Shock
Prompt: Loki and Sigyn as children
Disclaimer: I do not own Thor
Influence: the song Tears of an Angel by RyanDan
Her mother always told stories about how they were the victims. Not them in particular, but their people. They had once been great, she said, once when her father was in power but that had all changed when they had agreed to be in an alliance with Asgard.
"A cursed alliance," their mother always emphasized. "My father should never have agreed to it, but he wanted peace."
That alliance, according to their mother, had been the downfall of the Vanir. It had been the moment when Odin slowly sapped power from their rule, had befriended Sigyn's father only to reduce him to the status of a noble rather than a king.
"My father watched as it was all taken away." Their mother never blamed the girls' father, feeling he had inherited the problems that the children's grandfather had created. He had married into a family where the cause was hopeless. He had done what he could, their mother said, but their people could never return to the status that they had been.
Her mother smoothes her hair, tries to fix her sisters' gowns before they come. Their father looks grim, knowing all too well why they are coming, telling Sigyn when she lingered in his study.
"Why, Father?"
"They will want to have us assist in their war." He brought her onto his lap, tucking away stray hair that fell into her eyes. "It will all be over soon, dear heart." He kissed her forehead, sending the child to her mother before they came.
She keeps her head bowed, only glancing up to see the royal family approach. She and her sisters are quiet, remaining clustered around their mother. She only peered up once under her mother's watchful gaze to spy the princes, striding closer to their father rather than their mother.
"Asvaldr," Odin says, clapping the dark haired man on the shoulder. "We must speak in private."
"Yes, my King." With their father gone, the girls cluster together, none of them looking at the princes. Their mother gathers them closer, frowning when she bows to Frigga.
"My Queen," she says bitterly.
"Please, Eydis," Frigga says, stepping forward. "I would not wish for us to be enemies in these circumstances."
"The time for friendship has long since passed." Eydis kneels down by her daughters, resting her hand on the eldest daughter's shoulder. "Take your sisters to the gardens, dear."
"Yes, Mother." She takes Sigyn's and Unnr's hands, tugging them along. As she is led away, Sigyn glances back, seeing the emboldened smile on the blonde haired prince's face, noting the downcast expression on his brother's features.
When they are out of range, their elder sister seems more like their mother incarnate, venting her frustrations on the royal family.
"And did you see the way they smiled? They treat us like we are peasants, allowed nice things due to their generosity. We are princesses, not commoners."
"He didn't smile."
Fridr stares at her younger sister. "What?"
"The younger one," Sigyn says. "He didn't smile."
Odin comes, his wife and sons following behind. Eydis stands waiting for them, her daughters close behind. She smoothes her skirt, gray eyes firmly set upon the face of the king. "And, pray tell, where is my husband?" She asks, keeping her posture straight.
Odin steps forward, Frigga close behind him, both looking so sympathetic. "I am sorry Eydis."
And she falls to her knees, a sob caught in her throat. "Not my husband. Not my husband." She cries into her hands, all the seriousness and anger swept from her features. Frigga comes to the fallen woman, touching her shoulders. Thor stands aside, focusing more on the ground than the sight before him. Fridr and Unnr cling to their mother while Sigyn stands apart, staring at Odin.
"Father," she whispers, as servants bring back his helmet, her father's helmet, passing it to the king to be presented to Eydis. She slowly backs away, shaking her head when her mother snatches the silver thing from Odin's hands, hugging it.
She runs, feet carrying her to the garden where she finally takes refuge, curling under an oak tree. She brings her knees to her chest, hugging them, crying against her knees. She pushes away the hand that touches at her shoulder, snapping angry gray eyes to look at the sympathetic boy before her.
"You," she says, her voice lined with malice mingling with despair. "You killed him." She shoves him away, inching closer to the trunk of the tree, stopping only when her back is pressed against it.
Tears stream down her face, tears she cannot remember crying. She wraps her arms around her knees, lip trembling. He crawls closer, one hand extended. "I am sorry."
"I hate you."
"I know," he says, settling to sit in front of her, while she keeps her skirts from touching him. "No one wanted this, Sigyn."
She wipes at her eyes with the back of her hand. "He's gone." Her fingers trace in the dirt, trying to will all the memories she has to her mind. She focuses on his laugh, his smile, the glint that had been in his blue eyes when he told stories. "Forever." The word falls from her lips and she struggles to restrain the sob that sits in the back of her throat. She wants her father to come, sweep her into his arms, tell her that it was all a terrible mistake.
He comes closer, hugging her. She still struggles, her mother's stories ringing in her ears, telling her that this is the son of those who sought to mock them, destroy them. But when he rubs her back, telling her over and over that he's sorry, she grips at his tunic, crying into his shoulder.
Thor watches as his parents move to comfort the queen and her daughters, shifting uncomfortably at the crying. He glances around for his brother, believing him to have disappeared, unable to take the sight. Guilt pangs in his chest and he decides to look for the one who ran. He glances off to where the middle princess ran, going down the trail until he is in the thick of the palace gardens. His search is continued by following the faint sounds of crying. The golden haired prince, however, stops short of approaching her, astonished at the sight before him.
Loki sits with Sigyn pressed against his chest, hugging her tight, whispering to her while she cries, speaking amongst the tears, reminiscing about her father.