Main theme to Pirates of the Caribbean, whoever wrote it.

They had been fighting for thirty minutes, and already, they were by far overpowered. Outnumbered, and the hoard was steadily growing. There was naturally no way to kill them, and Sigyn, watching from a distance, sighed, and shook her head. Leave it to Thor… Well, her beloved was dying, so she had to pitch in. She ran three steps, then made a flying leap into the midst of the multitudes surrounding Thor and Loki, and landing with a sickening crack on one of the undead's back. Unsheathing her sword, she raised it above her head, and sliced off the legs of two of them.

"Lady Victory!" Thor cheered. Yes, Sigyn had lied to Loki's face. She felt pretty guilty about it, but she hoped he'd understand, and forgive her at about the same moment she was saving his life. Sigyn had no idea where or when she'd learned to fight, but she was extremely skilled at it, and felt Loki'd been downplaying her ability.

"Nice weather we're having, isn't it?" She grinned cheerfully. "Perfect day for running headlong into impossible situations, yes?"

Loki snickered as he flipped a dagger into a nearby forehead. It didn't even faze the zombie, who now walked around with a dagger hilt-deep in his forehead. "Well…" Loki blinked. "That's… new."

Sigyn nodded, rather disturbed. "I think our best bet is just making sure they can't walk. They can't attack if they can't move."

Loki nodded briskly, and lit his hands on fire, the strangely green flames somewhat spooking the undead. They fire jumped off his fingertips, spreading across the ground around them, severely scorching their feet, causing them to fall over, smothering the flames, and their comrades poured over the fallen.

Sigyn's gaze darted around to the other warriors as she continued de-legging the undead. Thor was fighting furiously with Mjolnir, but all he was managing to do was push them backwards a bit with every swing. His gaze was hard and determined, but he wasn't gaining any ground. He would probably deny it, but Sigyn could swear she saw fear in his eyes. The warriors four had their backs together, and Fandral and Sif were obviously panicking. Volstagg had a nasty-looking gash on his head, and a grim look on his face.

"Thor!" Sigyn called. The Thunderer glanced up. Yep, that was definitely fear. "We're outnumbered! Call a fallback!"

"Never." He replied grimly. "The son of Odin… does not… run…"

"Yet!" Sigyn corrected. "He hasn't run, yet. But he needs to, and quickly."

"I will never surrender!" Thor roared, as lightning crashed across the sky, frying about twelve undead.

"Brother!" Loki screamed. "This is foolhardy! We need to run!"

"What kind of prince are you, Loki?" Thor yelled. "Whatever you may be, I am no coward!"

One of the undead grabbed Sigyn's wrist, and pulled. She screamed, and kicked it in the face. "Thor!"

Thor gave them a despairing look. "It's too late, now! If Heimdall pulls us back, he'll bring up a large amount of undead with us!"

Loki lit his hands on fire again, and burned the feet of the hoard around him once more, this time having the fire burn hot and high, pouring smoke into the atmosphere until Sigyn couldn't see two feet in front of her. A cool hand took hers, and gently but firmly led her away. She was led out of the ring of fire, and looked up into Loki's face, flushed, and streaked in soot.

"Stay here, Victory." He commanded hoarsely, then turned, and ran right back into the flame.

Stay here? Stay here?! Sigyn glanced around helplessly. She was supposed to stand aside like some sort of swooning maiden while her husband ran in, and saved everyone? Not a chance! Sigyn charged in after him, her eyes stinging from the smoke.

"Thor!" She screamed, stepping over the smoldering body of one of the undead. "Thor!"

"Victory?" A weak voice called. Sigyn stumbled through the smoke, almost tripping over the fallen body of Hogun.

"Hogun!" Sigyn knelt next to him. "Can you walk?"

"Leg…" He was cut off by a fit of coughing. "Hurts…"

Sigyn pulled him into a standing position, and supported him as she stumbled out of the fire. When she left the circle of the flames, she saw that Sif, Fandral, and Volstagg were already out, and were tending to Volstagg's head wound. Neither Thor nor Loki were anywhere to be found. Sigyn whirled around, leaving Hogun to hobble over to his comrades, as she ran back into the flames.

