There was a stale, foul taste in her mouth when Sigyn woke up. She tried to swallow, but her mouth was too dry. Groggy, she opened her eyes and tried to see where she was.

Her chamber was dark, only one of the curtains parted in the middle to allow some sunlight in. Her stomach hurt, keeping her from sitting up, but Sigyn was able to glance around. She stopped when she saw the figure in the corner.

She must have gasped because the figure looked up, and suddenly she recognized him. "Loki," she croaked. She laid back against her pillows, closing her eyes again. "What happened?"

"Several things," Loki said. She heard him step over to her bedside, then pour some water into a cup. "First, you were ambushed at the festival. The crowd seemed to come under the impression you attacked a child and retaliated."

Loki put a hand underneath her neck and lifted her up gently. Sigyn propped herself up on her elbows and drank the freezing water gratefully.

"And," Loki said at length, "you were poisoned."

She spit out the water. "W-what?" Sigyn choked, forgetting the pain in her stomach as she sat up.

Loki paused, setting the cup down and handing her a cloth to dry herself off with. "Perhaps I should have told you that in a better way," he admitted. "It's true. Someone, at some point during the festival, put poison into your drink. A large enough dose to kill you."

Sigyn whimpered, pulling the blankets further up. "Why would... but..."

Loki stared at her, green eyes dark in the dim light. "There are plenty of reasons why someone would want you dead," he said. "But let's not focus on that right now. Eir managed to save you. You should rest for another few days, and then you'll be allowed out again."

Her mind whirred. Someone had tried to kill her. Who? Someone who did not want Jotunheim and Asgard to join together, that much was obvious. And if they had tried to kill her, then what of-

Sigyn swallowed hard. "What of Helblindi?"

Loki gave her a long look. "He's fine. He was not poisoned."

Her shoulders slumped. "So then it was just me?"

"So it was," Loki said. He was strangely quiet, too controlled. It made her uneasy. It was as if something lurked underneath that he was only barely keeping bound. Because of her?

She shook her head. Surely it wasn't that.

"It seems people have caught on to your purpose for being here, even without the announcement," Loki continued. "And now they wish to put an end to it."

Sigyn fiddled with her thin blanket, biting her lip. Someone had poisoned her. And if Loki hadn't found her in time, if she'd followed the little girl just a bit further...

She shivered. She would be dead now. Sigyn hugged her arms and laid back down against the pillows. "Do they know who tried to poison me?"

"No," Loki said. "Clearly it was someone from the servant class. No one else would have had access to your drink." He studied her carefully and she fidgeted under his scrutiny. "We'll find them, Sigyn. And the people responsible for deciding to poison you."

Sigyn put a hand to her chest, where the pendant had rested. "And the necklace?"

Loki frowned. "You're worried about that?"

"It was a nice gift," she answered quietly, unable to meet his gaze. "No one has given me gifts before. I did not want to lose it."

The silence stretched on until Loki got up and went over to the box Dagny had set out to put her jewelry in. He opened it and dug around for a moment before pulling a familiar silver chain out. Her heart nearly stopped altogether at the sight of it.

"We found the girl," Loki said, bringing it back over. "It's yours again." He stared at her. "Does it truly mean so much to you?"

"It does, Loki."

She held her hand out and Loki paused before letting the chain slip from his fingers and into her palm. His fingertips brushed her skin lightly as his hand fell back to the mattress. Sigyn's breath caught, and then she forced herself not to react past that.

"Then I'm happy you like it," Loki said politely. He held himself stiffly, almost awkwardly, as if he wasn't certain where to go in this situation.

Neither was Sigyn, if she were to be honest. Things had shifted slowly but surely between her and Loki. She'd known how to handle him when he was against her; now that they seemed to have reach some kind of understanding, she had no idea what was expected of her.

How sad that I am more comfortable with people being cruel to me, Sigyn thought a second later. She had rarely known anything different.

"I do," she said with a small nod. "Thank you, Loki."

He nodded shortly and then stood, straightening his tunic. "I'll tell Lady Eir you've awoken. She'll come in soon to check you over."

The thought of being alone again after everything filled her with terror. Sigyn sat up quickly as Loki made for the door. "Wait."

He stopped, turning to look at her.

"I..." She swallowed and wondered how pathetic she must have looked, pleading with him. "I do not want to be alone."

