Horror engulfed Jane as she whipped her head around.
Nothing.
No one was there.
Had she imagined it?
She clambered out of the tub and wrapped one of Loki's robes around her. It was much too big, his stature being over six feet in height, and she tripped a bit as she ran out of the room.
Get to the children.
Jane made her way down the corridor and into the collection of rooms which harbored the wards.
She burst into the room, and saw Adriel and Seth sitting on the floor, a few bags littered across the floor in anticipation of their departure.
"Adriel, Seth….come with me," Jane held out her hand to guide them.
"Is everything alright, Lady Jane?" Adriel asked.
"Yes…I need you to come with me, though…I wanted to have the opportunity to say goodbye, anyway…" she finished, attempting to quell their obvious concern.
Jane went into her room to put some clothes on.
"Um…" she didn't want to change in front of them, nor did she want them out of her sight. "Turn around…"
And they did.
Her skin was still a bit wet from her bath as she wrestled with her clothes. She pulled on her shoes and took them by their hands and led them downstairs.
Find Loki.
Find Torben.
The children were silent as she dragged them through the massive hall toward the throne room.
Her palms began to sweat, her grip was so tight.
"My Lady, you are hurting me…" complained Adriel.
"Oh, sorry…" Jane loosened her grip.
Where was the sorceress?
Jane rushed along…and saw the door of the destination she sought.
And then it happened….
Jane's ears filled with an explosion.
The trio were thrown against the wall, and heat…so much heat…
Where were their hands…Jane pulled herself from the wall, and opened her eyes.
A fountain of green fire filled her vision…it raced to the top of the palace, searing its heat, and blowing a hole in the ceiling.
Jane gasped and looked around.
There…there to her left was Seth…he was moving, attempting to stand. Jane grabbed his hand and stood…
But Adriel wasn't there.
"Adriel!" she screamed. "Adriel!"
Panic took over…she pulled Seth away from the fire fountain, still blazing from the gaping hole in the floor, stretching to the now yawning hole in the ceiling, making its way to the sky.
Where was everyone?
She decide to put Seth outside…surely there were people out there to watch him…and then she could find Adriel…Torben…Loki.
Jane rushed outside and found some of the Aesir staring at the palace in horror. The fire screamed in its effort to reach Asgard's sky. Jane watched it for a moment, only because she couldn't look away, it was transfixing.
She remembered herself, and went to one of the servants.
"Can you watch Seth, please?"
The woman barely acknowledged Jane as she wrapped her arms around the boy.
Jane cleared her throat. "Where's the royal family?"
"Inside, my Lady…I don't know…we haven't seen any of them."
Good god.
Jane nodded and went back inside.
"Lady Jane! Do not go back!" someone screamed, but she paid no heed.
"Adriel! Torben!" Jane yelled.
The heat was intense, but no smoke could be seen…enchanted fire, Jane thought.
The remaining servants and such were all running for exits as best they could.
Where could they be? Frigga…Thor…Odin…Loki.
Could he be in the dungeon…
Could Adriel have been taken by Sigyn?
She should just go there…just get to the dungeon. It was the obvious source of the fire. What else could be done?
At her decision, Jane heard her name.
"Jane!" it was Frigga.
The Queen rushed to Jane.
"Jane…come with me…"
"Where…where is everyone?"
Frigga was pulling her. "Thor just went to the dungeon…Odin was taken by the sorceress…I do not know where Loki is…"
Her heart sank. "And Torben? Adriel?"
"The children…?" she gasped.
"Let go, Frigga. I'm going to find them…have you been down there?"
"No," she replied. "But you cannot…if something were to happen to you…" and tears filled the corners of her eyes.
Jane ripped her arm free. "I don't care. I'm not going to just wait and see what happens."
And Jane ran to the staircase descending to the bowels of the castle, ignoring the frantic pleas of the Queen.
Oh my god oh my god…Jane's heart pounded. Loki…Loki…please please please be ok…
She heard Thor's thunderous voice before she saw him.
He was swinging Mjölnir, and saying, "Free him, witch, or suffer my wrath."
"Oooohhh…big brother Thor is soooo scary…not a bit of templed peace or sad station…that little one so sad so sad…and the other….she steals…she took the boy…she took the husband…"
Jane peered around the stone column, and this was what she saw:
Odin was encased in the source of the fire, though he merely seemed to be trapped, not in pain. Thor's back was facing Jane…and Adriel…she was sitting against the wall, without an expression on her face, staring at nothing.
No Loki.
No Torben.
"You make no sense. Free the King…" Thor said.
"And then I shall die…die…diddy diddy die die…but I want that…I want it…I want I want I want…"
"You shall not be executed, Sigyn…" Thor replied, hanging Mjölnir at his side.
