Author's Note: So this is actually an Author's Note to tell you that the real Author's Note is going to be at the end of the chapter. This chapter is rated 'M.' Reteka Hyuuga I am sure Signy is frightened for her daughter, but Frida has indeed been handling the pregnancy well so far which must be somewhat of a relief.
Sigyn and her parents reached Frida and Markus's home minutes behind Hallsteinn, and Markus quickly led them to the antechamber where he was already waiting.
"When did her contractions start?" Signy asked urgently.
"I don't know… fifteen… no twenty minutes ago?"
Sigyn had the urge to smile. Markus was already nervous, and his child wasn't even here yet. It was cute. A cry from Frida's room however, reminded Sigyn that there would be time to smile and be cheerful after the baby was born. Signy made her way to the bedroom, and Sigyn followed close behind. Before she could enter however, Signy stopped her.
"The midwife and I can handle this." Her mother stated. "Stay out here with your father, brother, and Markus."
"But I…"
"No buts Sigyn. They all three look jittery as can be, and they could use your level headedness."
Sigyn would have protested, but her mother was the only person in the Nine Realms more stubborn than she was. She nodded her head and turned to face the three men. Her father sat nervously fidgeting in a chair, the ever stoic Hallsteinn was pacing at the back of the room, and Markus, oh poor Markus, looked like he was about to pass out right where he stood. Ok, her mother was right, these three men needed someone with them that wasn't panicking. Sigyn urged Markus to take a seat and then took one herself. The four of them waited and waited, and they knew the baby was getting closer as Frida's cries of pain grew louder and more frequent. Her father started to wipe perspiration off his brow and Markus's skin faded from a sun-kissed tan to parchment white. Hallsteinn showed no outward nervousness aside from his pacing speeding up. Sigyn got her father something to drink before kneeling by Markus and taking his hand in support. Markus gave her hand a squeeze and shot her a look of gratitude. The noise in the bedroom eventually stopped, and Sigyn's heart plummeted into her stomach. Why had the noise stopped? She looked at her father, but he seemed so self-absorbed that he hadn't noticed the sudden stillness in the air. Sigyn then looked to Hallsteinn. Her brother's eyes were fixed on the door, and his expression worried Sigyn. She had been a mere infant when Arnora had died, but Hallsteinn had been there. Was something wrong? Markus's gaze was also fixed on the door to the bedroom, and he seemed to be holding his breath. A baby's cry came from inside the chamber a moment later, and relief flooded Sigyn. At least the baby was all right. Markus crumpled over and placed his head in his hands as tears of joy streamed down his face. Sigyn hugged him and took quick glances at her brother and father. Her father had risen from his seat with a smile plastered on his face, and her brother was leaning against a wall to steady himself. Sigyn could feel joy bubbling up inside of her, but she refused to show it till she knew that Frida was all right. A few minutes later Signy opened the door and requested that Markus come in to see his baby girl. Markus stood shakily and entered the room. Signy joined her husband and children in the antechamber, and Sigyn wasted no time in asking after Frida.
"She is perfectly fine." Her mother assured. "She handled the birth wonderfully."
Now assured that Frida was safe and sound, Sigyn let her happiness shine through. She had already been an Aunt since Hallsteinn and his wife Aldís had two children of their own, but this was going to be different. Hallsteinn and Sigyn had never been very close due to the huge gap in their ages, so she had rarely spent time with his family. Sigyn was extremely close to Frida and Markus on the other hand, so she had a feeling that she would be spending quite a bit of time with her new niece. Once Markus had been given some private time with his wife and daughter, Sigyn and her family joined them. Sigyn's father was the first of them to hold his new granddaughter, and then the baby was passed to Signy, Hallsteinn, and finally Sigyn. The child was fast asleep in Sigyn's arms and she gently rocked the small bundle back and forth.
"What will you name her?" Sigyn asked quietly so as not to disturb the infant's sleep.
"We thought Sigrún." Frida replied. "After mother and you."
Sigyn smiled.
"I think that will be a lovely choice."
