Chapter 1
Vows
"You're sure you want to go through with this?" Thor elbowed his little brother and shot him a cheeky smile as they stood in front of the doorway that led into the Royal crypts. "Heimdall owes me a favor, you know. The Bifrost can have us to Midgard in time for a midday feast. We could do the thunder and lightning routine. Save a few crops. Despoil some maidens. Fight a battle or two. It could be like old times."
Loki scowled at his brother.
"It's my wedding day, Thor. Sigyn would kill me if I backed out now."
The elder god's smile grew. He flashed his blinding white teeth. "She's little. I think we could take her."
"Yes, but then we'd have her mother to deal with." Thor's smile dimmed at the thought of Loki's future mother-in-law. The goddess Freya was almost as famous for her fury as her beauty. She was one of the few people that even Odin feared. "You have a point there." Thor conceded.
"Well, Luckily," Loki said, easing open the door that led to the burial vaults and poking his head inside, "It turns out that I actually want to marry Sigyn."
"I guess we'd better do this then,"
"Yes, and if we're going to succeed, you need to be quiet."
Loki gestured for his brother to follow him into the quiet passageway. He glanced both ways and then frowned when he saw that the hall was empty. The Einherjar guards that stood ceremonial watch outside the tombs were absent.
"Strange, isn't it?" Thor continued speaking, either oblivious to or unconcerned with the fact that a task like graverobbing typically called for stealth. "Stealing grandfather's sword for a Vanir princess after all the trouble he and father went through to conquer them. It seems a bit like…like…" Thor struggled to find the words.
Like poetic justice? Loki thought to himself, but said aloud, "Ironic?"
Thor nodded.
"Well, I'm sure the Norns found it amusing. Mother says they delight in humbling ambition."
The men walked a short distance down the dark passage, pausing at a niche almost at the end of the hallway. Loki whispered a spell under his breath and the intricately carved door of the tomb creaked open.
"I never really understood this tradition," Thor said as he followed his brother into the vault. He cast his eyes around the burial chamber, taking in the unfamiliar sights. As soon as he and Loki crossed the threshold, a spark of green flame ignited and raced around the perimeter of the ceiling, wreathing the room in the pale green glow of magical fire. The enchanted light illuminated the painted ceiling, which depicted the living exploits of Bor the Bold, as well as the weapons mounted on the walls around him and the sleeping figure in the center of the room. "Why do you need to present your bride with grandfather's sword and why do you have to steal it? Wouldn't it be easier just to give her a new one?"
"It's not grandfather's sword. It's our family's sword," Loki responded. He opened his mouth to explain the rest: That Sigyn was holding the sword for their sons; that it represented the continuity of their bloodline, from Bor to Odin to Loki to the future; that Loki and Sigyn were a link in a chain that stretched backwards and forwards in time for eternity- but he thought better of delivering the lecture and focused on Thor's other concern. "I think the 'theft' part is mostly mortal nonsense."
Centuries had passed since Bor Burison transitioned to Valhalla. The ancient king's flesh had dissolved into particles of blinding light, leaving only crumpled robes behind. A silent stone statue in his likeness lay in the center of the tomb. The King's golden helm rested on a pillow at his feet, and his mighty broadsword was clasped in immortal marble hands.
"I'm sure it's creepier with bones and cobwebs," Thor said, looking down at the statue.
"Well, I could conjure some spiders if you feel like you're being cheated."
Loki slipped the sword out of the statue's grasp and turned back toward the door.
"That won't be necessary," Thor said, following Loki back out into the hallway. "It is a shame about the guards though. I wonder what happened? I was looking forward to a fight."
"I'm sure that mother didn't want anything down here to get broken," Loki said, closing the vault behind them and returning back up the staircase that led back up to the main palace. "But I'll be sure to remember that when it comes time for your wedding. We can have extra guards if you'd like."
"My wedding?" Thor made a barking laugh. "I'm never getting married!
"Sif's going to be disappointed to hear that," Loki said.
"I'm going to be disappointed to hear what?"
The color drained from Thor's face as they reached the top of the staircase and found Sif and the Warrior's Three waiting there.
"For…uhm…er…" Thor stammered helplessly.
Loki let his brother flounder for a moment before supplying an answer. "Thor has decided against favoring my bride with a song at the wedding feast," he said smoothly, "For the rest of us, it's a relief, but I know how you love to hear him warble on."
