For the Love of a Queen

Chapter 7

Most of the people in the square cheered, and those who did not did not seem to belong there. Loki eyed them suspiciously, wondering who they were.

Sigyn sat and moved her hand from his shoulder to his palm, "I hope I did not offend you with placement of my hand. It was a calculated move. They will see you as a friend or peer, but not in control, if I am allowed to hold you in your place beside me."

"No, you did not. Though I did wonder."

"Now you do not have to."

"Who are the strangers who do not seem to know why you are here?"

He pointed them out and she glared, "They came last year. They gawked and laughed and tried to join our dancing. We pushed them back. Those who tried to return to the circle were fought off and bloodied. If it happens again, I make no excuse for those of my people who react badly to intruders in our sacred space."

"Shall I speak to them? Command them leave?"

"Not if it will weaken my standing, no."

Loki nodded, "I will keep watch. Will you tell me about the dances?"

She did. They started with dances of thanksgiving, of the coming darkness, and of snow. And then they danced for each creature roasting the spits. And then a dance of feasting, for it was time to eat. Board tables seemed to appear from nowhere around the fire and soon Loki and Sigyn were sitting at a high table set up in front of her bench. Her men in fur brought the spits down and carved the meat while the drumming women placed dishes of vegetables and baked things on the tables.

A man and woman approached the high table and bowed briefly, "My daughter-queen. May we sit with you?"

She gestured to the seats beside her, "Of course. You are always welcome at my table, Father. Kira."

"May we ask the introduction of your guest?"

"This is Loki, son of Odin. Loki, my father, Talis, and his wife, Kira."

He nodded in acknowledgment, "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, sir, madam."

They bow to him, "And an honour for us to meet you, Prince Loki," Talis says. They sit and he leans over to ask, "What brings you here for this celebration? We did not know Asgard had any interest in our ways."

"Sigyn and I have grown close. She asked that I attend. And so here I am, honouring that request. And while I cannot speak to my family, I am most certainly interested in the traditions of the friend I hold so dear."

Kira drops her voice, "You speak in beautifully guarded words, but we know you and she have shared a bed. You may speak honestly at this table and with her family. In our community, those who repeat what they hear at the high table are subject to death. While we cannot enforce such a harsh law here, we can still keep the memory alive so none dare break it."

"Forgive me, I meant no disrespect. We do not have the same safeguards in my father's halls. While it may be treason and sedition to repeat what is overheard between the royal family, it is not so clearly defined."

Talis shrugged, "Different ways for different people. No one living remembers the days when our people had a palace. So we have had no place in which to conduct official dealings. It happens at the high table."

"Indeed. There is nothing wrong with life this way. I am simply not used to it."

Sigyn smiled at him and took his hand, "I hope you will learn. Our stories are beautiful, our dances tell them without words, and there are customs we hold that give our lives great comfort in changing times. Excuse me a moment- I must say words over the food."