Chapter Thirty-Four
Sigyn paced anxiously. Freyja had been gone for nearly an hour! There had been no word from her. Idunn had tried to make Sigyn help with cleaning the house but the younger sister was having none of that! She had no time for cleaning when her mother and sisters were in unknown circumstances.
"Sigs, worrying doesn't do anything."
"But where is she? And what's happening to the triplets?" Sigyn kept imagining the worst possible scenarios- her sisters imprisoned forever, or executed, even...
Idunn sighed heavily. "We can go to the palace and see if we can find any information. For all we know Mor might have attacked Odin again and gotten arrested."
"Attacked Odin!" Sigyn went white.
"I was joking, Sigyn!"
But the younger girl was wringing her hands. "She just might have, if she got angry enough..."
Idunn sighed in defeat. "Alright. We'll go to the palace."
Sigyn quickly got her cloak, hands shaking. What is going on?
She all but ran all the way to the palace, soon leaving Idunn behind. Panting, she glanced around, trying to work out the quickest way to the throne room. She soon spotted someone she knew. "Theoric! I need to get to the throne room!"
Loki appeared around the corner. Not now! Sigyn groaned. She didn't want to deal with his jealousy at the moment.
"Loki, have you heard anything about my mother and sisters?"
Loki blinked, baffled. "No. Has something happened?"
"The triplets were arrested and Mor came to see what was happening but that was an hour ago and I haven't heard anything!"
Loki grabbed her hand. "Come on, I know a place where we can watch the throne room without being seen." He led her away.
"Is that wis-" Theoric started.
"Let's go," Sigyn interrupted.
Loki led her to what appeared to be a blank section of wall, but he leaned on it and it shifted aside, revealing an unlit passage sloping upwards.
"Come on." He tugged her inside, and the panel slid shut behind them, leaving Theoric alone in the corridor. Sigyn clung to Loki's hand. She could hardly see a thing!
"Where does this lead?"
"We'll end up behind the mural of Bor's father Buri being crowned first king of Asgard. I've stood there before. You can hear everything in the throne room, but they won't see us."
Sigyn nodded. She just wanted to know what was happening! Soon she heard voices.
"-not lying!"
"That's Snotra!" Sigyn gasped.
"Use Agamotto's eye if you want, but he attacked us!"
Loki clapped his hand over Sigyn's mouth to stop her speaking again. He hissed in her ear. "They can't see us, but we can still be heard!"
She nodded.
"Lady Snotra, for the last time be silent and let Lord Volsak speak!" Odin thundered.
Snotra huffed audibly, but didn't speak. Sigyn wished she could see what was going on!
Odin's voice sounded again. "Continue with your version of events, Lord Volsak."
"As I was saying, I was buying some flowers for my wife when the little whores come up accusing me of getting the one, Syn, pregnant."
Sigyn gasped. Syn was pregnant? Loki's eyes bugged, but he gestured to Sigyn to stay quiet. She nodded, though her mind was reeling. Why hadn't she been told she was going to be an aunt?
"Do you deny fathering Lady Syn's child, then?"
"Of course I do!" Volsak's voice was overly offended. "In all my years I have never once strayed from my wife's side!"
"You have got to be joking!" Snotra seemed unable to stay quiet. "Everyone knows you-"
"Lady Snotra, for the final time, SILENCE!" Odin thundered.
Sigyn balled her fists. "Can't we see what's going on?" she whispered to Loki.
Loki frowned, then, slowly, concentrating, he began to murmur almost soundlessly. Part of the mural became see-through. Sigyn and Loki stared straight down at Odin, Volsak and Snotra.
He murmured in Sigyn's ear again. "As long as no-one looks up they won't notice anything."
Snotra and Volsak both stood before Odin. Snotra's hands were chained and her expression furious.
"What happens if they look up?"
"Ssh! They shouldn't if we stay quiet. Listen."
"As I was saying, I have never strayed from my wife," Volsak said. "Certainly not for one of Freyja's whores."
Sigyn's face went hot. She would have liked to punch that man in the face! Snotra's fists balled and were trembling. But she didn't speak.
"I can only assume that the girl is telling this lie to cheat by boy, Fandral, out of half his inheritance."
Odin was scowling at Volsak, Sigyn noted. Maybe he didn't believe him!
"Lord Volsak," the king said. "Are you finished?"
Volsak's neck reddened. "Surely you believe me, my king?"
