Chapter 4
"What do you mean it's not working?!" Loki wailed.
His mother, looking sheepish, gave Eir a concerned glance. Sigyn squeezed her panicking husband's hand. They'd tried to transfer the babies out of Loki three separate times, but it hadn't happened.
"A strong seidr is blocking my magic," Frigga told them ominously.
"Please explain," Loki said.
"I can do nothing while this seidr surrounds the babies. I cannot break through a magic so powerful."
"But...how?" Sigyn asked, upset. She wanted her babies now! "Who would do this to us?"
Frigga made sure to keep eye contact with her son as she said, "The most powerful seidr master I have ever seen, that's who."
Confused, Loki shook his head.
"It's you, Loki."
"What? No."
"Yes, my son. You've wrapped your children in a protective magic so strong that even I cannot break through it," Frigga said gently.
With a scoff, Loki glanced at Sigyn. "I didn't! That's just...stupid! Why would I? They've been safe enough."
Frigga touched his chin and turned his face, making him look at her again. "You nearly lost them a few months ago, dear heart. When you transferred the babies to your body, your mind knew that they were safe with you, but your heart feared that it wasn't so. You cast a powerful seidr to keep them safe, a seidr even the allmother cannot corrupt."
"No, Mother, it wasn't me!" Loki declared, eyes filling with tears. "I wouldn't do that to them! I wouldn't harm them so!"
"You did not do it to harm, love, but to protect. It is your seidr; I know it as well as I know your face. You didn't realize you even cast the spell."
Loki bit his bottom lip. "Is the spell harming them in any way?"
"Eir?" Frigga asked.
"In all the times I have examined you, my prince, the babies always looked perfect," said the healer.
Loki let out a broken breath and wiped away tears. Sigyn kissed his temple.
"Can I break the spell myself?"
Frigga smiled softly. "Most probably."
The queen was wrong. Loki tried multiple times to break the seidr, which Frigga said was wrapped around the twins like a blanket. The problem was that the spell had been steadily draining Loki's physical energy as well as his magic for months. He was too exhausted to break the seidr.
He had no choice but to deliver the babies naturally. All the women he loved were there with him, and they promised to help him through it.
Loki was terrified.
"You can do this," Sigyn encouraged for the two hundredth time.
"Uh, no...can't," Loki argued.
He was weakening rapidly.
It had been fourteen hours of painful, exhausting, terrifying labor, and still no babies. At the head of the bed, Frigga bathed Loki's forehead and neck with a cool cloth. Sigyn sat on the other side, holding Loki's hand and offering what support she could. She was getting very scared. Eir waited patiently at the foot of the bed, stationed where she could see between Loki's legs when necessary. The bedclothes protected his modesty. Two of Eir's best journeymen healers were hovering around in case Eir needed their assistance. So far, all they could do was stand by, because the twins had decided against making an appearance.
A strong contraction hit, and Loki moaned. He gasped and panted his way through it. He had no energy to scream.
"Sigyn, my love," said Sigyn softly, using her name for the benefit of the journeymen, "you're doing so well."
"No, can't anymore," Loki said softly. "Sleep..."
Sigyn said, "No no no, my love. You can't. You have two children to push out of you."
"Nuh uh," Loki murmured, eyes closing. "Changed my mind. Don't want...children."
Sigyn smirked. Eir laughed softly.
"Too late," said Eir. "Come now, we can do this together."
Loki glowered at her. He snapped, "You do it! I'm done."
His entire body seemed to deflate. Even his grip on Sigyn's hand loosened. Sigyn sent the queen a desperate glance.
Frigga decided, "Listen to me, young ma---young lady. Hush that kind of talk. I know you're tired, but I also know how strong you are! We are going to help you do this, do you hear me?"
"Tired," Loki moaned.
"We're all tired, child," said Frigga.
Loki suddenly screamed and sat half way up. He collapsed with a sob.
"I...can't! Sig, I'm sorry, I...I can't," he panted.
Sigyn let go of his hand and stood up. She ordered anybody in the room, "Help me sit her up."
"What?" said Frigga.
"I'm going to sit behind her and hold her," said Sigyn, voice breaking. "Help me. Please!"
Loki felt a little stronger once Sigyn's warm, comforting arms were around him. Her legs bracketed him and he was able to lean back against her and rest his head on her shoulder. Still, he was so tired.
"H-how do women," he gasped out, "d-do this?"
"They just do," said Sigyn, close to his ear. "Women are very strong. And right now you're a woman. So that makes you strong, doesn't it?"
Her husband's only reaction was to let out a long, exhausted breath.