement and happiness. It was an eerie conglomeration of feelings he wasn't used to experiencing all at once.

A quick examination and scan confirmed that Erna was early on in the process with everything appearing normal. Once the initial flurry of activity getting her on the bed and calibrating all the machines was done, the healers retreated to an adjoining room, giving the couple a bit of privacy.

Loki eyed the door frame with annoyance, muttering under his breath. "Shouldn't they be doing something?"

His wife, now in a fresh gown and propped up with pillows, merely smiled at him with that same calm expression. "There's nothing much to do at the moment. We have to wait for my body to ready itself. It will probably take hours before she's ready to come out." Loki, never the most patient man, began to pace. She stopped him almost immediately. "Okay, that's going to have to stop. You'll drive me mad if you keep that up."

He whirled around and she saw the helpless worry on his face. "What can I do to help you, little one?" There had to be something he was meant to be doing. Inaction wasn't in his nature, never had been, at least not without a clear goal in mind.

"Sit with me and hold my hand when the contractions come, distract me with stories, anything to pass the time."

Although he couldn't alleviate her pain as he wanted, he nevertheless did as requested. He told her of the dwarven civil war he'd fought in several centuries earlier. And because he both knew his audience and wanted to keep talking as long as necessary, he went into the underlying political issues that caused the fighting to break out.

It would have been a pleasant conversation if she hadn't been wracked with pain with increasing frequency. When the contractions hit, all he could do was offer her part of him to hold onto as she struggled to withstand it. He felt more helpless than he liked, but strove to focus on Erna and what she needed.

Everything appeared to be routine until one of the younger healers came to check the monitors. She stole a quick nervous glance at the king and queen before scurrying out of the room. She returned with Eir moments later.

The woman took one look at the readings and turned to address the anxious pair. For once, Loki was grateful that she wasn't one to mince words. "The child is in distress. Its heart rate is climbing at an alarming rate and it looks like it isn't getting enough oxygen."

"What does that mean?" A hitch in her voice betrayed how worried she was.

"It means we have to take the child now. We no longer have the luxury of letting nature take its course. A lack of oxygen could cause all manner of problems."

"When you say take…?" He had an idea, but didn't want to assume anything.

"We have to surgically remove the child." Her tone was cold and clinical, black eyes ticking impatiently between the monitors and the pair of them.

"Do whatever you have to do," Erna answered. "But I need a moment with my husband before we proceed."

"Make it brief," she ordered, marching from the room with the other woman in tow.

"Little one—"

She stopped him mid-sentence. "Loki, we need to calm her as best we can. She's listened to me before and she knows your voice."

"What… what do we need to do?"

"Talk to her. Let her know what's happening. I'll see if I can get through to her my way as well."

As he'd already done so many times before, he placed both hands gently on her stomach and bent to speak to the baby. "Tiny one, we need to you try and calm yourself. We know something isn't right, but we're going to get you as soon as we can. In the meantime please try and relax. We'll see you very soon."

While Loki spoke the words in soothing voice, she sent similar thoughts to their daughter, assuring her they were doing everything they could to help her. Not sure if it was a sign of the baby or not, but she felt some of her own tension ease when they were finished.

"I think we've done all we can right now," she told him.

When Eir rejoined them a minute later, she went straight to the monitor before casting a suspicious glance at the couple. "The child's heart rate is lower. I don't think it's wise to change course, though this does make things a bit less risky." She turned to focus solely to the king. "Out. We have to prepare her for surgery."

"I'll be damned if you think I'll leave my wife right now."

"Sire, you'll only be in the way. When the child is born—"

"I'll be right here to witness it." He clutched blindly for Erna's hand without taking his eyes off the healer.

She tried a different tack. "Surgery is bloody and unpleasant, your majesty."

"I assure you I've been in many battles and seen much more unpleasant things than this." There was a growling menace in his voice that caused even someone as hardened as Eir to take a step back.

"Fine. But you need to leave for a moment while we prepare her. We have to work quickly and you will be in the way. I'll call you back in before we cut."

