LOKI'S GAME

Sif's Hair

I shudder with a dark realisation of what I have just done, the knots forming in my stomach indicated that I either needed to head to the bathroom or I was about to get caught in all of my godly glory. I kicked off the fur pelts that made my legs clammy and stared at the stone ceiling, I swallowed some of the cold Asgardian air to ease my troubled thoughts. A rocking in the bed next to me brought my worst fears to life, a slow glance over confirmed it all. I'd slept with Sif. Her golden hair even glinted cheerfully in the dark using the sole light from a single candle in the room. I admired her beauty, a smooth plump face and youth that would make all of the Goddesses jealous, I knew what Thor saw in her, she was charming and charismatic, but she got all of this eloquence from her hair, the quality in which Thor married her for.

I think of an escape plan, I should know how with my talents, but for a moment I was thoughtless, my mind was blanketed in darkness and a silence that was almost deafening. The voice eventually came to me, an inner being that thrust me from light to dark and from good to evil, a part of me that was ingrained from birth and something i could not rid myself of; yet I embraced it fully and with open arms, I tried to rid myself of this evil when I was young and had been taken in by the Aesir, I tried months worth of spells, chants, charms and cunning but all had no avail. There was no ridding myself of this second being that resided in me, so I took it in and now we work as a team.

I consult with this inner architect, my second mind.

It speaks 'Loki, we have a plan'

'Yes tell me, we need to escape before Thor returns from Jotunheim'.

'Ha-ha-ha, don't worry child, take the knife that is resting on the mantle above the fire and take from Sif what she most treasures, she'll know you have taken it, but won't breath a word to Thor about how she lost it'.

'Genius, she'll forget of this night'

I creep out of the bed and head towards to the fireplace whose logs have long been extinguished, run my hand over a high mantle and find the knife which it told me about. I bring it down and stare at it, I look from knife to Sif and back to the knife. I ask myself, 'How in Midgard did I find myself here in the first place? Too much wine? Too much charm? Both? Let's hope Odin or Frigg hasn't seen this or I could be in real trouble'. I shake my head and a smile comes to my lips, I kind of had a soft spot for being in trouble like it was a sweet treat that a fat kid couldn't resist. I pawed up to Sif's bedside like a cat and licked the shiny blade before I took it to her scalp. Before I made the first stroke she let out a dreamy sigh, like she knew what was about to happen but hadn't the means to stop me.

The knife scrapped across her scalp popping each strand of hair seductively. The more strokes I made the glossier the motion became, I watched as her golden tresses fell to the bed and formed a sad little patch of what resembled heartbreak for a woman, yet I carried on until every fibre had succumbed to the blade. She twitched and rolled over still caught in whatever dream she was having, I knew these actions would probably snowball into something bigger, but for now I knew this event had now been dealt with. I collected each strand of hair patiently and with strategic importance, no hair could have been left behind for if there was, someone might figure out what had happened. The mass of golden hair weighed heavy not only in my hands but in my soul. I release my scent from the bed and tip toe out of the room, leaving a bald Sif to dream.

Myself and It quarrel about what to do with the hair, travel to Jotunheim and bury it in the snow, disperse it along the Bifrost, muddy it in Midgard or burn it in Muspelheim. Hours pass until we come up with a suggestion that even the smartest of the Aesir might not even think to look. Hide it within the walls of Asgard. Before Sol draws the sun bearing light on the palace and under the cover of night, I do just that, working quietly to hide what crime I have just committed. Once the last brick had been replaced in a random patch of wall I chose, I cosy on up to the chamber which I call mine, for now and sleep it all off.