Chapter 16- Escape

It was mid-morning before Angrboda returned to the cottage. Loki had used every second of his freedom to scour the house from top to bottom for clues about the sorceress's motives and, more importantly, a way to escape. Unfortunately, he came up empty. The silver whistle that controlled the wolves was not on its hook and the door to Angrboda's storeroom was locked and warded with a spell that Loki could not defeat.

Angrboda gave no hint of where she had been, but her exhaustion was clear on her face.

"There is no need to practice magic today, dearest," Loki said, forcing himself to speak the term of endearment. "Let me prepare a sleeping potion and put you to bed."

Loki hoped for admission to the storeroom- but his attempt was thwarted. Angrboda smiled a sweet smile at his suggestion and nodded her head. "We should both get some rest," she told him. Reaching into a cabinet, she retrieved a dram that had already been prepared and a pair of cups. "Come, my love" she told him and pulled him toward the stairs.

Loki only pretended to drink the potion. He was glad that Angrboda didn't examine his glass too closely. The glamor that he had used to conceal the liquid that remained in the vessel was crude and he would have been discovered if any had spilled. For once, she didn't ask any questions. She swallowed her own medicine quickly, and her lovely eyes were already growing heavy as she led him to the bed.

A chill rushed over Loki's body as he slid between the sheets and brushed against Angrboda's skin. He was careful not to give her a sign that anything was amiss. He brushed a kiss against her temple and wrapped his arm around his waist. He drew her body flush against his own and listened for signs that she had fallen asleep. His mind drifted as he waited. He thought of all the other times that they had curled together like this. Then, in a flash, another memory returned.

Sigyn. Once again, the name returned to Loki's mind. With it came the recollection of a night spent in a dwarfish palace. He remembered how her little body fitted perfectly to his, the smell of her skin, and the sound of her breath…

Loki let his mind wander freely and was rewarded as more and more of the past returned. He had not come from Asgard with Angrboda. That was clear now. Sigyn had shown him the path through the nine realms. Sigyn had taken him to Vanaheim. Sigyn had helped him take the Azimuth from Hambli. Sigyn had come with him to Angrboda's cottage.

Loki's blood ran cold in his veins when he finally remembered leaving Sigyn at her bedroom door.

"Don't be a child, Sigyn!" his words came back to haunt him now. He shut the door behind her and then she had simply disappeared. As much as he struggled to remember, there was simply no hint of where the princess had gone.

As soon as Angrboda was asleep, Loki seized the opportunity to ease his arm out from under her body and to get up out of bed. He moved very carefully, avoiding every creaky floorboard,worried that she would awaken at any moment. His fears appeared unfounded. Angrboda continued to slumber as he walked to the table, picked up their cups, and carried them down to the kitchen.

He started to empty the contents of his still-full glass, but thought better of it. The ward on the storeroom made it clear that the enchantress did not trust him with potion ingredients, and he didn't know when a sleeping draught might come in handy. He searched until he found the flask that Angrboda had used, poured the potion back inside, and then hid it inside a decorative vase.

Because Angrboda was still asleep, Loki took the opportunity to continue his search of the house. His first action was to search the room where Sigyn had slept, but there was nothing amiss. The room appeared dusty and unused. Rummaging through the rest of the house was fruitless as well. The whistle had not been returned to its hook. He realized, with annoyance, that it was on a chain around the woman's neck.

Angrboda awoke in the late afternoon and they carried on with their usual domestic routine. The habits that had been comforting and even charming a few days before now set Loki's teeth on edge. It took all of his control to remember to smile and laugh at the woman's remarks now that he knew it was all a farce.

The next day passed in much the same manner as all the rest since he had come to the cottage. Angrboda awoke with a smile on her lovely lips and offered Loki her body before they went down to breakfast. She arched a brow when he politely declined.

"You're still unwell, my love," he murmured in excuse- and noted that she didn't fight him.

They had their morning meal, and then went to work with the Azimuth, as usual.

"Ask the Azimuth about the vulnerabilities of Odin's treasure vault," she commanded.