"Me? Like to hear Thor sing?"
The distraction worked. Loki's earlier remark was forgotten as Sif unconvincingly disavowed any special interest in Thor. The others ignored her. Fandral reached for Bor Burison's sword. He took the blade from Loki's grasp and turned it over in his hands, whistling in appreciation as the runes embedded in the polished metal glinted in the sunlight. "You got it!"
Volstagg clapped a hand on Loki's shoulder. "Well done! But are you sure you want to go through with this?"
"Yes!" Loki snapped, nearing the end of his patience. "Why do people keep asking me that? What's wrong with Sigyn?"
"Well, I don't think anyone's implying that anything is wrong with Sigyn," Fandral answered," We're wondering if there isn't something wrong with you. It is rather unlike you to be satisfied with just one person."
Sif had recovered from her earlier embarrassment and joined in the teasing. "It's unlike Loki to be satisfied by anything at all."
Loki's cheeks flushed with equal parts anger and humiliation as the others laughed. His fingers twitched at his side as a string of hexes ran through his mind.
"Loki! Thor!"
Loki relaxed at the sound of his mother's voice.
The Queen was moving toward them from the main throne room. She was dressed in her finest ceremonial robes, a golden sunburst Coronet atop her head and skirts of sparkling silver silk trailing in her wake. "There you are! We're almost ready to start."
"Is Sigyn here?" Loki asked. His heart beat a little faster when he realized that the wedding was about to start.
"Any moment now, "Frigga responded. She gestured toward the open windows on the other side of the hall. Loki leaned out of the open archway and glanced down. Far below the palace, the streets of Asgard were thronged with commoners hoping to catch a view of their new princess-to-be. The cobbled road was covered in yellow flower petals, and many of the peasants had baskets of flowers in their arms.
"They've been lined up like that all morning," The Queen said.
"It was an intolerable nuisance trying to get to the palace this morning," Volstagg grumbled, but he was smiling. "Everyone really is quite taken with the lass."
"It's because she's one of them." The last of the warriors three, Hogan, rarely spoke. His words took the group by surprise.
"Poor?" Sif said snidely, virtually daring Loki to call her out. Instead, she was chastened when the queen replied:
"Vanir. Look at the blossoms the people are carrying. They're – Storm Asters. They only grow on Vanaheim. The Vanir people have waited centuries for this day."
"But - aren't you Vanir, my Queen?" Sif asked.
"Yes, but I came here before the war. Sigyn is a new beginning. A new chapter in Vanir/Aesir relations." Frigga smiled tenderly at her youngest son. "I hope you know what this cost your father."
"It will cost a dragon's hoard to rebuild Vanaheim," Volstagg interjected.
Frigga sighed patiently. "I was speaking of his pride. Odin and Sigyn's grandfather Njord have been at war nearly all their lives. Now Loki has brought them peace."
A cheer went up from the street below.
Loki leaned further out of the window and saw the crowd make way for a chariot. At first glance, the vehicle appeared to be moving on its own. On closer inspection, he saw that it was pulled by a pair of cats.
Freya.
Loki didn't know whether to smile or groan at his mother-in-law's theatricality. The beautiful goddess was driving the chariot herself, waving to the admiring throng. His gaze lingered on her for only a second before moving to her passenger - a woman clad entirely in blue. Sigyn.
Sigyn had tried to teach Loki kahalan, the Vanir way of speaking mind to mind. He had not yet been able to master it, either because non-Vanir lacked the capacity or because, as Sigyn suggested, it required training when one was very young. Still, while he couldn't send words as Sigyn could, he could send a pulse of magic through the connection between them when he concentrated: I'm here. I'm thinking of you. Soon, you're going to be mine.
He sent the message and then smiled as he watched Sigyn's veiled figure jolt in recognition and turn from side to side, scanning the crowd and palace windows, looking for his face.
Beloved? Loki heard Sigyn's voice clearly in his mind in response. I feel you. I'll be there soon.
Loki's mother put her hand on his shoulder and gently guided him away from the window. "We need to go," the queen said, shooing everyone toward the throne room. "It's almost time to start."
Odin's throne room was vast, but barely large enough to hold the assembled mass of Asgardian nobles, prominent Vanir, dwarves, elves, aliens, and gods of other realms who had come to witness the wedding.
