Nightfall in Asgard was swift, gleaming with all colors of the rainbow before it finally reminded black velvet embroidered with silver. Asgard was just one night ahead of a glorious event – Thor Odinsson was to become heir to the throne.
The corridors of the Asgardian palace become silent as the sky darkened, and its inmates laying to rest. It was dead of night, and Loki was the only person, maybe besides the guards, who was not asleep. He wandered on the terrace of him chambers, looking at the sleeping city. Tomorrow will be his brother's grand day, Thor's ascendance to the throne of Asgard and Loki already hated every minute of the ceremony, all the cheering and ostentatious gestures which marked his failure as prince… Loki hit the marble balustrade in a manifestation of suppressed anger, scuffing the skin off his knuckles. It didn't do him any good beside a hurting hand, so he left the world behind his back. The Asgardian prince came back to the room. The spacious chambers seemed too small for his ambitions, but there was little he could do about it at the moment, so he turned his attention to the slender figure of a woman sleeping in his bed.
Loki sat on the bedside and for a second just looked at her, no touching as is she was a mirage ready to disappear any moment, and just then he touched her long curls soft like a mink's fur and scattered on the pillows like a cloud of autumn leaves. No light here on, so he could only see a silhouette of her face, but Loki tried to remember what did she look like in daylight, her face and the curves of her body. She was one of those women who were far less attractive from the many beauties of Asgard. She was a tiny being, slim and on the short side, with freckled skin and red hair. Not auburn, nor the color of rose gold, but plain carrot red. And she'd probably been very popular amongst men if she had emerald eyes – but she her eyes were light grey. Neither of this could lure Loki on its own, as he had met far more beautiful women than Sigyn, but this wasn't about how she looked, but what she saw when looking at him.
He pulled the thin sheet off her shoulder, counting every little freckle on her skin. He couldn't see them when they first met – Sigyn being an entourage to Sif and clad as plainly as Sif's dress was rich. She wore a simple black tunic and no jewelry, something different from all those peacock gown of other women. Maybe that was what first drew his watchful eye?
- Sigyn, this is prince Loki – said Sif, when they came to greet him. No make-up either and she definitely didn't do anything fancy with her curls, which dropped wildly on her shoulders.
- I know – she said, smiling, before Loki was able to say anything witty.
- Sadly, I can't say I share the knowledge – he said instead.
- I've heard all about you, my price – Sigyn had a mild, low voice strikingly strong for a woman her stature.
- I hope only good things – was the polite reply but she shook her red curls and laughed.
- On the contrary, my lord. I was listening to bad things only – she said. Loki was astonished.
- And why would you?
- You like people for their merits, love them for the flaws, and you can only learn a person's true character by listening to the worse of hi doings – she explained. Her steel-grey eyes looked straight into his and seemed to extort all of Loki's secrets out of him. He took her hand and kissed it, like a gentleman should, to conceal how naked he felt without the shroud of secrets around him. That moment Loki knew, that there was only one thing he wanted to do – keep her close. "Keep your friends close, but enemies even closer" said the proverb, and regardless of which Sigyn was to become, he would make sure she stays close.
A sudden chill of the cold night air woke the girl up. She opened her eyes and turned her freckled face towards her lover.
- Can't sleep again? What's wrong? – she asked, sitting up, pulling the sheet over herself.
- Nothing – lied the prince, but as usually she wasn't fooled. Loki was a very skilled liar, but when everyone fell for his half-truths and lies, it took her just one look to know his true thoughts.
- You're upset by your brother's ceremony, aren't you? – she said with a deep sigh. Loki frowned.
- I should be the one in his place. Thor is self-obsessed and careless – he replied – Why can't father see me as I am? I'd be a much better…! – Sigyn touched her lover's lips with her fingertips, silencing him. Loki was too surprised to be angry for silencing an heir to the throne.
- I see you as you are, minn astir. And I see a man, not a price – she lowered her forehead touching his. Loki shook his head, dissapointed a bit.
- Not a prince?
- You are more than an heir to the throne, more than a son of Odin and much more than Thor's younger brother. You are Loki Odinsson, not more, but not less either – she whispered softly.
- But I am all of those things, and considerably more – he said angrily. Sigyn look at him with a strange look in her eyes.
- You get me worried, Loki.
- What about?
- That this anger inside of you might tear me away from you. Don't do this to me.
- Why would you say this? – Loki asked, running his fingertips along her back, softly as a feather and inhaled her scent – it was a mystery to him, but she smelled of apples just as her lips tasted like them, sweet and sour at the same time, and he could not resist but to kiss her now. Loving her was like a drug: once you've tasted it you knew it would bring only trouble, but you just could not and did not want to stop. Sigyn may not be the most beautiful women in Asgard, but she certainly was the only one to keep his mind off troubles.
- Because I know you, – she replied, stroking his hair. He loosened her grip on the sheet she covered herself with and allowed the textile to fall down. She wore nothing underneath, but she didn't blush – he saw her naked a hundred times before. Loki smiled with a sort of pride in his lover and kissed her. She kissed back, wrapping her arms around his neck and naked back.
- I won't do this either to you, or myself - his lips tickled her neck. Loki was eager to distract her from thinking about him and the ceremony.
- I'm just worried about you …
- Then I'll make you think of something else – he suggested, pressing her against the pillows. Sigyn yielded, unable to resist his tempting invitation. Loki felt her soft, warm breasts and her arms wrapped around him, unable to decide if it was love or just pure lust that was drawing him to her time and time again. Maybe it was this apple scent of hers which made him loose his mind?
Much later, when the room smelled of their passion and desire, he thought about it, watching her was sleep next to him, head against his shoulder. He still couldn't put his finger on it. Every time he tried to figure out what was happening there was something he was missing. So maybe this one time, one and only, he wasn't the one holding the sum of what he knew.