And here's the next chapter. I kind of wanted to do another chapter in Loki's point of view to add a little mystery and to explore his character a little more. Also I just found writing from his perspective in this chapter was a little easier. Enjoy and tell me what you think! xx
Loki hovered in the doorway of his bedchambers as nurses came and went, his eyes fixated on the unconscious girl who lay in his bed. The nurses wanted to have her in the medical quarters but Loki had insisted that they keep her in his bed where she would be more comfortable. Well, insisted wasn't the right word; demanded, threatened and ordered would have been better. Loki hated the beds in the medical quarters with their thin sheets and lumpy mattresses. Yes, Sigyn would be much more comfortable here where she belongs.
Sigyn's face remained smooth and calm whilst Loki's was all scrunched up and covered in annoyance; annoyance because she was hurt and annoyance because the nurses didn't know he cause of her fainting. Loki tapped his foot on the tiled floor in anticipation. He'd noticed that Sigyn hadn't been quite right since she visited him in the medical quarters but he couldn't quite figure out why. She seemed jumpy and a little nervous and maybe even a little bit guilty; Loki doubted she could have done anything too serious, it was Sigyn for Valhalla's sake. Sigyn was the most innocent girl he'd ever come across.
Loki pursed his lips and looked Sigyn over one last time before he turned on his heels and left the bed chambers. "Eir!" He called out.
"Yes, my Prince." Eir rushed to his side, curtseying.
"I will return shortly, there is business I must tend to. Make sure my dear Sigyn is well looked after and do whatever it takes to find out what the cause was for her collapsing during supper." Loki ordered as he walked away from the head nurse.
"Wait!" Eir called after him. He paused, not bothering to turn to face her. "Must you go? I am sure the Lady Sigyn would be pleased to awaken with you by her side."
Eir's hopeful smile faded as Loki replied to her in a cold, icy voice. "I am afraid it is urgent. She will understand." With that, he left and strolled down the corridors searching for the man who brought Sigyn to him in the medical quarters. He wasn't too difficult to find; there he stood with his usual crowd of women circling him.
"Fandral!" Loki called out, earning a frightened expression from Fandral followed by an uneasy smile.
"Loki," Fandral addressed his prince informally. "How may I be of assistance?"
"You may go," Loki ordered the group of young ladies who obeyed him immediately. Loki turned his attention back to the warrior in front of him. "You brought Sigyn to see me in the medical quarters, correct?"
"Y-Yes, Loki. As soon as you were taken by the nurses I immediately ran to your betrothed and told her what had happened, she followed me right away." Fandral replied obediently.
"You needn't fret, dear friend. I will not harm you," Loki said reassuringly but with an icy tinge to his words. "I am worried about my lady, you see. When she came to see me she seemed to be on another realm. She was nervous, jumpy and very uneasy, almost guilty."
"Perhaps she felt horrid about not being there when-"
"No, I am positive that it was something else," Loki muttered before speaking louder. "Tell me everything you remember about bringing her to me, spare no details."
Fandral nodded frantically as he looked up at the sky and tried to retrace his steps. If there was one thing Loki loved about being an ex-criminal it was that one icy glare could make people sweat bullets and do as he pleased in fear of getting hurt or humiliated. Loki loved having that manipulative power over people, particularly arrogant people.
"Well I first left the dining hall and asked everybody whom I saw along the way if they knew where she was. A few handmaidens said that they saw her sitting against the walls in the western corridors so I ran there and-"
Loki cut him off with no expression on his face or in his voice. "Their names?"
"Um, Ah! Ingrid, Astrid and Helgar," Loki nodded in approval and Fandral continued telling his story. "I found the Lady Sigyn sitting with that childhood friend of hers, Theoric and they seemed to be deep in conversation so I called out her name and-"
"Thank you, Fandral," Loki gratefully. "That is all I needed to know."
Loki turned and walked back to his chambers where Sigyn had finally awoken. With each step he walked faster and faster in anger. Before checking on her himself he dragged Eir away momentarily.
"What have you found out?" He ordered her to speak.
"She has a guilty conscience and the anxiety overwhelmed her." Eir answered quickly.
