Loki's number one fan

The writer

"And so, the Thunderer took his hammer and smashed the skull of the ugly beast!"

The crowd gasped in unison, vibrating at the violence of the tale.

"Prince Thor, in all his might and bravery, had once again vanquished his enemy, showing his courage and his strength. All his friends ran to his side, and the good people of Asgard cheered his triumphant return!"

Another feast in Vanaheim, in the Halls of Queen Freya, her mother, another countless tale of Thor and his many feats of arms. How boring. How uninteresting. How unoriginal.

It took Sigyn all her manners and curtesy not to roll her eyes, yawn and find an excuse to go back to her chambers. Her sisters were in awe, as usual, their mouths full of praises for the "most handsome, bravest Prince" in the Nine realms.

Fine. Thor seemed charming and the hero, that was quite the established fact. But of all the tales she had heard, Sigyn wondered more about the other characters in the tale. Sif seemed interesting, but they barely ever said anything about her, except the fact she was brave and helped Thor a lot. There were hints that the beautiful shield maiden was smitten with the Golden Prince, and the Vanir princess winced at the possibility her sisters would have such a fearsome rival. The Warrior three were... just there. Just as useful as Sif, but less memorable, or at least, it was Sigyn's humble opinion. She wished Hogun had been a bit more present, as he was a fellow Vanir, but they never let him speak in those songs. Of course, the man himself was not very talkative to begin with. And knowing him a little, the Princess laughed and guessed that he most likely hated those types of entertainment and wished to be held as far from them as he could.

Then, there was Prince Loki. The "Dark" Prince. He was such an interesting character! Well no. He was not a character, he was a real person, of course, but as Sigyn had never met him, except through those tales, she could not truly know him well as a person. The singers and writers and storytellers, and minstrels, all of them, seemed to see in him some kind of future villain, ready to betray his sibling at every opportunity. As for his own acts of bravery, they were dismissed and belittled – magic was trickery to those proud Aesir warriors. A sorcerer could not be a true hero. Sigyn revolted at the notion, not only because she was a magic-user herself, but because the princes' own mother was also a well-known witch. How come it was fine for the Queen to use spells but not for her own son? It made no sense at all.

Since Loki was such an unpopular figure, there was no songs, or poems, or epic stories, about him, going on his own adventures. And yet, there were rumors! So many rumors, of how the Allfather trusted him with some special missions – those that not even Thor would be able to do, as they were too dark, too ruthless for his tastes. The Golden Prince's name and reputation -his soul-could not be tarnished. Odin did not care for his second son in the same fashion it seemed, and it made Sigyn's heart bleed a little for the younger Odinson. She knew very well how it felt not to be appreciated by your own family, for your true worth.

What were those missions? Well, if minstrels had been singing about them, it would have been rather interesting to find out and the Vanir princess knew she would have cheered at such mysterious tales. People of course had their theories, and whispered of daring thefts, murders, and violent interrogations, and other sleazy intrigues, unworthy of the crown of Asgard. They also told of innocent maidens or young lords being seduced, as their father or brothers were a threat to Odin, and therefore, with their virtues and reputation in peril, the families became much more obedient to the throne and bent to the King's will.

Sigyn shivered in delight. She wanted to know those stories, she craved for them. Let her sisters have the tales of their perfect hero. She wanted an anti-hero, a dark hero, that would use any mean possible to get what he wanted. Both served Asgard. Both were victorious in their missions, with only the peace of the Nine realms as their goal. But only one got the glory and the cheer from the crowd. It was unfair. It would be so nice to rectify that, mostly when the person in question was so much more interesting, fascinating, than the other.