"I understand you are newlywed Sigyn, but where is your mind?" an exasperated Hugo asked, wiping away the potion that had just exploded into his face "Perhaps we should call it a day, and try again tomorrow."

Hugo was a kind man, tall and skinny, golden haired and fair skinned, with icy blue eyes and a gentle demeanor. At first glance no one would suspect that he was a man who could disfigure, maim, or even kill you with a simple flick of his wrist. He was patient with all of his students, but over the years he had come to expect much out of Sigyn, she was able to quickly grasp onto the intricacies of sorcery in ways it took most years to comprehend.

"I apologize Hugo. Tomorrow will be better, I give you my word."

He nodded and began to pack his things away into his satchel. She hesitated to ask him what she wanted to know, and the source of her distraction was the guilt she felt about the fact that she might have to tamper with the contents of her mentor's mind.

"Well then, read up some more on the healing elixir and be ready to mix it again tomorrow. Good day to you…Princess."

"No, Hugo, not for you, I am still Sigyn to those who know me."

"You are royalty now, Princess; you must allow all of your subjects to lavish you with respect."

He bowed deeply, smiling and waving as he stood and turned to leave. She could stall no longer.

"Hugo, may I ask you a question before you leave?"

He nodded, happy to begin a discussion with her, for she was one of few who were knowledgeable enough to hold a conversation with him about his interests.

"Ask me anything."

She sighed deeply,

"I have need to retrieve someone from the Wandering Plane, is this impossible?"

"Impossible? No. Deadly, difficult, and dangerous….but not entirely impossible."

"What must I do?"

"Who wanders that you would deem in need of rescue?" he asked curiously, taking the seat next to her "Are not all who inhabit the Wandering Plane criminals?"

"There is one who was sent there who should not have been. It is entirely my fault that he is there, and I must bring him back."

"Sigyn," he said, touching her hand comfortingly "It is better if you forget this quest. I am certain you are not responsible for this person's fate, and even if you were, the risk you would put on your life would be far too great to deem the task worthy."

"Hugo, I am practically the one who sent him to the plane. It was done out of anger and spite, and if I do not retrieve him, I will never be able to forgive myself, much less forget what has happened." Her tone was stern, quiet yet completely unyielding "You can rest easy knowing that you have thoroughly warned me of it, but it is a risk I must take, this is a wrong I must right. Now tell me what must be done."

"Sigyn, you cannot even withstand the heat of the wandering plane long enough to find your prisoner, and then you would need the aid of a Frost Giant to ward off the guardians of the plane. They breathe a fire so hot as to turn anything in its path into ash instantly."

"A frost giant….well that will be difficult, seeing as how I despise them. But no matter, I will manipulate one to my purpose. What else?"

"No Sigyn I do not believe even you will manipulate the mind of a frost giant." He declared with enough force to grab Sigyn's attention "Laufey is quiet and brooding now, but in truth he is simply biding his time until some Asgardian is foolish enough to provoke him. Do not be that Asgardian."

She sat in her chair, fully reprimanded and brought back to reality. This was not going to be a test of her ability to wield her powers, or conjure spells; this was going to be more intellectual than that.

"Well then, if I can find a way to get a frost giant to aid me willingly, then what must I do."

"Heimdall will open the portal and you will pass through it, directly onto the plane. You will cast a finding spell, which will call your prisoner to you, and then you will cast a sleeping spell upon him, for he will try to fight you. The prisoners of the plane are enchanted to believe that anyone who tries to remove them is an enemy intent on bringing them to their death. It is a protection against such expeditions as the one you are bent on taking. It is meant to provide the prisoner with no hope for escape except finding a way out on their own, which does not exist."

"It does not sound as difficult as you made it seem."

"Your majesty has no idea of the undertaking of visiting the wandering plane. You will feel a heat which you cannot imagine, you will find it difficult to breathe, and everything you lay you eyes upon will waver before you in a haze of humidity. You will be at constant risk of losing consciousness. And that is only if you have the aid of a frost giant. Without it, you will suffocate in the heat, and you will die." He looked away from her, saddened by her resolve to go on this quest, and stood to leave "I beg you to reconsider. You have a husband and an entire kingdom that have need of your kindness and courage. Your existence, Sigyn, is one that I believe will have a profound effect on the entire universe someday. You are so young, and yet you are well on your way to becoming one of the most powerful beings in this or any realm. Do not be so quick to throw caution to the wind, for you are precious to us all."

