(LOKI)

I spent all of Regin and Idunn's binding ceremony staring at Sigyn. Then I did it during the feast whenever I wasn't wrangling the boys. Then I did it on our walk back to the tent. And when we woke the morning after to attend the senator's announcement, she was still the first thing on my mind.

"Something's gotten into you," she teased in a sing-song inflection while tying her hair up.

"It has." I wrapped my arms around her from behind and nuzzled into her neck. "Though I'm feeling odd today."

"How do you mean?"

"I'm not sure. Something in the air. Uneasy. Perhaps I am anxious about the ride home or leaving the city. Vali will give us a fight."

"Yes, well, he'd do that anyway, wouldn't he?" She finished preening and forced me to release her. "Was he in a state when you dropped him off this morning?"

"No. But he wants to know what we're doing that we can't take him with us today. I said it's too boring for him. I worry it's too boring for me, too."

She chuckled. "I admit, I'm not all that excited to find out Hriedmar's replacement. Freyr's position won't be changing, will it?"

"I don't believe so. He hasn't said anything to me about it either way. They're eager to reinstate two senators instead of one, so we're fortunate their urgency might make the occasion a quick one."

"I'm glad Freyr insisted on my going, too. Not that I wouldn't love to spend the day alone with the twins in the city, but he made it clear that this was the sort of business I should be privy to firsthand." She slipped on her soft shoes and took my arm. "Lead the way, Lo."

"Oh, so now I get to be in charge?" I said, bouncing my brows as she rolled her eyes at my innuendo. We took our time and strolled north to the court hall and cut through the marketplace center, browsing for treasure a final time.

The streets were relatively clear compared to the previous few days' festivities. On our way, we saw Regin and Idunn walking hand in hand toward the city gates, completely absorbed in one another. Nothing else existed in their world. They earned such peace.

"I do wish they wouldn't throw the couples out so soon afterward," Sigyn said. "It feels cruel somehow."

"Ah. But remember, Gin, the Vanir have been celebrating for weeks. It doesn't feel as fresh to them as it did to us." I squeezed her closer while we walked, undeniably possessive and simultaneously proud to prove her association with me when I nodded to the people I recognized. "Fear not for the young couple. They'll be alright."

"Yes, Loki," she said with a bite of snark as if Vali had said it.

A great bell in the center of the city square, in a building adjacent to the river's stronghold, chimed three times with a guttural clang that echoed through the fortress. Only a quarter hour remained until the senate proceedings would begin. An invisible string in my gut pulled me forward and quickened my pace, forcing Sigyn to step faster, too.

More people than were present for the wedding packed the ceremony hall's many rows. We scanned for an empty space and found Freyr guarding a small section of bench in the center of the room, far enough back to observe a fair amount of the attendees. A panel of five seats sat at the front, empty and waiting for the Vanir elders.

"This was the best I could do," Freyr said when we arrived. "I am glad you both stayed long enough to see this."

I shook his hand in thanks. "Of course, Uncle. We wouldn't have missed it."

No sooner had I spoken when the bells outside rang four times and a hush fell over the hall. Freyr retreated to his own seat at the front, far on the end. Four Vanir elders filed in one after the other: two crones and two wizened wizards with beards to their waists. I rubbed my chin, suddenly envious that I could not show my experience so obviously. Oddly, Freyr was visibly the youngest of the group—a feat that he appeared younger than anyone, in my eyes.

"It pleases me to see women involved here," Sigyn whispered as we sat.

"Mother was a senator. It's not terribly odd, is it?"

"It is if you lived in Asgard's servantry all your life." She patted my thigh and settled against my shoulder. I was grateful to have her presence to douse the bubbling anxiety in my belly.