Cut. The word sent a chill down Erna's spine. She knew it was irrational to worry about knives being used so close to the baby, but the thought worried her all the same. She tried to take comfort in the fact that Loki would be there with her. Grateful he argued for it himself, because she honestly didn't think she had it in her to protest at that point. She was already so tired from hours of labor and the prospect of seeing her daughter was the only reason she hadn't succumbed to the fatigue yet.

Loki reluctantly left her, throwing baleful glances over his shoulder as he did so. But not before pressing an urgent kiss to her upturned lips and fervently promising to return as soon as he was able. Quite frankly she felt like he was being a tad dramatic, but rather than criticize him for it, she simply nodded her thanks.

As soon as he was out of the room, one of the younger attendants lowered her bed and removed all the pillows propping her up. She was so efficient that Erna found herself flat on her back within moments. Staring up at room's high ceiling while women bustled all around her, she felt a strange sense of unreality. Suddenly she was grateful for the ever-increasing stabs of pain for giving her something to ground her.

A sharp order from Eir brought her attention back down. "Slide up, your majesty, let's get your legs out of the braces."

She mutely complied, not wishing to voice the question most prevalent in her mind. Pain felt like something she shouldn't be worried about in the face of her daughter's predicament and yet she felt a flare of panic as they tugged up her gown and began swabbing her stomach with a cool substance.

Maybe she saw the panic on the queen's face and maybe it was just next on the mental list she was working from, but a minute later Eir leaned over her and explained. "We will give you something for the operation. You'll still feel that we're doing something, but the pain should be nonexistent."

"Should?"

"Sometimes it doesn't work, I won't lie. If you're unlucky in that respect just let the pain overtake you and pass out. At this point I don't need you to push, so you can be unconscious if need be. Or you can choose to have us sedate you completely from the beginning. The choice is yours."

Well, at least she was honest. Strangely that part was a comfort to Erna. "Let's try the first option," she answered after consideration.

Eir shot her a look that could have been disdain or admiration- she was so damnably hard to read. But Erna didn't care if the woman thought her foolish to take the risk, she wanted to know her daughter was safely delivered as soon as possible. Something about possibly being unconscious when their child joined the world felt like she'd be cheated out of something.

Without another word, Eir flicked a hand and one of the girls helped the queen swallow a large measure of a thick, bitter infusion. They allowed her to sit up only long enough to gulp it down before forcing her back in her supine position. Almost immediately her body began to feel curiously light, no doubt the concoction beginning its work.

Loki was back in the room like a shot as soon as Eir gave the word. The healer shot him a stern glance and lectured him quite severely. "You will stay up near the queen's head. You will make yourself as unobtrusive as possible and stay out of our way. If at any time you distract me or the other ladies, I will eject you from the room without a second thought. I know you want what's best for your wife and child, so to that end, I am the unquestioned authority in this room. Is that understood?"

Erna would have smiled watching him reply a curt, "yes," but a contraction stole her attention. Though still painful, she felt the edge of the sensation dulling by the second.

While the room waited for the drug to take full effect, Loki took to the stool they'd set for him and began speaking quietly in her ear. "You're almost there, little one. Make it through this and we can meet our daughter. I know you can do this." She was only able to nod in response, the gravity of the situation bearing down on her. "I love you so much, Erna."

She groped for his hand, noticing that she couldn't truly feel it when she closed her fingers around his. "I'm scared," she let out in a small whisper.

"I am too, darling. But you know how strong she is. And I know how strong you are."

They sat in anxious silence for several more minutes before Eir tested the feeling of several parts of her lower extremities. When the healer was satisfied, they began.

The medicine had done its job thankfully and Erna felt only an odd pressure as the team opened her up. Grateful it had gone to plan, she again concentrated her gaze on the ceiling and focused on Loki's voice. He kept talking throughout the procedure while stroking her temples and pressing kisses to the fingers she kept wrapped around his. Occasionally he'd crane his neck to get a better view of the proceedings, but would offer her no details.

She lost track of how long they'd been at it by the time she heard Eir gasp and demand a pair of shears. "The cord is wrapped around her, cut it here," she ordered an unseen helper. Erna took no pleasure in knowing she'd been right about the gender, now only focused on why her daughter wasn't crying.

