Author's Note: I'm back! I would apologize for being away so long, but I had warned you all in advance so I don't feel too bad. I have nothing important to say here so on with the show! Caitreylove hahaha sorry. Little Bird I am glad you like Theoric, he seems like a pretty likable guy to me. Snow White Queen Never apologize for being busy! I am just grateful that you take the time to read my story, let alone comment on it as well! As always I enjoyed reading your review. We do resort to TV too much with children. Not that they shouldn't be allowed to watch any, but some of my fondest memories from my early childhood were of my mom reading to me. I specifically remember her reading a chapter of the Secret Garden to me each night… two chapters if I had been really good that day, which wasn't often XD It is funny how names can carry so much significance, hopefully Sigrun won't have to deal with as much drama as either of her namesakes have. Yes, I had always intended for Amora to have charmed Loki…literally. I hadn't intended to go into the explanation of how their affair started because I assumed everyone was aware of her reputation. Only when I realized that that was not the case did I relent and write it in. Loki was whining like a child, no surprise there. Pouty Loki still suffers from a slightly childish complex that I am not sure he is ever going to shake. "Theoric seems nice and I genuinely want to see Loki kill him because of reasons but not because of Logyn (...don't mind me…)" hahahahahahaha I died laughing when I read that. You also now have me curious about your reasons XD


Loki pulled his shirt over his head and studied his reflection in the mirror. His most recent wounds were already beginning to heal themselves quite nicely. That cretin had certainly gotten a couple solid blows in, but of course he had gotten the last laugh. He tossed his ruined shirt into a pile with several others before heading towards the bath chambers. It was a little past midnight, so the halls of the palace were quite empty. Once in the antechamber he pulled the rest of his clothes off and wrapped a towel loosely around his waist. With a flip of his wrist he set the water in the bath running before going to grab a few things from a linen cupboard.

"You know I don't approve of Odin asking you to do this for him." Frigga stated.

Loki turned to face his mother.

"You don't seem to mind that he asks Thor or I to go into battle." Loki noted.

"That is different. It is expected of you as Princes, but this…this is entirely different." Frigga commented as her eyes scanned his newest wounds.

"It is not so different as it seems. It is simply a battle of a different kind, and you forget that it was well within my power to say 'no'." Loki reminded her.

"Was it though? Loki, you would do anything to please your father…"

"This has nothing to do with Odin!" Loki protested.

"Your defensiveness would suggest otherwise." She noted calmly.

Loki didn't reply at first hoping that his mother would just leave, but she stood calmly across from him with a look that said she would wait all night for a reply if she had to.

"Of course I want to please Odin, I would think that is obvious, but that is not why I agreed to all of this."

"Then why did you?" She inquired.

"Thor is allowed to use his skills to defend Asgard, why should I not also be allowed to do so?"

"You already fight by your brother's side in battle..."

"yet we both know that is not my strength." Loki pointed out.

Frigga looked away for a moment before placing her hands on his upper arms.

"I know, but this surreptitious war you are fighting is dangerous."

"Any type of war is dangerous mother, and besides you know it is not a war. If anything it is to prevent war, or to clean up what is left of it."

"Perhaps, but you cannot keep cleaning up after everyone else forever."

"Why not? It is what I will be doing when Thor takes over the throne. He's likely to crack quite a few skulls, and it will be up to me to smooth things over. Isn't that what the AllFather said the day he announced Thor as his heir?"

"No, and you know it isn't. He said that you would have to support your brother, not fight off every underground radical that might wish him harm."

"Ah, but someone will have to. It is the darker side of ruling that no one cares to admit. The people look to their golden hero and assume everyone worships him as they do, but secretly there are those who would rather see him hanged."

"Be careful Loki, this speech tastes strongly of bitterness."

"It is hardly bitterness, just the reality that I am willing to face."

"And what reality are you not willing to face?" Frigga asked unexpectedly.

Loki froze for a moment as the memory of Sigyn's frightened eyes flashed through his mind. Frigga monitored his reaction, but made no comment.

"It's not that there is a reality that I am not willing to face, it is just that I am not ready to face it yet." Loki clarified.

"And when will you be ready to face it? Loki, you have been running from something for quite some time now, and I am worried that this is just some reckless way of hiding from whatever it is that haunts you." Frigga replied.

"Don't worry mother, it is nothing so serious as that. Besides, it is more of a who than a what anyways." Loki assured.

