Author's Note: Hi there everyone, and a very special "welcome" to the latest followers of this story! I hope everyone is enjoying it so far. If there is anything specific you want to see or think needs to happen let me know. This is a pretty free-flowing story right now so I would love to incorporate any of your ideas. I own nothing except Sigyn and her family. Read, review, etc., but most of all enjoy.
Loki slunk tiredly into his room and plopped down on his bed. Instead of returning to the banquet after Sigyn slapped him, he had gone to the library. He needed a place he could be alone to think about what went wrong in his pursuit of Sigyn, and to hide the blossoming hand print on his cheek. Loki placed his hand over said spot and laughed. It was odd, but the fact that Sigyn had slapped him was really starting to amuse him, he could almost say that in some twisted way he had enjoyed it. After laughing quietly for a bit he replayed the entire evening over in his mind searching for something he could have done differently to win her over, but no obvious answer presented itself. She had mentioned that she would have preferred to talk about some sort of intellectual topic instead of having him flirt with her, but as he combed over their conversations he couldn't pinpoint what had been considered flirting in her mind. Sigyn had also mentioned overhearing Thor, and Loki cursed silently. The bloody oaf was the one who had ruined it for him. If Thor had kept his mouth shut Sigyn wouldn't have had knowledge of Loki's intended plans, and she probably wouldn't have been able to detect his subtle flirting. Loki tossed his boots off and snuggled under the sheets of his bed. It was too late to worry about what went wrong now, and Loki could consider how to proceed after he had gotten some sleep.
The sun was rather high in the sky when Loki opened his eyes again. He had slept fairly soundly considering the drama of the evening before. Loki rolled out of bed and made his way to the bathroom connected to his sleeping chambers. He stripped down, bathed, and dried off leisurely before heading back to his room while running his hands through his short hair to slick it back. He stood in front of his wardrobe and began to look through his clothing for his favorite green tunic. He was unable to find it on his first look through so he pulled out a pair of random undergarments and pants and put them on first. Once he was partly dressed he checked the drawers of his dresser and the wardrobe once again. Seeing that the tunic was not in either of those places, Loki began to search around his room. He knew the tunic was clean, he had just seen it the day before hanging in its usual spot. Not able to find the tunic anywhere, Loki left his room shirtless and headed straight for his mother's. No one stared as he marched half-naked down the hall. The palace servants and guards were already well accustomed to seeing him and Thor, though mainly Thor, walking around in various states of undress. Frigga hated it, but Odin just shrugged it off saying, "Boys will be boys."
Loki reached his mother's sitting room and knocked on the door. She called for him to enter, and Loki promptly pushed the door open.
"Mother what have you done with my…"
Loki's voice trailed off at the sight of the Queen's companion in the sitting room. Sigyn stood quickly from her seat and curtsied to him.
"Good morning Prince Loki…or I should say good afternoon since it is almost midday." She greeted.
Loki guessed by the look on Sigyn's face when he had entered that she had expected to see him just as much as he had expected to see her, which was to say, not at all. Her current expression was a bit trickier to define. She seemed to be biting her bottom lip in a failed attempt to keep from grinning, and her eyes lingered over his bare chest momentarily. He wasn't sure what to call the look that her blue eyes held, but it certainly wasn't disapproving.
Loki turned to Frigga.
"Mother where is my tunic, the green one?" He quickly inquired.
"Is that any way to behave in front of a Lady, Loki? Sigyn has just greeted you, and you should be kind enough to do the same." She admonished in a motherly tone.
Loki rolled his eyes and quickly grabbed Sigyn's hand and placed a quick kiss on the top of it.
"Good day to you too." He added as an afterthought, and then turned back to Frigga. "Mother my tunic?"
Frigga sighed. "Apparently we will have to work on that…" She muttered, "and you will have to be more specific darling, you have more than one green tunic."
