Tournament of Thieves

3

"Munin will be watching you," Thor informed Loki on the walk to Thor's hall. "Although you will not be aware of his presence. And I will be there within moments if you do anything suspicious." After a second's thought, he added, "And remember, Sigyn will be held against your return with the necklace."

Loki spun on Thor. "She'll be held as a hostage?" he demanded, anger filling his eyes.

Thor held up his hands. "She will be treated as a guest in Asgard until your return. But she will not be allowed to leave until that said return. We all know you care little for her, but it is one of the guarantees put in place for your return."

Loki fell back like Thor had punched him in the face. Okay, it wasn't that dramatic – Thor's punches really left you stumbling, not to speak of the mark they left, but he was stunned that the Aesir thought he cared nothing for Sigyn. Had he not married her? Did he not love her?

Thor was regarding Loki askance as the trickster god shook his head to clear his mind. "Any other surprises I should know about?" he asked sullenly.

Thor gave that a moment's thought before answering slowly. "You know that I will find you in a second if you turn renegade, and we will inflict a worse punishment on you this time. There will be no longer any chance of redemption should you throw this one away."

"What could be worse than being chained to a stone slab, bound until Ragnarok with the entrails of your own son, with serpent poison dripping in your face?" Loki grumbled as the two resumed walking.

"This time, how about we bind you with Sigyn's entrails?" Thor suggested gruffly.

Loki felt the blood drain from his face but kept his composure this time. "Hmm. Yes, that would change it up a little," he said half-heartedly.

"You will be punished harshly," Thor added. "And I promise you, it will be worse than the last time."

As the Aesir reached Thor's hall, the god of thunder was stopped by Tyr, who eyed Loki skeptically but began to speak in a hushed voice to his half-brother. Loki stood there for a moment, then decided to go ahead and enter the hall, Bilskirnir.

Softly opening the heavy door, the trickster slipped inside and let the door fall closed behind him. He heard murmured voices from up ahead, and walked silently forward.

Sif and Sigyn were sitting by the hearth, talking. Or rather, Sif was talking and Sigyn was listening quietly, not seeming to be paying much attention, staring blankly and languidly at the hearth.

As Loki crept closer, he overheard Sif telling Sigyn about how he was no good. "If I told you once, I told you a thousand times. Loki's nothing but trouble. Why didn't you ever listen?"

Sigyn just kind of shook her head and looked into the fire. Sif continued, "I mean, you dedicate your life to this guy, and then he gets exiled. You go with him, and all you get for that is the death of your two sons. But you still go with him when he's chained, and...."

But Loki was no longer listening to Sif, and he could tell by the stiffening of Sigyn's body that neither was she. "Vali's dead, too?" she asked brokenly.

Sif looked at her blankly before nodding. "Yes, Sigyn. Odin had him killed. You didn't know, sweetie?"

Sigyn's face crumpled and she bent over, covering her face with her hands. Loki, who had frozen at the news of their eldest son's death, felt something inside him break at the sight of his wife in tears, her shoulders shaking from the violence of her sobs.

The door slammed shut behind Loki, and he jumped. Thor strode past him and Sif, who had been regarding Sigyn with something akin to sympathy mixed with a bit of revulsion, rose to her feet. "Welcome home, Thor!"