At the center of the room, Odin sat atop his golden throne. The Allfather gestured for Frigga and Loki to take their place on either side. Thor stood slightly behind his brother. Almost the moment they stepped into position deep bass horns echoed through the chamber, heralding the arrival of the bride.
The main doors at the rear of the hall were thrown open with a flourish, and the bridal party moved into, view.
King Njord was first. The old king moved slowly, trying to disguise how heavily he leaned on his daughter and the intricately carved driftwood staff that he carried on his march down the aisle. Freya walked beside her father, followed by her daughters in ascending size: Hnossa, Snotra, Var, Lofn, Syn, and Nanna.
Loki caught his breath, along with the rest of the assembled crowd as Sigyn crossed the threshold and made her way toward the dais.
At first glance, Sigyn's gown was merely "blue". On closer inspection, the diaphanous silk was a dozen ombre shades between lapis and teal that flowed and swirled around her body like the waters of her home realm. Her face was covered by a dark blue bridal veil, and a crown of silver flowers sat atop her head. Even without a clear view of her face, she was radiantly beautiful. Loki couldn't tear his eyes away. With every step, his field of vision narrowed. The crowd faded away until there was only her.
Odin rose from the throne as Njord and Sigyn's family approached. Loki barely listened as the old men spoke to one another, going over the particulars of the marriage contract while eyeing one another with barely concealed suspicion. To the rest of the Nine Realms, this was the important part: Vanaheim and Asgard would amend their truce. Loki would marry Sigyn and, in return, Njord would name Sigyn his heir. Odin and Njord's mutual grandchildren would rule the realm. Njord's family, held as captives since the war, would be released. Njord, in return, would officially discourage whatever Vanir rebellion still remained. The Aesir treasury would finance the reconstruction of Vanaheim, but the Vanir would owe a tribute to Asgard for the next eight thousand years. The clauses droned on endlessly. It felt like an eternity before attention turned to the bride and groom.
At last, however, the reading of the marriage contract was finished.
Njord stepped away from Freya's steadying arm and stood between the betrothed. He frowned at Loki, and it seemed as if there was a moment of hesitation before he continued with the ceremony.
"Loki Odinson, you seek a bride from my house. Sigyn Freyadottir is here. But do you swear to honor and keep her?"
"I swear," Loki said solemnly.
"By what means?"
Loki turned to his brother and took the first object Thor offered him: a heavy gold coin. He held it up briefly for the crowd to see and then pressed it into the old man's palm.
"I will honor and keep her with my riches. Neither she nor our children shall ever know want, this I swear."
"And what else?"
Thor handed Loki a silver key, which he held aloft before passing it to Njord.
"I will honor and keep her in my hall. She will always have a hearth in my house and my father's halls. Neither she nor our children shall never want for shelter, this I swear."
"And what else?" Finally, Thor handed his brother a golden ring.
"I will honor and keep her with my body. I will give her sons and daughters and defend them to my dying breath, this I swear."
He held the ring up but did not give it to Njord.
The old king nodded at the final words. "Loki Odinson, you have paid a fair price and spoken fair vows. May the Norns see that you hold your oath. I give this woman to your keeping with her family's blessing. And now you may speak to her." With that, he turned to Sigyn and peeled back her veil.
Loki's stomach felt as though he had missed a step when Sigyn was finally revealed to his gaze. Her auburn hair hung in loose curls down her back, and her eyes were shining.
Njord nodded, and Loki spoke again, this time directly to Sigyn, "Sigyn Freyadottir, I come to take you as my wife, to be mine alone until the end of days. I will honor and keep you and our house. Will you have me?"
Loki already knew the answer, but he was holding his breath just the same.
"I will," Sigyn answered. She smiled shyly and offered her hand to receive his ring. Loki slipped the golden band onto her finger and moved forward to embrace her, but Odin stepped between them. Loki swore under his breath when he remembered that the ceremony wasn't over yet.
"Sigyn Freyadottir, "Odin's voice boomed a bit more sternly than strictly necessary, "This man means to take you to wife, but do you swear to honor and keep him?"
Sigyn nodded solemnly. "I swear."
"By what means?" Sigyn's eldest sister, Nanna, stood just behind her shoulder. She supplied the bride with a golden spindle, which Sigyn held aloft before passing it to Odin. "I will honor and keep him with my industry. My hands will never be idle and always working for the good of our hearth and home, this I swear."
"And what else?"
