The Family Lokison (Part 4)

Utopia (LOKI)

Contentment filled my heart and mind while watching the boys run, stretching their legs and rolling in the grass outside our mountain fortress home. For six months, they'd become more than my sons; Narvi and Vali became pupils of magic, proving to me and their mother how they were responsible enough not to abuse their power. It wasn't unexpected how they caught on to spells faster than Vanir children, but I had to temper my own urge to advance their studies even more. They had time. We had time.

The boys weren't babies anymore in any sense. When they stood, they held themselves with tight posture and walked with long strides, like me. Sigyn worried for their futures, not because they weren't friendly, but because they had a beauty she assured me would be sought after by all. Narvi's sensitivity might lead him to a broken heart, while Vali's self-assurance would leave others shattered in his wake. They were too young for such things, so I encouraged her to keep those thoughts to herself; we would have plenty of days to worry over their respective futures.

I retied my hair behind my neck so it would stay out of my face while we foraged and yelled to them, "Alright, that's enough, boys. We have much to do today."

Vali stood and flipped his black mop of hair out of his eyes as he fixed the twist in his satchel's strap. His slender arms were pale against the dark brown of his tunic, making him appear even more waifish than he really was. The boy had grown a handful of inches overnight, it seemed, and his girth couldn't catch up with his height. "Come on, Narvi," he fussed.

"Coming," Narvi chirped, hopping in the background with his sun-kissed brunette hair. He was a sea of brown with all his skin covered, though his freckled face was less severe than Vali's in its angles. He hadn't had the same recent growth spurt and appeared round by comparison. "I found something already, Father! A striking stone, I think."

"Put it in your pack, and we'll see at midday camp if it lights a fire, then." I stretched my back and enjoyed the clear air of early summer. The first harvest had brought with it humidity and a brighter green to everything.

Vali jogged to be at my side. "What are we learning today?"

"Anything we have time for," I said, pulling out a small notebook from my back pocket which I'd used to map our immediate area since the last outing. "I think we'll dig along this slope for some herbs, practice some basic casting beyond the trees, see how you both fair with a little conduction—"

"See?" Narvi held a small rock in my line of sight before the notebook, too anxious to wait for me to confirm what he'd found. "It's smooth, like you said to look for."

I cleared my throat. "Yes, son, though we don't have time to test it right now. Put it away."

"Told you," Vali whispered, sticking out his tongue.

"Did not."

"Boys," I grumbled, already low on patience for the day, but it was too early to let their mild squabbling taint the atmosphere. "Let's go. I promised Mum we'd return before moonrise to finish the chores."

They agreed and kept their gripes to a minimum, adding a spirit of adventure to our small errands and finds. Though it was impossible for me not to remember how Thor and I both came into our own around this age and feel nostalgic, there was a comfortable and warm blanket of satisfaction around me. Each passing day, they crept upon the status of young men, ever closer to earning the right to learn who they were in the grand scheme of Yggdrasil.

Almost there.

***

We returned as expected to our fur-covered house, which spilled smoke from the chimney with an unctuous flavor of something roasting inside. Vali and Narvi burst through the door while nearly tripping over one another, charging ahead of me in a race I hadn't agreed to.

"I win!" Vali yelled, throwing his arms up as soon as he was fully in the front room.

Narvi tumbled onto the floor and stayed where he was, bending his left knee and cradling it with a hiss. "I'll beat you next time."

"Next time, both of you will stop at the door so no one gets hurt," Sigyn said, stepping away from the kitchen table and wiping her hands with a beige rag. "Are you alright, Narvi?"

"Yes, I'm fine," he said, groaning while she directed his chin up with her hand.

"Tsk, tsk. I swear, Vali had a scratch on his brow a few days ago just like this one. I'm beginning to think his bonks and bruises might be contagious."

"They're not contagious, Mum. Stop..." He swatted her away.

"What's for dinner?" Vali asked, snapping a cut carrot between his teeth noisily.

"Oh, you," Sigyn said, shushing him out of the kitchen and around the corner. "Go clean up, both of you. You're practically covered in dust."

Vali tapped Narvi on the shoulder to follow him, and they did as their mother told, thundering through the small hallway with their half-clumsy plods.

I stayed in the doorway to watch the exchange and hang our satchels on the wall. "A fine day outside, Gin."

"Is that so?" She came closer and stopped a few steps away. "You, my dear husband, are no less dirty yourself."

"Ah, but my love, what a bore life would be with perpetually clean hands." I stroked my index finger down the sharp bridge of her narrow nose, leaving a small trail behind from where we'd been. "Now you match."

She smacked my shoulder with the back of her hand and puffed her cheeks at me, turning to find the rag again to wipe it off.

I washed my hands quickly at the front basin and stood behind her when I was done, wrapping my arms around her small, yet slightly expanded, belly. "How are my girls?"

She hummed. "We're well. She's treated me quite nicely these days."

"You're feeling less ill?"

"Indeed. I think it's apropos of me to say I feel half as pregnant as I did with the boys." Sigyn tapped my hands and leaned over her left shoulder to grant me a light kiss. It had taken nearly two years to achieve our newly delicate condition, but we were grateful for older sons who could potentially help when our daughter arrived.

A knock at our front door, however, halted everything like a heavy anchor. It was too abrupt and unexpected to be anyone we knew.

Sigyn startled the same way I did and swallowed hard. "Who could that be?"

My heartbeat thumped over itself painfully. "I don't know."

Our visitor slammed his fist into our door three times in a row once again. "Loki Laufeyson, I demand you answer this door." His voice was familiar and struck me in a place of panic.

Narvi and Vali came around the corner with quizzical looks.

I held my right hand out toward them. "Stay there."

"Loki..." Sigyn whispered with a tremble to her tone.

"It's alright," I said, standing as straight as possible and trying not to gasp too loud when the knocking came once more.

I was afraid, but not surprised. It had been years, but I knew this day would come.