Loki blinked, then his hand fell from the doorknob to his side. "You wish for me to stay with you?"

Unable to find her voice, Sigyn nodded and smiled hopefully. Loki seemed lost for a moment, then turned away. He opened the door, and just as Sigyn thought he was going to ignore her request, she heard him muttering to someone just outside.

Once he closed it, Loki came back to sit on the edge of her bed. Another silence fell between them, awkward this time, and Sigyn had no idea how to diffuse it.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "For saving me at the festival."

Loki shrugged a shoulder. "I merely got to you first."

She resisted the urge to sigh. "Accept my thanks, please."

"You're welcome," he said with a small smirk. Sigyn smiled back, and his smirk widened slightly into a smile.

The awkwardness gone, they sat again in silence for a few more minutes until Sigyn carefully ventured, "Loki? When I am better... send the little girl to me, please. I want to meet her."

Loki stared at her, his expression unreadable. "Why?"

Sigyn straightened out the silver chain in her palm. "Because I wish to speak with her."

"And what will you say?"

Sigyn looked up at him through her eyelashes. "Do you think I must reprimand her?"

"She's already been reprimanded," Loki said. "I cannot guess as to what you intend, Sigyn."

She sat back, trying out a smirk of her own. "Guess. You had me guess what you meant to teach your brother with those goats, so now you must guess what I mean to do with the little girl."

Loki surprised her by laughing quietly. "You are..." He shook his head, and before she could ask him to finish, he looked at the wall and his expression became thoughtful. "You're not the reprimanding type, I don't think. You don't stand for nonsense, but I don't think you intend to be cruel to the girl."

She stayed silent, letting him think it out.

"I think you're curious," he said at length. "You're curious as to why she took your necklace and refused to give it back. Perhaps if you hadn't been attacked, you could have eventually talked her into giving it back. But," he said with a small shrug, "we'll never know now."

Sigyn smiled slightly and nodded. "I only wish to talk to her."

"So I was correct?" Loki asked, crossing his arms and looking almost pleased with himself.

"You were."

"Do I get a prize?" His expression shifted into something more intense, and Sigyn found herself suddenly feeling uncertain again.

"It depends on what sort of prize you ask for," she answered carefully.

Loki leaned forward, his voice becoming quiet. "The truth," he said. "Which I've been waiting for for quite some time."

Heart beating wildly in her chest, Sigyn gripped her blanket tightly. "I... I do not know what you mean."

He paused, then lifted a hand and gently brushed some hair out of her face. His fingertips traced a line from the edge of her forehead into her hair, and Sigyn's eyes fluttered shut as a shiver overtook her. Then she remembered and her gaze snapped up to him in horror.

The door opened then and Dagny came rushing in. "My lady!" She ran over to the bedside and threw her arms around Sigyn's shoulders, shocking her.

"Oh!"

"Careful, girl," Eir said as she stepped into the room, frowning in disapproval. "She's only just woken up and you're trying to knock her unconscious again?"

Dagny pulled away, blushing deeply. She sank into a curtsey for Loki and Sigyn. "Please forgive me."

"There is nothing to forgive," Sigyn said gently, touched that Dagny was so worried about her. Loki simply stood up and walked away from her, and Sigyn's gaze followed him as he went to lean on a wall. She swallowed hard.

He knew the truth. Loki knew she was capable of casting magic.

What would he do to her now?

Sigyn did not have a chance to ask him. As soon as Eir was finished with her examination, she shooed Loki and Dagny out of the room to give her some peace and quiet. Sigyn knew the healer meant well, and in Eir's position she would have done exactly the same.

But it did nothing for her anxiety about what Loki would do. Would he tell the Allfather? Dagny and Eir hadn't made any mention of it. Sigyn doubted Dagny would have hugged her as she had if she knew her lady were capable of magic. Loki was capable of magic himself, it was true, but that didn't mean he accepted it in everyone else. In her.

Those thoughts kept her tossing and turning in her bed until finally, Sigyn got up and began pacing her room. She considered the lack of guards a good thing. It meant Loki hadn't told anyone yet and they weren't coming to apprehend her.

When would he, then? Would he at all? Would their newfound friendship make him reconsider what to do?

Please, Sigyn thought. Please let him keep my secret. Please let him think kindly of me after this. Please do not let me lose my friend.

