(LOKI)

With a quick wave of my hand, we were both concealed with a spell of invisibility, which caught Sigyn by surprise before we stepped onto the noble floor.

"This is strange," she said, rubbing her hands together. "I can see you, but you're cloudy."

"That's how you appear to me as well, because it's my magic. But try to stay quiet—it shrouds us from eyes, not ears."

Sigyn nodded and kept going, searching the hall from left to right before continuing, even though no one was present. The guards had been dismissed for the evening and anyone who hadn't already been out celebrating was surely doing so now that the bell had been rung. Tomorrow's councils would likely be poorly attended, and I'd already made up my mind to be lenient. Small mercies toward the people helped alleviate the strong sense of guilt that still plagued me for bringing the enemy here.

She slowed when we passed Frigga's chamber, which still had my tribute of flowers out front. Her prior gift inspired me. Mother loved small gestures and always hoped Thor and I would learn their value.

Sigyn shook her head, hiding an inner thought, and trotted down the stairs toward the servantry.

The lower we went in the palace, the louder the great hall became, making our discovery all the more likely. Sure, Sigyn could show herself at any time, but I'd foolishly covered us in the same spell. Revealing her would mean revealing me. In front of her door, she checked for onlookers before opening it—after all, it would only serve to spread rumors of ghosts if someone witnessed our entry.

I reversed the spell once inside. Her room was much more confining and short than I remembered. The weeks away stretched the space in my mind. With my horned helmet, I nearly touched the ceiling and had to crouch to feel comfortable, so I removed it and shook out my hair—free to be myself for the first time since we'd last been together upstairs.

Sigyn lit two candles and kicked her shoes off beside the bed, sighing as she did.

"Are you sure your feet aren't injured after all you've done today?" I asked, placing my helmet on the desk absently.

She groaned, dropping whatever formality she carried at banquet and on the bell tower, as if she was no longer interested in trying to impress anyone—myself included. "Truthfully, it wasn't fighting that's giving me grief now. It was those barbarous slippers by the door." Sigyn hopped up on her mattress, letting her legs dangle off the side. "I'm looking forward to getting rest after today. It feels like the battle was days ago, not hours."

"I understand." Not waiting for an invitation, I sat in the small wooden chair by her desk, letting my cape flow behind me over the back. My armor confined and kept me from breathing deeply, but what Sigyn needed was obvious. I reached for her left foot first and brushed it with my fingertips. "May I offer some assistance?"

"You...you want to massage my feet?"

"It's the least I can do." I placed her heel on my knee and kneaded beneath her toes. Even this small part of her was soft and warm. Being with her was all I cared about.

As I expected, Sigyn hummed in satisfaction and closed her eyes. "I shouldn't let you do this, you know."

"And why not?"

"You know why." She let out a heavy sigh and relaxed with her hands propped up behind her. "But I'm too weak and tired to tell you to stop. And—oh!"

"That a sore spot?" I found the knot in her arch and worked gently. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. King's orders, no more uncomfortable shoes."

She snickered, opening her eyes again. They were deep and dark like an ocean, filled with intelligence, strength, and kindness. Perhaps even another emotion, but I wasn't sure if it truly existed outside of what I understood, so I chose to ignore the possibility.

We stared at each other, comfortably quiet, as if we'd never missed a beat despite the six weeks spent apart. She matched me now in black and gold, an ideal partner for my formal attire, and surely this wasn't lost on her. Though the pitch on her eyes was intricate and impressive, I searched beneath it to find the beauty she had naturally.

I found it in the gentle curl of her hair, which taunted me with its shine, even in the dim light. The perfect pink pout of her shapely lips that once caressed me, enveloped me, fulfilled my every whim. Her revealing gown made no secret of her body's appeal—slender because of her height, but with indulgent flesh which teased behind the precarious seam of her neckline. She might have been clothed before me, but Sigyn was naked in my mind, just as I was exposed and vulnerable in the silence.

Keeping my gaze locked with hers, I traded one foot for the other and did the same service. More brewed in the air between us. Goosebumps arose on her legs and welcomed my attention, so I dragged my hand up her calf.

Sigyn cooed, but furrowed her brow as if fighting with herself.

I leaned forward and kissed her shin, lightly squeezing the flesh of her leg on my way to her delicious thigh. My eyes remained open and focused on her, and she followed. With every peck, I grew closer to her middle, pushing her skirt ever higher.

My armor pinched my stomach, forcing me to move, which only gave me an excuse to caress Sigyn's waist as I stood.

"Loki?" she whispered, not asking a question so much as she was making sure I was who I appeared.

