So it's been a while. My bad. Better late than never? Anyway here's another chapter, set in the past again. I hope it was worth it (probably not).

…

She was sitting in the garden when she felt it. The tiniest spark of magic. She dismissed it at first; she told herself that is was just nothing, just one of the few guards with a flicker of magic doing their rounds. It was a lie. She knew who it was. As the spark grew stronger she tried to ignore it, forced her eyes to read the words on the pages in front of her. Ignore the spark, ignore the sound of footsteps that was now accompanying it, ignore that warm, familiar smell and the shadow that loomed over her…

"My lady"

"Go away, Loki" she hunched over her book, trying her best to hide herself from him.

"My Lady, please…" He begged. It was strange, his tone sounded softer than it usually was. "Sigyn…"

"I said go away" she snapped, slamming her book shut and looking up at him. The moment their eyes met Sigyn felt her anger melt. There was something about the way he was looking at her. Loki was always particular about the emotions he conveyed to other people. He never let them see anything he didn't want them to. Even when he was showing vulnerability, it was just so he could use it to his advantage. But this was different. On his face was a strange mixture of adulation and nervousness, something Sigyn had never really seen on anyone, let alone Loki.

"May I sit down?" he asked carefully.

All she could do was nod as he sat down next to her on the stone bench. For a while neither of them spoke, they didn't even look at each other. Sigyn stared down at the leather cover of her book, while Loki seemed intently focused on the garden in front of them.

"The flowers look lovely" he said eventually, keeping his gaze fixed on them. "…I take it you did them?"

Sigyn said nothing. She just kept looking down at the cover of her book, as if it were the most interesting thing in the world to her.

"Of course you did" he continued on after realising she wasn't going to reply. "No servant's hand could get the roses to bloom such a beautiful red."

"You don't give your servants enough credit." she said quietly. "or you give me too much."

"Impossible." he remarked dismissively. "I could hold you solely responsible for every spark of beauty I see in the realm and I still wouldn't be giving you enough credit."

She finally looked up at him, her scepticism etched in her face. "You have a knack for exaggeration."

"Did you do the flowers?" he asked. She nodded slowly. "Then I am not exaggerating."

"What do you want Loki?" she asked abruptly "Why are you here?"

He was silent for a moment; carefully trying to figure out what he was going to say "…I wanted to talk to you."

Sigyn sighed "About what?"

"About…" he struggled to find a way to say it "...you"

"About me?"

"About us" he corrected himself.

She suddenly felt overwhelmed with embarrassment. "Loki, there is no us. I know that, you don't have to keep telling me."

"But that's just the thing… I..." Loki paused, picking his words carefully "Sigyn, I care for you, I always have, but I've been lying to you, and to myself, about exactly how I care about you."

"Oh really?" she raised an eyebrow sceptically.

"Sigyn, you are an attractive woman." He stated matter-of-factly as he rose from his seat.

"…thank you?"

"Oh, it's not a compliment; I'm just stating a fact. You are an attractive woman. You are also intelligent, well mannered, elegant, talented, and… the kindest most genuine person I have ever met." He took a deep breath and composed himself "… and despite all my efforts not to, I have come to love you for that."

With those few words Sigyn's world began spinning. Did he really just say what she thought he said? Did he mean it the way she thought he did? Did he love her the way she loved him, or was he just playing games with her like he always did? She couldn't take that risk; she couldn't let herself fall for his words, no matter how attractive they sounded.

"I admire you, Sigyn." He went on. "You are kind and honest and sincere… everything I am not. I tried to ignore it, but as it turns out I cannot. I cannot keep pretending what I feel for you is nothing more than a deep sense of friendship. It's love; it must be. And it's confusing and irritating and inconvenient, but I can't help it. So I've decided the best thing to do is to stop ignoring it and start acting on it."

"How so?" the question was filled with insincerity and bitterness, but Loki didn't notice. He was busy trying to finish the speech he had spent hours rehearsing.

