Lokasenna

Sigyn quickly scrambled to her feet while the windows melted away before her eyes. The guard approached her, clapped her wrists in iron chains and started escorting her to the exit without another word. She trembled a little while she followed him. It had completely slipped from her mind that she would still have to face Odin. With a shock of terror, she realised that she was now a traitor as well. She knew what the punishment for treason usually was: banishment, or death. They had made an exception for Loki, because Frigga had begged Odin to spare him, but Sig did not have such fortunate connections. Frigga was dead, Loki was gone, and those she had once worked with either despised her, or were not in a position to save her. It suddenly became very hard to breathe. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath, but the guard pulled her chains and urged her forward. When they came to the hallway that led to the throne room Sig's heart was beating so fast that she could hardly stand it any longer. She inhaled deeply, mentally preparing herself to go in and face Odin with all the dignity she still possessed, unwashed and weak and frightened as she was.

However, the guard did not turn in to the throne room, instead he passed by it and took her to Odin's chambers. A little confused, Sig's heart lightened a little. Maybe she would not be put to trial after all, or at least not yet. If she was to be sentenced it would certainly take place in the throne room, with an audience, as the Allfather liked to make an example out of any wrong-doers. They entered the chamber and Sigyn looked around. She remembered coming here on a few occasions. One wall of the front room was occupied by a beautifully crafted oak bookcase, the rest was hung with paintings and tapestries. There was a writing desk -much like the one in Frigga's room- that stood near a handsome fireplace. She knew this chamber led off into two other rooms: hidden behind a large tapestry of Yggdrasil next to the fireplace, was a door to an additional bedroom, which also had a bathroom, and on the other side of the room was a door that led to a magnificent library. Sig could just glimpse the library through a crack in the door, while the guard walked her up to the middle of the room.

Odin stood by the fireplace, gazing into the flames as if deep in thought. When he heard them enter, he turned his eyes on Sig and the guard. He gave a curt nod, after which the guard undid the chains on Sig's wrists and took a few steps back. Sig was still rather nervous as she did not yet know what lay in store for her. She wrung her hands and stared sheepishly at Odin, who had turned around, but did not move away from the fire.

'Come closer.' he ordered, his voice calm. Sig took a few steps towards him. He pointed at a spot in front of him, indicating that she had to come even closer. When she had crossed the room she stopped a few feet away from him, her eyes lowered to the floor, her hands clasped tight together.
'It appears that Loki escaped after all,' Odin began, gazing at Sig intently, 'did you help him?'
Sig shook her head nervously, not taking her eyes off the floor.
'Did you see anything on the day he disappeared?'
It sounded almost as if he knew that she had indeed witnessed how Loki had been set free from his cell. But she was not going to confirm anything, that would only make it easier for him. And he was the last person she wanted to help. "Well?" Odin prompted.
She shook her head again. He narrowed his eyes and glared at her for a moment. He started pacing around her in a circle, silently scrutinising her all the while.
'You and Loki seemed very… close. How long did you look after him?'
'E-ever since he was imprisoned, Your Highness.' she muttered, still avoiding his gaze.
'I see… And you seemed to harbour some.. tender feelings for this traitor, didn't you?' his tone was mocking, almost cruel. Sig shot a defiant look at him. 'I do, Your Highness.' she said coldly, making sure to put as much loathing in those last two words as possible. Odin smiled wryly, he resumed walking.
'It should grieve you then to hear that Loki is dead.'

Those words did not immediately register when he uttered them. Sigyn looked up at him, her mouth open in disbelief and horror. 'D-dead?' she could feel her throat contract, tears started burning in her eyes, the very floor seemed to sink away under her feet. 'No…' she swayed a little on the spot, her knees suddenly weak. She grabbed hold of the mantelpiece to keep herself from falling down. Odin watched her reaction with a strange, almost approving, look in his eyes. Sigyn did not see this however, but she did hear him when he continued: 'At least in his dying act he proved himself to be more than just a terrible disappointment. He saved Thor's life, you see, and so helped to destroy those who threatened our existence.' Sig stared at the floor, her sight blurred by the tears in her eyes. She turned her back to Odin, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

'It was clear that those Dark Elves who killed Frigga were still after the Aether. And while the Midgardian girl was still infected with it, they would surely come to Asgard to claim it. Thor feared for the realm, and he felt that transporting the girl out of Asgard was the only way of keeping our kingdom safe. As all the ways in and out of our realm are guarded he needed to find another way of moving the girl without detection. Loki's knowledge of the realm has so far been unparalleled, which is why Thor helped him escape from his cell; he needed him to lead the way to Svartalfheim. When they came there they encountered the Dark Elves and they managed to extract the Aether from the girl. As soon as this was accomplished the Dark Elves attacked, and Loki was slain during the fray. Thor and the girl, however, survived.'

Sigyn buried her face in her hands, her back still turned to Odin. It was almost as if she could see exactly what had transpired in Alfheim in her mind's eye: how the two brothers fought alongside, how Loki was suddenly overpowered by some faceless Dark Elf, how he had drawn his last breath… It was too much. Tears had been rolling down her cheeks before, but now she began to cry in earnest; her body heaving with sobs, while soft moans escaped from between the fingers she still held pressed against her face. 'Leave us,' she heard Odin instruct the guard, who still stood by the door. She could hear him exit the room, closing the door behind him when he left. The terrible realisation that everyone she had ever loved was gone suddenly hit her, as if she had been doused with ice cold water. She was on her own now, with no one left to care for her. Her heart felt like it had been crushed into a thousand crumbling fragments of lead at the thought of Loki. Images of him seemed to swim before her eyes again. It was unfair, unjust, that he should have died. There was so much potential in him, so many things he could have done. And even though he had redeemed himself in his dying act, Odin still seemed indifferent about him. Odin, who had always denied Loki that what he desired most. Odin himself created that rage in his adopted son which caused him to commit all those acts that afterwards made him even less loved than he already was. Tears now gave way to anger, and Sigyn clenched her fists into a ball. She stared into the fire, the flames dancing in her eyes. She could hear Odin walk across the room, where he closed the door to the library and then walked back to the fireplace. While she listened to the approaching footsteps an idea started to take form in her mind. At first she was only fantasising, but when she became fully aware of what she was imagining, she gave a little start. The image she had seen in her mind was both so wonderful and so horrific at the same time, that the fact that she could think of such a thing frightened her. While she had been looking at the fire, she had imagined the entire room going up in flames; Odin trapped in the centre, burning for his disdain, his callousness, his hypocrisy. But it was insane, even if she managed to do it.
'As I have just told you: the fate of one of the traitors in my realm has been concluded,' she heard Odin say behind her, 'and now it is time to decide what will become of the other one.'
While he spoke Sig's anger sparked up again like a roaring fire. He still talked about Loki with contempt and derision, he still called him a traitor. And now he was rejoicing at her sadness, relishing the power he possessed over her. She wasn't going to let him get away with any of it, she thought, while she clenched her fists a little harder. She was going to do it. She was going to set the whole room ablaze: the Allfather was going to burn, even if it meant that she would be taken by the flames too.