Son of Mischief (Loki/Asgard Fanfiction - Selig's Story)

Chapter Twelve

Asgard

Aislinn stood in the doorway of Selig's room and sighed. It was too strange, to see the bed neatly made, the desk free of any clutter and papers. The room no longer hummed with the energy that seemed to course through her older brother nonstop.

"What are you doing?"

Aislinn jumped at her mother's unexpected question. "I miss him, Mom. It's too quiet around here with Selig gone. How angry can Daddy possibly be with him?"

Her mother's arm came around her shoulders and squeezed. "He's pretty angry, Al. But it's more than that. Daddy is worried about him."

"Worried? Why?" Aislinn looked down at her mother. Like Selig, she favored her father, inheriting his height as well as his jet-black hair. Thankfully, she'd stopped growing when she reached five feet, nine inches, which made her six inches taller than her mother. "What did he do?"

"That's none of your concern, Aislinn."

Aislinn sighed. She knew her brother had quite the reputation, as two of her closest friends confessed to both having had spent at least one night with him, and when Aislinn threatened to steal their voices, they spilled about all the other women they knew about as well. He was busy, all right. Very busy.

She didn't want to think about that. The mental images alone were enough to make her nauseous. Selig was her hero, he was her best friend, and she shivered as the image of him with her friend Bridget popped into her mind. Ugh.

Still, she missed him just the same. They were close, always had been, and he was her confidant, always willing to listen about boy troubles and offer his insight into the way the male mind worked. They were a team, her and Selig, and had been since they were children-the oddballs in the neighborhood in Hunterdon. It wasn't easy, growing up on Midgard as the children of a god, but they managed.

"Mom, what if Daddy never lets Selig come home?"

"I doubt that will happen," McKenna said, stepping into Selig's room. "I'm sure Daddy has a plan. He usually does."

Aislinn sighed softly as she also crossed the threshold. The room was spacious and airy, like all the royal chambers, opening onto a golden terrace overlooking the Asgard Sea. His colors were black and silver, and they were reflected in the heavy black draperies and silver sheers that now fluttered on the soft breeze.

Girls chased Selig from the time he was ten years old. They would literally chase him and when they caught him, they pounced on him to smother him with kisses. At ten, he fought to get away but by the time he was thirteen, it was the other way around. She lost count of how many of her friends would sigh over him and ask her to at least talk to him for them, to see if he even noticed them. Tiring, to say the least.

"Where is he?" she asked over her shoulder as she stepped out onto the terrace. When they were little, they would sit on the wide ledge overlooking the water and Selig would make up stories about what realms lay beyond the horizon. Or they'd make it snow and then play in it. Sometimes, they'd flood the terrace and ice-skate on ice created from their fingers.

"He's on Midgard."

"I know that, Mom. But where?"

"The shore. With Celia Baker."

"Really?" Aislinn smiled. Celia was the one girl who never chased Selig. Which meant she was the one girl Aislinn liked. True, she had to fight Celia for Selig's attention sometimes, but Celia was so cool, Aislinn didn't mind.

McKenna nodded. "I told you, your father always has a plan."

"He did that on purpose?"

"He did."