"Do you still want me, Sigyn?" I finally touched her hair, moving some off her left shoulder so I could stroke her face. She did not protest in word or gesture, though a distinct shine in her eyes was familiar. Uncertainty. Many choices in the air.

"I..." she trailed off, leaving her mouth open while our breath mixed.

"Don't you know I still want you?" Firmly pulling her in by her neck, I kissed Sigyn, hard. My belly was on fire—an impressive feat, again—and she made the whole world fade to nothing around us. Were the candles still lit? I closed my eyes to focus on every sensation of her sweet reciprocation. Her hands were in my hair, keeping me near. The bare skin of her collarbone made sliding the neck of her dress off her shoulder all too easy. I couldn't wait to watch her writhe in pleasure.

I growled, lightly biting her neck. With her sitting on the edge of the bed, she was at just the right height for my hands to find what I needed. Her thighs quivered around me, open to me, and I reached under her skirt for the flesh. It wobbled in a satisfying way that would make waves if I thrust into her as I had done before, echoing my passion. Sigyn wore no other barrier to keep herself restrained, and with no word to stop, I dove two fingers into her.

She gasped, throwing her head back and gripping my shoulders where the cape met the armored cage.

I set a decent pace and didn't deviate. Every so often, she'd tighten around me, which felt like encouragement to keep going. There was no friction whatsoever—Sigyn was ready and wanton.

"Tell me another fantasy." I pressed my forehead into hers and panted. "What do you crave from me?"

"Crave?"

"Yes. Before, you wanted a command. What does Sigyn dream of now?" I moved faster, positively making love to her with my hand, wishing she would hurry up so I could lean her back and take control.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" She halted me altogether, backing away from my face and putting her foot into my elbow to stop all motion. "Your power extends to my dreams?"

Somehow either the late hour clouded my judgment or I was too daft to notice her panic, but I made a confession I shouldn't have made. "Why would I need to influence your dreams when you write them down?"

Sigyn stared at me for a beat, processing what I said.

While she did, I realized my error. Oh, no.

"You snake." She shoved me away from her, out of her, standing and pushing me another time closer to the door. "You read my diary, didn't you?"

I stammered, not quick enough to find an excuse that would reverse what I'd already ruined.

"I can't believe you would stoop so low to do such a thing. I should've known when you came in my room uninvited. Searching for something to make me an easy conquest!"

She misunderstood why I'd come in the first place that night when she bandaged my shoulder and left her mark on my mind. Still, my justification fell short. "If you were such an easy conquest, I wouldn't have needed to read your diary to understand you."

Sigyn glared. "A gentleman might've asked what I wanted."

"I never claimed to be a gentleman. Don't you recall offering yourself to me? Would you have preferred to be my whore?"

She slapped me with such ferocity, I had no chance to evade her. The burn spread across my face, only half as painful as the wound to my pride.

"I am no one's whore." She flared her nostrils and refused to blink. The blue in her eyes turned almost purple with rage.

Her wrath ate through my strong façade, making me weak. I shifted my eyes away, ashamed of myself and how she saw me.

But on her desk was the very same journal we spoke of—though now, a small rose lay within its center, clearly intended to guide her next entry. A token that had not come from me.

"You are no longer welcome here, Loki. I've changed. My dreams no longer include you."

"Do they include the soldier?" I scowled at her. "Would you choose the poor warrior over a king?"

"Is that jealousy I hear?" Sigyn simpered, holding all the power. "You say it as if you've done something for me to weigh against. Let's examine that list, shall we? You terrify me, invade my space, change my station, and invite me to your bed, only to shut me out the next day without a word. Didn't even have the common decency to tell me why, leaving me here, alone, in tears, questioning my every move and wondering if you'd rather see me dead than next to you again."

My stomach rolled. "You couldn't understand—"

"Understand what? That I was so worthless, you could pretend that I didn't exist?"

"You think that was the reason? That I found you worthless?" I stepped closer, putting her chest against mine. "It didn't occur to you that in a time of war, I couldn't afford any distractions? You kept demanding my attention even when you weren't present. I had to shut you out to keep you safe."

She rolled her eyes. "I didn't need you to keep me safe."

"Right. Because strong women never need to be rescued."

"Not by men like you. You're no different from any other man, convinced women can't fight if they aren't part of the army themselves. I think I proved enough today how wrong you were."

"You know who else could fight? My mother." She forced my pain to surface, and it made itself known through my eyes, leaking down my cheeks in raw tears. "Frigga held off entire armies on her own until I sent that monster upstairs to kill Odin. He stole her from me." I shook Sigyn's shoulders. "Don't you understand? I killed her! I would not see you meet that same fate!"

