AN: Wow, two stories updated within an hour - this is so unlike me! =D
So sorry for the extremely long wait for a new chapter.. lots of things has been going on IRL (I won't bore you with it; if you're interested it's in the author's note on my "Daedalus" story)

Also, a bit of shameless self-promotion coming up; I edit videos and upload them on YouTube (in case I haven't mentioned?!) Well, I began this huge project last year, which is a Loki/Sigyn video. It has no relation as such to this fanfic, however I thought if you'd like to see it I'd leave a link: /watch?v=qPOMTmq8W0M (just insert that after youtube•com)

Anyway this chapter is actually the two different scenes that I thought went well together, hence I converted them into one long scene in stead.

~ Chapter Eight ~

A Game of Thrones

*a few days later...*

Loki was sitting at the edge of the Training Grounds behind the Palace. Thor had been nagging him to come along and eventually Loki had complied, just to shut his brother up. He didn't understand why Thor wanted him to join them.. to gloat, perhaps? After all his brother's vain and arrogant nature was no well kept secret within the Palace walls.

Putting the thought of Thor's motives aside, Loki's attention shifted back to the book he had brought with him, however after a few minutes of reading he found his thoughts wandering once more. Why had he offered to tutor Sigyn? He didn't know. He hadn't even thought it over before the words had escaped his lips and it was too late to take them back. He had noticed instantly that she was hesitant to accept the offer and now, days later, she still had not approached him to give him an answer. Would this turn into an awkward situation between the two of them? He hoped not. After having cursed himself for suggesting his tutoring of her, Loki had come to realise that it may actually be a good way for them to bond; after all magic had been what essentially brought the two of them together all those years ago, perhaps it could do so again.

Why haven't I seen her in days? Loki thought to himself. Was she angry at him for having spoiled the trip? He remembered clearly how Sigyn, like himself, despised the sparring that had apparently been the only activity the others were interested in doing, and on the second evening, when they had picked up where they left off the night before, Loki had simply had enough. As they had prepared to leave their camping sight, Loki swore he had noticed a look of relief on Sigyn's face; was that something he had imagined? Why else would she have been avoiding him for days? Maybe she has just been busy studying, he tried to rationalize, though the doubt still seemed to dominate his mind.

Loki's train of thought came to a halt when he heard a soft familiar giggle approaching. He looked up to see Sigyn and Sif walking arms linked towards the Grounds, laughing. Instantly he noticed that like himself, Sigyn had brought a book with her; he couldn't help but smirk at that.

As the women fast approached the place he was seated, he chose to look in his book, pretending not to have seen the females coming, though he wasn't actually sure why he did this.

"Prince Loki, how good to see you," came Sigyn's voice.

Loki looked up to see the Princess standing right in front of him; she both looked and sounded happy, so obviously she was not cross with him, as he had been considering a few moments ago. He noticed Sif had gone straight to the other warriors, not bothering to greet him; clearly she was still upset. Not that he cared – not really.

"And you, Little Princess," he said back. "How have you been?"

"Very well, thank you." She answered before sitting down beside him. "Though I have been very busy since we came back from the trip. It would seem Lady Snotra has vowed to herself that I shall not have a moment of peace."

Loki chuckled. "That does sound rather like her," he said while mentally crossing the reason he hadn't seen her for the last few days off his list. Now he just needed to find out if she had thought about his offer of tutoring her. "Has Lady Snotra started teaching you how to control your gifts?"

Sigyn shook her head and sighed, "no.. at the moment she's teaching me how to make potions for smaller injuries."

"Then perhaps you have come to a decision regarding the offer I made you the other day?" He asked.

"I have, actually." Sigyn said, looking up at him with an unreadable expression on her face, before she suddenly gave a big smile, "I would very much appreciate your help.. if it's not too much trouble for you, of course."

"Not at all. If it was, I would not have offered to tutor you to begin with." He said, trying to hide the relief in his voice.

Sigyn blushed slightly and shifted her gaze to the book in her lap. Loki was looking at her curiously but she didn't seem to notice. They sat in silence for a few moments.

"You know, for a while, I had begun to fear that you might be angry with me." Loki said conspicuously.

