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Mourning Star- Chapter Three

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Chapter Three

“When I said ‘go get her’, I didn’t mean literally.”

The healers already had her lying on the table and were surrounding her. Sigyn had dragged Thor as far away from her as he would allow, but kept herself hidden behind a column so that Jane couldn’t see her.

“I had to bring her back here.”

“Have you lost your mind?” she hissed. “The All-Father will be furious with you and who knows what he will do to her.”

“He will not do anything to her.” For all he had changed, Thor was still as stubborn as he’d ever been. “Sigyn, I had to bring her here because she is…unwell.”

Unwell. That word dissolved all other questions and admonitions of Thor’s intelligence. She knew mortals were frail things, but she had a hard time imagining the physicist as being ill enough to require Asgardian care. “What’s wrong with her?”

“I don’t know. One minute Heimdall couldn’t see her anymore, and when someone tried to grab her arm she unleashed some sort of energy attack.”

“She…what?”

“Thor?” Jane called. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes. I’ll be over in just a moment.” Thor turned back to her, and Sigyn was still having a hard time believing that Jane Foster was currently on Asgard. “Would you like to say hello?”

“Not yet.” If Jane was here with new and uncontrolled energy powers, then the All-Father would be there soon enough and her presence would not help the situation. Nor was she ready for this reunion right now. “Let me know when you find out anything.”

For once, Thor didn’t argue with her and she was grateful. He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze before returning to Jane’s side. Sigyn made sure that Jane was preoccupied with whatever the healers were telling her before she darted out into the hallway. Her heart pounded in her chest with each step, the sleeping drought still clutched in her hands though utterly useless at the moment; sleep would not be coming anytime soon.

Theoric was still by her door, and Sigyn wondered if the man ever switched with someone else or if he was just the one who always stood outside her door. Either way, she didn’t like the concerned look on his face.

“Lady Sigyn, are you well? You were at the healers for a while and you look pale.”

She brushed past him into her chambers. “It’s going to be an interesting day; my brother has brought a mortal to Asgard.”


Sigyn only drank half of her sleeping drought; she needed sleep but there were too many new developments for her to get more than a few, restless hours. She had risen before the sun, while the rest of the palace was still asleep. Well, at least most of the palace. At the other end of the hallway, two lovers were sharing one last clandestine embrace before sneaking off to their rooms. Her heart clenched painfully at the memory of a time when she and Loki had done the same thing.

Jane is in Asgard. What is Thor thinking?

Sigyn felt ashamed at her own cowardice. Thor had defied Odin’s will to bring Jane here—ill or not, it was bound to happen eventually—while she pined and sighed and did absolutely nothing to free Loki. Her punishment had made her fearful and simpering and she disliked it.

It is not cowardice; it is patience.

“Is something wrong, lady Sigyn?” Theoric came up behind her, though again always giving her enough space, and it wasn’t until he said anything that she realized that she had been too lost in her thoughts to realize that she’d stopped in the middle of the hallway.

“No; everything’s fine.” She started walking again, and so did he. “I thought you all rotated shifts.” She had seen too much of this man in too little time and it worried her.

“I offered to take my friend’s place for the morning shift. He’s missed spending time with his wife.”

His answer felt like a punch to her gut. She knew she shouldn’t resent another couple spending time together, but she had spent months putting her loneliness and longing aside and then suddenly having to look at or hear about this couple or that couple being together felt like salt being ground into her wounds. “That’s kind of you, but I’m sure your wife misses you just as much as your friend’s wife misses him.”

“I have no wife.”

“A husband, then?”

“No husband.”

“A lover? A pet?” Anything better to do than follow me around constantly. “Your mother and father must miss you at least.”

She could hear the smile in his voice. “My father is a blacksmith in the city and my mother is too busy running the shop and taking care of my younger siblings to worry much about me. The Crimson Hawks keep me busy, so I have no one to return home to.”

“Then you and I are similar in that regard; I have no one to return home to either.”

“Your husband’s imprisonment…”

“…is not something I wish to discuss.”

“I only meant to say that it must be hard on you.

After that, she wouldn’t answer him. How could she even begin to explain how hard it was for her? So she continued towards the royal wing. Loki’s room had not been opened since he fell from the Bifrost two years ago, and she quickly walked past the sealed doors, towards Thor’s chambers.

Her fist remained hovering just above the door. What would she even say to Jane? Sorry I used your equipment and your blood to find my husband before helping him try to take over Midgard? Jane wouldn’t forgive her, and Sigyn nearly turned around and walked back to her room. There was no point in putting them all through one giant awkward experience.

