Chapter 10

"All packed, My Lady." Amma smiled at Sigyn as she closed her small case for the night. Loki had suggested that she come with them to Vanaheim so she could meet their friend. Sigyn suspected that it was a way to take her mind off things

"Thank you, Amma."

"Of course. Are you sure you did not want to pick your own dress for the party this evening?"

"Quite sure. I have no idea about clothes. My trust in you has served me well so far, so I have complete confidence that you have picked a beautiful dress."

"That is very kind, Princess."

"It's the truth." She spoke with a smile.

"Are you ready, Sigyn?" Loki's voice came from the other side of the bedroom door.

"Yes, yes," she replied as Amma took hold of the case before they moved to leave the room.

When they exited, Sigyn took Loki's arm and they headed towards the Bifrost, Amma trailing behind. On the way, Sigyn insisted that they stop at the kennels to say goodbye to Fenrir. Loki rolled his eyes when his wife went forward to pet the wolf, but quickly pulled her back when he started growling at Amma. Sigyn frowned. How could he still not be used to her?

When they eventually arrived at the Bifrost they were greeted outside by Heimdall. Sigyn felt slightly intimidated by his large presence and piercing gold eyes that stared into hers just before he bowed his head respectfully and led them inside. Thor, Sif, and the Warriors Three were already there.

When she first saw Fandral, Sigyn looked at him with sorrowful eyes. He returned her gaze with the same expression and stepped towards her. Staring at her for a few moments, he pulled her into his arms and hugged her.

She gasped and gripped his shoulders desperately as tears leaked onto his tunic.

"H-how can you n-not hate me?"

Fandral pulled back and held his sister's shoulders as he spoke. "Sigyn, you are my sister and always will be. Nothing can change that, especially something that happened years ago that you had no control over." He gave a small smile, and she returned it, wiping at her wet cheeks.

Giving her shoulders a squeeze, he dropped his arms and said loudly, "Are we ready to go then?"

"We wait for one more." Heimdall's booming voice echoed around them.

Thor frowned and looked around at the others in the Bifrost. "But we are all here."

"Lord Theoric is also travelling to Vanaheim."

Sigyn's eyes flashed to Loki who returned her gaze. In the distance they could see a horse and rider making their way up the rainbow bridge towards them. Even from this distance she could tell it was Theoric.

As he got closer, Loki moved over to stand by Sigyn, and placed a protective hand on her back.

Theoric arrived, a sly smile twisting his features as he jumped from his horse. "A servant will come by soon to collect my steed." Although he had been speaking to Heimdall, he did not once take his eyes off Sigyn.

Noticing this, Loki shifted even closer to her.

Theoric's smirk grew as he noticed this possessive display. "Princess Sigyn," he bowed his head respectfully, "you look as radiant as ever. Marriage is clearly suiting you."

A shiver went down Sigyn's spine as he spoke, and she lowered her eyes to the ground. Doing so, she missed the way Theoric's eyes raked down her body appraisingly as if she were a piece of meat.

Loki, however, did not miss this and was about to say something when his brother obnoxiously beat him to it.

"Shall we go then? I am anxious to see our good friend."

"Yes, let's. Heimdall?" Fandral spoke having noticed the tension.

The gatekeeper nodded and gestured for them all to take their places.

When he placed his sword into the Bifrost, the void started to swirl. Sigyn grasped Loki's hand without thinking, nervous at what was to happen.

A strange pulling feeling suddenly overtook her and she was flying. A mirage of beautiful colours swirled around her as she soared through the air, grasping her husband's hand tightly. Although the journey was only a short one, less than a minute, Sigyn knew the experience would stay with her forever.

When they landed in Vanaheim, Sigyn stumbled slightly from the sudden stop. Loki's grip on her hand tightened, but she just turned to smile at him. "I'm alright."

"My friends!" A voice shouted from across the field they had landed in.