Sigyn looked up at him, a frown of confusion on her face, "why would you think that?" She asked.

"I hadn't seen you for a few days. Since our trip was cut short, to be more precise." Loki explained, "I thought you may have gotten angry with me because of it."

She chuckled for a bit, "no, no.. to be honest, I was glad you decided to spoil the trip," she confessed, "I don't think I could have coped with another day of sparring."

"My exact sentiment." Loki said offering a slight smile. "Yet I wonder, if you aren't fond of watching sparring matches, what are you doing here now?"

Once again, Sigyn glanced down at her book, and Loki revelled in the way he could cause the burning in her cheeks with such a simple question.

"The truth?" Sigyn asked and Loki nodded. "I was hoping you would be here."

Loki's grin faded, not because he wasn't pleased with her answer but because he was surprised by it. He could feel his heartbeat raising and his mouth went slightly dry.

Sigyn glanced up at him and smiled, "don't look so shocked," she told him, "I do actually miss your company when I don't see you for days."

"Likewise," Loki said with a gentle smile gracing his lips.

A loud grunt of discomfort interrupted the idyllic moment and both Sigyn and Loki looked up at the sparring that was currently going on. Volstagg was lying on the ground and Thor had apparently thought it humorous to place his hammer on top of the warrior's stomach. The two spectators watched for a bit in silence.

"May I ask you something?" Sigyn asked; her face suddenly held what Loki would describe as a look of worry.

"Of course you may." He answer almost instantly, "anything."

When no words fell from her lips and a blush seemed to appear on her cheeks along with an even stronger look of worry and slight panic, Loki felt the need to say something, anything. "Is something wrong?" He asked, not knowing what else to say.

"Yes.. well, no.. yes.." she let out before taking a deep breath to calm herself before continuing, "it has to do with your family."

"Oh.." the sound escaped Loki's mouth before he himself realised it. He wasn't sure where she was going with this. When she didn't say anything else, he did, "well, go on — what is it?" he asked and as an after-thought he added, "I promise you, I will not judge you on whatever you have to say."

She nodded and gave him a grateful smile before taking another deep breath and finally she said, "I think your father is trying to.. ehm.. well, I think he's hoping that Thor and I will start courting." The blush in her cheeks had increased and she looked very uncomfortable, forcing her eyes to look anywhere but at Loki.

"I.. ehm.." Loki didn't know what to say, hesitantly he asked, "is it something you would want to happen?"

"Valhalla, no!" Sigyn said almost too quickly. "Don't get me wrong, your brother is very nice, but I.. I just cannot see myself with a warrior. And I don't think I could ever think of Thor as more than a friend."

"I see.." Loki said, relieved by her words, "forgive me, but.. I don't think I entirely understand –" he was cut off by Sigyn:

"– where I got this idea from?" she assumed was the way he was going to end his sentence, and it would seem she had been right, because the Prince merely nodded. "I'm sure you remember how Thor escorted me to the feast that your father held to celebrate my arrival?" Again Loki nodded, "well, Thor escorted me per your father's request and now he's requested that Thor escort me to the next feast as well."

Loki's gaze shifted to his sparring brother, as he thought it over. It could just be that his father wanted to make sure Sigyn had an escort – in regards to how it would look for the foreign Princess to attend alone, but somehow he just knew that what Sigyn was suspecting was the truth. The Allfather was probably hoping that Thor and Sigyn would end up getting married, there by creating the strongest bond possible between Asgard and Vanaheim, which would be a warning for any hostile Realms to stay away from either kingdom.

He wondered briefly if his mother knew about the Allfather's plan – she couldn't possibly, he told himself, after all she was the one who encouraged him to regain his friendship with Sigyn; she would not have done so if she knew that it was the Allfather's plan to throw her into Thor's arms.

"Prince Loki?" Sigyn's voice broke his train of thought.

"Yes, Little Princess?" He said as he shifted his gaze to her face once more.

"What do you think?" She asked, her face filled with worry.

"I believe you are.. not mistaken." Loki answered, his eyes never meeting hers.

"How do I get out of this situation?" She asked, while tears of frustration started to fill her eyes.

AN: Hope you liked it. I'll do my utmost to update asap. =)

Until the next one. x