Author's Note: So I didn't plan to update this soon, but I have already written the next two chapters after this one and since I am starting a third today I felt that it was safe to go ahead and update. You know what I own and don't own by this point. Thanks for the follows, favorites, and reviews, they mean an awful lot to me! Caitreylove Hey being busy with book edits is more than a good excuse to not review a chapter :) Oh how Sigyn and Loki's fortunes have reversed since their split. There is always that slight chance that Loki won't find out about Theoric and Sigyn switching daggers, but let's face it, it wouldn't be nearly as fun if he didn't. His reaction may not be what we expect though, you never know with Loki.
Sigyn held her breath so that she wouldn't accidentally give her position away to Theoric, and she covered her mouth to smother any stray giggles that might try to betray her. Currently she was hiding behind a rather large pillar in the market square, but she knew this position wouldn't keep her hidden for long. Fortunately, there was no one there to give her strange looks at this time in the evening except for an annoyed cat. Theoric's laughter betrayed his approach, but he didn't really have any need to be sneaky about it. Sigyn had managed to snag the last butter biscuit at dinner when Theoric hadn't been looking, and he was now chasing her down to retrieve the sweet treat that was rightfully his. Sigyn slipped out from behind her pillar and went to hide behind a different one as the sound of Theoric's footsteps drew nearer. She began to nibble on the dessert quietly, hoping that her munching wouldn't give away her position. Theoric finally reached the empty market and began to make his way around it while calling out to Sigyn. She slipped unnoticed from pillar to pillar like a ghost till she tried to make a break for the main road.
"Got you!" Theroic cried as he encircled his arm around Sigyn's waist.
He pulled her off the ground and spun her around a few times. Sigyn squealed in delight, much like a child, till he plopped her back on the ground. He didn't release her once he returned her feet to the cobblestone road though.
"The biscuit is mine." He declared while reaching out to claim it from her.
"I think not." She replied before licking what little bit of it was left.
"Oh yes, very mature." Theoric noted.
Sigyn popped the last of the biscuit into her mouth before replying.
"You expected anything more of me?"
Theoric spun her around to face him and smiled down at her.
"No, I expected nothing less." He corrected.
He didn't wait for a reply, but kissed her without warning. Sigyn smiled into the kiss and pushed him gently into a nearby column. Their tongues danced pleasantly for a bit before Theoric's lips made their way down Sigyn's neck. He easily drew shudders from her as he worked the gentle slope from her neck to her shoulder.
"Sigyn, I can't wait any longer…" he muttered against her skin.
Sigyn's heartbeat began to quicken. She and Theoric hadn't slept together yet, and she still wasn't sure she was ready to be with him in such an intimate way. She couldn't help but fear in the back of her mind that if she slept with Theoric he would lose all interest in marrying her. She had begun to think that had been her mistake with Loki. Why would a man marry a woman when she was giving him all the perks of being married without also giving him the responsibility of being married as well? Theoric never pressed her to sleep with him once she had voiced her concern that she was just not emotionally ready to be with a man again, and for that Sigyn was eternally grateful. Theoric must have sensed Sigyn's inner battle because he looked up at her.
"I know I keep saying that I won't ask for your hand till I have officially left my post with the Crimson Hawks, but Sigyn… I simply can't wait for that any longer."
He stood up to his full height and tilted Sigyn's face upwards.
"Sigyn… if I were to ask your father for your hand in marriage right now would you consent to it?"
Sigyn pulled Theoric into another kiss as her response. She pulled away rather quickly, but Theoric's lips sought hers out again. They kissed for a few more minutes before Theoric grabbed her hand and began to pull her along the street.
"Where are we going?" She asked in curiosity.
"To fetch my witnesses." Theoric replied while looking at her over his shoulder.
Wait… he had meant that he was going to ask her father right now right now? Sigyn merely thought Theoric was being theoretical in his query. Her heart began to pound, and a smile lit up her features. This was seriously happening, the man she loved was going to ask for her hand in marriage. Her feet hardly touched the ground as they made their way to the stables of the inn where they had been dining at earlier. Sigyn mounted, and Theoric instructed her to go to her house and wait for him. Sigyn promised to do so, and galloped home as quickly as Roan would take her. Her mother and father were just leaving the dining room after finishing their dinner when Sigyn rushed into the house breathless and excited.
"Sigyn!" Her mother gasped as she took in her untidy appearance. "Whatever is going on dear?"
Sigyn took a moment to straighten her cloak and smooth her windswept hair down, but as hard as she tried, she couldn't regulate her erratic heartbeat.
"Th… The…Theoric is coming!" She managed to pant out.
"I thought you were with Theoric?" Her father remarked.
"I was, but he's coming here."
"That isn't exactly uncommon Sigyn…" her mother noted.
"No, you don't understand! He's coming here to speak with father, he wants to ask for my hand in marriage..."