It was a few days later when Sigyn finally received another visitor. Eir had kept most everyone save herself and Dagny from visiting, and the silence from Loki was close to driving her to madness. When Dagny opened the door and said she had company, Sigyn had nearly screamed for joy.

That joy had quickly ended when she saw that it was not Loki who had come to visit her, but Theoric.

He stood awkwardly in the entryway for a few moments before finally stepping in. Dagny followed behind him, choosing a place to stand behind Sigyn, her head bowed.

"Theoric," Sigyn said once she'd recovered from her disappointment. "I did not expect to see you."

"I'm certain," Theoric said. "This is rather unusual, my visiting a lady's chambers." He blushed suddenly. "I mean, of course it is, I don't make a habit of visiting lady's chambers, officially or unofficially-" Theoric stopped, realizing he was making things worse.

Sigyn bit on her tongue to keep from laughing and heard Dagny cough quietly behind her, likely trying to do just the same. "It is fine. I know what you meant. So then... what brings you here today?"

Theoric cleared his throat, his blush slowly fading. "I am sorry I wasn't there for you at the festival. When I heard what happened, I-worried about how you would fare afterwards. But I'm heartened to see that you're recovering quickly."

Sigyn inclined her head and smiled, waiting for him to get to the point.

"I've gone to the Queen and Allfather," Theoric said. Sigyn froze. Did he know her secret as well? "I suggested that it may be a good idea for you to have a guard, now that someone has made an attempt on your life. Your ladies kept you safe from physical attacks, but now it's clear you need added protection, not only outside of Gladsheim but inside as well."

Sigyn's brow creased in confusion. "Well, I suppose so, yes."

"And," Theoric hurried on, "they approved of my request. So, starting today, I am to be the head of your guard."

Sigyn blinked, then kept herself from reeling back. "Oh," she said flatly, then recomposed herself. "Oh, Theoric, you must not feel as if you have to do this," she said. "Truly, it is a kind and generous offer, but-"

"Please," Theoric said, stepping up to her and getting down on one knee. "I wish to be at your service, my lady. I would not have what happened to you at the festival happen again."

Sigyn swallowed, resisting the urge to look at Dagny for guidance. If the Allfather and Queen had approved it, what choice did she have? And truthfully, she would feel a little safer with a guard... perhaps. If it were just Theoric, she would. But anyone else set her on edge. She was too familiar with what Aesir Einherjar could do to those they viewed as the enemy. Especially women.

But Theoric would not allow that to happen, she hoped.

She took a hesitant breath before nodding. "Then I accept your offer, Theoric, and I thank you kindly. This means much to me, it truly does. I am certain with you at my side, no harm will ever come to me again."

Theoric positively beamed as he rose to stand. "Thank you, my lady."

"You do not have to thank me for anything," she said, embarrassed.

"But I shall anyway," Theoric said. "I'll be outside if you have need of me." He bowed to her before seeing himself out, casting one last look at her over his shoulder.

Sigyn stood there for a second, then turned to look at Dagny. "Well. What is for the midday?"

"My lady?"

Sigyn looked up from her book to see Dagny poking her head into her chamber. "You've some visitors."

She made certain she was dressed appropriately for visitors and stood, nodding to Dagny to let them in. Loki stepped in and her heart stopped, making her take a quick breath. Then she stilled her reaction and dropped into a curtsey. When she rose, Loki was joined by a familiar blonde headed girl, and it took Sigyn a second to place her.

Of course, she thought, the girl from the festival. She looked nervous, sticking close to Dagny's skirts, and Sigyn smiled reassuringly.

"As you asked for, my lady," Loki said. "The child who took your necklace."

Theoric stood at the doorway, but his shoulders were relaxed. He didn't expect any trouble from this, it seemed, but the looks he kept giving Loki made Sigyn wonder what his opinion of his Prince was.

She pushed that aside to think on later and sat back down. "Please, sit."

The child looked at Dagny, who nodded at her, and reluctantly came to sit across from Sigyn. She would be a pretty lady one day, when she grew up; her eyes were a startling blue, her hair a fine golden colour with wonderful curls. She would be the very idea of an Aesir beauty.

Sigyn wondered, briefly, what should would look like with pale skin and blonde curls and eyes the colour of the sky. Then, ashamed of even thinking of it, she focused on the matter at hand.

"Hello," she said to the girl. "I am Sigyn of Jotunheim. Who are you?"