Loki, now on his feet, called for information and was promptly ignored by the others. All he could see was that they'd laid her out on a nearby table, or at least that was what he assumed. He couldn't actually catch a glimpse of the child, she was so surrounded.

After what felt like an eternity, a gurgling gasp turned into a raucous cry and the tension seemed to evaporate from the room. Erna let out the breath she'd been holding and cried in relief.

Now able to focus on more than the new princess, Eir spoke to the couple. "We are not done with the queen yet. While I finish closing her up, we'll see that the child is washed and given a thorough examination. Your majesty, would you like stay here or with the baby?"

"I won't leave my wife. We'll meet our daughter together. Just please be quick about it."

It was the work of only a few more minutes to prepare both mother and child. By the time one of Eir's younger colleagues presented the couple with the swaddled, tiny form, they were both openly crying. A gnawing sensation that had nothing to do with her incision bloomed in her stomach. What if she'd been in distress too long? Why had she taken so long to cry?

As she was stuck on her back for the foreseeable future, Loki took their daughter gingerly in his arms and brought her close to Erna's face. The baby, red-faced and squirming, looked like some kind of a toy, nestled in the crook of his arm. "She's beautiful," she cried, overwhelmed by the surge of love she felt at the sight of them together.

"Takes after her mother then." He kissed his wife's forehead, ignoring the sweaty plaster of hair across it, and spoke in a lower tone. "She's perfect, little one. The cord was partially wrapped around her throat, restricting her airway, but they got her out in enough time. They've run tests and she's fine."

"Truly?" She couldn't help the hope that sent even more tears streaming down her cheeks. It shouldn't have been possible for one person to go through so many different emotions in such a short amount of time.

"I swear, Erna. She's smaller than expected and there's a little bruising around her neck, but she's perfectly healthy."

"Small? But I'm huge. We thought she might even be too big for me to carry full term. I don't understand."

"Shh, little one. We can discuss all of that later. You have to rest now."

"Not until I get to hold her." She may have been flat on her back, but she stuck her chin out defiantly. He could tell how truly exhausted she was, but he knew good and well that arguing with her would be a waste of energy.

True to her word, she held off slumber until she'd held and nursed the new princess. She'd been carefully maneuvered back into a half-sitting, half-reclining position and fell asleep gazing down at their daughter. The smile that first graced her lips when he was finally able to put the tiny bundle in her arms didn't leave even as weariness overtook her. Later he would convince himself he'd been seeing things, but in that moment he would have sworn the little girl smiled back at her mother.

-XXX-

When she woke later, it wasn't the pain that struck her initially, rather is was Loki's low voice. He had his back to her and was gently swaying. It took her bleary eyes a minute to register that he was soothing the baby.

"Shh, tiny one. We have to let your mother sleep. She's been through a lot today."

Erna heard a soft gurgling coo in response, as if the child was agreeing with her father's statement.

He continued to address her as he would an adult, although his tone was much gentler than the average person would get from him. "You really are gorgeous. I'd hoped you'd take more after your mother than me, if I'm being honest. But I see both of us in you. It's amazing."

Another low noise from the baby made her smile fondly.

"Although I'm glad you're not blue, I will show you my true form soon enough. Your mother thinks you need to grow up with it, but I'm not so sure you need to see your papa like that so young. No doubt she'll have her way in the end though, she usually does."

He paused, readjusting her position before continuing his one-sided conversation. "One thing we agree on is that you aren't to use any magic until you're old enough for proper training."

"You know, she can't understand you yet." She finally spoke, enjoying the sight of the two of them when he turned around to face her.

"That remains to be seen," he pronounced with an enigmatic half smile.

"She's not even a day old, Loki."

"She was special in the womb and I have no evidence to show she will be any different outside of it." To punctuate his statement, the baby let out another happy gurgle.

He deposited the bundle in her arms and watched silently as Erna nursed her before continuing the conversation. He seemed strangely curious of the procedure and watched with a fascinated gaze she knew well enough from watching him work out a spell or conduct research.

When the child was nodding off, head resting on his wife's chest, he spoke again. "Have you decided on a name?" She'd wanted to see the girl in person before settling on anything.