The hall was silent except for the echoing sound of his footsteps as he left. She sat in the chair and leaned back, her head to the ceiling, her eyes closed. She wanted to heed his warning, but knew herself better than that. This was a great mistake that had been made, and if it required a great sacrifice to fix it, then so be it.


Thor and Loki sat, out of breath, dripping sweat, back to back on the ground in the field they were training in. The beast Loki had conjured was relentless, but they had managed to vanquish it, with the aid of Sif and the Warriors Three. Sif sat on the back of the beast, which lay dead in the field, and looked at the men, sprawled here and there. She had fought just as hard as any of them, harder than a few, yet she was energized, where they were spent. Her eyes fell upon Loki, who looked worried and a bit unhappy still, though she could not understand why. He had struck the blow that felled the beast, and he had done it with his bare hands instead of magic, she thought he would be over the moon. But then again, such things had never really moved Loki.

"Not only does my brother show up for his duties the very day after he gets married, but he also conjures for us a very irritable and dare I say vicious opponent for practice. Are you frustrated about something brother?"

"Yes Loki," said Fandral with a mocking laugh "Were you unable to properly salute your bride last night."

Loki shot him a look, and suddenly his laugh stopped, as did his breathing. He writhed on the ground, seemingly choking on absolutely nothing, before Volstagg lifted his friend and clapped him on the back. He gasped and heaved for breath, grateful for the sudden return of air to his lungs, and stood hunched over, half overcome by fear, the other half by relief. Sif shot Loki an accusatory look, but he did not look in her direction. He had even less use for Sif than she had of him. She was positively masculine, and that was a huge affront to Loki's sensibilities of what a lady should be. Not that he cared; she was Thor's problem, not his.

Thor suspected nothing strange in Fandral's sudden choking fit, and found his antics during the episode nothing short of hilarious. His laugh was loud enough to scare the birds out of nearby trees, as he doubled over. The sound of it caused Loki to start laughing as well, and soon the two princes were both overcome, made worse as Loki would pause to imitate Fandral's flailing limbs and look of terror as he had rolled breathless on the ground. Volstagg chuckled, Hogun displayed a rare smile, but Sif and Fandral were thoroughly un-amused. As the brothers calmed down and sat back up they turned to face their friends, and simultaneously cleared their throats and lifted their heads. They sat in exactly the same position, their knees bent, their arms resting on their knees, the same look of peace and contentment on their faces. Yes they were different, some would even say they were the exact opposite of one another, but no one could deny or question the brotherhood they shared.

Their friends looked curiously between the two, sitting like twins on the ground, but quickly got over it, for it was far from the first time that Thor and Loki had unwittingly emulated each other. They came closer and helped them to stand. Then they all began the walk back towards the palace, the brothers walking a bit ahead of everyone else.

"So, why are you here brother? I did not think to see you for at least a week; I figured you would still be in bed."

"If it were up to me, you would not. But my dutiful wife expects us to go back to business as usual."

"Even Mother and Father had a honeymoon."

"I told her this. The Woman is insufferable to me," he said, looking down at the ground to hide the grin of pure joy that crossed his face at the thought of his wife "She sets her mind upon a thing and will not give in until it is accomplished. She does not listen to me. She is stubborn and feisty. And none of it would bother me at all if she did not have this strange ability to…chastise me."

"Chastise?"

"Yes, she finds out things that I do, that I do with entirely no wrong intentions, but simply because I want to do them, and she makes me feel like they are bad. She chastises me."

"She appeals to your conscience Brother,"

Thor said, poking Loki on the chest where his heart lied. Loki looked taken aback.

"Nonsense, I have no conscience."

"Tis what you would like us all to believe, little Loki," he said, putting his brother in a most affectionate headlock "But I know better, and Sigyn knows best of all."


Sigyn sat on the bottom stair of her golden staircase and sighed a tired and exasperated sigh. She had spent the first half of the day in Odin's library looking through every book on Muspelheim she could find, searching for an alternative answer to overcome the heat of the plane than the aid of a Frost Giant.

I should simply take Loki's heart in a jar with me, it is certainly cold enough.

She thought, with another sigh as she rested her head in her hands and smiled. She regretted thinking it a little, but she could not bring herself to admit it. She wanted to be furious with him for what he had done, but the fact that he had gone to such extremes for her delighted a part of her to no end. He came through the door and looked around. Sunlight flooded the many windowed house, and made the staircase she sat upon gleam and shimmer, and her on it. She lifted her head to look at him, scowled in his direction, and quickly put her head back down.

