Loki stared at the page, Stand by the screaming wa-

"Can you read that?"

He jerked up, looked at her, then back at the page, "Yes." He shook himself, "Yes, it's Old Tongue, I had to be fluent to pass the first tests Freya assigned me in my lessons..."

She brought him back, "What does it say?"

Loki read, "Stand by the screaming wall, Hraesvelg's dome. Face Vestri's lonely post, the skirnir's home. The troll that guards the entrance you must pay. And from there, skald or mage, you'll know the way."

"That's all it said?"

"No," Loki shrugged, "but that's the important bit. The rest of it's rubbish."

"What does it mean?"
"It's a riddle."

Sif looked skyward, "I couldn't tell that."

Loki smirked.

"Hraesvelg is the giant who causes the wind in all the old stories, isn't he?" she was counting the points off on her fingers, "And Vestri is the dwarf who holds up the western sky. Skirnir is an ancient hero, though I've no idea who or what the skirnir is."

Loki's mind was teasing at the knots, picking them apart… and busily causing new ones. Hreasvelg caused wind. The wind's dome. The sky. Vestri was the western dwarf. Face the West. The troll…he had no knowledge of any troll guarding any part of the palace…the skirnir…

"Why 'skald or mage'? Why doesn't it list anyone else?"

"No one else would be able to read it," he muttered, more than a little peeved at the interruption.

"In Buri's time? Wasn't the AllTongue only just established here then?"

She had a point. He should have thought of that. Loki straightened from the page, "What else do they have in common?"

"I don't know, you're the one who's been in school his whole life."

Loki bristled, "What is that supposed to mean?"

She looked blankly at him a moment, then smirked, "Nothing more than that you should be smarter than I. I was raised far from books and all my learning came from the stories my mother told me."

Loki didn't know quite what to answer to that.

Sif didn't wait for him to. "They'd both know the language," she mused, "but beyond that, what would they have that no one else would?"

It hit him, "Magic," he looked at her.

She was skeptical, "Mages, yes, but skalds?"

"Yes. That was before there was a strong line between magic and witchcraft, and often those with some ability would hide as wandering skalds, keeping their skills hidden or disguised as mere trickery."

"Alright," she conceded, "What have we got so far?"

Loki turned back to his notes, "Stand by the screaming wall – the sky. Face the West – the skirnir's home. The skirnir may be the sun. The name means 'shining one,' and they say – in the stories," he smirked at her, "that the sun beds in the west. The troll that guards the entrance you must pay. And from there skald or mage you'll know the way. – There must be some sort of magical barrier."

"Well, it's lucky that you know magic."

She made the same error Thor and his friends always did. He might not know enough magic and he might not know the right magic. But it was an error he was accustomed to ignoring.

"So, what do we do now?" she asked.

"I think first we should find a 'screaming wall'. That might lead us farther."

"Have you any ideas?" she spread her hands, "These walls seem mute to me,"

"Yes," Loki grinned at her in the way that Thor always hated, "I think I do."

~.~

Loki could be fast when he wanted to. She should have expected it. He'd won every footrace she'd seen him take. But he always seemed so lazy as he wandered the halls. She must never have noticed him when he was excited by something. The change was remarkable. And for the better. She surprised herself by admitting that she actually liked him as he was. He was funny. Defensive and sarcastic, but not unpleasant – when he wasn't paying attention. She'd forced her presence on him out of curiosity. Thor couldn't keep secrets, and she'd assumed Loki would tell what he was so interested in sooner than he had. And by the time he had told her, she'd found she didn't want to leave.

He led her, practically running down halls and corridors she'd never known existed. She guessed that that came with growing up here. She'd known everything about the woods surrounding the farm… It still hurt to think about it, so she was glad for the distraction when they suddenly came out into the open air.

The view made Sif dizzy. She'd never yet been up on the battlements, and the way the ground fell away and the city sprawled beneath snatched her breath.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Loki had stopped. She glanced at him, but couldn't quite get over the landscape, "What?"

He was grinning at her, she could tell it by his voice, "Never seen a view before?"

She found she couldn't summon the sarcasm she'd usually answer that with, "Not like this,"

Then he was next to her and she wasn't even startled.

"I used to climb a tree on the outer boundary of my family's farm," she murmured, "I thought I could see the entire realm." Shaking her head, she broke the spell and tore herself away, turned to face him, "You think I'm a fool."

He didn't face her, but looked out over the hills. For a moment, he didn't answer. Then shrugging, he turned, "You're new to it."

She was surprised by that. Not even an attempt.

The height was making daft fools of both of them.

"Come on," he said over his shoulder, "These walls are too quiet for our purpose."

~.~

Loki stopped for the third time to see her leaning over the wall. Those three didn't count the times he hadn't bothered to number when he'd glanced back and found her nearly tripping over her own feet as she tried to look over the side without slowing her pace.

"You know," she startled, flushing scarlet, "I could hold your hand if it would make your journey easier. There's none here but I to witness your lapse, and I swear on my honor I wouldn't tell."

She gathered her golden hair back from her face and narrowed her eyes at him, mimicking his courtly tone, "I thank you for your concern, but I shall be fine on my own."

Loki shrugged, "Suit yourself."

He waited a few minutes before he turned again, catching her as she regained her balance.

"Still so sure?"

She laughed, "Shut up."

"We're almost there."

He'd taken her up onto the wall because he'd thought it would be faster than through the halls. There would undoubtedly be less people. Less people, less questions. But he hadn't counted on Sif's becoming moon-struck by the view. Part of him was vaguely annoyed by it, part highly amused. There was another part – a small one – that felt something else entirely. Something he didn't understand and couldn't quite name… but it liked her for her acknowledgement of the power the beauty held.

~.~

"How's that?"

"What?" Sif was still disoriented and a little dizzy. She thought that she could spend the rest of her life here and never grow tired of the view. Though it didn't much help her conversational skills.

Loki was smirking at her. "Listen," he said.

There was a strange, disembodied shrieking far to the west beyond the wall, "What's that?"

"A screaming wall," he grinned, then gestured, "Noatunn's that way. The beaches attract the gulls."

Sif wandered closer to the wall, laying her hands against the cold grey stone. The walls seemed quiet, but she could hear the gulls, and it did sound like screaming.

"Are you sure this is the wall? He didn't mean one in Noatunn itself?"

"It had to be within the palace. This has to be the place."

Sif was skeptical, but having no better idea to offer, she surveyed the ground, "What's that down there?"

He came over next to her, "The old ruins. Father says they used to be attached to the palace."

She glanced at the stairs toward her left. "I've never seen them before," she started toward them.

"Where are you going?"

"Down. I want to see them."

"Don't you want to find the passage?"

She grinned back up at him, "You do think I'm a fool,"

He followed her.

"Besides, they're ruins. Mayhap we'll find something to point us on our way."