"How could I? You act as if I wore a beacon that would've drawn the enemy right to me."

I pulled my cape from behind and held it up, letting it speak for me. "If I saw it, they saw it. I was the enemy's target, and keeping you away ensured you weren't within their strongest aim. Even something as simple as the brighter robes set you apart. Peorth proved that. Why do you think I told you it was a blessing to be muted?"

"Blessing?" Sigyn squinted and shook her head, putting more pieces together with each second. "Gods..."

"You think I wanted to avoid you. The truth is, I had to see you. Had to find a way to make sure you survived while I cleaned up the mess." I took her hands and laced our fingers. "I didn't send a soldier to do what I could not. It was me. I returned your brooch and—"

"And killed the respect from my peers." She threw my hands down and paced before me. "When you did what you did, downgrading me, it stirred the rest of the servants into rumors that painted me poorly. I lost opportunities for privacy. Lost my right to travel through the palace above the second floor. My boundaries are even more restrictive than they were when we met. You didn't care what your so-called blessing did to me so long as you didn't have to face me and your guilt. Admit it."

"No—I did care. I fought with myself and tried to think of another way. But now that the war is over, I have other plans for you. Better plans. Please, Sigyn—"

She stomped. "Whatever it is, I don't want it. It is not my place to accept you or your offers, Loki. It never was."

I was only a small step away from her, but she was miles away. On another planet. Another universe. Out of reach. "And Theoric? A bullish soldier would do better, is that it?"

Sigyn gulped, squaring her jaw and fiddling with her skirt, unable to hold still. "I cannot offer myself to a man who cannot give his heart in return. Would you dare lie and say that you are capable of such a thing?"

I couldn't let her win. "Do not question my heart. It was you who thought it appropriate to punctuate a war with your petty emotions."

She clenched her fists and shook. "And how did I do that?"

"By planting yourself in my mind. By leaving an open-ended invitation. By making me believe that I could've brought myself glory if I'd only tried hard enough. All you did was make a fool of me."

"How could I fool the great trickster—the man who lives his whole life in a lie?"

I shouted, "You will not spoil my victory by making me show weakness. Not now, not ever!"

"You are weak!" She screamed to triumph over my own volume. "You cannot even admit it to yourself. You're afraid of your own people, afraid to let in a little trust. Afraid to be kind, even when the moment calls for it. I thought you had changed, but your kindness was so fleeting, when I woke you had become a different man. Here I stand again with a different person than he was even a few moments ago."

I puffed breaths onto her, unwilling to look in her verbal mirror. "I thought you understood what kind of man I was. Royalty, responsibility...no freedom to romance the stars. Yet I still kept my promise, didn't I?"

"Too late. You were too late." Her lip quivered as she spoke, and small hiccups interrupted her. "You ask if I would choose Theoric over you? What choice is it, really—a life of lies and secrets, or a life of security and care? I dare say, the decision is easy."

I shook my head as she slipped away further, becoming equally teary myself. "Sigyn..."

"What you're asking is not if I would prefer to give my body to you. But I would choose to give my heart to someone capable of that which you are not."

"Because I am so monstrous, I'm not worth the chance?" I grimaced, baring my teeth.

"No. Because you are so prideful, so certain of your status as the center of the universe, you don't care how much that outlook destroys the people you love."

"And you count yourself within that list?" Cruelty made it easier to swallow her rejection—but more lies were the result.

Sigyn closed her lips and arched her brows, reminding me of a pained expression Frigga gave me near the end. I'd hurt her on purpose for a similar reason. Pushing them away made me feel in control.

She shook her head slowly. "I don't. But thank you."

I furrowed my brow. "For what?"

"For making this easy." Sigyn sniffed and wiped her eyes, which now dripped from black paint and sullied her beauty. When she was done, she pointed toward the door. "Get out."

I grabbed my helmet and stared at the rose below, feeling much how I did on the battlefield next to Theoric earlier. Rageful. Resentful. More green than I already was normally. I picked up the rose and held it before her. "Fine. Keep the soldier." With my icy malice, I froze the flower and dropped it on the floor, shattering it at her feet.

She shouted before I could exit, "Don't you dare hurt him, or I swear to all Valhalla, I won't stay silent about who you are."

I paused, tapping the knob on her door, considering all the underhanded plots that ran through my head since I discovered their connection earlier. The only thing keeping me from finding him now and slaying him in his sleep was the fool's hope that she might discover her error.

"Swear it, Loki. Swear on Frigga that you'll let us be."

I closed my eyes and did say a prayer, though it was far from what Sigyn asked for. "Consider it my last promise." With that, I cast a new spell over myself and slammed the door behind me.