Sigyn handed Sigrún back to her mother, and Signy signaled that it was time to leave the new mother and father with their child. Hallsteinn and Sigyn let their parents walk a bit ahead of them out of respect, and to give them some time to talk, not that Sigyn was looking forward to a chat with Hallsteinn seeing as his topic was always the same.
"Still acting as the Prince's sleep mate?" He inquired knowingly.
"Will you never tire of this conversation?" Sigyn asked.
"No. Trust me Sigyn I understand. Loki is a Prince you are not really in any position to refuse him, but must you really be so willing about the whole thing?"
"I care deeply for Loki so yes, I must be so willing about the whole thing. You make him out to be some villain that would force himself upon me because he can, but you hardly know him!"
"I may hardly know him Sigyn, but I do know that he spends an awful lot of time with Amora." Hallsteinn pointed out.
"With my permission. She wanted to train in magic, and Loki is the only one qualified to teach her." Sigyn retorted. "He refused to do so at first, but I told him that I saw no problem with it. She, like almost every other female in this Realm, fawns over Thor."
"Then Loki could just be a means to an end."
"You give him no credit!"
"And you give him too much!"
Sigyn fumed silently, but Hallsteinn wasn't done yet.
"I know we don't see eye to eye on this Sigyn, but even you have to admit that your relationship with the Prince is not normal. In all your years as lovers has he ever talked about wanting to be with you for the rest his life? Has he even mentioned marrying you?"
Sigyn opened her mouth to say that he had, but then she shut it. Now that Hallsteinn pointed it out, she realized that Loki never had said anything regarding marriage. He had said that he loved her, and jested about how he was going to lock her up in a tower and keep her there for himself, but never once had he mentioned marrying her. Hallsteinn could see that he had risen a valid point, and used that small opening to continue his argument.
"It doesn't matter how much you care for him Sigyn, you can't keep this relationship up for forever. Loki will have to marry someday, and if you have been together this long and he has not even mentioned it, it is likely that someone he will marry will not be you. Then what will you do? By that point Prince Loki will have drug you along for so long that you will have lost all chance of finding a husband of your own, and you deserve better than that Sigyn. Believe me, I don't want to see my little sister suffer through that."
Sigyn didn't reply at first, but Hallsteinn didn't seem to mind. In fact, he seemed pleased that he had gotten her to really consider his argument. Sigyn pondered her brother's words, but she just couldn't force herself to accept the validity in them.
"Loki would never do something like that to me."
"Maybe he wouldn't do it intentionally, but that hardly matters. The Prince lives in a gilded world Sigyn, he hardly understands how his poor actions can wreck those of us that live in the real one."
"We are children of one of the wealthiest nobles in all of Asgard, Hallsteinn. I highly doubt we count as the 'real world'." Sigyn noted.
"Perhaps not, but we can't run and hide behind the AllFather or our big brother should we ruin someone else's life. He can."
With that Hallsteinn gave a nod to Sigyn and split off to head towards his own home. Sigyn couldn't help but cringe at her brother's words. He wasn't right. He couldn't be…could he? Sigyn shook off his warning, and she went straight to her room the second she and her parents returned home. She wasted no time in penning a quick note to Loki:
Loki,
Frida and Markus are now the proud parents of a baby girl: Sigrún. The birth went well, and both the mother and child are in good health. I will hopefully be able to see you before the week is out.
Your (very relieved) Comrade in Arms,
Sigyn
She sealed the note and sent it off to the palace via one of the servants. That task complete, she pulled a small leather-bound book towards her and opened it. Loki had once said that she had a way with words and that he wished he could write them all down so as to never forget them. From that time on she had begun to transcribe things that she had said to him that he had liked. Sometimes it was merely a sentence or two, but other times it was entire conversations that they had. Many of the things she had written down was witty banter, but there were several serious conversations as well. She flipped through the book looking for anything in its pages that would contradict the fears that Hallsteinn had begun to instill in her. While there was plenty of laughter and sighs to be had, there were no indications that Loki intended to marry her. She reached the end of the book and ran over the last thing she had written in it and smiled. Of all the entries, this was her favorite one. She closed the tome and looked out the window. Loki's nameday was only a few days away, and this book was going to be her gift to him. She sincerely hoped that he liked it, and she wouldn't ask him anything about his intentions concerning their future together till after the big day. After the celebration though, it would be time to confront the future.