Loki did as he was told. There was a familiar pause and then the voice rang out in his head. "The guards who monitor the treasures may not be trusted. The defenses may not hold if these two yield."

He obediently parroted back the answer to Angrboda but, when asked to elaborate, he lied. "I know that is true of his main treasure vault," Loki announced, "But, of course, most of those relics are decoys…The true relics are kept in my father's room in the center tower."

He watched Angrboda's face very closely. She held her features very still, but he saw her pupils widen in surprise and a twitch at the edge of her lips. "How…very clever," she said in a neutral voice. "In his chamber, you say? I doubt that anyone would think to look there."

She was silent for a moment before prompting a second question. "Ask the Azimuth if anyone else knows that they are there."

Loki nodded his head- but this time he did not obey. "Where is Lady Sigyn?" he thought, instead.

Angrboda's features darkened. "Why did you ask that?" she spat.

Loki's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "What are you talking about?" he asked, defensively. "I asked the question you told me to!"

Angrboda opened her mouth to say something else, but seemed to think better of it.

The delay before the Azimuth's answer took a few seconds longer than usual, but it finally arrived. "She is in Asgard with her new fiancé, Theoric."

Loki felt as if he had been punched in the gut. Sigyn was in Asgard? She was engaged?

"What did it say?" Angrboda interrupted his self-torture.

Loki struggled to hold his countenance as he answered. "It…said that my mother and my brother Thor both know," he lied.

Angrboda narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but didn't press him.

"I think that's enough for today," she announced abruptly, and then changed the topic. She began chattering about a book of spells and didn't mention the Azimuth again.

That night, she offered him a double draught of potion. Once again, Loki was able to hide his refusal to drink.

They climbed into bed together and Angrboda blew out the lamp.

"Loki?" her voice carried through the darkness. "Why did you ask where Sigyn was?"

Loki sucked in his breath. Angrboda knew what he had asked? The implications of this discovery reared large in his mind. If Angrboda knew kahalan could she put things in his mind as well?

"Who?" he asked, managing to feign innocence, but his mind was reeling. Pieces were quickly falling into place, and his determination to escape grew stronger.

But how? Every day, the task seemed more and more impossible. Angrboda continued to simper and smile and play the part of a doting wife, but Loki slowly began to understand that he was a prisoner in her home. Every request to leave the cottage was met by an excuse, every attempt to use the storeroom on his own was blocked, every question to the Azimuth was carefully scripted.

One morning, Loki decided to put his theory about the Azimuth to a test. Angrboda opened her mouth to suggest a question, but Loki spoke first.

"I think I should ask if Odin's relics are secure," he said. "They are too valuable to leave unprotected.

Angrboda appeared delighted with the question. She nodded her head in acquiescence. Loki closed his eyes and asked.

There was a pause, and then the answer:

"The relics in your father's chamber are at risk...your mother and Thor may not hold their tongues."

He fought the urge to smile with satisfaction as he listened to the voice repeat the false information from the day before. He realized, at last, that the crown was merely parroting back details that it had gleaned from him.

"I have a second question," Loki said slowly, after he repeated the crown's words to his companion.

Angrboda nodded eagerly. "Yes?"

"How do we know that this is the true Azimuth?" Loki asked calmly. "It is said that the crown vanished into the bottomless sea."

"Why, what a silly question!" the enchantress answered. She plucked the crown out of Loki's hands. "Remember what happened to King Salkin. The crown isn't getting heavy yet- you don't want to waste its power on things that don't matter."

"Why doesn't it matter?" Loki pressed.

The woman remained unruffled, "Because, it was found and we have it now- it doesn't matter at all how it came to us. It simply did...Don't trouble yourself, my darling." She dabbed a kiss on the tip of his nose. "Why don't you relax for a while- you've been working awfully hard."

Loki snorted. "We haven't done anything at all!" He shot Angrboda a sidelong glance. "I'm going crazy cooped up inside this house- how much longer until we march on Asgard?"

"Soon," she promised.

"What is our plan of attack?"

"You don't need to trouble yourself with that, my love."

