Chapter 2

Sigyn was enjoying the dirt in her hands, as she prepared the garden for its next season. Concentrating on her work, she did not miss the signal from her magic that Loki approached.

Not looking up, she called out "I am impressed! I thought you would only last another month or so."

Loki leaned on the gate to her garden, looking both amused and irritated at the same time. "I have more stamina than you expected?"

Sigyn laughed and wiped her hands on her apron. "You waited as long as you could just to spite me, didn't you?" When she noticed the twitch on Loki's face, she laughed again. "Rage!" she wagged her finger at him, taking a step closer to the Go.

Loki swiped at her finger, and said "Stop that. I am here because I am curious, and yes, I am bored. Visiting you is better than anything else I have at the moment. "

Sigyn smiled at his words. "Come in! Mead? Tea?" indicating he should follow her as she walked into the small stone cottage.

Loki looked at the building he had not been to for several years. Why a goddess wanted to live in such a simple and rude dwelling was beyond him, especially as she was always welcome at court. But Sigyn had always been odd. Born of common stock to a merchant family, she had been elevated to Goddess when she married one of his distant cousins – a man twice her age who died less than a year in a skirmish on the borders. No one really knew why he married her, as she had been an older bride and certainly not prized for her looks. She was quiet unless she was very amused or angry, and then she was very loud. Mercilessly honest, but also held her tongue when it suited her. On the plainer and stouter side of most Asgardian women, she certainly did nothing to improve her looks through clothing or even illusions. And she wasn't around much, preferring the quiet company of her cottage to court events.

But she had been one of the few Asgardians who he felt any warmth with, who didn't seem to regard him with utter loathing. He even enjoyed chatting with her now and again, as she was intelligent with a quick wit, even if she was a bit earnest for his tastes.

And she knew magic. She loved magic and wasn't afraid of it or ashamed of it like so many of his peers did. But for some reason, she didn't perform it often in public. He sometimes felt very showy in comparison. But he also knew that his magic skills were 1000s times more powerful than hers, and would most likely always be. He liked that, he thought to himself.

"Mead." Loki replied when sitting at her kitchen table. She poured him a glass, and then herself one while she sat down. "Made from my own honey from my bees. Please let me know what you think. I am experimenting with the recipe."

Loki rolled his eyes. "I am not here for tasting lessons, Sigyn. "

"Business it is!" she smiled. She looked at the pale, black haired man for a long while. Her smile faded and she grew serious. She looked at him in the eyes, unflinching.

"First I have a question for you before we can continue. Is Odin alive?"

Loki looked at her for a long time. He understood the importance of his answer was great, but not why. Slowly he looked around the room, leaned back in his chair, put his hand to his chin and replied, languidly, "Yes".

Sigyn sighed and smiled, "Good. I presume you have placed him somewhere safe and protected. Don't worry, I am not about to ask you where he is. "

The blond woman folded her hands in front of her glass of mead, stared into the cup for a moment, and then looked back up at Loki, again, focused on his eyes.

"You are a prisoner by your anger and fear. It has been leading you to destruction and it will eventually consume you. You are a danger to yourself and to others because of it, and I want to help you become free. But only if you want to be free."

Loki stared at her in incredulity. "If I am so dangerous, why are you not afraid of me? I could kill you now?"

Sigyn shrugged, replying "I know. It is a risk I take. I also take the risk of not telling the others about you and Odin. Thor would have you executed and me with you for conspiring. "

A long silence sat between them.

"Why, Sigyn. Why do you want to help me escape from my prison?" Loki asked sarcastically.

The woman smiled at Loki, ignoring the sarcasm, and ran her hand through her hair. "I have two reasons, one selfless and one selfish. The selfless one is what I already said. You are a danger to all the 9 realms and you must be stopped. "

Sigryn finished the rest of the mead in her cup. "My selfish reason is that I want to help you break free. If I were truly selfless, I would help Thor and Odin keep you prisoner or even have you killed so you could be removed as a threat. "

Sigryn paused, studying her cup before she set it down and looked back at Loki.

"But I cannot do that. I want you free. "

Loki looked at her incredulously, angry. "Why? Why on earth do you want me free?"

Sigyn looked at him, blinking back tears. "Because I want you back. The boy who taught me my first illusions. The man who helped his family time and time again. The Loki I know who is inside that prison of anger and fear", she spat out angrily, pointing at his chest. "I want HIM BACK."

Loki swatted away her hand, and quickly rose from the table. "You are mad. I am Loki. This is who I am and who I always was. You don't know me at all and you never have. You have always been too romantic for your own good," he sneered.

Sigyn looked at him for a long while. She gave a half smile and walked over to him. "A romantic? I guess so. But this is what I believe and I am staking my life on it." She reached up and kissed him on the cheek. "What are you willing to stake your life on? "