It took Sigyn some time to make her way to the palace, mostly because she was purposefully dawdling in an attempt to delay the imminent. She was still replaying in her mind how she'd ended up in this situation, unsure of what it was exactly that she'd done to get Loki to focus his tricks on her.
Nothing. Sigyn knew that she'd done nothing to the Prince of Asgard; but for some reason he was still choosing to play his games with her as the centre piece. With her as the fool. She frowned to herself, an expression of hers that was becoming all too common since she'd met Loki that morning. Was it only this morning? she wondered. It feels like he's been harassing me for days.
She looked up as she reached the edge of the palace grounds. To find Loki, she'd have to enter the palace, and Sigyn was almost sure that the guards weren't going to let her in. But she had to try anyway. Besides, if she had been right about this being Loki's plan anyway, then he would probably have considered this and come up with some sort of solution. It would make her life easier if he had anyway...
Sigyn came to a stop in front of two guards that were obviously ready to stop her entering the palace if she tried. Maybe Loki didn't feel like making things easier for her after all. Why doesn't that surprise me? she thought, fighting back a deeper frown.
"Your business?" one of them asked her.
She looked at the tall man on her right. He was burly and heavily armoured as most palace guards were, but Sigyn couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable under his harsh and unwelcoming gaze.
Licking her suddenly dry lips, she answered, "I'm here to see Prince Loki."
"Many people come to see Prince Loki. I asked for your business, not who your business was with," the guard replied.
Sigyn stared at the man, slightly affronted by his rudeness. She blinked at him, wondering if he had meant to be so impolite; yet the expression he had now adopted seemed to prove that he obviously had.
"Forgive my friend here, my lady," began the other guard. "You must understand that we get a number of Asgardians coming here daily, demanding that they see Prince Loki, and that he undo some trick or other he has played upon them. We only ask for your business to determine the safety of our Prince."
Sigyn's gaze shifted to the guard on her left; his explanation was sound at least. Protecting the royal family was their job; she just wished the other guard would get some people skills before he spoke. She couldn't help but think he was ill-suited to a position at the main entrance of the palace. Perhaps a dungeon, or somewhere out of sight where he never actually has to speak to anyone...
"Oh, I see," she said. "Yes... that makes sense."
"Your business?" the first guard repeated, his words more of a demand than a question.
She bit her lip to avoid replying to the guard in a way that would guarantee that she wasn't allowed to pass them, and instead tried to come up with an explanation that didn't make her sound like one of the 'number of Asgardians coming here daily, demanding that they see Prince Loki, and that he undo some trick or other he played upon them.'
"Prince Loki took something from me- a book- and it does not belong to me. The Archive Keeper of the Asgardian library has... requested that I ask the prince for its return," she tried to explain.
"Ah, the Archive Keeper," said the guard on her right, the more polite one, as if he seemed sympathetic to her plight.
There was a slight silence between them, following which Sigyn quietly asked, "You're still not going to let me in though, are you?"
As the guard that Sigyn thought had no manners was about to shake his head, the other enquired, "What is your name girl?"
A little taken aback, she answered, "Sigyn Iwaldidottir."
She didn't miss the curious look between the two guards; the look that proceeded them seemingly changing their minds instantly and allowing her entry to the palace. Sigyn couldn't help but find their sudden change of heart rather odd, but she said nothing. At least she was getting into the palace, no matter how strangely. Before she left the guards though, she questioned them for directions to the God of Mischief's whereabouts.
Unsurprisingly, the friendlier of the two men answered her, "Follow the path and enter though the first building. From there turn right and continue down that corridor until you reach a set of large doors. He should be just beyond there."
Sigyn nodded and thanked the guard, a little confused at the fact he seemed to know exactly where Loki would be. Unless Loki does want me to have to come to him. The way they changed their minds about letting me in and then telling me his location... It would make so much sense.
She felt another frown forming on her face as she followed their directions exactly until she ended up at the doors she'd had described for her. She wondered if she should knock; it would have been the polite thing to do. But Sigyn wasn't feeling very polite right now. She had good reason to be irritated with Loki, whether he was her prince or not.
She slowly pushed open one of the double doors and stepped inside of the adjoining room, a large hall that had a huge golden table, all laid out in finery, at its centre. It was a beautiful room; and almost otherwise empty, but Sigyn couldn't look at the beauty of it; she was too preoccupied with scowling at the figure clad in black and green that sat on the ledge of the balcony, one leg dangling off of it. The figure that was reading her book.
"You really shouldn't frown so much, your face might get stuck like that."
Sigyn heard his voice from behind her and jumped, quickly spiralling around to face him. Confused, she looked between the Loki behind her and the one now in front of her, until she watched the illusion on the balcony fade away. She could only scowl at the God of Mischief, irritated that he seemed to revel in tricking her so.
"Do you just enjoy making me jump?" she asked, more than a little annoyed.
"Yes."
She stared at him. The amusement in his voice had been clearer than the way the corner of his lips turned upward, wanting to smile. She just wanted to yell at him. She'd had quite enough of this. But he was her prince though, and, as much as she wanted to shout at him, she knew that only bad things could come from acting on her feelings. Loki could see her rising anger though, and allowed himself to smile.
"Would you prefer I had lied?"
God of Mischief and Lying. Typical.
Sigyn tried to brush that comment off by changing the subject.
"I came for-"
"Your book; I guessed. That's why I told the guards let you in. Do you think you'd be in here otherwise?"
She scowled. She had been right about that then, his intention had been to bring her here.
"Can I have it back then?" she enquired, trying not to let Loki wind her up any more than he already had.