"Are. You. Finished?"
"Only that these wild creatures attacked me without provocation and I will be demanding recompense!"
"Really?" Odin's voice dripped sarcasm. "So you maintain you have never strayed, or wanted to, from your wife?"
"Yes!" Volsak was purple by now.
"So I was imagining you and a group of friends assaulting Lady Freyja a while ago, was I?" Odin raised an eyebrow.
Sigyn gasped sharply. Luckily, it was covered by Snotra's.
"He attacked Mor?" she demanded, and the nearby guard had to hold her arm. Sigyn moved forward and Loki put an arm around her shoulders.
Volsak blinked rapidly. "I..."
"Yes?" Odin's voice was steely, his eyes locked on Volsak. "You what, exactly?"
"I was drunk," Volsak mumbled, staring at the floor.
"So you have no desire to stray from your wife while sober, but when you're drunk you are no longer responsible for your actions?"
"Everybody knows that drink makes a man do things that he doesn't want to!"
Odin's voice was cold. "That excuse has never been given credit in a murder, so why should it be given excuse for this?"
"This is not about Freyja's whoring, it's about the fact her daughters attacked me without provocation!"
At that, Odin turned to Snotra. "Please describe what happened when you encountered Lord Volsak today."
"Sjofn and I went to collect Syn from the bifrost. She had been visiting Hnossa on Vanaheim and didn't want Mor to know she was coming home yet. I don't know why. When we got there, she said she had something to tell us, so we were going to the lake so we could talk privately. We were on the path, and there was no one else around, when Volsak-"
"Lord Vols-"
"SILENCE!" Odin shouted. His voice echoed for a moment. "Lady Snotra, continue."
"He came around the corner. Syn sort of shrank back, and then he said 'Heard you were pregnant, little slut. I won't let you destroy my life.' and then he punched her in the stomach."
Sigyn's hands flew to her mouth to stifle her cry of horror. Syn...
Volsak's eyes bulged. "LIAR!"
"He punched her in the stomach and said he'd kill the baby," Snotra continued, her voice getting louder. "He said he'd kill us all. Syn screamed, and Sjofn and I attacked."
Odin nodded gravely.
"Nonsense," Volsak muttered.
"Did Volsak strike either of you?"
"He tried. But he didn't get the chance. Mother and Uncle Frey taught us well."
"Your mother and uncle are incestuous lovers!" Volsak spat.
"Volsak, another outburst from you and I will have you gagged." Odin's words made Sigyn and Loki grin, still watching from above. Odin held up an amulet that Sigyn's didn't recognize. It began glowing. "Have you spoken the truth, Lady Snotra?"
"Yes." Snotra's voice became flat, as if she were sleep talking.
"Would you have attacked Lord Volsak without provocation?"
"No."
Odin nodded as if satisfied. He moved the glow of the Eye of Agamotto onto Volsak.
"Lord Volsak, have you told the truth during these proceedings?"
"No." His voice, like Snotra's, was flat.
"What did happen when you encountered Freyja's daughters today?"
"I won't have my son lose his inheritance to some whore's child, so I took care of the problem. If she can't hold her legs together she deserves what she gets."
Up in the hidden room, Sigyn went white. Loki put a hand on her shoulder, as if afraid she would launch herself through the mural.
Snotra lunged at Volsak, despite her chains. "You monster!"
Odin grunted, setting the eye back down. "Take Lady Snotra to the holding rooms, and lock up Lord Volsak."
The guards hurried to obey Odin; Sigyn finally looked away, and Loki let the spell dissolve, turning the mural opaque again.
Sigyn grabbed Loki's hand. "I need to get to the healing rooms, see if Syn's alright. Now!"
"Shh!" Loki warned, but it was too late. Odin's voice came back through.
"Loki and Lady Sigyn, get down here at once."
Loki's face was gray with worry, but he led Sigyn down to the throne room, head bowed, as if he were going to his own execution. Sigyn twisted her hands as they stepped before the king. His eyes narrowed, and he waited in silence. Sigyn wondered what he was waiting for. He obviously knew they were spying, so why didn't he just scold them and be done with it? Or was he going to start lecturing her not to follow the path of her mother and sister? Was he going to tell Loki to stop spending time with her?
"I want to see my sister," she demanded, tired of waiting for Odin to speak.
"Shortly." Odin's voice was dismissive. "I would like to know why you two were up there, and for how long."
