Chapter Text
Loki was in want of children.
He wanted be a father, or a mother again, he wasn’t terribly concerned about that part. At over a thousand years old he felt he should already have a dozen kids by now. Granted, that was a lot for a typical Asgardian family but he was hardly a typical Asgardian.
Hel, he wasn’t even Asgardian. Like his parents really thought he wouldn’t figure out that there was something different about himself? The fact that he could change his biology on a whim hadn’t even been his first clue.
For a few decades Loki had been very annoyed at his parents for what they did, the secret they kept. Eventually he forgave his mother, it wasn’t really her fault that his father was a bit of a dick. As for Odin, Loki only played nice to his face for fear that the man might ship him back to Jotunheim. Loki was raised Asgardian, it was what he knew, it was the skin he was comfortable in, so he rather stay on Asgard.
Occasionally Loki would do what he could to subvert his father’s rules. He never got caught of course. There was no fun to be had in getting into trouble. Not only was there the risk of being sent back to Jotunheim, but worse, he could get sent to Midgard to teach him ‘humility’. Please, Loki knew exactly what being humble meant and entailed, he simply found no use for it most of the time.
But unfortunately, there wasn’t much Loki could do to sneak around Odin’s policy about the line of succession.
The rules were simple enough. Thor had to marry and have a child first because he was the oldest. Thor was going to be king and his child would be the heir to the throne after him. Loki could not have children until Thor did because otherwise there could be an argument over who was the true heir.
(Sleipnir didn’t count as horses could not be king. It was actually a law that pre-dated Odin for reasons too lengthy to discuss at this time.)
Loki was pretty sure Odin’s new rule was just there to keep a half-Jotun off the throne. Loki could understand that. It pissed him off, but he saw the reasoning.
Loki was never to be king.
It took another decade or so to get over that fact. It wasn’t until his magic-training partner had reminded him for the umpteenth time of all the limitations that would be placed on him should he become king that he finally accepted his fate. A king had much less privacy than a prince, and a lot more paperwork.
Being the prince meant he could spend his time playing with magic, playing his little pranks, and playing with his children.
Once he had his children.
“Loki,” Sigyn snapped her fingers at him, “are you paying attention?”
“No,” Loki responded and went back to mentally trying to figure out a way around Odin’s rules. It wasn’t like Loki couldn’t secretly have children, as the father or mother, but that would defeat a lot of the reasoning for having them.
Loki so enjoyed his time raising Sleipnir from a foal, and what a fine young stallion he had turned out to be. (Of course Sleipnir would, with breeding such as his.) But as much as Loki loved his eight-legged brood, he wanted to be able to raise children he could teach the arts of magic and steel. Having to keep them stolen away would limit the time he could spend with them.
“At least you’re honest,” Sigyn sighed and waved her hand, getting rid of the illusions she had brought up.
“Don’t be like that,” Loki told her as he walked off and started to pace, “I have a very serious situation to deal with. Our magic training can wait.”
“Anything I can help with?” she asked with only slight interest.
The daughter of one of the members of the Royal Court, Sigyn had been chosen by his mother to be Loki’s magic-training partner when they were children. Sigyn was a natural, quick to learn, and able to keep up with Loki who was unnaturally talented as Asgardians go when it came to inherent magic. That still wasn’t Loki’s first clue he wasn’t Asgardian.
Although they no longer trained as students, both having become masters of the magical arts, Loki preferred her company as a friend. They could talk of magic and art, which were subjects that were not Thor, or the Warrior’s, strong suit. He could also speak to her of things that he could not with others as she held no judgement towards him. Especially that first time he turned into a female because it simply felt natural to do so.
When he became pregnant with Sleipnir, blessed accident that it was, he had to remain as a mare until his son was born and suckled. Sigyn took care of Loki in the stables, providing him with company and non-judgmental discourse via magic. From time to time she’d brush and braid Sleipnir’s mane, putting flowers in it as she said it made him look more handsome.
The woman was truly his dearest friend, other than his brother, Thor, or course.
Thor was indeed his closest friend, but Sigyn made a better accomplice in crime.
“I need to find a wife,” Loki said as he turned around.
“You need a wife?” Sigyn blinked.
“Not for me,” he pinched his nose, “for Thor.”
“Oh.” This did minimal to alieve her confusion.
“Sleipnir deserves to have siblings,” Loki told her straight out, there was no use with subterfuge with her.
“Well,” Sigyn nodded, giving him that look that meant that she wasn’t going to judge him for his behavior but it was going to take her a few minutes to process it, “Svaðilfari is still amenable to you. He’s gotten older but still able to produce offspring. Unless, of course, another stallion or mare has caught your fancy.”