The group all turned to look in the direction of the voice to see a woman in the distance. As she moved closer, Sigyn could see that she had honey blonde waves that reached just past her shoulders. She was fairly tall as well. Taller than Sigyn, about the same height as Sif.

Sigyn could only presume that this was the friend that they had all come to see.

She greeted everyone with a hug, even Loki who she smirked at as she pulled away, knowing that it annoyed him. She didn't go near Theoric, however, who had distanced himself from the group.

When she came to stand in front of Sigyn she pulled her into a hug as well. Sigyn stiffened slightly before relaxing and returning her embrace.

When she pulled away she smiled at Sigyn and spoke. "You must be Sigyn, Fandral's sister, and recently married to Loki I believe."

"Yes," Sigyn smiled, "I am terribly sorry, but I am afraid I do not know your name."

She raised her eyebrows and looked around at the others with a mock glare. "Honestly. You dragged her all the way here and none of you bothered to tell her my name." She turned her intense brown eyes back to Sigyn. "My name is Aryia, it is a pleasure to meet you."

Sigyn's brow knitted ever so slightly. She had heard that name before, but she could not remember where from. "Aryia? It sounds familiar."

Aryia laughed. "I didn't know I'd made a name for myself in Asgard?"

Thor laughed loudly. "My Lady, it is quite difficult for anyone to forget you."

Sigyn tried to think where she had heard Aryia's name before. It was only when her brother suggested that they head to their accommodation that she remembered.

"Ah! It was you, Fandral!" Sigyn exclaimed, and the others turned to look at her. "You used to talk about her all the time."

Fandral looked slightly bashful as he replied. "Not all the time, Sigyn. Maybe once or twice. As often as my other friends."

"Well then, why didn't she remember our names when she was introduced to us?" Sif joined in, a teasing smirk playing at the corner of her lips.

"I don't know. People remember strange things. Now, shall we go? I am sure you ladies need plenty of time to prepare for the celebration this evening."

Aryia, Sif and Sigyn all shared smiles before making their way to the grand home they would be staying in.

After they had settled into their room, Sigyn and Loki decided to go and find the others.

"You are free to do as you please," Sigyn told Amma with a smile, "just be sure to be back in time to help me get ready for this evening."

"Of course, Princess. Thank you." Amma bobbed a little curtsy to both Sigyn and Loki before leaving.

Loki waited patiently whilst Sigyn braided her hair again to neaten it, and smoothed out her dress. When she was finished she turned to him with a smile and took his arm when he offered it to her.

They strolled outside towards the training field where the others where. Loki remained silent as Sigyn pointed out certain things in her surroundings that took her interest. It was rather charming to see her getting so excited about such trivial things. It was of course due to the fact that she had barely left her house in the past.

When the pair arrived at the training field they saw that Sif and Fandral were sparring. Thor and Aryia shouted support at Sif whilst Volstagg did the same for Fandral.

Sigyn stood to the edge of the field with Loki, watching the two warriors fight with fascination.

Eventually Sif got the upper hand as she managed to fling Fandral's sword away from him and pointed her own at his throat. They both stood there panting, and Fandral slowly raised his arms in surrender. Cheers erupted from Thor and Aryia as Fandral's mouth twisted slightly in annoyance at his wounded pride.

"Don't look so sour, brother," Sigyn shouted across to him, "by the way you boast about it, I am certain you are an excellent swordsman."

The others in the field laughed, even Loki giving a small chuckle beside her as they started to walk towards the group.

"You fight excellently, Lady Sif." Sigyn smiled at the dark haired woman who smiled in thanks.

"Do you do much sparring yourself?" Aryia asked.

"None at all I'm afraid."

"I don't know about that," Loki joined in, "you've threatened me with an ice blade once or twice." Thor sniggered in response.

"Yes, and you've always managed to disarm me easily enough."

"Oh, of course," Aryia spoke, "you have those powers."

Sigyn suddenly became self-conscious. "Yes. I apologise if it offends you."

"No, not at all. I think it's incredible. Would you perhaps show me?"

"Err," she became slightly flustered, "what would you like me to do?"