He looked at her for a moment, tilting his head to the side as he considered her question.
"Well this book seems to mean quite a lot to you, little Sigyn. Tell me, why should I return it to you?"
She blinked.
"Um, because... it'd be... nice?" she replied eventually, frowning.
His head remained tilted, and it might have actually looked as if he was truly thinking about giving her book back to her. But Sigyn could tell that Loki was just toying with her... He really did seem to enjoy playing with her, as if she was some puppet in a game and he had a hold of her strings.
"Oh, I don't think that's quite enough of a incentive now, do you? We'll have to think of something worthy of an exchange, perhaps."
She opened her mouth to reply, but Loki began speaking before she could say anything.
"I will return your book to you."
Sigyn was a little taken a back at the sudden change. It was almost too good to be true. In fact, it was too good to be true, and she knew it. What was the catch?
"There is a condition, however," he continued.
There it is, she thought dryly. What horrible thing would the God of Mischief demand she do? A number of awful images flickered through her mind at the mere thought of a 'condition', until she forced herself to just ask what it was. At least then she'd know what horrendous thing he wanted her to do.
"What is it?" she asked.
"In return for your book, you owe me."
"What do I owe you?" Sigyn queried, knowing that she had to get all of the details of this bargain before she even thought about agreeing.
Loki smirked at her question. It seemed that she was smart enough to think this through. Good, he thought.
"Five kisses," he replied.
Sigyn blinked.
"Sorry, what?"
She wasn't quite sure that she had heard him correctly. She could have sworn he'd just said something about...
"You will owe me five kisses, to be freely given by you whenever I should so ask... If you wish for the return of you book that is."
She stared at him blankly for a long time. Kisses? Kisses? He wants kisses? She didn't at all understand why Loki would have that as a condition when he could have asked anything of her, knowing that she would most likely agree just to get her book back and be allowed back inside her beloved library.
But agreeing to the condition he proposed wouldn't be all that bad... would it? It wasn't like she was agreeing to anything more than a few- well, five- kisses. And it wasn't as if Loki was hideous or anything. In a strange way he was quite attractive; tall and lean, he was a striking figure. No one seemed to realise that though, because he seemed to fade into the background, somehow going largely unnoticed, if placed alongside his brother, the God of Thunder, who in comparison, was huge and muscular.
Biting her lip, Sigyn realised that Loki was her prince and had he commanded these kisses of her she would have felt compelled, however reluctantly, to comply anyway. This was almost an easy way out of a bargain for her. He was asking for nothing that he couldn't have ordered from her anyway.
"That's it?" she asked, just to confirm.
Loki inclined his head and remained silent. He had no need for his silver tongue right now; he could already see that Sigyn was going to talk herself into accepting his bargain. It was almost as if he could see exactly how her brain was working, figuring out his proposal.
"I accept the terms of your bargain- if you give me my book back now."
That trademark smirk of his took hold of his expression as he replied, "An upfront demand requires payment."
Sigyn narrowed her eyes at him and asked, "What payment?"
His smirk was in full swing as he answered, "The first of your owed kisses, obviously."
She stared and opened her mouth to reply, only to close it again in frustration. He always had a way of one-upping her, even when she thought she'd thought everything through.
"You agreed. Freely given whenever I should so choose," Loki continued.
Sigyn was really starting to dislike that smirk.
"If you say so," she replied, failing to hide the slightly sulky edge in her voice.
She frowned and stood before him awkwardly for a moment. This had to be the most uncomfortable she had ever been in her entire eighteen years on Asgard and Loki was making in no easier for her. He was just standing there, smirking, and waiting for her to go through with it. 'Freely given' mybackside... More like given under duress. Was this just another way he could use to make fun of her? To laugh at her expense?
She didn't know; but she did know that the longer she put it off, the more she made the situation worse for herself. Just suck it up and do it or he won't give you the book back, she ordered herself. Even though she felt extremely uncomfortable, Sigyn knew that she'd gotten herself into this; only following through with her bargain would get her out of it now.
Standing on her tiptoes, she leant towards the prince, finally accepting that she wasn't getting her book back until she gave in. But before she could do anything else, Loki's hand cupped the side of her cheek, tilting her head upward. Sigyn blinked wide eyes at him as his lips pressed against hers.
The kiss wasn't fierce or passionate or furious, but soft and chaste. And Sigyn couldn't help but fall into it as it continued. The kiss wasn't at all what she expected- though, thinking about it, she didn't know what she had expected- just that this wasn't it.
Another thing that she hadn't expected was that he pulled back before she did. She'd thought that she'd have been wanting the kiss to end as soon as it began. Somehow though... she didn't. As his lips left hers, Sigyn could only stare at Loki, slightly dumbfounded.
One down, four to go, was the only coherent thought that she could muster. His fingers traced down her cheek slowly, so slowly that they tickled her skin as they trailed over it. She didn't notice until his flashing blue eyes flickered down to her hands, but, at some point, Loki had managed to slip her book into her hand whilst kissing her.
Blinking, she said, "Thank you."
He smirked at her meek and slightly disoriented reply, and answered, "Until next time, little Sigyn."
She quickly felt herself turning around and leaving the way she came. She barely even noticed as she passed the guards she'd spoken to on the way in and, in fact, she was half way back to her home before she even realised where she was. What just happened? she wondered, trying to blink herself out of the daze she found herself in.
Author's Note: Just spent the whole day reading Atonement for an exam next week, so as a reward for getting through it, I wrote this chapter. :) Hope you liked it and will let me know what you think! :)
Kit xx