Loki cringed. Did his mother just call him "darling" in front of Sigyn? Great, just one more thing that she could add to her list of "Things I can hang over Prince Loki's head."
"Mother you know which one I am talking about." Loki admonished as the Queen gave him an infuriating smile.
"Is this the tunic you mean?" Sigyn asked curiously.
Loki looked over to where she stood. She was holding out a folded shirt and Loki immediately recognized it as the tunic in question.
He grabbed it as quickly, but politely, as he could and slipped it on over his head. The second the fabric hit his skin he could detect a vaguely familiar scent, and it only took a moment to place it. His tunic smelled like Sigyn's perfume, a startling but not unpleasant surprise.
"These are yours also My Prince." Sigyn added while holding out a pair of folded pants and a belt.
Loki took them as well.
"May I ask how you came by these?" He asked with a hint of annoyance.
"I lent them to her." Frigga interceded. "Sigyn wished to leave the banquet early yesterday, and had intended to ride back to her home on horseback. I am sure you noticed how lovely her gown was last evening, and I couldn't let her risk damaging it during her ride home so I borrowed some clothing from your wardrobe. I hope you don't mind dear."
Loki had no choice but to smile at his mother's explanation.
"Of course not." He lied.
"I knew you wouldn't, now take a seat next to me and talk with us, unless of course you would rather go join Thor in his training…"
Loki sighed inwardly in defeat. This was a no win situation. He had no interest in going to train with Thor, Sif, and the Warriors Three, but having to hold a conversation with Sigyn after the events of last night wasn't exactly what he had in mind when he woke up this morning. Reluctantly he took a seat next to Frigga, and Sigyn sat down in her chair from earlier.
"Sigyn was just telling me about what a lovely time she had last evening, and… Loki what is wrong with your cheek?" Frigga asked upon seeing the faded pink mark on his cheek.
"A bug bite." Loki lied effortlessly.
Sigyn exhaled a bit loudly through her nose in a mocking manner and Frigga raised an eyebrow at Loki.
"That must have been a rather large and pesky bug." The Queen remarked.
"It was." Loki replied while throwing a meaningful look at Sigyn.
Sigyn looked as if she wanted to stick her tongue out at him, but the presence of Frigga and the fact that she was clearly too old to do something so childish stopped her. Frigga watched the two stare each other down, and smiled. They obviously needed a moment alone.
"Oh Sigyn I should fetch that book I was telling you about when Loki interrupted us before it slips my mind. Loki do you think you could keep her company while I go fetch it?"
Loki nodded grudgingly and Frigga swept out of the room. Neither Loki nor Sigyn spoke at first for fear that Frigga might still be within hearing distance.
"I see you managed to evade capture." Loki stated.
Sigyn rolled her eyes. "Please Loki, don't flatter yourself with some sense of power that you don't actually posses."
"You seemed to believe I possessed it last night." Loki pointed out.
"I had also drunk four glasses of wine last night as well." Sigyn retorted.
Silence fell between the two of them again, and Loki caught a glimpse of Sigyn brushing out a crease in her dress.
"I am sorry I slapped you." She finally apologized.
"You're forgiven." He responded while twiddling his fingers.
Sigyn stared at him expectantly, but Loki had no idea what she could be waiting for.
"What?" He finally asked.
"Aren't you going to apologize?"
"For what?"
"Oh I am not sure, perhaps for trying to take advantage of me?" She replied in an agitated voice.
"I see no reason why I should. I'm a Prince I can do what I want." Loki retorted in a condescending tone.
Sigyn outright scoffed at that comment. "I see, and I suppose being a Prince gives you the right to do who you want as well."
Loki smirked. "I don't see why not."
Sigyn stood from her seat in indignation. "Well I do. Just because you were born a Prince does not give you the right to act so superior to those around you."
"Actually, it gives me an inherent right Lady Sigyn." Loki retorted, enjoying the cute indignant face Sigyn was making.