Whatever murmuring was left in the room ceased when the old man at the center of the panel knocked on the table. "My brethren, sisters, and siblings of our great Don City. You are hereby welcomed as witnesses this electorate panel for representation." The crowd gave some reserved claps, which Sigyn and I echoed, hoping to remain subtle with our presence. "To my right, we begin with our existing and re-elected senator, Freyr, brother of Frigga. He has tended to us well and pledged further service to our cause and our realm for many years to come. Freyr is the gatekeeper of our sacred river. His strength of conduction has given him authority to command from faraway moons and distant cities. Thank you, Freyr, for your allegiance and your strength. Your oath is confirmed. Please rise to acknowledge our thanks."

Freyr stood with his hands tightly behind him, presenting himself like a soldier would, though he was wrapped in appropriate humility. He stood for an appropriate amount of applause from the audience before taking his seat again.

"Well, that answers that question," Sigyn whispered.

I sighed playfully and squeezed her hand. The tension strangling my body intensified.

The man who introduced Freyr smiled at him, then passed the floor to the woman on his left. Her croaking voice was nearly inaudible, forcing everyone to stop shifting in their seats. "Would Fafnir, son of Hriedmar, please step forward."

A man at the back of the room, ostensibly Hriedmar's eldest son, made himself known by emerging from the standing people by the wall. He reminded me more of Regin than of Hriedmar, though age would certainly paint him more like his father someday. He had whispers of white above his ears that highlighted his otherwise soft features.

"Would the family of our deceased senator like to submit a name for his replacement?" the woman asked.

"We would," Fafnir said strongly. The fact he said nothing else gave weight to his declaration.

"And has this family made their submission known?"

"We have."

"Thank you, Fafnir, son of Hriedmar. You may be seated."

I shrugged at Sigyn when she gave me a quizzical expression, and our confusion was quickly interrupted by the second woman elder at the front.

"Would Freyr, existing senator to Vanaheim, please step forward."

Freyr did as he was asked and stood, staring straight ahead at the back wall.

His interrogator's tone was less shaky than the last, though her hands made up for it. I worried she would somehow shatter if a stiff breeze came through. "Would the family of our current senator like to submit a name for Hriedmar's replacement?"

"I would," Freyr said.

"And have you made this submission known?"

"Aye, I have."

"Thank you, Freyr. You may be seated."

Sigyn didn't bother trying to hide her anxieties and whispered again, "What is this? Are they going to actually give us a name, or will a person appear out of nowhere?"

"I truly don't know."

"Why would Freyr be asked as a single person, but Hriedmar's son be asked as a family."

I shook my head for a moment. "I...I suppose it's because Freyr is the last of his line. He has no family left to counsel with."

The remaining wizard who had yet to speak stood from the front table. "Would all who wish to nominate a replacement to our realm Vanaheim please step forward."

The rows around Sigyn and myself scraped and creaked from the weight of the crowd universally standing. I saw no other stragglers or people with confused expressions like the ones we wore.

"Should we stand?" Sigyn asked, halfway out of her seat, but I held her back. After all, what if they had some rehearsed statement or action that we had no clue how to finish?

"Have all those who have stepped forward submitted a name for Hriedmar's replacement?" the man asked.

"Aye," they said in unison, like a cue or a song. It was eerily perfect. Surely the Vanir were speaking with one another without words and far beyond what we could detect. Such an annoying habit.

"Thank you, citizens of our great city. You may be seated."

The voters took their seats again, but I couldn't hear any of their commotion. Only my own heartbeat came through my ears. My stomach rushed, again and again, certain and uncertain at the same time. Why bring me here, Uncle? What game is this?

"The votes have been submitted and counted," the first elder said, glancing side to side to be sure of his words with the rest of the panel. "It pleases me to announce our new electorate is unanimous."

The crowd murmured again, but with an excited timbre that wasn't at all like the unfortunate times in Asgard when Odin asked me to lead some of the troops for one mission or another. I had no evil eyes on me. This might not be about me at all, I thought, though Mother's presence was heavy, like her hands pressed on my shoulders.

He focused on a slip of parchment in front of him and adjusted his round spectacles—a rare sight for anyone in the upper realms, though it added to his distinguished appearance. The elder knocked on the table once more to silence the spectators. "Would Loki, of Jotunheim, please step forward."

