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

Chapter Fifty-Six

The next morning dawned brilliantly beautiful, with sunshine and warm breezes wafting through Selig's chambers. Celia opened her eyes to find herself alone, and someone knocking softly on the door.

"My lady? It's Derek. May I come in?"

She sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Sure, Derek. It's fine."

He opened the door. "Good morning, Lady Celia. Kirsten and Alayna are on their way, but Prince Selig asked that I come by and give you this."

This was a small box wrapped in purple and silver paper. Derek smiled as he pressed it into her hand. "He said you are to open it now."

She smiled up at him. "Where is he?"

"He passed the night in Prince Nicholas' chambers and was surprisingly sober, to be honest. I think his brother did the drinking for him." Derek winked one pale blue eye. "And he said to tell you there were no women involved at all."

"He's a smart man," she said, setting the box on the bed to slide from the bed into her robe, which she tied loosely.

"I think he knows how close he came to losing you once, my lady. That is something I know he has no desire to risk."

She looked up at him. As usual, his expression was serious, but there was something else there, tucked into his words and in his face. "Derek, did you know about that?"

He nodded. "I did, Lady Celia. He was, to put it mildly, shattered when you left. And he knew upon whose shoulders the blame lay. But," his hand came to rest on her shoulder, "he will never stray on you. I've known Prince Selig his entire life and I have never seen him close to caring for any woman the way he does you. When he was a little boy, he spoke of you so often, I felt as if I'd already known you when he first brought you here last summer. And when he grew older and spoke of you, there was something in his words that spoke volumes as to what you meant to him.

"And now? I've never seen him as happy as he's been since you returned. And if I didn't already think the world of you, my lady, I would for that alone. Just as Queen McKenna brought back King Loki, you brought back Prince Selig and the queen is correct, and soulmates do exist, you are his."

Her throat tightened and without thinking, she hugged him. "'Thank you, D. You and most of the others have made me feel so welcomed here. I always thought of the Odinsons as a second family and you have no idea how awesome it is to know they're my only family now."

"You and His Highness will have a long, happy, love-filled life together, Lady Celia." He held her away, his blue eyes soft and somewhat red. "And you really should open that box. Prince Selig was most adamant about that."

"Okay. I'd hate to anger him on his wedding day." Celia turned to the bed and lifted the box. A card was attached to the box and she slipped it from its envelope, her eyes misting over as she opened the card. In Selig's elegant penmanship, he wrote:

Celia,
The sparkle in these stones reminds me of the sparkle in your beautiful blue eyes. In a few hours, we will begin a new chapter together, and I look so forward to seeing where our journey takes us.
I love you.
Selig

She opened the box and pressed her lips together as she gazed down on the beautiful diamond and amethyst teardrop earrings sitting on a bed of pure white velvet.

Derek peered at them over her shoulder. "Do you like them, my lady? He was afraid you wouldn't."

"Derek, they are beautiful and I love them." Her voice refused to go above a whisper as she looked up at him. "I have something for him as well. Would you please see that he gets it before the ceremony?"