Love and Lies
Prompt: An affair
Disclaimer: I do not own Thor.
Rating: for an adult concept, nothing explicit
Theirs will be an arranged marriage. It will mean nothing more than a peace treaty and some attempts at an heir. From what he sees of her, when her father presents her at court, she is a demure thing that only has her beauty. She has no wit, no sense and nothing that could possibly keep him. She is nothing really.
His only amusement is at how the other men glance at her, all of them finding her so beautiful. And she will be his, he realizes with a smirk. Everything that anyone has ever coveted has always only been Thor's, but now, he thinks, he has something that others will want, that will drive them to be jealous of him for once. And for that reason alone he kisses her hand, has polite conversation and escorts her. Though this lasts only when he is in other people's company so that he might attract their stares. It isn't enough to make him care though so he continues to take on other women.
In the days leading up to their marriage, he hears the rumors circulate about him, how wicked he is for dishonoring his future marriage to Sigyn, how wretched he really is, how poor Sigyn could ever deal with him. And yet he doesn't care, not even when he sees the look in her eyes when he meets her once again in their fathers' presences. He will tell her it is just lies and he knows she'll believe him.
And the evening before their marriage, he remains unfaithful, seeing no point in swearing away his life to a maiden and setting himself on the road to unhappiness.
And when they are married he swears he sees a glimpse of betrayal in her eyes. When they recite the vows, swearing themselves to each other, hands touching, he fails to see in her eyes the want to drive guilt into him. Instead, he simply smiles, pretends to care, takes her by the arm and is excited by the eyes following him, the envy carved into the faces of those he has never cared for.
She weakly smiles at him, blushing and looking so innocent that it sickens him. And he wishes that she might just leave him alone, go stand by the women she always seems to be talking to, talking about who knew what. Yet, she stays by his side, occasionally allowing her fingers to brush against his.
The minute he can leave her, he does. He is supposed to go to her bed tonight but he refuses, taking leave to his own room. He imagines she might cry, might snivel, might bawl acting more like a little girl than anything else.
He decides she will be his wife when it suits him, though it will hardly suit him. Until he has some actual need of her, he leaves her to do whatever she wishes. He rarely sees her, filling his time with things he considers more important, continuing to be unfaithful. The rumors are still circulating, he knows, but she has yet to confront him.
And it suits him one day to be with his wife. There is a celebration for some of the guards who risked life and limb to protect Asgard. They're being honored and he's coerced into attending. His only amusement is that he'll have her there, attracting stares yet sitting beside him.
He collects her, finding her dressed in scarlet, her hair pulled back and kept out of her face. Her lips have been painted and her eyes thinly rimmed by lines of black. She doesn't look at him, weakly smiling.
He leads her by the arm, smiling when one of the guards being celebrated stares at her. He doesn't notice the way she stares back, smiling wider for the golden haired man than him. She stays by him, hands folded neatly in her lap and eyes always downcast, for most of the evening. She leaves, floating over to her friends and he finds himself swept up in one of Thor's stories against his will. It's not until one of the men in Thor's company, a lesser noble's son, grabs his arm.
"Isn't that your wife?" He asks, voice quivering when Loki stares at him, venom in his eyes. He follows the younger man's gaze and he struggles to keep his face plain.
Sigyn leans over the guard's shoulders, her hair down and a smile on her features as the blonde haired man recounts his stories to which she laughs or frowns depending on what is appropriate. And when the man takes another swig from his goblet, Loki feels the urge to turn the liquid into a snake that might bite him.
And as he stalks over, rage boiling under his skin, his glare deepens when she lets the oaf kiss her and take her hand, leading her away. He steps in front of them and the guard releases Sigyn's hand. "My prince."
"That is my wife," he says, resisting the temptation to do anything that might cause the man too much bodily harm to attract any more attention. He already knows that so many eyes are on him and he has to restrain himself further, the heat rising into his cheeks.
"I'm so sorry." The guard slinks away and Sigyn remains standing before him. He grabs her hand, fingers tight around her wrist. He pulls her with him, too angry to speak. He can feel that he is still being watched, that he won't be supported if he takes her away and shouts at her. They'll just pity Sigyn all that more.
He is taking her back to where he was sitting and is mildly surprised when she doesn't fight back. She sits beside him, her free hand running through her hair. He keeps her other wrist clasped tight, not looking at her.
"You've embarrassed me," he hisses.
"Oh?" She says sweetly, looking over at him.
"You are my wife not a common harlot." His hold tightens. "You are bound to me."
She leans over, her voice low. "And you are my husband, bound to me, something you seem to often forget." He looks at her, the innocent face turned serious. "I will be the only one in your bed now or I swear your embarrassment will grow exponentially."
And he stares at her. The stupid maiden that he had been introduced to was replaced by a cunning woman who could be just as vindictive. There's a smile on her lips that contains no sweetness, her eyes boring into him.
"Did he mean that much to you?"
"Did those women mean anything?"
"No."
"You have your answer then." She settles back, pulling her hand from him, looking back at the celebration occurring before them. He smiles, near to laughing, when he kisses her.