Aryia's chocolate eyes sparkled with excitement. "Could you cover the training field in ice? I'd love to skate on it."

Sigyn nodded, and as she bent down to remove one of her boots Volstagg called out. "Hang on! Some of us are less than graceful. Give us a chance to get to the edge."

She waited as all but Loki and Aryia had left her to go and grasp onto the fence surrounding them. At first Fandral looked as though he was going to the side too, but he seemed to change his mind and stood by Aryia.

Once they were all secure, Sigyn bent down again, holding onto Loki for balance as she unlaced her boot. She held it in her free hand while she stood on one leg. Carefully, she brought her bare foot down to the grass. The moment her toe touched it a thick layer of ice started to spread from Sigyn, all across the field. Aryia wobbled ever so slightly at the diminished friction, but Fandral reached for her arm to stop her from falling. She nodded to him in thanks.

Sigyn smiled knowingly at her brother, who either didn't notice or chose to ignore her. She suspected the latter.

They all slid about on the ice for the next hour or so, most of them deciding to stay by the edge to grip onto the fence.

Sigyn smiled at seeing Fandral so close to Aryia most of the time. She wasn't ignorant of his exploits with women, but she knew she never talked about them, at least not as much as he had about Aryia. It was clear he liked her, and Sigyn was happy for her brother.

She also noted that she had never seen her husband quite as happy as he was at that moment. She watched, as she was swirling around in circles with Aryia, as he messed with his brother. He was using all sorts of tricks and spells to irritate Thor, whose reactions clearly were highly amusing Loki.

As Sigyn was twirling around with Aryia, she suddenly let her go causing Sigyn to go spinning of uncontrollably. She ended up grabbing onto the fence to stop herself from moving, finding it difficult to breathe with the amount of giggles erupting from her.

Her laughter suddenly stopped, however, when she looked up to see Theoric standing right in front of her, on the other side of the fence. Sigyn stared at him with wide eyes before straightening up and trying to move away and put some distance between them. When he noticed what she was doing, he reached out to grab her wrists, making her unable to move back.

"It's a lovely trick," he whispered gesturing to the ice with is eyes. He leaned in so close that she could feel his breath wash over her face when he spoke again. "Be careful you don't hurt yourself, Princess. Your magic can be quite dangerous."

By this time the others had noticed what was happening and had started to make their way over. When Loki got closer, Theoric released Sigyn, allowing her to slide away to stand by her husband.

"What can we help you with, Theoric?" Thor's voice boomed.

"Oh, I just thought I'd wish the Lady Aryia a happy birthday." He nodded in her direction. "I hope you are enjoying yourself, My Lady. I apologise for not introducing myself sooner."

"That's quite alright, Lord Theoric. I feel as if I know you already for I have heard so much about you."

Theoric smiled. "If it's from this lot then I can only presume you haven't heard many good things."

Aryia only smirked in return.

After a moment of silence Theoric spoke again. "I shall leave you to your fun. It was most delightful to see you all." With one last look at Sigyn he walked away.

As soon as he was out of hearing distance, Loki turned to his wife. "What did he say to you?"

"Nothing important," she whispered back whilst staring at the ground.

"Sigyn -,"

"I said it wasn't important," she snapped as she spun away from him and headed to exit the training field, leaving Loki stood there, watching her go.

Hours later Sigyn sat in a bathtub, cleansing herself for the evening festivities.

Amma was running round putting her clothes away and setting out the dress she had picked out for the party. It was currently draped over the back of a chair, and all that Sigyn could see of it was that it was made of a beautiful creamy white silk and had small golden details.

"Thank you, Amma, it looks beautiful." Sigyn nodded towards the dress.

The maid smiled gratefully.

"You really are a blessing," Sigyn said kindly.

She was cut off from saying anything more, however, when the sound of footsteps approached the door to the bedroom.

Sigyn tensed up, she had been on edge ever since Theoric had spoken to her; he had warned of danger. No, not warned. Threatened.