Loki watched as Sigyn struggled to keep her tongue in check. From the look in her eyes he figured she had at least half-a-dozen acerbic retorts that she would have loved to use, but her self-control won out. Instead, she chose to sit back down and cast her gaze out a window.
"Yes of course, how silly of me. The entire purpose of the royal family is to look down upon their subjects as pawns that can be used and discarded as necessary. Their attitude should always be haughty and prideful because they were born into power and have done nothing to earn or keep it."
Sigyn went completely silent at that point, and refused to even look in his direction. Loki began to shift uncomfortably. He was seriously starting to wish that Sigyn had gone the argumentative route instead of this silent brooding one when Frigga entered the room.
"I see you managed not to kill each other in my absence." She noted.
Neither Loki nor Sigyn responded so Frigga walked over towards Sigyn and held out a rather large tome to her.
"I think you will really enjoy this work." She said and Sigyn took the book gently from her. "I would love for you to come back to the palace to discuss it with me once you have finished. It is so rare that I get to have such invigorating discussions with a young Lady."
Sigyn stood and curtsied to the Queen. "Thank you My Queen, I would be honored. I believe that it is time for me to return home now though, my mother will be needing me."
The Queen nodded in understanding, and Sigyn walked towards the door. Loki was fairly certain that she wasn't going to acknowledge him, but just before she exited she stopped.
"Good day My Prince, thank you for allowing me the use of your clothing, and I hope that your cheek heals soon."
She didn't wait for any type of response before leaving the room. The moment Sigyn left Loki could feel the sudden mood shift of the room. Frigga didn't have to look at Loki for him to know that she was unhappy. Part of him wanted to slink off to some dark corner of the palace to hide, but he thought it best to take his scolding like a man.
"Loki Odinson I am extremely disappointed in you." She began while turning to look at him. "Have I not taught you any better than to treat a young Lady like she is a doll for your own personal amusement? Did I not instill any respect for others in you? Have I truly failed you so miserably in your upbringing?"
Apparently the guilt tactic still worked on teenagers because Loki could feel the heat of embarrassment flush his facial features.
"You heard what we said?" He asked knowingly.
"Most of it." Frigga replied. "You owe Sigyn quite the apology. If your father had ever said something like that to me I probably would have slapped him too. You are lucky that Sigyn has more self-control than I did at her age."
"So you knew she slapped me?" Loki asked.
"Please darling, did you really believe I would buy the bug story? What bug causes a faint pink hand print when it bites? I noticed you leave with her last night, and when she came back flustered I knew something not so pleasant must have occurred between you two."
Loki tried to swallow, but his mouth was suddenly very dry.
Frigga sat down on a chair and sighed. "Loki the way you acted towards Sigyn was not you. Why did you all of a sudden feel the need to act like Thor might have in the same situation? I have never known you to try and throw your title around like that before."
Loki thought about that for a moment, and realized he didn't have an answer. His mother was right, resting on the laurels of being a Prince had never been something he had done before so why had he felt the sudden need to do so with Sigyn. Frigga must have noticed Loki's thoughts swirling because she let out a soft chuckle, and a gentle smile graced her lips.
"Next time you want to impress her perhaps you should try a different tactic. The "overconfident cocky Prince" approach is not working."
Loki rolled his eyes. "I am not trying to impress anyone."
"Of course you are not." Frigga replied in a disbelieving tone. "Now I suggest you go think up a way to apologize to Sigyn, and please take her dress back to her when you finally work up the nerve to face her." She added while holding Sigyn's gown from the evening before out to him.
Loki stood from his chair, grabbed the dress, and headed to the door, but paused a moment before leaving.
"You knew I would come didn't you? That's why you chose to lend her this tunic."
"I suspected you might, though I had thought you would have had the sense to put another shirt on before coming." Frigga replied.
Loki smirked. "She didn't seem to mind the view." He replied before walking out of his mother's sitting room.
