Chapter 10 - Sigyn's Wager
At first, Loki didn't understand what Sigyn had said.
"What?" he and Hambli exclaimed at the same time.
"I said…that you could still wager for me."
Loki's stomach churned when he saw the hungry grin that spread across the dwarf chief's features. Hambli templed his stubby fingers under his chin and let his beady eyes roam over Sigyn's figure as though he was about to bid on a particularly prime piece of horseflesh.
"An intriguing suggestion," the chieftain purred.
Loki stepped forward. "Sigyn- no!" he said, catching her shoulder and pulling her aside. "You don't want to do this. I'll think of another way…"
"There is no other way!" Sigyn exclaimed. She attempted to twist out of his grasp, but Loki held firm.
"Stop, and think! You've seen how they behave. You're too innocent to know what he's after. You can't imagine what they'd do if they got you alone!" Sigyn might be a blushing young maiden, but Loki's imagination was full of distasteful ideas and he shuddered on her behalf. "They'll lock you down here away from the sun and there's no telling if you'll ever come back!"
"If we lose!" Sigyn retorted, emphasizing the first word. She lifted one hand to Loki's face and touched his cheek. "You have to trust me!"
"It isn't a question of trust. It's a question of sanity!" Loki countered, confusion and disapproval dripping from his voice. Before he could muster another argument, Hambli interrupted.
"My patience is spent! Do you wish to make the bet or not?"
"Yes!" Sigyn exclaimed at the same time that Loki growled, "No!"
Hambli ignored the prince. One of his small, grubby hands reached around Sigyn's legs- the highest part of her body that he could comfortably reach- and tugged her back toward the table where he and Loki had held their match of Fates.
"Now, gemstone," he said to Sigyn in an oily tone, "What is it that you had in mind?"
Loki's blood boiled as he watched the dwarf's fingers caress the back of Sigyn's thighs. Hambli acted as though he had already won the wager and acquired the Vanir princess as a pet. Loki knew that he needed to stop the madness soon.
"It's late!" he said, attempting the same delaying tactic that had been successful the night before. "We should all go to sleep and deal with this in the morning."
"No," Hambli said flatly. "It is late- but I don't think that I care to sleep alone. We will settle this now- and then you can be on your way back to Asgard, Son of Odin."
Loki opened his mouth to argue some more, but Sigyn spoke first.
"I agree- there is no cause to delay."
Loki's jaw tensed in helpless frustration. "What is it that we are doing, exactly?" he forced out through clenched teeth.
"Hambli is going to ask you a riddle," Sigyn explained. She turned toward the dwarf. "You will write your answer down before you ask, so that the solution can't be changed. Loki will remain silent and keep his hands at his side so that he won't be able to use any magic- that should make things fair to both of you. It will be a pure battle of wits, as I said before."
Loki felt like rolling his eyes. Of course he was flattered that Sigyn obviously considered him to hold the superior intellect (then again, he was battling against a dwarf)- but she seemed too naïve to understand that Hambli could manipulate the game in more ways than simply changing his answer after the query was posed. Loki was certain that the chief's idea of a "riddle" was to ask a question that no one could ever unravel with wits. His suspicion was confirmed when he saw the delighted glimmer in Hambli's eyes.
"Simple enough," the dwarf said, assenting to the terms. He clapped his hands to summon a servant. In the blink of an eye, parchment, a quill and an hourglass were delivered to the vault.
"The Lie-Smith shall have until the end of three turnings of the glass to find his answer," Hambli proposed, "He may only answer once. If he fails, he forfeits you and agrees to be on his way."
"Yes," Sigyn agreed, "But remember- you are wagering everything that came before: me, the egg, the jewels, two cartloads of gold…and the crown."
"Yes."
"You must swear it!" Sigyn said firmly.
Clearly feeling his advantage, the dwarf agreed. He spit into his palm and held it out to Loki. Grimacing in distaste, Loki followed his example. They clasped hands and repeated their oath. Then, they both took a seat at the table.
