Disclaimer: Don't own it.
AN: I finally updated this! Honestly, this has been ready for about a month now, but real life interfered! Hopefully, I'll get another chapter up in time for Civil War. Also hopefully, people are still interested in this. I also just finished plotting this baby out, and all my interest has once again been ignited.
Interlude (II) – Year One
"And now I have two."
Those were the first words Loki heard from his new teacher. He watched as a not so frail but no doubt old man stepped into the front of the room. If he were to guess, Master Kvasir was about the age of High King Njord.
In short, very old, and undoubtedly very powerful.
Kvasir smiled gently at the Crown Princess and then turned to face Loki with a more withdrawn, almost tentative face at the Asgardian. "But two what exactly, I do not know."
He sat down across them and opened his palms on the long table that separated them. "If you will excuse me Princess, I will be giving my usual opening lecture." He turned to Loki again, pausing before continuing. "I now have two pupils, two protégés, two assistants, under my wing. This will not be the usual way of teaching where I lecture you on theories and give you time to practice. Instead, I will give you books to read and we shall debate on them during our time together. I will send you to the far reaches of Vanaheim, and maybe even Alfheim if Prince Loki stays long enough, so that you may use what I teach you here from the books and practical uses of whatever branch of seior you decide to specialize in. Understood?"
"I understand Master Kvasir." Loki acquiesced as Sigyn simply nodded in answer.
Kvasir sat back. "Since the three of us will be working together, at least for the mornings since Princess Sigyn has her own concentration most afternoons, we will not start our studies today." He pointed at the two of them. "For the next three hours, you two will get to know each other."
He stood up as the two stayed seated.
"Master Kvasir? Are you leaving?" Sigyn asked as she suddenly sat up, alert as Kvasir made his way back to where he entered.
"I will be inside my office, making sure you two converse with one another. You two will have missions together and trust will be the key to your success." Kvasir paused and gave them another smile. "Think of it as an exercise for the future chief advisor of the King of Asgard, and the future Queen of Vanaheim, two realms that are naturally allies."
Sigyn looked alarmingly at Loki than at Kvasir. "No offense to the Prince but I'm not completely comfortable with being alone with him. Nor am I allowed I believe."
"No offense taken Princess," was Loki's dry response.
"I assure you both, I will be able to hear everything from my office." Kvasir paused. "If you'd like, I can start your conversation."
Loki gave him a 'go ahead' gesture as Sigyn glanced wearily at the man next to her, someone she would have to be stuck with for a long period of time.
"In the mythology of the mortals, the say that you, my Prince, is married to a Sigyn as well." Kvasir held his palms out. "Discuss," then he left the two of them alone.
"I guess my mother must be venturing into Midgard. And again, not to be offensive, Prince Loki, but I have no urge at all to marry you." Sigyn said after a brief moment of silence following the exit of the old man.
"And here I am, ready to start yet another war between our nations for your refusal to marry me."
Sigyn held in the urge to roll her eyes as she got up to open the windows, letting the fresh, ocean breeze that seemed to roll through the whole of the Capital come in. "That you would want to start a war flatters me, Prince Loki."
While Sigyn had resisted her urge to roll her eyes, Loki did no such thing and rolled his eyes as he also got up, starting to browse the books in the shelves of the room they were in. "I am Aesir. I start wars over every little threat to my honor." He said in an exaggerated tone that did cause Sigyn to roll her eyes as she instinctively reached for a book on a shelf near here, knowing the contents of the room far better after being tutored by Kvasir for a little more than a decade.
"And I am Vanir and I like to talk everything out to avoid wars, honor or not." Sigyn replied as she hoisted herself to the windowsill, keeping the skirts of her daily gown tucked under her legs. "The mortals have weird ideas about you. If a Prince of Asgard were to be married, I think I would have heard of it."
Loki grinned her way. "As you can see, I am not."
Sigyn nodded as she opened the book in her hands, a treatise on the place of women in society. "I can see since you just offered to go to war for my hand." Her eyes met his and then she let out a small laugh.
Loki pulled a book that interested him and sat back down, opening it. "I would ask what is so funny but I seem to remember a little version of you hiding behind me once upon a time."
