Loki of Vanaheim (Part 3)

Trekking Home (SIGYN)

What a change. Loki...a king, once more. Even in name only, it meant so much. He would never admit it, but he missed being needed by more than just me. Our children would grow and have lives on their own. Loki craved responsibility the way only truly gifted people can when they know they have something worth sharing. And he certainly had much to give.

I left him at the court hall with Freyr to settle diplomatic duties. I agreed to allow him leave for the city at least every six months. The boys were still a chore now, but they were getting older, and it was time to let all the good my husband had built for himself have a wider impact. It didn't feel like a burden to see him thrive.

Since my face was equally as well-known as his even if I wanted to stay hidden, while I walked alone through the marketplace, nearly everyone stopped to pass their congratulations and thanks to Loki. I was happy to oblige them. More than pride made me eager to shout from the rooftops that I'd captured his heart—fortunately, no one had a jealous air that convinced me I had an enemy. We were separate people, but a single family. As it should be.

A familiar jeweler focused intently on polishing some trinket when I first laid eyes on it: a golden crown in the shape of many leaves, twisting and turning like snakes on a vine. It was delicate, but unfinished. A few open settings, perfectly spaced for large stones, inspired me as I lifted it to see the intricate patterns more clearly.

"I have some that would match you," the man said, not looking up from his work.

"I...excuse me?"

"Your pendant," he said. "I can make a match of the crown."

I reached under the neckline of my frock and revealed the necklace Loki gave me before he left for battle. It gave me a sense of formality for the senator's election, and I'd nearly forgotten I was wearing it at all. The green stones reminded me of deep pools, so substantial, they were worlds in themselves, forever becoming smaller and smaller until they could no longer be seen with bare eyes.

But...how did you know I was wearing it?

"I know many things, Lady Sigyn," he said, granting me anything but comfort for reading my mind. "It will be ready before moonrise."

I took a few deep breaths and tucked the necklace away. "And in return?"

"There are thanks enough in serving heroes. Consider it repayment for the future." He never took his focus of the project before him. His cryptic faith in what was yet to come reminded me of Grid again.

I decided it was best not to argue with mystics. Whatever they knew, a future me would have to reckon with it.

***

Our newfound friends properly exhausted the boys, which put them in just the right place to sleep as we left Don. The moons above would light the way well enough to the first encampment, and I trusted Loki would keep us safe in the night. I was anxious to return home, as was he, despite all the excitement that surrounded his new position.

We paused at the top of the hill outside the city and looked back on it. Unlike when we arrived a few days earlier, it shined to me. The Don City was no longer a far-off memory clouded by unpleasant anxieties; I saw it fondly. Perhaps my sons would someday come to live here for their education. My husband would be a frequent visitor, lending me more opportunities to grow as well.

"You know, every time you come here, you return a changed man," I said to Loki, stroking Narvi's precious head against my chest while he dozed off. "It makes me wonder what else lies ahead."

"More mischief, surely." He winked and tightened the strap around Vali before charging away.

There was new freedom in my blood. The horse didn't frighten me as it once did, and riding was more comfortable. When I felt a rush of worry in my chest, Narvi would squeeze me in his sleep, which never failed to fill me with warmth and clear away the demons of my imagination. Before I realized how long we'd been traveling, Loki finally trotted to a stop at a large clearing.