Love, Magic and Lies (COMPLETE)

Chapter One; The Secret Visit

The echoing of her footsteps bounced off the walls of the narrowed tunnels. The flames flickering in the sconces as she passed by, her pace brisk and purposeful.
She turned another corner, whereupon she saw a burly guard at his post. As she approached him she removed the hood of her cloak, revealing her identity to him.

The guard stammered as he addressed her, a clear indication of his surprise in seeing her here,
"My, my Lady..how can I-"

Sif held up a hand to silence his questioning,
"I have come to see the prisoner"

The guard blinked and looked uncertain.

"Kindly let me pass"
She instructed.

"But, but Lady Sif the Allfather clearly stated that no one is to visit this prisoner."

Sif took a deep breath before she spoke again, she was not at ease with having to lie in order to gain access to the man she sought out but desperation spurred her on.
"I am aware of the Allfather's wishes. However it is Odin himself who has sent me here."

The guard was visibly even more confused but thankfully he moved away from the door where he'd been keeping vigil,
"Oh, well..in that case My Lady.."

Sif breathed a sigh of relief as he fumbled with the keys on his belt.
Clearly security here was far too lax, she found herself thinking. If the gaurds could be so easily fooled into disobeying Odin's strictest of orders. Still, right now she was grateful for it.

At last the heavy door creaked open and hesitantly Sif stepped into the small space. Her eyes took a while to adjust to this dimly lit cell, only a small single candle burned in the corner.
It was then she became aware of the dark figure clad entirely in black, sat on the floor in the corner. It didn't move or make a sound and for a moment Sif wondered if he was in fact still alive. She took a small step closer, before finally uttering the name she hadn't spoken for so long...
"Loki?"

Another moment passed before the figure slowly began to raise it's head. She wasn't sure of what to expect, having not seen him for such a long time, but as her eyes fell on his ghostly pale face, sunken eyes and demonic glare the breath caught in her throat.
His hair had grown longer from when she had last seen him, his raven locks now flicked out where it touched his shoulders. The blackness of his clothing and hair in the dark room accentuated his pale complexion.
Did he not recognise her? She couldn't understand why he remained so silent and impassive.
She cleared her throat and tried again
"Loki? Loki it is I, Sif."

Still nothing, not a murmur passed his lips.
"Loki why do you not speak?"

Slowly he lowered his head back to the stone floor, causing Sif great irritation.
"Do not ignore me trickster. You at least owe me an explanation!"

At that Loki's head snapped up again, his eyes burning into hers, and his jaw set tight.
For a moment Sif felt as if this wasn't Loki at all, she could not recall ever seeing him look at her with such unveiled animosity before.

Finally he spoke, his usually smooth voice nothing more than a low growl,
"I know it is you. I've not completely lost my wits. However, I fail to see why you seem to believe that I owe you anything!"

Sif was furious at this,
"Well I knew an apology would be too much to expect, but an explanation as to why you purposefully tried to destroy us-"

"Us?"
He interrupted, looking blankly at her.

"Yes us....myself, Fandral, Volstagg and Hogun...as well as Thor..."

Loki bristled openly at the mention of the Thunderer's name but Sif ignored it and persisted,
"Why would you do such a thing? You sent the destroyer to kill us all, even your own brother!"