Sigyn: A Loki Love Story

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

He was unable to push the sight of Theoric kissing Sigyn's hand out of his mind as he crossed the marble floor of his bedroom and opened his golden wardrobe to dress for dinner. He could not understand why she had suddenly become so willing to appease and make up with the idiotic buffoon, or why she hadn't even had the decency to say goodnight to him. Not that he could stand to entertain the idea, but surely her affection for him was not beginning to wane, surely he was not about to lose his truest friend, surely the only person who understood him, knew him, saw him for who he truly was and still loved him, was not about to be snatched away from him and out of his life.

Loki stood before the doors of the golden wardrobe and looked at himself, remembering the day Sigyn came running into the palace library; her face red and tearstained as she hurled herself into the seat beside him.

"I'm getting married!"

She whined, and although it had been many years since then, her enthusiasm for the proposed match never became anymore pronounced. She grew up and resigned herself to it as a fact; her father had made a promise to Theoric's father to give his son the daughter of his choosing, and Theoric's father made haste in choosing the beautiful one with the dark features who also happened to be Odin's beloved godchild. Iwaldi was bound by his word and a debt of gratitude to oblige the request, although he had hoped to see Sigyn marry for love, since she had the warmth and authenticity to appreciate true and great love. As Loki thought on all this, he gazed at his reflection and wondered. He could at least be honest with himself, couldn't he? He had kept it from her all this time, from everyone, but it was safe to admit here, alone in his room…he loved her. He wanted to be the one marrying Sigyn. And if he had acknowledged this earlier, instead of trying to deny and conceal it, he would be the one marrying her in a week's time; all other arrangements be damned in the face of what Odin's sons desired. His father would have seen to it, and Iwaldi would have happily obliged.

But deep in his heart, Loki also understood that he never truly believed she could feel that way towards him, when the likes of Theoric and Thor would all battle each other to the death for a chance at her hand. However, in the moment they shared when she was in his arms, the way she looked into his eyes, the way she held onto to him, gave him hope there was a chance she felt exactly as he did.

"There you are Brother!" Thor yelled, coming through the door with a broad grin on his face "Mother has been holding dinner until you arrived. Come, for I am Starved."

"In a minute Brother," he turned from his reflection and faced Thor, trying to smile "Go start without me."

"What troubles you, Loki?"

The genuine look of concern in his eyes made Loki's spirits lift a bit, though at the same time he was annoyed at the feeling of comfort he felt from his brother's presence. It was the constant conflict of being his younger brother, loving him, admiring him, and yet deeply in the back of his mind, envying Thor as well.

"Tis nothing, Brother, I was with Sigyn and I suppose she wore me out with talk of her wedding."

"Oh yes, it is the social event of the millennium, The Beauty marries The Boar….Now I see what troubles you," he nodded, folding his arms and leaning on Loki's bedpost and flashing a knowing smile "You are lovesick."

"Lovesick?" Loki couldn't help but laugh "And what would you know of it? Being in love with yourself is not quite the same thing."

"Believe me, I know that Brother. I desire the type of bond you share with Lady Sigyn; I have no woman to think of that way."

"You have many women."

"As do you, but none of them mean what Sigyn means to you, do they?"

"Not at all, they mean nothing to me. I barely let them catch their breath and redress before I throw them out."

"You are not at all sentimental, are you brother?" Thor commented as he fell into the emerald green silk of Loki's bed and bellowed with laughter so loud it echoed throughout the rather large bedroom. "Still, it is clear you are capable of some affection, at least where Sigyn is concerned. So what shall we do with this Theoric fellow…perhaps a tragic accident in which I summon Mjolnir and he happens to stand in its path?"

Loki was amused by his brother's eagerness to help him, and also grateful for it. For whatever sentimentality he lacked, he was capable of appreciating those few who loved him with no ulterior motives.

"Have you forgotten, Brother Thor, that I am the brains and you are the brawn in our many myriad of adventures."

"This is truth; I believe hunger has made me delusional, I believe myself cleverer than I am."

"Then let us eat, for you with anymore delusions of grandeur is not a sight I wish to see," Thor bellowed with laughter again as Loki helped him stand up and they walked towards the bedroom door "You leave Theoric to me, I'll not have you get your hands dirty in this endeavor. You are Asgard's Golden Prince, and I intend to help you stay that way."

His brother's words had truly encouraged Loki, and gave him a resolve to stop the wedding by whatever means he could. He spent his time over the next days in his sorcery studies, and warrior training, as he usually did, but always at the front of his mind were the details of the plan he had come up with. He and Sigyn shared a sorcery tutor, Hugo, and would often take their lessons together, competing to outdo each other all the while. In the days before her wedding however, Rona, the strict and elderly Asgardian noblewoman who presided over Sigyn's formal education as a goddess, decided it was far more important for the girl to hone the powers she naturally possessed, rather than waste time with magic, which Rona regarded as a hobby, and a potentially dangerous one at that. So Loki sent her a message to meet him in the palace library at dawn one morning, and he would teach her everything she had missed over the last few days.

She obliged happily, eager to see a face besides Rona's that early in the morning, and to get her mind on something other than a particular shade of white thread for her wedding gowns intricate beading, or how exactly she should stand on the dais with her husband on the 'blessed' day. She pushed open the massive mahogany door and called to him.

"Loki! I'm here, where are you?"

"Find me."

She rolled her eyes, but could not help smiling.

"I am in no mood for this, I came to learn magic, not play seek and find."

"This is magic, Woman, now find me."

She suddenly felt very cold and very much alone in the room, amongst the seemingly never ending rows of shelves and tables and comfortable reading chairs. Something was off about the way Loki's voice sounded. He was nowhere to be seen, but his voice did not echo, and he did not yell.

"What is this Loki? Show yourself."

"Find me."

"How can I find, what I cannot see?"

"It becomes more and more clear to me," He commented as he slowly began to materialize before her "That in you, my Sigyn, I have found my match."

She beamed at him, both at the compliment and the prospect of learning this new trick.

"You have mastered invisibility!"

"Mastered may be an overstatement, but I did sustain it for many hours yesterday."

"You must show me this. We've been pestering Hugo to teach us this for years, how could you learn it without me," she punched him playfully on his arm "Is it very difficult?"

"It won't be for you."

"You have such confidence in me. But I am worn out with talk of this w-"

"Then let us not speak of it here," he interrupted her by putting a finger to her lips, she licked it with a smile of mischief all her own across her face, he bit his bottom lip and tried desperately not to think, or say, anything improper. "Let's start."