For Pity

Pain and pleasure

By the end of the ceremony, both Sigyn and Loki were both barely afloat within the water, and very much thankful of the odd gravity within that certain area. If not for their suspension, the two of them would have surely drowned within the pool. How long the ceremony had lasted, no one involved could say for sure, Freya simply knew that the midmorning sun had been replaced by the moon and the stars. Sigyn was panting heavily, the ceremony having taken a lot out of her, and Loki seemed to be falling unconscious slightly within the water, and yet when Freya's staff tapped the ground, ending the pain, she could clearly see their bodies finally relax after hours of the constant barraging of their senses.

Sigyn was the first to drag herself out of the pool, collapsing on the ground face up and staring at the light which the ripples in the water left on the ceiling on the cave. Her entire body-no, not her body- her very soul was aching from the experience, flushing both hot and cold after being seared to another's for all of eternity. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly and Freya could see the queen's heavily dilated pupils completely unfocused on her surroundings. Oh her forearm of her left arm, there was a small burn which almost looked like a mark from lightning, where the spell had first enacted. Loki's would probably be in a similar area, forever demonstrating their binding to each other.

When Loki finally did drag himself from the pool, he instantly found Sigyn, and lay next to her, resting his hand upon hers and finding that the burning feeling within him seemed to be soothed slightly at her touch.

eventually, when the burning ceased enough for movement to be bearable, they both stood and dressed themselves, before making their way to the entrance of the caves, flanked by Freya and her ever faithful cat.

"The burning should stop after a couple of days, until then you need to rest." Sigyn nodded, giving Freya a little wave, before mounting on Myrkr who had been waiting ever faithfully for them through the whole ordeal, before pulling Loki on behind her and giving the horse a little nudge, letting him trot off at a leisurely pace.

During the entire ride, Loki was glued to her, trying his hardest to get the burning to stop, and instead only had it soothed slightly, making him to want to get closer to her, despite the complete lack of space between them. In fact, both of them were so preoccupied with the burning and how to stop it, that they completely missed when they trotted over the Bifrost insignia burnt into the ground, just after the village, and just before the trees which eventually led to the palace. Myrkr, however, found himself trotting just a little faster to be rid of the uneasy feeling which settled over him as his hooves touched the various symbols charred into the ground.

Rather than remain at the trot which Sigyn had set for Myrkr, he began to slowly spit to a canter as the ride progressed, wanting to get back to his stables as quickly as possible without any sort of disturbance. Although he was named after darkness, during the nighttime hours Myrkr couldn't help but fear for his rider's safety.

As he got closer and closer to the palace, Myrkr felt himself becoming more and more at ease, until he settled at the front steps in front of the stable boy, Joakim, who would give him sugar cubes when he was good, and was therefore deemed 'good' in the temperamental horse's eyes.

As Joakim saw the queen and her consort dismount, both of them seeming to be in a considerable amount of pain, he thought about telling them of the guests who had arrived, but found himself unable to speak as the pair brushed past him, making their way swiftly to the royal chambers.

As Sigyn gave him a smile, he opened his mouth to tell her, warn her of the Asgardians that would join her for dinner, and yet the exhaustion in her eyes silenced him immediately. Perhaps she would be informed by her handmaiden tomorrow.

He caught sight of her forearm, the burn standing out clearly against her skin, and then Loki's, where the same burn was in the same place, and gasped. Oh gods this was going to be interesting.

Sigyn barely paid heed to any of the servants who were still milling about, or whom had just woken up to start their duties, and instead made a beeline towards her room with Loki in tow. As they shut the bedroom door behind them, instantly Loki was upon her, dragging her back to the bed, wanting to get some sort of relief from the incessant pain deep within his chest. He brought her close and pushed her down upon the mattress, before capturing her lips in a desperate fashion, before quickly removing whatever clothes separated them and kissing her again.

By the time the sun finally filtered through the curtains, both of them had fallen into a deep sleep entangled in each others arms, afraid that if they let go it would hurt again. When Amora came in at around midday to see what on earth was taking them so long to wake, she caught sight of their fresh burns, like brands upon their arms, and simply lay down a tray of food and left them to sleep.

As she left the room, however, she found herself confronted by Thor, who was about to knock on the Queen's chambers. When the doors opened as he was to knock to reveal Amora, he found himself somewhat shocked and taken aback, almost jumping from fright, before giving a laugh.

"Oh, my lady, I must confess you shocked me." He said, giving her a friendly clap on the back. Amora gave him a smile and held his forearm, leading him away.

"My lord, i'm sorry but the queen is not to be disturbed today, or for the next few days. And neither is your brother." Thor cocked his head at her, wondering why this was.

"You see, they were married last night and-"

"Oh how jovial!" Thor exclaimed, turning on his heel and making his way back to the room to congratulate the pair, only to be stopped yet again by Amora.

"I don't think you understand."

"Oh no I do, they are joined in law and love now, is that not so?"

Amora sighed and brought her fingers to the bridge of her nose, trying to relieve the pressure building there. How to explain such a union to someone who would probably never endure it, and had never heard of what it meant to be married here?

"My lord, marriage here is... different to marriage in Asgard. There, it is more of a ceremony of law, yes?" Thor nodded, "Well, here it is a ceremony of Seidr, where the souls are physically merged."

Still, the god looked confused. Amora thought harder, trying to come up with an analogy. Suddenly she was struck with a comparison.

"My lord, have you ever been to a forge?" Thor nodded yet again, still confused.

"Well, imagine the soul it a piece of metal, how would one connect two pieces whilst still not alloying them?" Thor thought for a moment.

"Well, I suppose you would weld them, however that would take a skilled blacksmith and a lot of time and heat."

"Yes, that is Vanir marriage."

Understanding and horror dawned on Thor's face, as suddenly, all he could imagine was a metal version of Loki screaming as he was melted to a screaming metal Sigyn, both of them in unimaginable pain and both of them enduring such voluntarily. No wonder his mother, whom had been Vanir herself, had seemed to flinch every time Thor had mentioned marriage.

"So they're in pain?" He asked.

"Yes, but it will eventually settle." Thor sighed in relief, glad to know that both his brother and his newly acquired 'sister-in-law' so to speak, would eventually feel comfortable once more.

"Well, when they wake, could you please give them a message?" Amora nodded.

"Odin is here, and wishes to see The Queen."