This time, Sigyn gave Odin a flower- one of the pale-yellow storm asters that grew on Vanaheim.
"I will honor him with my virtue. My name will be a credit to our family and bring only praise and good repute, this I swear."
"And what else?"
This time, Sigyn offered a ring.
"I will honor and keep him with my body, I will bear his sons and daughters. I will comfort him in any sorrow and follow him into any peril until our days are ended, this I swear."
For the first time in the ceremony, Odin's expression thawed enough to offer the bride a fatherly smile.
"Sigyn Freyadottir, you are a fair Maiden and have spoken fair vows. May the Norns see that you keep them. I welcome you to our family with my blessing. Now you may speak to your groom."
The Allfather stepped back and Sigyn looked into Loki's eyes to deliver her final vow, "Loki Odinson, I come to take you as my husband, to be mine alone until the end of days. I will honor and keep you and our house…"
Loki anticipated the next words of the ritual- the same that he had spoken. He was momentarily confused when Sigyn didn't finish with the question "Will you have me?" Instead of placing the ring on his finger, she held it against her own heart and spoke in words that were not the Alltongue. He felt a shiver of magic in the air, and it took a moment to realize that she was speaking Vanir.
"I am bound to you forever. You possess my body and spirit and will. I give myself freely to your bidding. I will serve you until the end of days and then follow you into shadows and dust. We are a single thread in the tapestry of being. Your pain is my pain. Your fear my fear. Your life, my life, never to be severed. Come what may."
Sigyn smiled shyly when she finished the spell and then reverted to the Aesir rite. "Will you have me?"
Loki answered with a mischievous smile.
"I will."
Sigyn placed the ring on her husband's finger.
Odin took Sigyn's hand and placed it in Loki's before raising them both above his head.
"Now by my proclamation, and the vows that they have taken to one another, I declare these two wedded, never to be parted."
There was a beat of silence after he spoke. The Allfather's words rolled through the great hall like thunder, and then he dropped the couple's clasped hands.
We're married, Loki thought, surprised to discover that he didn't really feel any different than he did before.
Is everything all right? Loki felt Sigyn's voice inside his mind and realized he was frowning. I should have told you about the Vanir rite.
"Better than all right," he purred aloud reassuringly into her ear as they led the wedding party down to the banquet hall. "We're almost to the fun part."
Sigyn flushed scarlet but didn't have a chance to respond before Thor and Fandral whisked her away. Tradition demanded that a bridegroom defend the feast hall door with his sword until his bride arrived and Thor was proving to be annoyingly fond of traditions.
Loki and Sigyn eventually joined Odin, Frigga, Njord and Freya at the head table. They were only seated a few moments before the Allfather rose to offer a toast.
The cavernous room fell silent when the king stood.
"For many years-perhaps too many- I have looked across the water to Njord's hall, Noatun and seen only an enemy."
Beside him, Loki felt Sigyn tense. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.
"It took one of my children to remind me that the Vanir were once our brothers and sisters. Loki discovered, just as I did long ago, the Vanir really do have the most beautiful women in the universe." Laughter rippled through the crowd as Frigga flushed and Freya preened. The Allfather waited for it to die down before he continued. "In truth, I have for so long seen Vanaheim as a realm to be conquered, never realizing that victory would come- not in war, but in love."
The words were met with a murmur of approval and applause.
Odin lifted his glass. "I offer this first toast to my new daughter. Sigyn-the Victory-Bringer, Princess of Vanaheim and of Asgard!
"Princess of Vanaheim and Asgard!" The guests roared back. They drank, and then pounded the table until Loki and Sigyn shared their first wedded kiss.
Sigyn lost track of the toasts and kisses as the feast wore on. She had been looking forward to this day for so long, never quite believing that it would really happen. She wanted to remember every moment, but the evening was passing in a blur as they gradually moved through the ceremonies of the wedding feast. Loki presented Sigyn with her morning gift. It was a golden crown that proclaimed her as Asgardian royalty. Then, he presented her with Bor Burison's sword, to hold in trust for their future sons. Sigyn, in turn, presented Loki with a new sword of his own: fine steel forged and smithed with magic at Nidavellir. She still wasn't certain how her mother and grandfather had managed to pay for such a gift- and hoped that it didn't involve any unsavory bargains with the dwarves.
At long last, the string of ceremonies and speeches dwindled down and the presentation of gifts from guests began.
