A/N: Update number two! More of a filler chapter here, because the NEXT one is important. SO important. So I will apologize beforehand, because it may be some time in coming. I really want to get it right. It affects EVERYTHING.
Anyway, hope you enjoy! Send reviews please! Your thoughts mean a WHOLE lot!
My fingers fidgeted absently with the engraved bronze bracelet that sat on my wrist, running over the runes that I had memorized many long years before. It was a promise, one that would be fulfilled in just two short weeks, when I bound myself to Theoric.
But he was not the man that currently occupied my thoughts.
It had been nearly three weeks and still my body thrummed with longing every moment my thoughts strayed towards Loki. Now being no exception. Most of my days were spent lost in my musings, my thoughts returning again and again to the kiss he'd stolen; my energy spent in suppressing such thoughts or concealing flushing cheeks.
It was a little miracle that Loki had agreed to my mother's wish to forgo my lessons until after the ceremony. I had not seen him since that day in the training grounds, except at a distance. But it only seemed to deepen my yearning and increase my desire, much to my never-ceasing annoyance.
A gentle but insistent nudge pierced my side and I glanced over to meet my mother's expectant and slightly mortified expression. Her eyes flickered away and I followed them, paling as Frigga looked expectantly back at me. "Forgive me, your majesty," I stammered. "I . . . I was . . . I did not hear the question."
She gave me an indulgent smile. "There is much on your mind, I am sure," she replied. "What with your upcoming bonding." I flushed, dropping her gaze as guilt pulsed through me. If only she knew the true nature of my thoughts. "I merely asked if you would care to explore the gardens. And it would seem I have my answer." She leaned forward and patted my knee in a motherly gesture. "I was young once. I realize that the gossip of your elders is most likely not of interest."
"I meant no offence, my queen," I protested.
Frigga waved away my concern, her dark gray eyes sparkling with knowing amusement. "None is taken, my dear," she soothed. "Perhaps a short walk will help to clear your head, settle your mind."
The understanding in her voice gave me pause but she simply met my curious, wary look with a smile. "Perhaps," I agreed, slowly. I stood and gave her a shallow curtsey before stepping onto the nearest pathway, my thoughts wandering as I did.
Along with the desire that thoughts of Loki inflamed within me, they also prompted a deep and almost crippling guilt. Theoric had been my friend, my intended, for as long as I could remember. Our parents had promised one to the other when we were still only babes. We had grown up together, played together, given ourselves to each other.
I did not love him. Not in the way I suspected he did me. But he was my dearest, closest friend and I saw nothing wrong in a life bound to his side. Yet these feelings that Loki had stirred within me sent my mind reeling and spinning . . . and doubt rushed in.
"Are you lost, little one?"
I froze. The smooth, familiar voice washed over me and I fought to suppress a shudder of need as I turned to face the owner. Loki smirked at me from over the edge of a thick, leather-bound book, his green eyes dancing. He set the book aside, marking his place and making it disappear with a wave of his hand, and stood. My breath caught traitorously as I watched him unfold his long, lean body from his chair. "Not many wander this deep into the maze anymore," he said.
I blinked at him, his words taking a moment to sink in. "Maze?" My gaze flickered around us, taking in the massive hedges that encased us on every side. I had been so lost in my thoughts that I had not noticed where the garden path had been leading me.
"Installed by my mother when Thor and I were children," he explained. "A means to keep us busy, I suppose. Though, she spent more time in here than I think she anticipated, searching us out whenever we became lost."
"I see," I replied, giving him a brief curtsy. "Please, forgive my intrusion, my prince." I turned to go back the way I had come, eager to escape his overwhelming presence and regain some sense of myself.
"Sigyn."
His tone was commanding, halting my movement before it truly started. "Yes, my prince?" I asked without turning around, impressed at the steadiness of my voice.
Loki's boots scuffed softly on the grass as he moved towards me. "Allow me," he said, holding out his arm as he came to a halt beside me. "Unless you become truly lost. While the maze is simple, it can be confusing." His emerald eyes twinkled with amusement. "I do not expect you to be quite so lucky a second time."
My brow furrowed as my eyes jumped between his eyes and his offered arm, confusion swiftly replacing the longing in my blood. Whatever I had been expecting of our first interaction after three weeks, it had not been this. Not when any time previous had been filled with blatant flirting and seduction. "Th-thank you," I stammered, slipping my arm through his and allowing him to lead me back to the garden.
The sound of the servants faded to background noise as Loki strode through the palace, lost to his thoughts. Mainly ones concerning the witch that continued to visit with his mother back in the gardens. He had a suspicious inkling that the queen had had something to do with Sigyn stumbling upon his alcove, but it wasn't as though he found the intrusion unwelcome. Far from it.
Her vacant expression had belied her state of deep contemplation and he had been unable to resist the wave of curiosity that washed over him. Carefully concealing his magic, as he had been taught, he had slipped into her thoughts. The images that had greeted him nearly sent him careening from his chair in order to grab her and fulfill every one.
But her thoughts had shifted, to her betrothed, and he clenched his jaw in memory of the unconscious decision she had made for herself.
His plan would never come to fruition as long as she remained betrothed. Sigyn was loyal to a fault, he had seen that much in her head. And in her actions, how she had denied him, pushed him away, at every turn. But instead of discouraging him, it only made him crave her more.
Loki stepped inside his chambers and paused just inside the doorway, a smug smirk sliding across his face. Sigyn's confusion at his lack of action had been quite amusing. In fact, he had been impressed by his own restraint. He would have enjoyed nothing more than to ravish her right there in the center of the maze. But her thoughts had sparked a plan to form and his restraint would see much use before he could see it come to fruition.
He stalked over to his bookshelves and searched, smiling as he found the tome he was looking for. It had been some time since he had used this particular spell and would require some practice to refresh himself on the intricacies of it. His fingers began to tingle as the familiar feeling of mischief rose inside him and he settled down to read.