"Oh. That was you? I thought it was some other noble." Sigyn waved it away as she turned her attention to the view outside the window. "This is going to be fun." She whispered under her breath before she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ears and began reading.
"Princess Sigyn."
Loki received no answer from the Vanir princess and he tried again. It was late in the afternoon and he really wanted to return to his quarters to rest after a particularly draining seior lesson with Kvasir. While yes, he had mastered the usage of illusions and most attack and defense seior, even some basic shape shifting, he was only now learning those considered taboo in Asgard, but not on Vanaheim.
It was all draining and all he wanted was to bathe in peace. Now if only the princess in front of him would reply.
"Princess Sigyn."
This time, he received an absent wave of her hand, as she stayed bent over the book she was reading, her attention never wavering as she turned the page.
Making a mental note that he did not sign up for this when he agreed to undergo tutelage by Kvasir, undoubtedly one of the best seior users aside from the Goddess of Seior herself, Loki tried yet again. "Crown Princess Sigyn."
This time, he did receive an answer. A soft 'grr' escaped her lips and he felt the quick tugging of his lips at the sound of a lady of her station growling. "Did you just growl at me Princess Sigyn?"
Sigyn recognized the voice, heard the amusement laced within the said voice, and looked up from her place on the steps of one of the stairs leading to one of many fountains made to imitate a waterfall in the royal gardens. "May I help you Prince Loki?" She asked, curious since he never actively sought her out outside of Kvasir's classroom and the dinners he would sometimes attend.
"I thought you might like this Princess back." Loki said, hand reaching to the shoulder of one small figure hiding under his cape. "It seems you Freyjadottirs enjoy hiding beneath my cape."
Sigyn fought very hard to not let her surprise be seen and she opened her arms for her youngest sister. "What are you doing hiding underneath Prince Loki's cape, Snottra?" She asked, eyes wide at the whole situation. "And I did not hide beneath your cape. I hid beneath the table in which your cape just happened to be there."
Snottra, more than half Sigyn's age and looked to be nine or ten in Midgardian years, placed a finger on her lips and looked around as she gave a brief 'ssh' before sitting next to Sigyn, behind a fern that Freyja had the gardener plant next to this particular waterfall.
Getting no answer from the youngest Freyjadottir, she turned her attention to the Odinson who had brought her here.
"I found her hiding behind one of the pillars of the guest house. She looked to be hiding from someone." Loki explained and Sigyn nodded, realization dawning.
"She must have been hiding from her own tutor." She said then looked down at her sister and sighed before standing up. "Come on, imp. Let's go hide in my quarters." She turned to Loki just as Snottra wrapped an arm around Sigyn's waist, a finger hitching onto the thin golden belt Sigyn wore with her daily gown. Sigyn wrapped and arm around her sister's shoulder. "Thank you for bringing my sister to me, Prince Loki."
Loki nodded and reached for her hand, kissing her knuckles briefly and straightened up. "I shall see you at the evening meal, Princess Sigyn."
"And you." Sigyn muttered under her breath as she watched his retreating back. She glanced down at her sister. "What was the lesson that had you escaping from your tutor?" She asked as she led them down the stairs and path.
"Mistress was trying to make me learn about the War. It was boring." Snottra replied as she kept close to her sister, in case the handmaiden in charge of her would come looking for her. She knew her sisters would keep her out of trouble. Or at least, Sigyn would, and Var too, but not Nanna or Lofn. No, those two would lead her straight back to her tutor.
Snottra was glad that the visiting Prince of Asgard took her to Sigyn.
There were many things Sigyn would rather be doing, quite honestly. She had an essay on the history of the line of succession in Jotunheim (why she was studying it, she knew not since her Aunt Gerda, a Jotun herself, had already told her all about King Laufey and his wayward sons), a book on the dynamics of the lower rungs of Vanir society to read by the next full moon in just ten days (650 pages!), a healing potion to perfect, not to mention she had to read over the latest reports for her visit to the Vanir Assembly in the morning.
But yet, here she was, climbing a tree. It wasn't her fault either. Snottra had simply tossed a ball too high and it ended up in one of the trees surrounding the Royal Gardens.