Sigyn's parents looked quickly at each other before looking back to Sigyn.
"You are sure he is coming here now?" Her father asked, slightly unconvinced.
"I am positive." Sigyn replied firmly.
"Then perhaps we should wait in the sitting room." Signy suggested.
Sigyn followed her parents there somewhat reluctantly. She would much rather have stayed somewhere where she could see his approach. Signy sat comfortably in a chair and began to embroider by the light of the fireplace while Halldor watched his daughter pace about the room.
"You will have managed to create a rut in the floor by the time Theoric arrives." He pointed out.
Sigyn momentarily stopped her pacing. Her father was right; it could be a while before Theoric got there. She glanced about the room and saw one of her books resting on a chair. She plopped down in the seat and opened her book to read. She wasn't sure how long she stared at the first sentence on the page, but no matter how hard she tried, Sigyn couldn't even process the words she was trying to take in. After about ten minutes of trying to read, she slammed the book shut and began to tap her fingers on the cover.
"Maybe he changed his mind, perhaps he is not coming after all…" she thought silently to herself.
The minutes trickled by at an agonizingly slow pace, and when the blaze of the fire turned into no more than glowing embers Sigyn finally gave up. Of course it had been too good to be true.
"Where are you going?" Signy asked as Sigyn made her way to the door.
"To bed. If Theoric had truly been coming, he would have been here long before now." Sigyn replied.
Neither of her parents tried to stop her as she left the sitting room without another word. Part of her wanted to go to bed, but the other part knew she wouldn't be able to sleep if she did. Sigyn finally decided to take a walk in the courtyard to try to tire herself out. She walked amongst the flowerbeds in the courtyard for a time before going to sit on the edge of the fountain to stare at her reflection in the water dejectedly. Theoric had said he was coming, and he always kept his word. Maybe something bad had happened to keep him from coming? Perhaps he was suddenly called away by duty? It certainly wouldn't have been the first time he would have missed an engagement because of his profession. Sigyn brushed her fingertips over the surface of the water causing little ripples to distort her image. The liquid began to take on a strange glow, which Sigyn attributed to the moonlight at first. As the glow took on a golden gleam however, Sigyn was forced to change her mind. She leaned a bit closer to the water to determine the cause of the glow when a bony grayish hand reached through the surface. Sigyn drew back quickly before the hand could touch her, but her retreat was stopped by the firm grasp of a man on her arms. She looked back hoping to see Theoric, but instead was greeted by the sight of a man she didn't know. She was about to cry out for help when the man clasped his hand firmly over her mouth and turned her head to face the frightening hand once more. Sigyn's eyes widened in fear as the hand reached out towards her face.
"Calm yourself Sigyn…" a doleful female voice instructed.
Sigyn ignored the command, and struggled against the man holding her to no avail. The thin hand floated centimeters away from her face, but made no move to actually touch Sigyn's skin.
"Defiance. It is certainly ingrained deep within you this time." The female voice noted.
"This time?"
She had met this woman before? …of course she had! This was the strange woman by the lake, the one that had been watching her from a distance all these years. The grayish hand matched the deathly looking side of her face, it just had to be her. Sigyn had been right, she was a sorceress of some sort.
"That will serve my purposes well." She finished while running her bony fingers through the section of Sigyn's hair that was hanging over the water.
The hair that the woman touched turned a glowing silver color, but returned to its natural shade of blonde when the hand pulled away and returned back into the glowing water. The hand clasping Sigyn's mouth disappeared, and when she turned to confront the man she discovered that he was gone as well. Sigyn searched the courtyard thoroughly, but there was no one there besides herself. Her mind reeled with questions as the bizarre incident finally sunk in.
Why had her hair turned silver at the woman's touch, and why was the woman so careful not to touch Sigyn's skin?
Who was this woman anyways?
Why had she been watching Sigyn from the shadows for so many years, and why was she just now starting to make more direct contact with her?
What purpose could Sigyn serve her for?
Sigyn inwardly cursed the man who had silenced her. Because of him, she might never get the answers to her questions. Of course this begged the question…
Who was he?
Did he work for the strange sorceress?
He had to, there was no other way to explain his presence in the courtyard. Sigyn plopped down once more at the edge of the fountain silently wishing that her strange visitor from earlier would show herself again, but there was nothing in the water this time. Why in the Nine Realms couldn't she just live a normal life with normal interactions with normal people? Why did she always have to get herself mixed up with dark Princes, dark lurking shadows, and now a dark secretive warrior? A dark secretive warrior who wasn't showing up to ask for her hand in marriage no less…
"This is ridiculous." Sigyn stated in a frustrated tone before slapping the surface of the water.
"What is ridiculous?" A familiar voice asked.
Sigyn stood from her spot in surprise before running into Theoric's embrace.