Hambli picked up the pen and scratched a word on the piece of paper. When he was finished, he folded the scrap of parchment in fourths and laid it next to the hourglass.
"The lady has been very straightforward in her terms," Hambli said. A predatory gleam lit his coal-black eyes. "In that spirit, I will ask you a straightforward question as well, Odinsson…riddle me this: What am I thinking of between one and ten?"
Loki's eyes narrowed. At first, he was surprised by the simple question- and then he was suspicious. He had fully expected Hambli to ask this sort of question: open-ended to the point of hopelessness. The part that he didn't understand was why the chief would offer him a one-in-ten chance of success.
"Well?" the dwarf prodded. Hambli turned the hourglass over for the first time and sand began to trickle out of the top.
Loki glanced at Sigyn. Her face had gone pale and her features were oddly tense. He assumed that she was finally beginning to realize what she had done, but he couldn't stop to comfort her now. Loki tried to clear his mind and concentrate on the task at hand. Surely there was some way to work out the number that Hambli was looking for? At least he could make an educated guess!
If the dwarves loved anything, it was "more". That tendency argued in favor of the number ten…but surely Hambli was canny enough to realize that Loki would know this and consider it in making his guess. Perhaps he would chose the opposite- if those numbers were even in play.
"Between one and ten?" Loki repeated, seeking clarification. "One and ten are included, or not?"
"Yes," Hambli replied. "One and ten are included. Is one of those your answer?"
"No," Loki discarded both numbers as possibilities. The dwarf hadn't betrayed the slightest hint of agitation at Loki's question- which he took to mean that Hambli hadn't felt threatened by it. That left only eight remaining answers…
"A cup of wine!" Hambli commanded his servant. His booming voice broke Loki's concentration. The prince glanced up at the dwarf. Clearly, the revels of the day were catching up with the little chieftain. His skin had turned ashen and- if the way that he was wincing and rubbing his temple was any way to judge- it seemed that he was battling a headache. Had Loki cared about the dwarf chief's health at all, then he might have argued against the wine. As it was, he took a crumb of pleasure from the thought that Hambli was suffering and turned his attention to the goblet that the servant brought.
The vessel appeared to be made of solid gold and it had intricate carvings on its side. Loki's eyes were drawn to a highly stylized pyramid that was transected by six diagonal lines. He assumed that they represented the six deep mines of the mountain that Hambli's chiefdom controlled.
Six? Loki pondered whether Hambli was the sort of man to choose a number of such personal significance. True, the dwarf was arrogant- but wouldn't he also want to select the number that Loki was least likely to guess?
The last few grains of sand ran out of the top of the hourglass and Hambli turned it over again.
"Do you have an answer?" the dwarf asked again.
The small, glittering flecks of sand were still flowing, counting off precious seconds.
"Silence!" Loki growled and tried to focus again.
There were nine realms of Ydraggsil…Hambli had seven wives…sun, moon and firelight were the three symbols of the dwarfish temples…Hambli was the eigth child of Garbli…
The hourglass turned for a third time.
Loki felt the beginning of real panic and wondered if he should forget the riddle and start working on a plan to rescue Sigyn instead. He couldn't leave her here! This predicament was her own fault, but still he felt responsible. After all, she was his…friend? Loki didn't have time to ponder what the girl might mean to him now. If his fears were realized, he would have the whole, long, lonely walk to Asgard to contemplate what their relationship had been. He couldn't let that happen! He had to think!
...Three?...Six?...Four?...Five?
AND.
Loki sucked in his breath. A stabbing pain shot through his forehead at the same time that he felt the word inside his mind. It was similar to what he had experienced with the shard of Azimuth, but the hurt was new. There was another difference as well. This time, the word was spoken in Sigyn's voice!
The answer is "AND"….between one AND ten…He's trying to trick you!
Loki looked up and caught Sigyn's gaze. Her usually cool blue eyes seemed to radiate with intensity but her features were fixed. Was she really speaking to him inside his head? If so, then how? Were the words merely a figment of a desperate mind?