"Why does she have a guilty conscience?" Loki asked again, getting agitated by the lack of answers he desired.
"The Lady Sigyn would not tell me, she said she was afraid," Eir spat out. "You don't think it was something illegal do you? The All-Father would-"
"Thank you for your services." Was all Loki said as he pushed past her and entered his bed chambers where Sigyn sat. He looked her over again, trying to see if there was any evidence that another man had been on her; there was none. Loki would have believed that he had just jumped to conclusions but when he saw the sadness in Sigyn's pale eyes as she looked up at him he knew that he had every reason to be suspicious.
"How are you feeling?" Loki asked her as he sat beside her on the bed, waving the handmaidens and nurses out of the room with his hand. They all curtseyed and left his quarters completely, closing the doors behind them.
"Alright, but my head hurts like nothing else." Sigyn answered him as she clutched the back of her head with her small hand. She had split it open when she had fallen and Eir had to stitch it up for her.
"What caused you to collapse, dear Sigyn?" Loki asked as kindly as he could, playing her to see if she would lie to him or not.
"I do not know, Loki. I suppose stress from my younger sisters and the wedding planning." Sigyn told him as she looked down at the sheets. Loki narrowed his eyes and thought for a moment. Loki might have believed her if he wasn't already suspecting the ridiculous fool, Theoric; Sigyn's little story made sense. Loki had seen with his own eyes the torment she had dealt with from her younger sisters. Loki couldn't remember their names; those two were of no importance or interest to him.
"Well," Loki decided to go along with Sigyn's story for the time being. "I will see to it that your younger sisters are spoken to about the matter. Nobody in their right mind would bully a future princess."
Sigyn nodded in agreement very slowly and unsurely. Loki left his chambers and as he did he heard Sigyn swallow, showing nervousness and confirming to Loki that her story was completely false. Loki let out a breath through his nose as he scrunched up is lips in anger. He had plotted against Theoric since he was a child, the only problem was that a lot of his old ideas were childish and wouldn't work very well at all. He needed a fresh idea, an idea that wasn't obvious and an idea that would not leave evidence that traced back to him, at least not until Sigyn loved him completely; or at least enough to disregard his selfish act.
Loki went out to town and changed his appearance to avoid staring commonfolk and slipped into a certain tent which he knew lived the person who could help him with his troubles, she always could. As soon as he entered the woman with red-gold hair turned from her shelf of many ancient books to face him, a gleam in her eye.
"Loki, I know it's you. I was the one who taught you that spell in the first place, remember?" She smirked and snapped her fingers, stripping Loki of his false face and returning his real one.
"I need your help." He told her.
"Clearly," She almost cut him off. "Why else would you be here? Did the silver-tongued Prince of Deceit wish to just say hello?"
Loki sighed. She was always so short with him. It was one of the two things he admired about her, that she treated him like an average commoner; it made him feel like the outsider he was. Even before he knew, she treated him the same. Loki often wondered if she knew all along…
"Let me guess, your princess loves another and you wish to get your competition out of the picture?" She laughed. "I can do that, I can make that happen; for a price of course."
The other thing Loki admired about her was that she could do anything, her magic was greater than even his and she made business out of using it. Loki stood up straight.
"What might the price be this time?" Loki asked.
"A kiss." She smirked mischeviously.
"Not happening." Loki told her sternly and coldly. He wouldn't sell a hair over to the seductress that she was, that she could often be.
"Not from you," She snapped, her smile returned as she continued. "From your brother."
"Why would you want a-"
"That is my business, not yours." She snapped again. "I'll give you what you want, but if you don't follow through with your side of the deal-"
"I am familiar with your threats, just give me what I came here for. I know you knew about it hours before I did so I know you already have it prepared. Give it to me."
"Well, somebody is a little impatient today," She muttered as she looked through her drawers on her desk until she found a small, mahogany chest. She pulled it out and placed it on the table. Using a key that she kept between her breasts, she unlocked the small chest and opened it. She wrapped the contents into a parcel and handed it to Loki carefully. "Take care and-"
Loki cut off the enchantress abruptly as he turned to leave the tent, as he exited he called out to her. "Thank you, Amora."