Sigyn's Discovery (Part 1)

Spoils of Victory (SIGYN)

How did we make it back to my chamber? I only recall the dark halls and him pulling me forward while cloudy and tinged with a halo of green. His trick to get through the palace unnoticed certainly was useful.

Tiwaz was sitting in front of my door when we arrived and chirruped loudly, making that lovely, happy sound that never failed to make me grin.

Since no one else roamed in the open, Loki ended the spell. "Hello you," he whispered, patting Tee on the head before turning to me. "I'll let you enter first."

"So kind," I said, batting my eyes playfully and opening the lock. I didn't wait and yanked him in behind me, only leaving enough time for the cat to enter, too.

My chamber was larger in the dark. Such space was wasted on me alone. The mood inside was marred with yellow from torchlight in the city around us. The second floor wasn't high enough to escape them like in Frigga's room. Loki didn't like it, either, and he closed the drapes with a swift pull.

I wanted to tear off my clothes and his, but before I could think about that, I caught a glimpse of myself in my vanity mirror. Gods, that's what I look like right now? I wetted a corner of the washcloth by the sink and scrubbed at my eyes, embarrassed that he had to see me in such a state.

Loki stepped toward me with his signature plods, slow and calculated. Every footfall made a part of me ache deep within. "There's no need for that," he said.

"Oh, absolutely there is." I fluffed my hair and turned, leaning my back against the vanity table. "I think this will suffice."

Somehow the wicked heat between us on the bell tower had fizzled to a strange awkwardness. Instead of feeling wanton, I had an urge to laugh.

"Are you snickering?" he asked, tipping his head as he skulked ever closer.

I bit my lip and tried to move in a way that made my hips dance seductively, but his question and expression only made my irreverence worse. Breaking the silence, I burst with amusement. "I'm sorry...I guess I'm nervous in a way I wasn't before."

"Nervous, are you?" Loki purred, taking the final step closer, enough to reach me with short extension of his arms. "You should be."

Still trying to calm my giggles, I tensed and curled into myself. "Why?"

"Because you shall not escape me again." He answered my levity with tricks of his own and clutched me quickly. "Let's see...I recall a spot right about here—" His fingertips found the crux of my neck and wriggled to bring even more out of me.

I yelped, half-heartedly slapping at his arms the best I could. "Loki, that's not fair. Not fair!"

"Oh, I'll give you fair." He lifted me over his shoulder and took the few strides necessary to drop me on the bed, where he was no more merciful with his games. "Where else might I find the source of that delightful sound?"

I didn't know if he referred to my squeaks or the snorting I couldn't control. Had I ever done that before? "You'll never...make me...tell you!"

"Confess, confess!" Loki tumbled and tangled with me, rolling back and forth while trading in our merriment. This wasn't the same man who once seduced me on the noble floor and realized my teenage fantasies—it was the man I woke with instead; the one who guided my arms and my arrow, the one who now fulfilled a wish I didn't know I had.

To laugh.

"Ha—now I've got you," he said, pinning me down in the shape of an X, flat on my back with my arms and legs outstretched. His hands pressed on my forearms—heavy, but not uncomfortable. "Any last requests?"