AND!
Loki winced as another pain jolted through his head.
Loki- you have to trust me!
The final grains of sand were slipping downwards. With every passing second, Hambli's smug smile spread further across his ruddy face.
"Well, Loki Lie-Smith?" he demanded as the last particle of dust settled in the bottom of the glass. "What is your answer?"
Loki took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He decided to take a chance:
"And."
There was a beat of absolute silence. Sigyn extended her arm toward the folded slip of paper, but before she could reach it, Hambli exploded in rage.
"CHEATER!" the chief exclaimed. He swept his arm across the table, sending the paper, the hourglass and his goblet of wine crashing to the floor.
Sigyn calmly bent to retrieve the parchment, which she calmly read aloud: "And."
Loki felt sick with relief.
"CHEATER!" Hambli bellowed again. His face was turning purple with anger. "There is no way that you could make that guess! You used magic somehow! I know it!" The dwarf clutched at Sigyn's gown as though he meant to claim her in spite of his failure- but the princess slapped his hand away.
"You lost and now you have to pay your debt!" she said. "You swore an oath."
Hambli continued to howl, but Sigyn ignored him. Loki smiled with approval as she coolly collected all of the jewels that she had selected for the first round of betting along with the stone and -finally- the Azimuth.
"You owe us two cartfuls of gold," she said sweetly, but the twist of her lips betrayed the relish that she took in besting the dwarf.
"And directions to Asgard," Loki added, seizing the moment. "We'll want to be on our way."
This was the final straw.
"DIRECTIONS TO ASGARD?" Hambli shouted, still quivering with fury. "I'll give you directions to Asgard!" He made a very rude gesture which culminated with his fingers pointing toward the ceiling. "UP! That's the only direction you'll get from me- you can find your way via Helheim for all I care!"
The direction of "up" was surely accurate- although it obeyed the letter, rather than the spirit of the wager. Loki feared that Sigyn was about to press the issue- but he could sense that it was time to make a tactful retreat.
He took Sigyn's arm and guided her through the doorway of the vault.
Outside, Loki didn't have any idea where he was heading, so he took his cues from the guards. The dwarf soldiers were practically nipping at their heels. They herded the two Asgardians up the stairs and down a bare corridor like a group of housewives sweeping dust outside with a broom.
Eventually, they reached a pair of heavy iron doors. Loki and Sigyn were pushed through with such force that they stumbled to the ground. Loki had barely managed to regain his feet when a bundle of clothing and their traveling packs were tossed onto ground beside them. With that, the metal doors slammed shut, leaving Loki and Sigyn in total darkness.
It took only a second for Loki to conjure fire. He moved the magical flames around their immediate surroundings, taking stock of what he saw.
"Lovely," he said with a sigh. "Another cave."
"We follow it?" Sigyn asked him.
Loki looked over his shoulder. The way behind them was barred. Ahead of them, the narrow cavern twisted steeply toward the sky.
"You heard what the dwarf-chief said...the way back to Asgard is up."
A/N: Thank you so much for your comments! You have all given me lots of ideas...and some of you are too darn smart for your own good! Loki and Sigyn aren't home-free yet!
A few quick notes: Yes, the "Stop, and think" was stolen from the movie...I love the way that Tom Hiddleston delivers that line. I figured Sigyn needed the benefit of hearing it- perhaps it will get her moving a little faster towards falling in love!
Hambli's riddle was somewhat inspired by Bilbo and Gollum in the cave from "The Hobbit". I thought about "What's in my pocket?" but figured that was too much of a ripoff.
This chapter wasn't quite as exciting as the last one, but I hope that you are still enjoying the ride.
The good news: Chapter 11 is already COMPLETELY written.
The bad news: I am an old lady, schooled during the dark ages of computers and I write everything in long-hand...so I still need to sit down and type it out. SOON though, I promise! I think you will like it. The cliffhanger at the end of Chapter 11 is my favorite ;)