Her heart sped up as Amma went to the door to see who was there. When it opened, Sigyn's view was blocked. All she could see was Amma facing whoever was out there.

The maid looked at Sigyn one more time before stepping out of the room.

"Amma?" Sigyn's voice was panicked, and she gripped the sides of the bathtub with trepidation. When she heard heavy footsteps entering the room, her heart beat increased rapidly.

"I hope you don't mind me disturbing your bath." Her husband spoke as he walked past the door.

Sigyn let out a sigh of relief and collapsed against the back of the tub, breathing heavily in an attempt to calm her racing heart.

"Did I frighten you?" Loki said with a small smile.

"I was just a bit nervous, I suppose."

"A bit?" He chuckled. "Who were you expecting?"

She shook her head. "I apologise for the way I spoke to you earlier. It's just… he's just…"

"I know." He looked at his wife for a while. He disliked the affect Theoric had on her, so decided to change the subject.

Loki sauntered over and knelt beside the bathtub, dipping his finger in the water and swirling it around. "Well, I'm glad you've at least learnt not to trust your maid."

"What? Of course I trust her," she snapped.

He raised an eyebrow. "Enough to think that she would allow someone threatening in here, especially while you are so," he trailed his finger up her thigh under the water, "vulnerable."

Sigyn pushed his hand away. "I do trust her. I've just been a bit… on edge. You could try being nicer to her."

"Now, why would I do that?"

"I don't understand why you dislike her. What has she done to offend you?"

Loki looked at his wife for a while before speaking, gaging how she would react. "Fenrir doesn't like her."

Sigyn's eyes widened. "'Fenrir doesn't like her?'" She spoke slowly, as if to a child. "You can't be serious, he's a dog."

"Well that dog has saved your life twice. I'd say he has fairly good instincts on who can be trusted."

"So you're saying that you trust Fenrir more than me?"

"I have no doubt that you honestly believe Amma to be a good person. It's not you, it's her I don't trust." Loki grasped her hand and pulled it above the water, rubbing his thumb across the back of it. "I do trust you, Sigyn," he whispered. "Do you trust me?"

Sigyn closed her eyes and sighed before turning to look at him. "I suppose I better had after that oath I made."

Loki smiled. "Have you finished bathing?"

"Yes."

He stood and held his hand out. "Then would you mind joining me on the bed?"

Sigyn laughed. "It hasn't even been a day since the last time."

"That's far too long for my tastes. Technically we are still newly married, so it is expected." His smirk inched wider. "And I did neglect you before last night so I better make up for it."

Sigyn smiled and felt her insides warm at his words. She took his hand and allowed him to pull her up and step out of the bath.

His eyes scanned over her body, the green in them getting thinner and thinner as his pupils dilated with arousal. With a sweep of his hand, his own clothes vanished and he was left standing as naked as she was.

"You never told me you could do that," she said teasingly.

Loki put his arm around her and pulled her against him. "Well I rather liked the way you tore at my clothes, but I suppose this time I better just catch up with you seeing as you're so far ahead."

She smiled and leant forward to kiss him as her hand slid down his chest. She stopped just so that her fingers were millimetres away from his hardness, and her lips were just brushing his. Suddenly, she slipped away from him and darted to the other side of the room where her towel was. She looked into his eyes as she released her hair from its pin and let her light gold locks tumble down to her waist. She then picked up the towel and started drying herself, slowly rubbing the cloth all over her body.

When she bit into her full bottom lip, Loki couldn't remain still any longer. He bounded over to her, ripped the towel from her grasp, and threw her on the bed before pushing inside her.

When she moaned, he whispered into her ear, "When did you become such a little minx?"

Sigyn let out a breathy laugh. "When I pledged all of myself to you."

With a wide smile he pulled back and then pushed inside of her again and again, revelling in the sweet noises escaping her lips.