"Thor?!" She screamed until her voice was hoarse. The fire raged hot, causing the light to dance around her in a very disorienting fashion. She could barely tell which way was up, and her head spun from the heat. She tripped over a rock, or something, falling face-down onto the ground. She coughed and started to struggle to her feet, but found she was too weak.

"Loki…" She whispered desperately, collapsing against the earth. The fire raged high around her, and she thought it was the end, when a strong pair of arms lifted her up, and carried her swiftly out of the ring of fire. It was Loki.

"Thalionen…" She breathed, cupping his blackened cheek affectionately.

He glanced down at her, severely unimpressed. "Mm-hm. Heimdall!" She felt the familiar rush of the Bifrost, and seconds later they were standing in the observatory.

He set her down gently, and fixed her cold gaze on her. "You blatantly disobeyed me."

Sigyn laughed nervously, glancing down at her boots.

"And then you lied to my face." He hissed.

"I'm sorry…" She grinned sheepishly.

Loki shook his head sadly. "I thought better of you."

Sigyn hung her head, ashamed. Fandral laid a hand on her shoulder. "Loki, don't be too hard on her. She did manage to lie to the God of Lies, after all."

"That's my problem." He ground out. "I can't trust her, anymore."

Volstagg laughed heartily, pressing a cloth to his bleeding forehead. "Funny, is it not? How the Trickster values trust in his relationships?"

"He's right, though." Sigyn spoke up, her tone low and repentant. "A relationship is nothing if the couple cannot even trust each other. I betrayed his trust, and that is a serious offense."

Loki looked at her in surprise. "I was chastising you, and you still speak up for me?"

She shrugged. "If you're right."

Loki appeared to be extremely shocked by this revelation, and gently took her hand. She thought he was going to kiss it, again, but he merely teleported them to their chambers.

They were silent for a while, as Loki strode over to his desk, sat down, and began working. Sigyn quietly sat down on the end of their bed, feeling guilty. "Is that…" She spoke up. "Is that all?"

Loki glanced up, surprised. "What more could there be? You've apologized, I've forgiven you. Do you want me to punish you like a child? You know what you did wasn't right, and I trust you to not do so again."

Sigyn fiddled with her fingers. "I-it would make it feel like I've made it up to you somehow. I really feel terrible for doing that."

Loki raised a still soot-stained eyebrow. "Then why did you do it?"

She shrugged. "I guess I wanted to prove myself to you. That I wasn't a helpless maiden. And then, I didn't want you to send me back, so…"

The prince nodded, understanding. "I see. You know, it's the same reason that I go on quests at all. To prove to Father that I'm not some sort of helpless maiden."

Sigyn had assumed that, but she hadn't spelled it out in so many words. "So, how am I to make it up to you?

He stood up, and walked over to her with a tiny smile, laying his hands on her shoulders. "Sigyn, as punishment for blatantly disregarding my direct orders to you, and then lying to my face, you may not leave my sight until sundown tomorrow."

Sigyn nodded contritely, a small smile on her face. That was no punishment at all. He had only done that because he wanted her around, more than usual.

Just then, a servant knocked on the door. "Enter." Loki growled, upset at whatever the servant had to say. Bree quietly stepped into the room. "Your Highnesses, the Allfather requests your presence in the dining room."

Loki groaned. "Another dinner? You have got to be kidding me."

Bree timidly shook her head. "No, my lord. They said they had very important news to discuss."

Loki pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Very well. We'll be along shortly."

He snapped his fingers, changing the two of them into more presentable, less singed garments, and cleaning their faces and hands of soot. Sigyn noticed he'd dressed her in the same gown she'd worn on the night that Fandral had tried to flirt with her. She gracefully took his arm, and the two of them walked down the hall to his parents' room in comfortable silence.

Loki still hadn't gotten used to the lack of two plates around the table. Every time he saw the table set for five instead of seven, his heart gave him a sharp pang of guilt. Thankfully, they'd only had a handful of family dinners since Loki'd come back. He sat down next to Sigyn, across from Thor, and the servants gave him a generous portion of food. Bleh. Loki didn't like eating. He had far more important things to do. His parents glanced at each other over the table.