If she had mastered the levitation aspect of seior, she may already be on the ground. But as it was, she simply had no skill for anything outside the sphere of healing seior and different types of potions, so she was going to have to make do with climbing the tree. Conveniently forgetting that she didn't know how to climb down a tree.
With a sigh, she decided to either guess her way through it, or jump down. With closed eyes, she threw the small red ball over her shoulder, at the general vicinity where Snottra was waiting for the offending object to be thrown back at the ground.
What she didn't know was that Loki had run into the situation himself in a stroll he had taken to get some fresh air. When Snottra's eyes lit up at the sight of him, he out a finger on his lips, the universal sign to be quiet.
Snottra nodded and pointed at where her sister was, at the third branch of the tree.
An eyebrow rose and Loki knelt down. "I'll take care of this. Why don't you go hide and scare your sister?" He asked quietly. With a nod, Snottra hurriedly hid behind a large bush nearby and Loki stood up just as a ball was hurled his way.
"Have I done something wrong to incur your wrath, Princess Sigyn?" Loki drawled out, quite enjoying this small bubble of amusement that he had walked into.
Startled, Sigyn turned around, grasping the trunk of the tree as she stumbled a bit, having turned too quickly. "I'm so sorry!"
Loki held the ball in his palm. "Should I take this as an act of war, Princess?"
"No! Of course not! Purely an accident. My sister, she accidentally threw the ball too high and it landed here so…here I am." Sigyn finished lamely, gesturing to her general vicinity, knowing in her mind she sounded quite idiotic.
"There you are."
She heard a small giggle – well, not so small considering she could hear it from her place up in a tree - but she was sure it was Snottra. "And here you are." Sigyn replied, not really knowing why he was there in the first place.
"Here I am. The innocent Prince of Asgard, out for a walk in the Royal Gardens when suddenly, a ball thrown by the Crown Princess of Vanaheim is thrown at my direction."
Sigyn fought off the urge to scoff at his description of being 'innocent.' Aina had made it her duty to forever warn her off any association with him, murmuring on and on about his dalliances and whatnot. So, innocent? She knew he was not. But that was not the issue at hand.
"Well… My sister was there just a minute ago." She said, pointing to where he was standing.
"And now she is not."
"Yes."
"Leading us to this unfolding inter-realm incident.." Loki dramatically held his hands out, as if this would really start some sort of incident at any level.
"Inter-realm –" Sigyn paused, exasperated, and continued. "Will you please stop playing with me, Prince Loki?"
"If the Princess insists, then I shall." A hand found it's way to his chest as Loki nodded his head in a mockingly solemn manner.
"Well, I also insist that you turn around." Sigyn said as she figured she had enough of being mocked for the day and indicated with her finger that he was to turn around.
He may be twice her age, but she was still of higher rank than him.
"Whatever for Princess?" Loki asked, despite knowing full well why.
"So I can maneuver my way down without you looking up my skirt."
At the mere mention of it, Loki glanced up and while he actually couldn't see anything, he tilted his head, pretending that he could. "But I rather like my view at the moment."
"Prince Loki!"
With a sigh, Loki closed his eyes as he held a hand out to her general area, as if to take her hand for when she reached the bottom branch, to help her down. "If you insist."
It took Sigyn a while, but, accepting the hand offered, she was finally on good, solid ground. She let out a breath of relief and, taking her hand out of Loki's own, she smoothed down her gown. "Thank you Prince Loki."
"It is no trouble at all, Princess Sigyn."
Sigyn nodded before turning to the attention of a giggling bush. "Snottra, one more giggle out of you and I'm bringing you back to your tutor and will not help you escape your lessons until the next full moon. And I'll make sure Var will not as well."
"But sister! I didn't mean any harm! Prince Loki thought of it." Snottra whined as she left her hiding spot and pouted.
"Very harsh, Princess Sigyn." Loki murmured under his breath.
"You sometimes have to be with little siblings." Sigyn said before turning back to him. "I thought you would be having a lesson with Master Kvasir."
"He let me out early. It seems we shall have our first quest together tomorrow."