Knives.
Bowls.
Plates.
Jewels.
Gold.
Tapestries.
At long last the servants carried forward the last parcel, a golden casket with silver hinges.
"Well," Odin demanded when there wasn't an announcement of the benefactor. "Who is it from?"
"I'm sorry, your majesty," a nearby footman said, "There wasn't a name - or perhaps the card went missing? Shall I take it away?"
Odin frowned. "I thought all of the gifts were received personally?"
"Yes, Allfather. That is correct. It is quite mysterious."
Frigga laid a hand on her husband's arm. "Perhaps it was a gift from the Vanir people?'' The Queen gestured vaguely toward the outside of the palace. "You saw how excited they were. We have any number of Vanir among the servants, and it would have been easy for them to place the casket among the other gifts. Heimdall can look inside and tell us if anything is amiss."
Odin called his guardian to the front of the room, where he examined the offering closely. "I neither see nor sense danger, sire."'
"Very well." Odin gestured for a servant to open the box.
The chest was lined with velvet and contained two objects. The smallest was a leather pouch. Inside were diamond earrings, cleverly fashioned in the shape of snowflakes. The gems were perfectly clear and cut with an expert hand. They cast rainbows on the walls where the light sparkled off the crystal facets.
The second item was on a more masculine scale. It was a golden collar. The main part of the necklace was flat and perfectly smooth with only a few lines etched into the curves, but the clasp was fashioned to resemble a snake devouring its tail.
"Someone knows your sense of style, Loki," Frigga remarked, nodding at the smaller gold band that currently circled the bridegroom's neck.
He nodded approvingly and ran his finger over the polished metal surface.
Frigga lifted the necklace off its velvet pillow and turned it over in her hands. "Something is engraved here on the back…How curious. It says 'grief' and 'victory' with an arrow in the back. 'From grief to victory' repeated over and over again."
"Or Victory to grief," Freya interjected. "If you read it upside down, the arrows run the other way."
"Who is going to read it upside down?" Loki said dismissively, plucking the necklace out of his mother's hands.
"It's still odd," Frigga said, "It's almost as if they anticipated your father's speech."
"Or they simply share his sentiments," Loki said, tracing his fingers over the back of the necklace again.
"What's this?" Sigyn asked. Peering over Loki's shoulder, she spied another symbol engraved into the metal. On the back of the snake's head were four lines that looked like small spears. "A sleep thorn?" she said, recognizing the svefnthorn symbol.
Sigyn brushed her fingertip over the engraving, and then jolted as the hall around her fell into darkness. An icy chill shot through her body at the point where her finger touched the metal. Paradoxically, the skin on her back felt as though it had burst into flame. She couldn't see anything, but she felt a bone-chilling wind whip against her face, tasted the tang of blood on her lips and heard an inhuman shriek echoing through the darkness.
A scream welled up in Sigyn's throat, but she couldn't make a sound. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't move. She felt on the verge of passing out when the strange force holding her skin against the necklace suddenly broke, and she managed to rip her arm away. As suddenly as if she had blinked her eyes, the world returned to normal again. She was sitting in Odin's feast hall next to her new husband.
"Sigyn?" Loki asked, his voice full of gentle concern. "Are you quite alright?"
"It's dark magic," Sigyn exclaimed, shoving the necklace away and scrambling out of her chair. "When I touched the symbol, it-Don't!"
Too late, she noticed that Loki had picked the necklace up again and was moving to touch the engraving himself. She could only watch as his fingertip moved over the svefnthorn lightly at first, and then with gradually increasing pressure.
"Well?" Sigyn gasped, expecting that he had shared her experience, but Loki merely shook his head.
"It's nothing, Sigyn. It is probably just a maker's mark or meant for good luck."
"But I saw-!"
Loki kissed his bride into silence. "Darling, you're exhausted," he told her. "And probably a little bit drunk." He picked up her empty glass of honey wine and laughed. "I think we've both been at this long enough."
Loki cast an apologetic glance to his mother and then a pleading one to Odin.
"Father, Mother, the hour is late If you'll excuse me, I think I had better put my wife to bed."
Loki took Sigyn's hand and led her out of the great hall.
"But- "she cast a final glance backwards, "The necklace."
Loki responded with a longsuffering sigh and swept Sigyn into his arms. "Darling, I have much better things for you to worry about tonight."