Sigyn rose early the morning of Loki's nameday, and rode to the palace. She and Loki had written back and forth for the past couple of days discussing the agenda for the day. She had assured him that while she would be by his side at the banquet, she would not be able to get away from home any earlier than that. It was a lie of course, but she wanted her visit and gift to be a surprise to him She was on her way to his chambers when she spotted a maid heading in the same direction with a tray.
"Excuse me." Sigyn hailed.
The girl tuned around and smiled upon seeing Sigyn.
"Good morning m'Lady Sigyn." The maid greeted with a small curtsy. "May I help you?"
"No, but perhaps I can help you. Is that tray going where I think it is?"
"Yes, m'Lady it is."
"May I?" Sigyn asked.
The serving girl smiled and held the tray out for Sigyn to take. She was careful to balance the tray while still holding her nameday surprise for Loki in one hand. The serving girl scurried off to go revel in her free time, and Sigyn headed to Loki's room. Once she was standing outside the door she couldn't deicide if she should knock or not. Sometimes the servants did, and sometimes they didn't. After a few moments debate she decided to knock, but realized that she couldn't really do it with her hands so full. Instead, she kicked the door a couple of times with her foot to imitate the sound of a knock.
"Come in…"
Sigyn tried not to laugh at Loki's tired voice. It seemed that someone was still sleepy. She pushed the handle down with her elbow and gave the door a little bump with her hip to open it. She entered the familiar chambers gracefully enough, but immediately dropped everything she was carrying when her hands shot to her mouth to smother a gasp.
Loki was staring at her in astonishment from his bed, as was his unexpected companion.
"Sigyn…" Loki stammered.
Anything Sigyn might have wanted to say was stuck in her throat as she stared disbelievingly at Loki and Amora. Every word that Hallsteinn had said was proven correct in this instant, and Sigyn was fairly sure she was going to vomit. Loki made a motion to get up from the bed and Sigyn bolted, making sure to slam the door shut on her way out. She ran blindly down the corridor not paying any mind to where she was actually going. All she wanted to do was put as much distance between herself and Loki as possible. It didn't take long for her to find herself hopelessly lost. Even after all these years, she had never managed to navigate every corridor of the palace. She knew the important ones well, but anything off the beaten path was still a mystery to her. Finally realizing that she was hopelessly lost, she found a bench to sit on patiently till a servant came by that could show her the way back to the stables. As long as Loki didn't come along she didn't care how long she had to wait. The initial shock began to fade away as she sat there all alone on her bench, and tears began to sting her eyes. She forced them back with a sniffle. She would not allow Loki the satisfaction of having her cry over him, but the emotions she was trying to hold in had to be released somehow. Her body compensated by starting to shake slightly. After what seemed like ages, familiar voices echoed down the corridor. Sif, Hogun, Volstagg, and Fandral came into view not long after.
"Well good morning Sigyn! What brings you to this part of the palace?" Volstagg inquired while the group was still a distance from her and couldn't see her current state of distress.
"I got lost." She vaguely heard herself reply.
"Lost? I see, and where is Loki?" Fandral queried.
Sigyn just shrugged. The four friends were fairly close to Sigyn now, and began to throw worried looks at one another.
"Sigyn, are you… are you alright?" Sif asked.
"I think so…"
"You don't look alright." Volstagg noted.
"Would you be?" She asked with a pained smile.
The tears that she had been fighting back began to stream out and her body began to shake violently. She was making no sense to them and she knew it. They probably thought she had lost her mind, and she wasn't entirely sure that they wouldn't be right in that assumption.
Hogun knelt down in front of her and placed a hand on her forehead while taking her pulse with the other. His eyes never left hers, and Sigyn began to feel a little unnerved. Once he was satisfied that she wasn't running a temperature, Hogun pulled his hand away from her forehead.