"Thor." His father began. Thor looked up from the gratuitous amount of venison he'd been shoveling into his mouth. "Yesh, Fwaver?"

Sigyn rolled her eyes, and Loki grimaced in disgust.

Frigga laid a hand on Thor's. "Be polite, dear."

Thor chewed and swallowed. "Yes, father?"

"I'm very proud of your achievements on Nornheim. Heimdall told me all about what had happened." Odin started. "You fought valiantly, my son."

Thor beamed in pride. 'Thank you, Father!"

Loki bit his lip, his eyes fixed on his plate. Of course, Odin wouldn't mention how Loki had actually been the one who'd saved everyone's lives, or how he'd literally run into fire for his comrades, risking his life for them. No, Thor was the one who got all the credit, of course. Loki bitterly forced a smile onto his face, and took a bite of his greens. Bleh. Food.

"We've set a date for your coronation, my boy." Odin stated. Loki looked up, startled. Already? Thor was going to be king?

"Father, he's not ready." The second prince spoke up. "He's still so reckless; he'd tear the realm to bits."

Thor glared at his little brother.

"Loki, know your place." Odin growled. Loki quietly hung his head. No sense in getting himself whipped, again. "The coronation will be two months hence."

Two months? This was going to be a disaster.

"May we be excused?" Loki gritted out.

Sigyn took a bite of his venison. "What? You obviously don't want it!"

Odin nodded dismissively, turning to Thor, and discussing the details of the ceremony as Loki picked up Sigyn, threw her over his shoulder, and carried her out of the room as she good-naturedly beat her fists against his back. "Put me down, you idiot!" She giggled when they got back to his room.

Loki flipped her over, and dropped her on the bed. "Ow." She complained, laying a hand on her stomach. "You have really hard shoulders!"

Loki smiled, and flopped down on the bed next to her. "Do I?"

Sigyn nodded, laying her head on his chest. "What's the matter?"

"Hm?" He asked vacantly. "What do you mean?"

"You got really upset when your father said Thor's coronation had an official date." Sigyn pointed out. "And your heart's beating really fast."

He ran his fingers through her hair. "Thor isn't ready. You saw him today; he won't even give up a fight. For honor. Don't get me wrong, he'll make an amazing king, just… not yet."

Sigyn sighed happily, leaning her head into his touch. "You going to do anything?'

Loki shrugged one shoulder. "What could I do? My word has no value around here, so my advice certainly doesn't."

Sigyn placed a kiss on his jaw. "I wasn't thinking of doing anything talking-wise. I was thinking more along the lines of what you did to Theoric."

Loki thought back to their early months of their marriage, when a young man named Theoric attempted to woo Sigyn away from him. Loki had wasted no time in temporarily wiping his memory and dropping him in the forest overnight. He hadn't been harmed, only scared a little (read as: almost out of his mind), but he'd never made any advances towards Sigyn again.

The prince smiled as his wife covered his face in soft kisses. "To my own brother? Sig, that would be ridiculous."

"Ridiculous is my middle name." Sigyn whispered into his ear, as if it was the biggest secret in the Nine realms.

Loki giggled. "Sigyn Ridiculous Greenleaf. Somehow, it fits."

Sigyn joined in his laughter until Loki silenced her by pressing his lips against hers. "I'll think on it, Melleth." He promised her when they broke apart.

She smirked. "I was going to say that if you were, that would be terrible idea."

Loki grinned mischievously as he tenderly cupped her face in his hands. "Terrible idea, my Beloved, is my middle name."

Next time, we'll have the movie Thor! YAAAAAAAAH! *Swings Mjolnir at nothing for no apparent reason*

A heart lets you swing Mjolnir at nothing for no apparent reason, a review lets you address Loki as Prince Loki Terrible Idea Odinson, The Overly Dramatic Dunderhead, just to see his face.

Hilariously, TheOnlyHuman