Sigyn listed her chin. "I wanted information on my family and we were there long enough to know that Volsak assaulted mother and you knew but did nothing!"
Odin glared. "I would have, had this not come up in the meantime. And I have no reason to discuss such things with a child."
"You said it happened a while ago. Why wasn't he already arrested?"
"Sigyn-" Loki tried to put a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't touch me! Well? Why wasn't he arrested for that? Why was he allowed to attack my sister?"
Odin shook his head. "You sound like your mother."
"Good!" Sigyn's blood boiled in her veins. "At least my mother stands up for people who need it!"
Odin's eye narrowed. "Lady Sigyn-"
"If Syn's lost her baby because if this, it is your fault!"
Odin stood. "Loki, take Sigyn from my sight until she has calmed herself."
Loki grabbed her arm and began tugging it. But Sigyn wasn't having any of it. "Answer me! Not even a king is fault-free, but a real man would admit his mistakes!" Odin's face looked murderous, but Sigyn refused to back down. Loki stood by awkwardly, looking between them, but Sigyn ignored him. She stared into Odin's eye and folded her arms. "Well?"
Odin gritted his teeth. "Loki. I said take her out of here."
Sigyn wanted to kick something. Her eyes filled with tears and she turned away. She stalked out of the throne room, and threw over her shoulder, "I guess you're not a real man after all!"
Loki dragged her away before Odin could reply.
"Sigyn, you can't say things like that!"
"Why not?" she ripped her arm from his grasp. "I don't care if he's the king, he can't just get away with deliberately letting people get away with crimes just because he doesn't like my mother!"
"You think screaming at him will change anything?!"
"All he did was stand there and look at me like I was something stuck to his shoe!" Sigyn didn't want to cry. She hated it, but her throat felt lumpy and she knew she was going to start. "I thought maybe he's hard of hearing!"
Loki's face darkened. "Don't talk about my father like that!"
"You're defending him after the way he just treated me?!" Sigyn couldn't believe her ears.
"If you mother wasn't such a whore-"
Sigyn slapped him soundly. Rage was blinding her. "DON'T CALL MY MOTHER A WHORE, ODINSON! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HER LIFE IS LIKE! AND THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR ANY MAN TO THINK HE CAN FORCE HIMSELF ON A WOMAN, BUT YOUR FATHER HAS TOLD ALL OF ASGARD THAT MY MOTHER ISN'T WORTH PROTECTING! AND BY DEFAULT, THAT MEANS HER DAUGHTERS AS WELL!"
"That's not what he's saying!"
"Whatever!" Sigyn flung her hands in the air and stormed away.
She stewed, furious with Odin and Loki both. Volsak attacked but Freyja and Syn and she doubted he was going to have more than a minor fine! And the baby- her stomach twisted and she headed for the healing rooms. She hadn't even known Syn was pregnant! And now, if Syn had lost it... Would Volsak be punished for that? Doubtful, with men like Odin in charge of Asgard.
She shivered, breaking into a run. Soon she burst into the healing rooms.
Glancing around, she saw Sjofn, sitting quietly with a guard beside her. Sigyn made a beeline for her. "Sjofn!"
"Sigyn! What are you doing here?"
"Is Syn alright?"
Sjofn avoided her eyes.
"Tell me!"
"Sigs, sit down."
Sigyn's heart thumped in her throat. She slowly sank down. Sjofn put an arm around her.
"Sigyn, there is something you need to know. Syn... is pregnant."
"I know, I just found out." Sigyn squeezed her hand. "But did she lose it?"
"Wait, you knew?"
"Sjofn!"
"The baby's fine."
"And Syn herself? How is she?"
"How did you know?!"
Sigyn glared.
"She's fine. I'm sorry. They're both going to be alright. Eir's just giving her a check over, but they're alright." Sjofn blinked and then started crying. "I didn't even know she was pregnant!"
sigyn started. "She didn't even tell you? Or Snotra?"
Sjofn shook her head. "She's been so contrary lately, but whenever we asked what was wrong, she said it was none of our business! What did we do wrong?"
"I..." Sigyn thought for a minute. "I don't think it was you. Would you have told anyone, if you were in her situation, really?"
"I would have told her and Snotra! But not Syn!" Despite her tears, Sjofn looked angry. "No, she has to keep everything inside, she never talks to us anymore!"
Sigyn bit her lip, unsure what to say. She sighed, and didn't say anything at all.