"Dalla," the girl replied quietly, keeping her gaze averted to the floor.

It took Sigyn a brief pause to translate that in her mind, and when she did, her smile broadened. The girl's very name meant luminous and shining. Her parents had named her well, it seemed.

"It is very good to meet you properly, Lady Dalla." Sigyn motioned for Dagny to pour her a cup of water, which she did. Dalla eyed the servant with interest, then took the cup but did not drink from it. "I am sorry if what happened at the festival scared you. I did not mean to frighten you. I only wanted my necklace back."

Dalla didn't respond to that, so Sigyn continued.

"Why did you take it, my Lady?"

Dalla stared down at her cup intensely. Loki stepped up beside her chair and leaned down. "Answer the Princess, my Lady," he said gently. Sigyn felt a small jolt at being called a Princess, but did not let it register on her face.

"It was pretty," Dalla said sullenly. "I wanted it."

Sigyn nodded. "Were you going to keep it?"

As Dalla fidgeted, Sigyn did a quick study of her. Her dress, though obviously they best one she owned, was stretched taut across her shoulders and dug into her neck. There had obviously been some trim added to the hem once she'd outgrown it, but it was still slightly too short. Her shoes were dingy and frayed at the heels, and Sigyn could see evidence of someone stitching them back up with thin thread in order to make them last.

The girl was clean, but her clothes told a different story. A story Sigyn knew all too well, having once experienced it herself. How often had she stitched together her clothes to make them last just a few more weeks, a few more months, until she could find some replacement? How often had her mother mended and scraped together what she could for her only daughter, while she herself often went about in rags?

Her heart ached for Dalla. It was not the child's fault the Aesir attacked her. Everyone did what they could to survive, even children. Even the young caught on to how their families struggled and found ways to ease that pain.

"I imagine if you sold it, you would have enough money to buy whatever you liked," Sigyn continued on lightly. "But, my Lady, it is wrong to take other people's possessions without their permission. Yes?"

Dalla nodded, still not looking at her.

Loki glanced at her, watching her quietly. Sigyn met his gaze before looking away and taking a tentative sip of her water. It was not poisoned, but the fear still lingered. Sigyn wondered if it always would.

"Listen," Sigyn said after a pause, leaning in towards Dalla and smiling conspiratorally. "I will take you to the market place, yes? And there you can find any necklace you like, and I will buy it for you. It will be yours to keep. And your family-I will send them food from Gladsheim's own kitchens. Do you like buttered bread, Lady Dalla?"

Dalla's eyes lit up cautiously as she finally looked up at Sigyn. Silently she nodded.

Sigyn turned to Dagny. "Some bread for our guest, Dagny, and butter. A fresh, hot loaf!"

Dagny nodded and left. Theoric was smiling at her, and Loki-he looked as closed off as he always did. But Sigyn swore there was a hint of pleasure in his eyes as he stared at her, and Sigyn found that she liked it quite a bit.

If he still looked at her that way after he knew the truth, then perhaps things would not be so bad between them after all.

"You will get this same bread to take home with you," Sigyn said. "You may tell your family it came from the Princess of Asgard. And then tomorrow, when you are ready, you may come and join me in the marketplace and we will find you a pretty necklace of your own. Then I must meet your family, I am certain they are lovely. Yes?"

"Yes," Dalla said, slowly smiling.

Sigyn smiled back. "Wonderful," she said. "Lady Dalla, I think you and I shall be friends."

The rest of their meeting passed pleasantly, with Dalla finally opening up to her little by little. Sigyn sent a basket full of bread and butter home with her, along with another promise to buy her a necklace. Then it was only her, Loki and Dagny in her chambers, and Sigyn realized with a slow sinking feeling that this was the moment she had been dreading.

Loki met her gaze as he said to Dagny, "Leave us for a moment."

Dagny hesitated, then curtseyed and left. The door closed behind her and Sigyn swallowed hard.

"They will talk about that, you know," she said, trying for a joke, her smile shaky.

Loki shrugged. "Dagny will not, and it's only Theoric behind that door. He won't say a word, either." He paused and smirked. "Or maybe he will, out of his dislike for me. But that's not what I'm here about." He sat down across from her. "The truth, my Lady."

Was he truly going to make her say it? Sigyn closed her eyes briefly, wishing for strength. Then she said, "It is true, Prince Loki: I have magic."