"I was beginning to think you weren't going to come for me." She murmured into his chest.
"I will always come for you." Theoric replied, holding on to her a little tighter.
He pulled away a moment later and smiled.
"As much as I would love to stay here and hold you, I think it is time I spoke with your father. I wouldn't want to keep my witnesses waiting." Theoric stated.
Sigyn looked behind Theoric to see Markus, Hallsteinn, Theoric's father, and three other men who Sigyn recognized, but didn't really know all that well. Sigyn pulled back from Theoric a tad embarrassed, and smiled.
"Of course, I'll go fetch him…" She offered.
She practically skipped down the hall to the sitting room and slung the doors open wide in excitement.
"He's here!" She proclaimed as her parents looked over to her curiously.
Signy smiled and Halldor rose from his seat.
"Then I better go receive him." He stated with a sad yet somehow happy smile.
Signy patted the chair next to hers as a way to beckon Sigyn over.
"You best wait with me darling."
Sigyn didn't really want to simply wait in the sitting room while the men discussed the marriage contract, but she knew that she didn't have any choice in the matter so she did as her mother bid. She attempted to read her book yet again, but with the same pointless result as the first time she had tried to read it that evening. Signy watched Sigyn much in the same way she had watched Frida while Markus discussed their marriage contract with her husband. What a pair Theoric and Sigyn would make…
The doors to the sitting room opened some time later, and Halldor entered the room with a smile.
Sigyn was on her feet in a split second, waiting in anticipation for her father's decision.
"The contract is set. Theoric and Sigyn shall be married in a month."
A month!? Frida had only had to wait a fortnight!
Theoric must have been able to read Sigyn's mind, because he quickly explained the reason for the delay.
"It is still too hot to hold the wedding outside comfortably, but by next month the weather will be perfect for it."
Sigyn gave a little sigh in defeat.
"Very well, for the sake of our less heat tolerant family members we shall wait a month."
Theoric took Sigyn's hand and kissed it.
"A month is not such a long time." He comforted.
"On the contrary, when you are in love it seems like an eternity." Sigyn argued.
"Then is shall be the happiest eternity we have ever known." He replied with a smile. "It grows late My Lady, will you see us to the door?"
Sigyn nodded and looped her arm in Theoric's. Signy and Halldor led Markus, Hallsteinn, and the other witnesses to the courtyard, while Theoric and Sigyn followed a few steps behind.
"Lithasblot is in a few days…" Theoric noted.
"Yes, it is… I had almost forgotten about it." Sigyn admitted.
"There will be a celebration at the palace you know." He remarked.
"Yes, I suppose there will be." Sigyn replied.
Theoric stopped in his tracks, and turned Sigyn to face him.
"Go with me."
"What do you mean go with you? … To the celebration?"
"Yes, to the celebration. Let me be your escort."
Sigyn bit her bottom lip.
"I don't know Theoric… I haven't been to the palace since… well since the day Loki and I went our separate ways…"
"Then this is the perfect time for you to go back. What better opportunity could there be to announce our betrothal?"
"Surely Markus, Hallsteinn, and the others will have told people by then." Sigyn reasoned.
"Not if I ask them not to." Theoric assured her.
Sigyn wrung her hands in indecision.
"I haven't seen Loki since that day…" Sigyn confessed.
"I know, but it has been over three years Sigyn, surely you have both moved on well enough to tolerate each others presence for one evening. You don't even have to speak to him if you don't wish to."
Sigyn didn't respond, and Theoric tilted her chin up gently so that her eyes were forced to meet his.
"Go with me. I want every man in Asgard to know what a beautiful and smart woman is going to allow me to marry her, including Prince Loki."
Sigyn rested her hands on Theoric's chest as she thought about it. Theoric was right. Loki had moved on, and so had she. Surely they were both mature enough to be civil for one evening by this point, and she couldn't deny that she longed to see the Queen, Thor, and the Warriors Three once again. A small smile crossed her lips and Theoric chuckled.
"Is that a 'yes' My Lady?"
"You know me too well."
"Not possible." He remarked before bringing her in for a kiss.
Their pleasant moment was interrupted by Markus though, who had come back to see what the hold up was with Theoric and Sigyn. He cleared his throat to get the couple's attention, and Theoric and Sigyn quickly pulled away from each other.
"I hate to interrupt, but it is getting late…" Markus pointed out.
"Of course, we are coming presently." Theoric answered before offering his arm to Sigyn again.
The threesome headed to the courtyard where everyone else was waiting on them. They said their goodnights, and then split for the evening. Sigyn's parents retired to their room immediately following the departure of Theoric and his witnesses, but Sigyn lingered in the courtyard a while more. How could she even think of sleep right now? Her life was about to change forever, and she would much rather lay looking at the stars dreaming about the future than lying sleeplessly in her bed doing the same thing.