Don’t you want to know what happened to her? Concern was a bizarre thing; it masked itself as curiosity and in the end Sigyn gave three strong knocks on the door. Silence. Then muffled sounds coming from the other side, and before Sigyn could change her mind and run, the door opened inward.

“Sister!” Thor stood there grinning. “Are you feeling any better?”

“Sleep is still elusive, but otherwise I’ve been as well as I’ve ever been.” She hated all the little awkward pauses that had been cropping up in her conversations lately. “Is Jane still here?”

“She is. Come in,” he said as he stepped aside. “It’s alright, Theoric. I don’t think she’ll get into any trouble if she’s with me.”

Sigyn turned to look at her guard, who looked like he’d been about to follow her into the room. He was either blushing or the early morning sun had cast an unusual light across his cheeks. Either way, she let out a sigh of relief when he nodded and turned to wait in the hallway.

“I will speak to father and see if he will lessen some of your guard; there’s no reason for you to be followed as closely as you are.”

She knew better than to get her hopes up. Being followed around by guards was a gift compared to what her other possible punishments could be. “I’m used to having multiple shadows by now. How is she?”

“She is well for now, but what is afflicting her is worrisome,” he said quietly. “It is the Aether,”

“From the Dark Elves?” It was a name straight out of one of her books, archaic and impossible. “That can’t be right; the Aether was destroyed.”

“It wasn’t; only hidden. Jane found it by accident and it entered her body. It lashes out when she or it is threatened.”

“Are you sure I should be meeting her, then?” Sigyn had expected a tense reunion, not a potentially deadly one.

“She would not harm you.”

“I used her blood to find Loki after telling her it was to help find a way to you, and then left her to help him attack New York. Somehow I doubt that.”

Regardless, Thor led her into the main living room, where they waited. Jane walked through another door moments later, dressed in Asgardian dress and armor that looked both surprisingly fitting for her and odd as she had never seen a mortal dressed in Asgardian clothes before now. She was grinning at Thor and practically glowing when she came through the door, but as soon as she saw Sigyn her smile faded.

“Sigyn? What are you doing here?”

Well, it certainly wasn’t the worst greeting she’d expected. “I…was in the healing chambers when you were brought in, and I wanted to make sure you were well.”

“I meant what are you doing in Asgard? You told us you had no intention of coming back.”

Sigyn could practically feel the confusion when Thor looked to her. She had failed, in the few times they had spoken, to mention that her original plan was to find Loki and run to the farthest reaches of the Nine Realms and wait until all sins were forgotten by time. “My plans changed.”

“Did that change have something to do with New York?” There was the anger, just beneath the surface. “Is that why you were helping me in the first place, to find Loki and help him?”

“My plan had been to find Loki, yes. Helping him... Jane, by the time I found him his plan was already in motion.”

“You still lied to me. Used me.”

“Yes, I did. And for that, I ask your forgiveness.”

“My forgiveness?” Sigyn took a step back, fearful that the Aether would pick up on her anger and attack her. “What about all the people in New York who died, who lost family and friends and homes? What about Erik? He hasn’t been right since Loki invaded his mind. Are you going to ask for their forgiveness, too?”

“I would if I could; but I can’t. I cannot change what my husband did, and I’m imprisoned in Asgard. All I can do is ask forgiveness for the wrongs I have done to you.”

Jane’s lips pursed together and she looked at the ground. “I don’t know if I can give you that.”

She had expected as much; that didn’t mean it hadn’t hurt. She pulled her back up a little straighter before giving a slight bow of her head. “Understood. I hope you enjoy the rest of your time in Asgard.” Sigyn turned and quickly made for the door

She was nearly to the door when Jane called out, “Wait!” She stopped but she didn’t turn around. “You really didn’t know what Loki was planning when you were looking for him?”

“I did not.”

“Then why lie about it? Why not tell us you were looking for him?”

“Loki is not an innocent; I know this. But I loved and missed him all the same. Once I realized you could help me, I was not about to risk losing that by telling you the truth. I was willing to do anything to see him again. A sentiment I thought you might understand.” Before Jane could respond, Sigyn marched out into the hallway, past Theoric, who was still waiting by the doorway. His footsteps trailed behind hers, and there was no way for her to out run him. It was another exercise in composure, and Sigyn lifted her head a little higher.