"How do you feel about Ashilda?"

He chuckled. "You want to proclaim her a fighter from the outset?"

"We've seen how quick she was to defend me. I fear that part of her personality is inevitable."

"In that case, I think Ashilda is more than fitting. Princess Ashilda. It has a rather nice ring to it. Though Queen Ashilda will be even better."

"No crowns until she's older, Loki. I mean it."

"Technically she'll be older in a few days..." He trailed off and looked away, guilty expression on his thin face.

Sighing in resignation, she ignored his response. She'd have to deal with it if his doting got out of hand, but for now she'd accept it as new parent excitement.

"When can I be moved back to our chambers?" The suite was cramped and she knew she'd feel more at ease recovering in her own bed.

"We think tomorrow if everything stays on track. It feels like an eternity since I've had you beside me in bed."

"Have you even slept long enough to miss me?"

"I'll sleep when you're back. I can drag a chair in here for a nap if I feel the need of it."

He folded himself down onto the low stool and tenderly brushed the hair away from her face. "I'm so proud of you, little one."

"I just did what mothers have been doing for millennia."

"It is no less miraculous because others have gone before you." Raising himself up slightly, he gave her a soft kiss, careful not to disturb the baby. "I love you both so very much."

"And she loves you. I can no longer feel her moods, but of that I am assured. And I'm rather fond of you myself." She paused to shift Ashilda up higher on her chest.

"I can take her if you want to get some sleep."

"I can sleep like this and I have a feeling I'll need to get used to it. Plus, I'd love it if you got some rest too." Despite his calm expression, there were deep circles under his eyes and she'd noticed he'd part sat and part collapsed onto the stool.

"Would you object to some modification to the bed so it will accommodate all of us?"

"As long as it doesn't wake her."

He shot her a look that said he was offended that she would question his abilities, but began his work all the same. She felt the edge of the narrow bed recede from her right side and in a matter of seconds it was double its original size. Taking care not to jostle the baby, he managed to give her a smug smile as he slid in beside her. But before she had a chance to pout, he slid an arm around her and gently drew her to him. It was too perfect to be annoyed, she quickly decided.

"And how is the royal mother feeling?"

Until he'd asked, she wasn't even thinking of herself, all her energies turned toward her family. "Still so tired and I'm hurting some, but not as bad as I'd expected."

"Tomorrow they'll make you walk and I want you to be honest if you need something for the pain. There's no need to grin and bear it if you need help. And if I need to begin healing you with my own magic, I won't hesitate."

"Loki, I'm not so sure it's a good idea to mix magic with medicine."

"I've healed myself and others countless times during battle when we didn't have the luxury of finding a true healer. Cuts and abrasions are easy enough to mend. I wouldn't dare attempt anything major, but I can at least help the healing along."

"Only if Eir gives her approval."

"Since when do you take her word over mine?"

"You did the same when I was relegated to the bed and you know it. She successfully delivered our child and I think that earns her a vote in my care, don't you?"

He sighed, but offered no additional resistance. "I suppose."

"Um I did want to ask you something though." The uncertainty in her voice spiked his attention. "When I'm healed, can you... I mean would your magic be able to erase the scar?"

"Why would you want to do that?"

"It's going to be ugly and I—"

"Nothing about you is ugly and certainly not a scar earned while bringing our child into the world. I can remove it if it is your wish, but I don't want you to do it on my account. As far as I'm concerned it's a battle scar to be proud of." She didn't reply, eyes downcast at his words. "But I'll say no more on the subject until you've had time to think it through. Whatever you want, little one."

"Thank you, Loki."

He felt her relax back into him, marveling that she could be so confident in many ways and insecure in others. Well, most people were like that, he mused, a contradiction of strength and fragility.

"But now I insist we both try to sleep. She'll probably be hungry in a few hours, so we should take what we can get."

"I agree." She kissed his chest, the only part of him available to her without jostling the sleeping child. "We did it and she's here and I couldn't be happier. I love you, Loki."

"I love you too, little queen. Now try to rest."

She'd already joined her daughter in dreamless exhaustion by the time he finished.