Svaðilfari was a beautiful stallion, a very beautiful stallion. “There is no other like Svaðilfari,” he admitted to Sigyn with a soft sigh and a light smile, “and what we had was a moment in time, a whimsical moment.”
“Of course,” she cleared her throat and clasped her idle hands behind her back, “then is there a woman who has caught your eye…” then she quickly added, “or a man perhaps?”
“I understand how procreation works, Sigyn,” he told her dryly, “I am a mother after all.”
She blushed and went to explain herself but he waved her off again.
“Finding a suitable mate for myself is pointless,” he continued on, starting to pace again, “because if Thor doesn’t marry and have children then who knows what Odin might do to my own offspring should I have an ‘heir’ before his beloved golden boy.”
Loki didn’t blame Thor for the fact that their father obviously played favorites. Thor benefited from it, Thor knew that, and he tried to share his good fortune with Loki. But sometimes Thor was simply the favored son, the favored prince, and there was nothing either of them could do about it. At least not without mass homicide. But Sigyn assured Loki that this would not be in his best interests. After a lengthy discussion involving cost-analysis figures with charts and graphs, Loki reluctantly agreed.
“Odin already took Sleipnir as his war horse!” Loki would never let that go. “Granted, my son is the finest stallion Asgard has ever seen but, honestly, is that how you treat your grandson?”
“Sleipnir agreed to the arrangement,” Sigyn cautiously reminded him of the truth, “he likes being the leader, in the highest position of power. Wonder who he gets that from?”
“Don’t try to be coy, Sigyn,” he replied blandly, “you’re not any good at it.”
Sigyn made a very unladylike face at him that was neither polite nor coy.
“I digress,” Loki said by way of apology, “now back to the subject at hand.”
“You need to find a wife for Thor,” Sigyn said as that was the root of the problem.
“Yes,” Loki continued to pace about the room, “because he seems daft at finding a suitable one himself.”
Thor wasn’t exactly promiscuous, but he had had his fair share of women over the past few hundred years. It was a reasonable number of bedmates for someone with such stature and classic Asgardian beauty. But not a single one of them were suitable enough material to be Queen of Asgard.
“All the women he’s been with have either lacked the poise and intelligence,” Loki rambled on, something he was only able to do in Sigyn’s presence because of their friendship, she would not see him as weak for doing such a thing, “or they lacked the proper social standing. There are plenty of women in the court who share both these traits and yet these are the women he doesn’t find interesting.”
“I doubt he does it on purpose,” Sigyn defended Thor, “sometimes the heart wants what the heart wants.”
“See,” Loki turned towards her, pointing his finger at the woman, “you would make a great Queen. You’re a member of the court, smart with a good head on your shoulders, but does Thor fall for you? No.” Loki paused, narrowing his eyes at her as a thought came to mind.
“Loki Odinson,” Sigyn placed her hands on her hips, “if you are thinking of having me seduce your brother I will have you remember that Sif has taught me how to use a short blade and I know where your soft bits are.”
Sigyn was rarely one to make threats, let alone idle ones, so he backed down on that idea. Still, it gave him another. “Lady Sif!” he declared. “She would make a fine Queen, a little bloodier than most, but she has an outstanding grasp of inter-realm politics.”
“She also has no interest in being Thor’s wife, let alone in becoming Queen,” Sigyn reminded him. “Remember, a hundred and, oh, thirty five years ago? She and Thor had that thing while we were all in Vanaheim?”
“Vaguely,” Loki thought about it for a moment then the whole incident came back to him. “Oh, yes, she kicked him out of her tent, he was stark naked save for Mjolnir. It was hilarious but hardly the most embarrassing moment of my dear brother’s life.”
“They are too much alike, too dominate,” Sigyn shook her head and went over to where she had laid her things on the table, “they make better friends than lovers, sometimes that’s just how it is.”
“There has to be someone,” Loki tsked, tapping his hand against his thigh as he rapidly went through all the possibilities. “Who would you suggest?”
“I suggest that you speak with your brother,” Sigyn advised him as she gathered her belongings, “explain to him the situation. He knows he’ll have to find a Queen one day, there must be a reason he’s putting it off.”
“Yes, perhaps I will speak to him.” Loki was struck with an idea. It would get Thor married off and on his way to having children nearly immediately. With any luck, Loki could tell Sleipnir that he was going to be a brother before his next birthday.
Yes, it was a brilliant plan, very ingenious. Loki was quite proud of himself actually.
Six days later when Thor was being banished to Midgard until he learned some humility, Loki still thought it was a brilliant plan. The execution of it could have used a little work though.