A few hours into the party Loki had just finished a conversation with his brother and decided he would leave for some peace and quiet. He didn't mind large social gatherings, but sometimes all the hubbub got a bit much for him. Before leaving he looked around for Sigyn. He noticed that she was comfortable in the company of Aryia. The two seemed to get along easily. Seeing that she was content his eyes raked down her body. The way the dress hung from her frame had nearly made him hike up the skirt and take her again when he had first seen her in it. He removed himself from the room with a smirk on his face.

The prince decided to go back to the accommodation he was sharing with his wife. He had brought a few books with him and thought he might read them.

As he approached the door, he was about to open it when he heard voices on the other side. If it had just been any voices he would have assumed they were servants cleaning the room, but he recognised this voice. As soon as he heard the snide tone it put him on edge.

He turned the handle and pushed the door open at the same time that the voice said, "Just a few more weeks." The door opened fully to show Theoric towering over Amma whose slightly hunched shoulders showed her discomfort.

Theoric's expression faltered slightly from the shock of seeing Prince Loki, but he quickly covered it up with a smooth smile. "My Prince," his tone was patronising as he bowed.

Loki looked at the pair of them for a while, his expression stony. He eventually slightly inclined his head to Amma. "You are dismissed." The maid bobbed a quick curtsy before rushing out of the room.

There was a long silence as the two men stood across from each other. The tense atmosphere was getting thicker and thicker as each second ticked by. So thick in fact that they could feel it on their skin, like an irritating itch that couldn't be gotten rid of.

"Well," Theoric suddenly spoke, "I best be going. I'm very busy, and if you haven't got anything to say -." He had been walking towards the door as he was speaking and as he was about to pass Loki the prince's hand shot out to slam against the doorframe, blocking the other man's exit.

Theoric's eyebrow rose slowly as his dark eyes rose to meet a green glare.

"What. Were you doing. In here?" Loki hissed. The way he spoke would have sent shivers down anyone's spine, but Theoric was showing no intimidation.

"Talking to your maid. She's very pretty, not as pretty as the princess of course, but sadly she's taken."

Loki smirked at Theoric's attempt to get a rise out of him. "Yes, she is taken. I have taken her numerous times all of which were very… loud."

"A screamer is she?"

"Only because I make her."

"Now, how would you know that? Has she been taken by other men? Maybe you should experiment. I would be a more than willing volunteer."

"Oh, you'd love that, wouldn't you? I wouldn't hang onto that wish, Theoric. I can assure you it will go unfulfilled. She's mine, and I don't like sharing."

There was a flicker of something in Theoric's black eyes. "Neither do I, My Prince." He bowed his head before leaving the room.

When his footsteps dissipated Loki slammed his hand against the door in fury. No matter how much he tried to make it otherwise, Theoric always managed to get to him.

Calm yourself, he thought, He has no hold over you. There is no reason for rage. He doesn't have her. She is yours. Loki took deep breaths as he picked up a book and went to sit down, to read in silence.

A.N. Hello! I am awfully sorry for the ridiculous amount of time that has passed since I last updated. First I took a break because I had really important exams (I get my results tomorrow!) and then because I stopped I found it really difficult to get back into the right mind set for writing. Seriously, I really struggled to write this chapter. ANYWAY I'm back and hopefully will be updated a little more regularly again.

TUMBLR UPDATENESS: For those of you that saw my previous mention of my blog for this story I've made a slight change to it, and to those who have yet to see it then feel free to check it out. The blog is now called ellie-on-an-island and it is about all of my pieces of writing not just this story. I will also be posting this story up there and any other ones I'm writing. DON'T WORRY! I won't stop posting on but when this story is finished I will just be using Tumblr for my others. If you find and follow me then please let me know that you found me through Frozen Heart and I will follow you back.

And finally, what do you think of this chapter? How do you like Loki and Sigyn's relationship? What do you think about Aryia (and Fandral's behaviour towards her)? What about Amma? And what is Theoric up to? Let me know! I love hearing from you guys. One of the most rewarding things about writing is knowing that people are recieving enjoyment from it x

p.s. thanks to my beta prettyyoungthing