Sigyn silently gasped and shot her face over to me. My body went numb, though I stood unconsciously, doing as I was told. I felt my heart pause and restart painfully. Suddenly everyone stared in my direction instead of at the front.

"I have been summoned?" I asked, trying to keep the same level of decorum in the space.

The elder looked me over for a few eternal seconds. "Loki, our people feel greatly indebted to you. It is for your skills as a sorcerer, a fighter, and a captain of ranks that these electors have chosen to bring you forth with honor. Your sacrifice and strength during the battle with Gorr showed all of us that you are capable of more than just conquering, as was once feared. You have done your mother's people proud."

I gulped and breathed in deeply through my nose, commanding the itch in my eyes to subside.

"We, the elders of Vanaheim, have conferenced together and come to the same conclusion. You, Loki, son of Odin, son of Laufey, son of Frigga, are a worthy representative of Vanaheim. Our allegiance will follow under your leadership."

What is happening? I couldn't fly, but I wasn't standing. I had no wings, but my feet had no ground. Hearing Mother's name invoked for such a purpose brought me back and helped me understand how this was my true calling, whether she'd expressed the words or not. I was the final legacy of Frigga's strong diplomacy. If she could raise a Jotun son to save her world, he'd prove his worth, wouldn't he?

"Do you accept the charge that has been extended to you, to act as a senator to Vanaheim for all of Yggdrasil, and be prepared to defend this realm in the future that lies before Ragnarok?"

I loudly cleared my throat to make the joy pouring from my eyes less obvious. "I do accept."

The elders as a group at the table whispered to one another, Freyr included. The woman who spoke first earlier stood for a new announcement. "Are you aware that Vanaheim is not a gard, and therefore holds no royal house?"

"I am," I said while standing straighter, determined to look as regal as possible despite this truth.

"The people call you Prince of Asgard. Is this true?"

I couldn't help but shift my feet uncomfortably. "It is, or, it was, my birthright. I believe now it is a pet name that the people use to honor my wife." I looked to her for the first time since standing and wiped a tear from her cheek. "She's a princess to me, even if in name only."

The crone knocked on the table to get my attention back on her. "This sort of title will not do. You are not of Asgard any longer, are you?"

Any remaining blood in my face drained away, leaving me lightheaded. "No, I am not."

Freyr whispered something into the man's ear at his side. After the crone sat down again, this other wizard stood to take the floor. "Would Sigyn, daughter of Edda, of House Loki, please step forward."

Sigyn wiped her tears unceremoniously on her frock before fumbling to stand beside me, lacing our fingers together tightly. "Yes?"

"Do you wish to propose a new title for your husband, Sigyn of House Loki?"

She had a spark of fire in her eyes that I knew well as her instinct to be irreverent. Balking at authority and stuffiness was one of the reasons why we made such a matched pair. Her discomfort with the surprise was easily masked under a small jest. "Why not call him King?" she said, chuckling and hoping for a similar response.

But neither the elders nor the voters shared her sense of sarcasm. The man who asked for her input knocked the table three times. "Very well. Loki, hereby elected senator, may share the title King of Vanaheim with his associates, so long as he does not break his oath."

My chest, which already felt flipped hundreds of times, dropped to its lowest point while euphoria flooded the rest of me. Did...did that just happen?

The elders all stood to wave everyone out of the formal hall, ending the gathering. All the citizens surrounding Sigyn and me turned to shake our hands and offer their thanks and congratulations. She didn't leave my side, for which I was grateful, as I needed her presence to confirm what occurred wasn't a dream.

Freyr finally cut through the mass of bodies to find me. His gray eyes looked through me for a moment before he opened his arms. "I told you Frigga would be proud of the man you've become."

Only a handful of memories came to mind that could compare to such a momentous occasion—a time when I'd been chosen and not feared. My show of strength dissolved like my illusions, and I fell into Freyr's arms with childlike tears while I wept in joy.