"What did he do?" He asked in a low tone, while beginning to put the pieces together.
"Are you trying to tell me that you didn't know? That none of you knew!?" She shouted in a burst of anger.
Sigyn rose from her spot on the bench so suddenly that it took them all by surprise.
"You mean to tell me that you are his brother's best friends, yet you had no idea what he was doing!?"
Sigyn was now shaking with fury, though she knew that she was directing it at the wrong people. Her outburst complete, she sank back down on the bench and placed her head in her hands.
"Perhaps I should handle this." Fandral offered. "You three go on, and tell Thor I will be there as soon as I have Sigyn back to her old smiling sassy self again."
Fandral took a seat by Sigyn as the others headed off to join Thor. She felt a strong arm encircle her shoulders as the warrior pulled her in.
"I think I know what ails you My Lady, but go ahead and say it anyways so you will feel better."
"I came to surprise Loki, and instead I was the one who was surprised." Sigyn stated coldly.
"Amora?" Fandral inquired.
Sigyn nodded. She grasped on to the front of Fandral's shirt and buried her face into his chest as her tears began anew.
"We honestly didn't know Sigyn. Loki is open with very few people, and he is known for his ability to deceive. I had suspected something might be happening between the two of them, but Loki was always so enraptured with you that I thought for sure it was merely my imagination. I might have mentioned my suspicions to you, but I doubted you would have believed them even if I had…"
Fandral could sense that Sigyn was barely paying attention to him, so he let her cry in silence for a while. Sigyn did eventually look up from Fandral's chest, and let her eyes lock with his.
"What did I do wrong?" She whispered.
"Nothing. Just because Loki cheated on you does not mean you did anything wrong. He is the offending party so the blame lies with him."
Sigyn pondered his words for a moment, but found little comfort in them. Right now she didn't need words she needed something more, she needed acceptance. She brought her lips to meet Fandral's in a greedy kiss, and he responded… at least at first. Before she could deepen it however, he pulled back.
"Sigyn I know what you are doing, and believe me, you don't really want to do this."
Sigyn could feel tears of frustration begin to build up, and Fandral tried to soothe her by stroking her hair… just like Loki always had…
"Listen to me Sigyn, let's go find Loki and we can talk this out…"
Another flash of anger spurred Sigyn to stand up from the bench. Loki didn't want her, fine! Fandral didn't want her, fine! There was still one person Sigyn knew that would take her. Before Fandral could object she began to walk in the direction that Sif, Volstagg, and Hogun had gone, but Fandral was right on her heels.
"Where are you going?" He asked in a concern.
"To find Thor."
"Sigyn, don't do this. If you don't go to Loki now, you will regret it later." He warned.
Sigyn paid no heed to his warning however. She had made up her mind. Fandral led her, albeit unwillingly, to where Thor and the others were. Loki wasn't around, but at this point she wouldn't have cared if he were.
"Sigyn what's happened?" Thor asked as she and Fandral approached.
"I need to speak with you… in private." She requested, though in actuality it was more of a command.
"Of course." Thor agreed before leading her off.
The two of them walked in silence till they reached an empty chamber and slipped inside. Once Thor was sure the door was closed and latched he addressed Sigyn.
"Now tell me what is wrong. Hogun, Sif, and Volstagg seem to think that you are upset by something Loki did."
"They are partly correct then. It is not just what he did, but who he did."
Sigyn studied Thor's reaction to her pronouncement. He took in a deep breath and crossed his arms over his chest.
"You knew he was sleeping with Amora, didn't you?"
"Yes…"
"So you knew, but you never thought of telling me?"
"I thought about it, but I assumed that it had been a one time incident…"
"And that would have made it acceptable!?"
"Well no, but…"
"Don't give me excuses Thor, I am in no humor to hear them. How long have you known?"
"I caught a glimpse of them in the library almost a year ago."
Sigyn's anger dissipated, and she suddenly felt weak in the knees.
"The library?"
