When Sigyn woke that morning, she found that the other side of the bed was empty; which meant that Loki was already up. Usually when that happened, she would find him playing his piano, or reading a book. Not this time, however. Now he was already donning his armour. What surprised her was that he was doing it without magic. That was very unlike him. She frowned as she sat up in bed and stared at his back.

"Loki?" she asked, sleepily.

He paused in his ministrations and turned around to look at her.

"Sigyn."

She quickly rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and pushed her hair away from her face.

"I did not mean to wake you," Loki said quietly.

She glanced out of the window into the outside world and frowned again. It could barely have been sunrise.

"Isn't it a little early to be up?" Sigyn queried.

"I have duties," was all that he said, before continuing to get himself ready.

She slipped silently out of bed, letting the sheet that covered her slip to the floor. Barefoot, she padded over to Loki and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind. He paused and sighed.

"Do those duties mean that you aren't allowed to spend a few quiet moments with your wife?" she whispered as she rested her chin on her back.

He regretfully closed his eyes, but Sigyn didn't see it. How he wished that he could just stay with her. If it were only the two of them together for the rest of eternity, then he could be content; but there was so much more on his mind. Thor. Odin. Frigga. Heimdall. Sif. Volstagg. Hogun. Fandrall. Laufey. Every name was troubling him.

He could only depend on Sigyn. He would just have to depend on her to still be there after he dealt with everything else. Loki turned around, loosening her grip on him and frowning slightly.

"I'm sorry, Sigyn. I must go," he breathed eventually.

Sigyn let out a sigh and looked down at the floor for a moment. She had guessed that convincing him might be a long shot, but she had to try anyway. Turning in her arms, he manoeuvred his way out of her grasp and softly kissed her forehead. But just as Loki began to walk away, Sigyn caught his hand and he stopped, surprised.

Her hand slid around the back of his neck and she pulled him down to kiss him. It was slow and lingering; but it was loving all the same. When she released him, Loki just stared for a moment as if there was something else going on behind his eyes, something that she couldn't read. Then he seemed to regain his composure and a smirk immediately played on his lips.

"Oh love, how I miss you."

He murmured so quietly that it almost seemed as if he wasn't even talking to her. Then he left. Sigyn frowned after him, not knowing exactly what to think. How lost are you, Loki? she thought to herself.

Sif didn't believe that she had ever been as angry as she was in that moment. Loki cutting her hair had been bad- awful, in fact- but what he was doing now was far worse. He was ruling a country that had never been his to rule. Thor had always been the one destined to inherit Odin's throne. He was the eldest son. It should be him caretaking the throne, but instead it was Loki.

The Warriors Three had been discussing why Loki might not bring Thor back. He had said he couldn't because of the image it would present to Asgard if he reneged on the Allfather's last command, but they all knew that that was a lie. He was jealous. He had never really loved Thor like they all had. Numerous reasons were thrown around between them, but it made perfect sense to Sif.

Of course Loki refused to bring Thor back. That would mean that he would have to give up his seat of power. Certainly Thor could be somewhat reckless- everyone knew that. But anything was better than having a silver-tongued snake for a ruler.

There was nothing that she or the Warriors Three could do about it however. Sif could only think of one person that had some modicum of power over Asgard's unwelcomed king. So Sif went to see Sigyn. And as soon as her friend arrived, Sigyn could clearly tell that she was angry.

"Have you seen your husband lately?"

Sigyn frowned and said nothing. Loki and Sif didn't get along at the best of times, that was nothing new. She just wondered what had occurred between them this time to make her friend so angry.

"He is acting as the King. Playing as his father," Sif revealed, her words cutting through Sigyn's silence.

Sigyn frowned.

"He's acting as the king because he has to," she reasoned. "The Jotuns might attack if they know that the Allfather is incapacitated and Thor is banished. Loki is just doing what he must to keep the realm as safe as he can."

"Is that what he told you?" Sif sneered.

"It's the truth," Sigyn replied calmly.

Sif rolled her eyes.

"Please Sigyn, wake up. He's the God of Lies. The power has gone to his head. It's obvious."

"You're being ridiculous-"

"No, I'm not."

They were silent for a moment. Sigyn didn't know what to say. She was confused as to why Sif was so against Loki being in such a position. The power hadn't gone to his head. He was just a little confused still. He was only doing what he had to.

For her part, Sif couldn't understand how Sigyn was refusing to see the change in her husband. She couldn't been so blind, surely?

"The Warriors Three and I asked him to bring Thor back."

Sigyn blinked. She was taken aback. But she supposed it made sense to ask the God to bring his brother home- only because no one knew that they weren't brothers and never actually had been. Although, Sigyn was slightly confused, because it seemed that Loki was still acting as if Odin was his father, so she didn't know what his answer might have been. She could have guessed though.

"What did he say?" she enquired.

"He said that he could not, but that he would not is what he really meant."

Sigyn's frown deepened.

"I'm sure that he didn't mean-"

"You need to speak to him."

"Sif-"

"You are the only one in a position to say anything to him right now, while he's acting as king. You are the only person that he seems to listen to, Sigyn, and the only person that has a chance at convincing him to do the right thing."

She stared silently, her intense and bright eyes boring into Sigyn.

"As a friend, I am asking this of you. Please."

The look in Sif's eyes convinced her to agree. There was the tiniest amount of pain mingled with her anger, and Sigyn knew that she couldn't refuse her friend, even if she didn't understand the look. Sigyn nodded.

"Thank you," Sif replied as a small and almost grateful smile came over her lips.

With that, Sif left and Sigyn waited for her husband to return to her. She had to think about what conversation she was supposed to have with Loki. She couldn't bring herself to say anything about Thor right now, not with how he clearly felt about him... could she?

Sigyn sighed. In truth, she wasn't quite sure what she would be able to say to Loki that would make a difference right now. He was still so lost in the confusion of finding out that his whole life was a lie. And no matter how hard she had been trying, she couldn't seem to bring him out of it. For his sake, she determined that she would just have to try a little harder.

Author's Note: Hope you liked it and will let me know what you think! :)

Kit xx