"This is no way to start a marriage."

"Tell me about it."

"What happened?" He said, sitting next to her and placing a hand of comfort on her back "Did you find the task as impossible as I said."

"No, you liar, it is not impossible. It is potentially deadly, and I will most likely need to bargain my life away to a Frost Giant, but the task is not impossible." She shook with anger and knocked Loki's hand off of her, she made a very deliberate effort not to smile at him as he glared at her. "You should be ashamed of yourself."

"I'm not at all ashamed of myself, Love." She let him kiss her, then pushed him away "I want you to stop this. You made an effort, the task is impossible, now stop."

"No." she said, the finality of her position evident in her tone "You waste your time to ask it of me. And stop saying it is impossible. It is absolutely possible, and I intend to do it. The moment I get my hands on a Frost Giant I am on my way to Muspelheim."

He grabbed her chin and turned her head forcefully to face him, she moved to knock his hand away, but was intercepted by his other hand, which pinned her arm behind her back.

"Don't think to defy me Woman," he snarled at her "I am your husband and you will obey me."

She painted a look of fear on her face, and managed to summon a tear to her eye.

"Loki, you're hurting me."

His eyes fell to her arm, and his concern for her well being was evident in how quickly he released his grip and touched her shoulders gently. Her hands flew to his throat as she climbed onto his lap and pinned him against the stairs.

"You do not control me, Loki. I will do what you say for the most part, because I respect that you are my husband, but you will never control me." He looked amazed at her, then suddenly his eyes lowered and he licked his lips. "You're insane."

"I want you."

"And what if I say," she began, moving closer to him and tightening her grip on his neck "That you cannot have me until you bring me a frost giant."

"I would rally you an entire army of them." He declared as he played with a strand of her hair "The truth of it is that you can control me Sigyn, and I am not ashamed of that fact either."

"Good. Then you will help me, and I will give you what you want."

She kissed him, passionately, feeling a little bad about her treatment of him. She remembered Hugo's warning about Laufey and whispered into Loki's ear as he nuzzled her neck.

"Disregard my demands, my Loki, for I do not wish for you to commit another nearly irreversible act of recklessness. I will find another way." He nodded and continued to lavish her neck with affection, she held the back of his neck and gently stroked it "How was your morning?"

"Fine."

He was reduced to one word answers by his desire for his wife. He did not wish to hold a conversation about his tedious morning, he wanted to touch her, and kiss her, and hear her say his name as she had the night before. He decided that she was an intoxicating agent to him. She filled his head and his heart with the same kind of daze, sometimes even a stupor, and it lingered within him even when they were apart. Nothing was too much to ask if she asked it, everything paled in comparison to her. She was the first thing he had ever gotten that was completely his own, the first thing he did not have to compete with Thor for.

"I have to meet Rona in a few minutes Loki," she said as he pulled the strap of her gown from her shoulder "You'll have to wait."

"She can wait," he stood with her, she wrapped her legs around his body and her arms around his neck as he carried her into their still empty living room and lay her down on the floor. The only thing between them was their clothes as he kissed her again, running his hands down her body, damning the champagne colored clothe of her gown all the way. He wanted to feel her skin. "Do not go to her. Stay with me, we can spend the rest of the day together and go back to our duties tomorrow."

"And tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow after that and you will keep pushing for tomorrow and tomorrow will never come." She smiled sweetly up at him, her frustration with his deeds had subsided for the moment. "I would love to stay in and make love to you all day, but we have responsibilities."

"We will always have responsibilities."

He ignored her protests and removed her gown; she wore a strapless silk slip beneath it, which stopped at her knees. She looked puzzled as he lifted it to her waist and proceeded to kiss her belly button, his hands gently caressing the soft skin of her flat stomach. She moved her abdomen in and out and giggled at his kisses and the feeling of his tongue on the sensitive skin of her belly. He planted little kisses all the way down to the top of her lace underwear, and began to remove them with his teeth, when there was a sudden knock, loud and urgent, at the door.

"Come quickly, your majesties, your assistance is needed at the palace!"


It's short, but I will probably add more later tonight after class. I really want to know what you think about the story so far, so feel free to leave some reviews. Good or bad, I can take it! ; )