"Sigyn?"

Loki didn't reply and Frigga took that to be a confirmation of her suspicions.

"What ever happened between you two? I know it started that morning of your nameday, the one when you came searching for her in my rooms…"

Loki again refused to respond.

"You were cheating on her weren't you, with that nauseating excuse of a Lady, Amora."

"I was." Loki admitted.

"That solves the great mystery then. Sigyn found out, and that was the end of your relationship." Frigga stated in a disappointed voice.

"More or less."

Frigga gave him a sad smile.

"Then she probably made the right choice. I fear there is no comfort I can offer you my son, yet I have no chastisement either. It would seem that her memory has punished you enough." Frigga replied before turning to leave the bathroom silently.

Loki watched his mother leave without a word before removing his towel and slipping into the bath. He hissed as the hot water came into contact with his fresh wounds. Once the initial sting wore off Loki submerged himself under the water for a few moments and then returned to the surface. With a weary groan he leaned his head against the side of the bath and closed his eyes. The Queen had been correct; Sigyn's memory did haunt him. It seemed odd to Loki that the sight of her terrorized gaze and limp abused body underneath his should just so recently begin to invade his mind. Was he finally far enough away from the incident in the library to truly appreciate what he had almost done? Had it really taken him this long to learn his lesson? At first he had just been angered by the entire situation, so he had translated his rage at Sigyn and himself into lust for Amora. After that, he had begun to see the error of his ways, but only because of the poor fallout he had to suffer. Not even once in all that time had he considered how his actions might have affected Sigyn in the long-term. No, it had only been his suffering that had mattered, and he had dealt with that by ending his relationship with Amora. She still stuck around the palace as a sort of deal though. She kept up the façade of being his consort in return for getting to spend time around Thor. She had yet to get what she wanted from his older brother, and Loki doubted she ever would since unknowingly to her he had blocked her love enchantments with an enchantment of his own, but he didn't discourage her efforts. Loki needed an alibi for those times when he was required to slip off to other business, and Amora was the simplest one he had. Now that he had freed himself from Amora however, the memories of Sigyn had taken him captive.

Sigyn had been an important part of his life for so long that while there was no physical evidence of her in the places they had frequented, her presence still permeated them like some unseen specter. Loki couldn't even walk past the library anymore without shuddering. He had considered going to Sigyn and begging her forgiveness, but the memory of her recoiling from the mere sight of him at Frida's house killed any thought of doing so. Instead, he had kept track of her movements from a distance. Usually he kept tabs on her through other people, but every so often he would personally look in on her. She had done little of note these past two years except pass her days much as she had before meeting Loki, attending some small dinner parties, and dining once a month with her sister's family and a solitary guest. It hadn't escaped Loki's notice that the guest was always a male, but rarely did the same man come twice…until recently that is. There had been one man who had been visiting Sigyn and her sister's family more repeatedly than the others, and it wasn't always for dinner. Loki wasn't sure if it should bother him or not, seeing as the man in question was known to be a friend of Frida's husband. There was a chance that he was simply visiting his friend, but there was also a chance that he was visiting because of Sigyn. Loki ducked under the warm water again to clear his head a bit. Why should it matter if he was visiting because of Sigyn? She was an eligible bachelorette, and had every right to court whomever she wished… but what if this man wasn't right for her? What if he was simply trying to take advantage of her vulnerable state? What if Sigyn made a regrettable choice in her consort, like he had, in an attempt to banish the memory of him? Sigyn needed someone to watch out for her in case she wasn't thinking this through clearly. Normally Frida would be that person, but it was likely that she was too concerned with seeing Sigyn married that she wouldn't put much thought into who it was that sought her suit. Markus could hardly be considered an unbiased judge of the man since they were friends, so who would look into this matter keeping in mind Sigyn's best interest?

Loki stretched out his legs and sighed. The answer was obvious; he was going to have to do it. Sigyn couldn't know of course, but there were ways he could find out what he needed to know about this man without interfering directly. His recent dealings with the darker side of the Nine Realms had proven that much. It was settled then. He would get to the bottom of this man's intentions with Sigyn, and his task would be made all the easier since he was having to work with him a fair bit himself.

Theoric.

How fortunate that Sigyn's new suitor was one of the Crimson Hawks. Ironic, but useful. If Theoric was not deserving of Sigyn, Loki would find out. He might never be able to make amends for what he did to her, but he could still do her this small favor.