…That had been their room, their escape from the world…
Sigyn reached out to steady herself on something, and Thor quickly came to her side. Her head was swimming, and she momentarily forgot her real reason for wishing to speak to Thor in private. Thor's steadying arm around her waist brought her back to reality though, and she looked up into his striking blue eyes. The afternoon all those many years ago in the bathroom had alerted Sigyn to the fact that Thor was attracted to her, at least physically, and it hadn't been the last time he had sent hungry looks her way. His love of his little brother was the only thing that had kept him from bedding her so far, but perhaps Loki betraying her by bedding another woman would be enough to break that only restraint. Sigyn was counting on it. She placed her hand on Thor's and interlaced her fingers with his.
"Thank you." She whispered before standing on her tiptoes and giving Thor a butterfly kiss on the cheek.
She acted as though she was about to walk away from Thor, and he gripped her waist tighter. Sigyn smiled inwardly. There was no doubt in her mind that her tactic had worked.
"How can I help you?" He asked softly.
"I don't think you can. If the man that claimed to love me doesn't want me anymore, who would?"
That was all it took for Thor to crash his lips into hers. He was hardly gentle as he worked his way along her jaw line and down her throat, but by the Norns he was thorough. Sigyn slipped her hands up under his shirt, and began running them over every sensitive spot that she knew Loki had. Apparently he and Loki were fairly similar in what excited them because several of Loki's favorite spots also seemed to be Thor's as well. It wasn't long before their clothes were scattered on the floor, and Thor was thrusting himself into Sigyn powerfully. As her body shook with each thrust, Sigyn couldn't help but think how different the brothers were. Loki had always been dominant with her, but gentle. Thor however, liked to show his dominance. The competitive side of Sigyn fought back with the blonde Prince for control, but he would merely smirk at her attempts and remind her how much more powerful he was. Sigyn would be lying if she denied that the feeling of Thor's self-assured strength was a little exciting, but she would also be lying if she denied missing Loki's more gentle nature. Both Sigyn and Thor collapsed on the floor after they reached their release. They lay there in silence for a while before Thor rolled on top of her again.
"Why would Loki ever need another woman to satisfy him?"
It was a rhetorical question, but even if it hadn't been, Thor began to kiss her again before she would have been able to reply. Sigyn could hardly believe it when she felt Thor's arousal growing yet again. While there had certainly been nights when Loki and Sigyn had coupled more than once, never had they done so in such a short span of time. Thor entered her in a tantalizingly slow manner the second time. During their first coupling he had shown his dominance through his brute strength, but as he tortured Sigyn's already throbbing womanhood with his slow movements she realized that he was proving his complete control over her this time around. He had her body pinned down in such a way that she was unable to help sate her own physical desires. Thor was showing her that he was the master of her body by bringing her to the edge of pleasure, and then denying it to her again and again. Tears of frustration and fear began to pool in her eyes. Never had she felt so helpless, so outmatched, before. Thor paid them no heed, and Sigyn couldn't blame him. She had asked for this. She had been well aware of how Thor liked to take his women, and as marvelous as the release was when he finally gave it to her, there was only one thought that crossed Sigyn's mind…
"Loki…"
It was hardly audible, but she knew Thor had heard it. He rolled off of her and lay by her side. Neither of them spoke or moved, and hot tears rolled over Sigyn's flushed cheeks. Thor was a good lover, but he wasn't Loki and he couldn't fix the gaping wound that Loki had left Sigyn with. She finally managed to look towards Thor and almost gasped at the sight. The euphoria and testosterone that had rushed through his veins only moments before was gone now, and the elder Prince was left running his hands through his hair as silent tears flowed down his cheeks as well. Sigyn rolled onto her side and buried her face into Thor's chest. Guilt pounded in her heart. She had not only betrayed Loki by sleeping with his brother, but she had manipulated Thor into betraying him as well. It didn't matter that Loki had deceived her first, two wrongs never made a right. The pair lay there mutely for a long while, allowing their grief and guilt to mix.
The Real Author's Note: Before anyone panics I wanted to inform you that we are going to get Loki's side of the story next time. Not really why he slept with Amora (though it will be covered), but how he reacts to Sigyn's discovery of them.