There is no point in being upset about this. You knew it might turn out this way. Do not cry over a mortal who will be dead long before your hair starts to turn grey, she thought even as tears stung the corners of her eyes. If the Aether really was back, as Thor claimed, then there were bigger issues at play in addition to Jane’s safety, and Sigyn made her way towards the Archives.

---

Jane stood with Thor in the awkward silence that followed Sigyn’s absence. “I…may have been a little hard on her.” Sigyn’s parting comment had struck her deeper than she thought. She remembered the two of them working in her lab in New Mexico, both of them desperate to find the person they cared about. It was a strange bond that Jane didn’t know quite what to make of yet given the aftermath of New York.

“Your anger is justified.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and Jane couldn’t help but grin as she pressed against his side. “But Sigyn does have a good heart, even if it belongs to my brother.”

“I’d like to talk to her again, I think. You know, before I go back home.”
Thor gave her that grin that made her stomach do little flips. “And so you shall. But first, a tour of my home.”

---

Loki positioned his chair so that it faced his bed, and stared in silence at the figure that lay upon it.

“I have never known your silver tongue to be quiet,” she said, sitting up fully and drawing her legs to her chest.  

“Lack of decent company has left me without anything interesting to talk about.”

It wasn’t the soft, flowing silks and metal armor of Asgard she wore, but thicker wool accented with leather and fur. Thin leather and metal bracelets dangled from her wrist, and each of her rings, though made from metal, resembled a rune made from sticks.

…Winter had come early to Vanaheim, otherwise his father would have postponed this diplomatic trip. Snow dusted over the ground, and the wind was chilled, though not freezing. It didn’t bother him but Thor had grumbled about it a little before they met with the various dignitaries.

Sigyn had been there, of course. She remained to the edge of the crowd, closer to the trees than the throng of people. Dressed in the traditional clothes of the Vanir, he had nearly missed her. Here, without the trappings of Asgard, she looked half wild and even more beautiful. And later, in one of the castle’s abandoned rooms, she had allowed him to claim that beauty and bind himself to her…


“This was a mistake.” He never handled longing very well, and conjuring this image of Sigyn on his bed only stirred a longing in him that turned bitter. “I should release you, let you find someone else and be done with it.” he spat.

She rolled her eyes. “You know I’m not going to leave.”

Stubborn, just like her father, Iwaldi. It seemed he had gotten that right. “You would be a fool not to.”

“Yes, yes your ‘foolish girl’. I know.” She leapt up from the bed and marched over to where he sat, placing her hands on the arm rests and leaning forward so that her face was just inches from his, lips curved into a wicked smirk. “Besides, we both know you are not that selfless. You will never let me go.”

Something dark and possessive roiled inside of him at the thought of another man being with her. She was his; he loved her regardless of if he deserved her or not.

“Never,” he breathed, reaching up to touch her cheek. She glimmered around the edges, fading into a golden light under his fingertips before disappearing.

“She misses you, too,” a familiar voice said from behind him. His mothe—Frigga was standing in the middle of his cell, hands clasped neatly in front of her.

“Is she well?” Suspicions crept up on him; had something happened to her?

“She still has trouble sleeping, but otherwise yes she is.” Frigga stepped closer and stood next to his chair. “I would have brought her with me again but she is too heavily guarded.”

“It’s for the best, I’m sure.” Seeing her twice in one day in addition to his mother would be more painful than he felt like dealing with. “To what do I owe this visit?” he asked, rising from his chair.

“I wanted to see you.”

“Curiosity? I do believe there’s a saying about that being detrimental to cats.”

“Motherly concern.”

He let out a heavy sigh and avoided her gaze. She had a way of poking around the weak spots in his armor and stirring up warmth and nostalgia in him unbefitting a frost giant and would-be conqueror. Still, he was glad to see her, even if he wouldn’t admit it. “I’ve been bored, but fine.”

The main doors leading out of the dungeon opened with a thud that sparked a momentary panic, and the sound of voices soon followed. Had the All-Father found out his wife was here against his expressed command. Even if she wasn’t ‘here’ per se, he didn’t want her to leave just yet and face her husband’s wrath. What followed were only more prisoners from his brother’s battles across the Nine Realms. According to the last message Sigyn had managed to send him, they appeared to be from Vanaheim. His panic ebbed as he watched them pass, a mischievous forming on his lips.
I pretty much listened to Lana del Rey's "once upon a dream" on repeat while I wrote this, especially towards the end
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