"But I want to know!"

Finally, the sorceress's beautiful facade showed signs of strain. She ignored his question and said, instead: "My, but you are in quite a mood this afternoon!" she tutted. "What can I do to put you back to rights?"

Loki simply scowled in response.

Undeterred, Angrboda waltzed to the staircase. "I know what would soothe you, my love," she said. "How about a nice, hot bath?"

Loki's initial response was to scrunch up his nose in distaste, but then he was struck by an idea. "Perhaps..." he said slowly. "How big is your tub?"

Angrboda looked confused. "Why- how large do you wish it to be?"

"Big enough for two?" he suggested with a dark smile.

Angrboda's lips curled up in answer. "That could be arranged," she purred back.

"Good."

Loki motioned for her to continue up the staircase. "Why don't you go and draw it? I'll fetch a few glasses of wine."

He couldn't help but notice the way that Angrboda glanced warily in the direction of the storeroom- or the way that the lock clicked closed by her silent command, but he managed to hold his features in a sultry smile. "I'll hurry," he promised.

Satisfied, Angrboda did as he suggested. She hurried up the stairs. As soon as he heard her footsteps moving overhead, Loki went to the kitchen. He took out two goblets and filled the first with with some dark red wine. He filled the second only half full. Then, retrieving the sleeping potion from the place where he had stashed it, he fulled the second up to its brim.

Loki carried the cups up the stairs, careful to note which was which. He heard Angrboda moving around in the bedroom. When he opened the door, he saw that she had conjured a huge copper tub and had filled it with steaming water. As soon as she caught sight of Loki, she started stripping off her clothes.

"Care to join me?" she growled in invitation when she was standing before him wearing nothing but the whistle on its chain.

"Can't wait..." Loki assured her. He helped Angrboda into the water and then handed her the cup of wine.

Loki caught her eye and lifted his own goblet. "A toast," he proposed in a sultry drawl. "To us!"

"To us!" Angrboda answered with a glittering smile. She copied Loki's next action, lifting the cup to her lip and taking a long, deep gulp. "Mmmm..." she said in appreciation. "Delicious!"

"Yes," Loki answered, trying not to smile as she took another drink...and then another, until she had quickly drained the glass. "More?" he offered, tipping his own drink into her cup.

"Yes, I believe that I..." Angrboda's voice faltered abruptly. Her eyes flashed wide in shock. Then, to Loki's relief, she collapsed into the scented water- totally, soundly asleep.

He had no idea how long the potion would last, but didn't intend to dawdle and find out. He yanked the whistle off of Angrboda's neck and hurried down the stairs.

He didn't gather many belongings. A cloak, a sword and the Azimuth were all that he stopped to take before bounding out into the snow.

Loki remembered Angrboda's words from months before. The road to Asgard was at the mouth of the stream. He prayed that it wasn't far. He ran beside the water, stumbling over loose stones and patches of ice as he followed its course through the woods. He couldn't afford to use his eyes to watch his footing. Instead, he looked constantly from side to side, straining his senses for any sign of the fearsome wolves.

He ran until his breath gave out. Then he slowed his pace to a walk. He didn't dare to stop- not until he reached the safety of the Old Road. He nodded to get to Odin's castle. Loki suspected that Angrboda's lies had tainted every answer that the Azimuth had given- and he highly doubted that Sigyn was safe at home, but he didn't know how he could possibly locate and rescue her on his own.

Lost in his thoughts, Loki didn't immediately notice the large, dark shape looming on the path ahead of him, but he looked up when he heard it's savage, keening cry. His fingers scrambled for the silver whistle and he drew it toward his lips, but faltered before he made a sound.

Loki's mouth went dry at the sight before his eyes.

He didn't know what to call the creature on the road ahead of him- but it certainly wasn't a wolf!

A/N: Thank you again for your kind and constructive reviews...in fact- I loved even the short "I like it" review, since it lets me know that you are still around :D There are TWO chapters left to go...I hope that you will be as pleased with the grand finale as I am...

Thanks, as ever, to LillianClaire for being my sounding board!