"No…" she said. "Because then Loki will die…" and she laughed hysterically. "Die die Loki die…diddy diddy die die…"
"Cease this! Put out this fire and free Odin."
A soft green glow was suddenly spotted in the far corner.
Sigyn gasped.
And Loki appeared.
His head was bent low in a menacing stare…his eyes peering at his wife.
He stood erect and walked toward the fire, hands folded behind his back as though this was something only mildly interesting.
"Loki," said the sorceress.
"Sigyn," he replied and nodded.
He looked at the fire and laughed.
"How did you get out, Loki?" and she laughed, mirthless and menacing.
He began to pace around the fire appearing to examine it. "While your enchantment was somewhat effective, it could hardly encase me for very long," he peered at his father through the green blaze. "Odin, it would seem, is not so fortunate…but then, he is an old King." He backed away from it to gain a better view.
"Can't I just use Mjölnir?" asked Thor.
Loki rolled his eyes at his brother. "Yes, do that, Thor. Let us smite an enchanted fire and just see what happens. Excellent postulation."
"Well…" Thor began.
But Sigyn's laughter interrupted. "Thor's hammer…hammer won't do much here…Thor and his hammer…"
Loki then noticed Adriel. "What did you do to the child?"
"Awww…does the villain care? Has he discovered his heart?"
He waved his hand in anger and frustration and the fire disappeared, Odin fell in a heap and Thor rushed to his side.
Sigyn appeared to not have anticipated that.
"What is it that you want, witch?" Loki hissed.
"Freedom…death…freedom…death…" she repeated as she backed herself against the wall.
His hands fell to his side. "Sigyn, you know that I cannot grant you either of those things."
And the sorceress began to cry. "No…no one can…I'm here…I'm alone…and you…you have that mortal now…she takes everything…" she finished with a spat.
Loki swallowed. "I can make things better for you here…"
"How?! No air for me…no air for me…" and she wailed and hugged herself, and her green skin softened to a pale white, and her eyes became less black, more grey…
Jane used the opportunity to go to Adriel. She knelt in front of her…
Thor spotted Jane as he attempted to left the ailing King. "Jane…you shouldn't be here…I'll take the child."
"No…I can't leave…not when Loki…"
"Ah ha ha ha!" cried the witch. "There she is…." she hissed.
Loki didn't turn around. He didn't need to. He gathered his magic…the force of which sent his hair blowing…he raised his hands, and Sigyn was pinned against the wall. The sorceress screamed.
"Kill me, Loki! Kill us both! End it end it end it end it," she wailed.
Jane went to him, and placed her hand on his back.
She immediately felt his muscles relax a bit.
"Loki," she whispered. "Let her go."
"No," he responded simply.
"Loki," Jane persisted. "Just put her back in her cell."
"She will never let me go, Jane…and I cannot kill her…the spell demands that I die in turn…I cannot…I do not know what to do…" his voice broke, but his stare remained on the sorceress."…and then what…I can never truly be happy…I shall forever be beholden to her insanity…and you…" he attempted to glance at her…"…you, love…you shall suffer too…she will never give you peace…"
"Loki…please…don't despair…I love you…please…" and she tugged at his arm.
Loki's eyes closed. His hands fell and he sighed. "Jane…" and he put Sigyn back in the cell. "I'm trapped…I'm in a cell, too…what good will I be to you? A man who can never honor you as you should be…a man who is forever tethered to another in endless misery…"
"I don't care," Jane whispered. And in that moment, Jane realized fully just how much it didn't matter. How much she loved him…that she was willing to bend her morality to suit who he was…what he was…a frail and flimsy belief system, she supposed.
But it was fine…and in that moment in the cold black dim of the dungeon, Jane felt her heart sing and her soul soar…she knew that she had loved him, she had wrestled with death itself to be with him, to not abandon him. But it was in that singular span of time that she knew without a hint of dubiety, that she would be there. That she both needed and wanted and was absolutely irrevocably his, no matter what. Because the night previous, though he had claimed her, and that morning, she had claimed him, there were still her scruples whose itch was persistent.
She let it go. She threw off the cloak of idle ethics…it blinded her to her heart.
She wouldn't be a whore. She would be Loki's lover, and if that meant they never married, so be it.
She had tarried long with the supposition that commitment was expressed only in marriage.
"Loki…let's go…let's bring Adriel up so that you can see to her...let's just live, Loki...I'm not afraid..."
And she touched his cheek.
And he smiled.
Odin and Thor stood watching…and they both nodded.
"Let us repair the damage, my son," Odin's voice was weak as he spoke to Loki.
Loki nodded.
And the glass shattered.
And the screams pierced the stiff and cold air.
And there were flashes, and a yell…and something hit her head…
Jane turned around dizzily…
Loki was on the floor…
Sigyn was laying prone next to him.
And Torben was holding Gungnir in his hand, panting hard.