"You may not be the kind of woman my kingdom would expect to take as a bride, but you are not so low ranking that it would be considered a disgrace for us to wed." It was obvious he was trying to convince himself more than Sigyn. "You are of noble birth. Your father is a king. If we ignore your parent's discretion then this could even be considered a suitable match. It would be an excellent way to bring our kingdoms together in peace. And then there's my… feelings for you. With all this taken into account the pairing seems… rational. So… therefore… I would like to formally, and officially, ask for your hand."

There was dead silence as the question hung in the air awkwardly. Loki stared at Sigyn expectantly, reeling inside as he waited patiently for an answer.

"You really are something, you know that?" she whispered bitterly.

Loki frowned, caught off-guard by Sigyn saying something other than yes. "I don't understand"

"Of course you don't, how could you?" She gave a sad, hollow laugh. "You think the time just stops for you? That the world will just wait until you've made up your mind? Life goes one without you, Loki. My life goes on without you. Whether I want it to or not. I gave you a chance with me and you threw it away, acted like you didn't even want it. Now that chance is gone and you make up your mind? No, that's not how it works. You can't treat people like that. You can't get everything you want just because you ask for it."

"Sigyn, what are you talking about?" He asked. "I love you."

"Now?! Now you love me?!" she yelled, jumping up from her seat. "You couldn't have loved me last year, or last week, or yesterday? Now you love me?"

Loki was baffled by the turn of events. This was not how he expected this to go. "Don't you love me?"

"Of course I love you." She said softly. "But I refuse to spend the rest of my life waiting for you to make up your mind."

"I don't understand" he repeated "I want you. I love you. I've made up my mind."

"And you can change your mind just as easily." She told him bitterly "I know you, Loki; you change your mind more often than the tide turns."

"But I know what I want."

"No you don't."

"Sigyn…"

"I am sorry Loki, I cannot marry you." She sat back down on the bench, exhausted from her own emotions. He sat down next to her, taking her hand in his in a desperate attempt to get her to make eye contact with him.

"Why not?"

She hesitated. "Because… I am engaged to someone else."

Loki felt himself go cold. He let go of her hand slowly and turned away. "…Theoric"

"He asked me last night." she swallowed. "He's a good man. He cares for me. I could have a home with him. It would be a… pleasant life."

"…I love you, I can provide for you. He can give you a home? I can give you a palace. You would want for nothing. Whatever you desire, I'll give it to you. Just… be mine."

"I don't want anything, Loki. I don't need to be provided for. You could shower me with all the jewels in the nine realms and it still wouldn't matter. Theoric will be there for me. I can trust him."

"You can't trust me?"

She looked at him, a sad smile playing on her lips. "I think you already know the answer to that."

Loki sat there staring at her, searching desperately for something to say, something that would convince her to accept him. But there was nothing. He had said everything he had to say, he knew there was nothing else he could do to convince her he was genuine. He could feel himself getting frustrated at the situation. "Sigyn, I want you. I love you. I am going to have you."

Sigyn looked over at Loki, eyes wet with the tears she had been holding back. She went to say something, but stopped herself. She let out a sigh and picked up her book. "Goodbye Loki."

She rose to her feet and walked way. She did not look back, she did not let herself. She just continued down the path steadily, through the garden and into the courtyard. It wasn't until she was off the palace grounds entirely that she let herself stop. Sigyn felt the tears she had been fighting finally roll down her cheeks as everything sunk in. She wanted to run back to the garden and beg Loki to forget everything she had said and take her back. She couldn't believe herself, even with everything that had happened she still wanted him. He had been blunt and blatant and hurtful - while proposing, nonetheless - and she still wanted him. Loki was the wrong choice, she knew it, but for once in her life she wanted to make the wrong choice. She wanted, for once, to not be responsible. But she couldn't. She had made a promise to Theoric, and Sigyn was always true to her word.

…

I'm pretty sure that wasn't worth the wait but oh well. I don't know why Loki's being such a jerk while he's proposing, I just kind of thought he would be. Hopefully the next chapter won't take a year to upload, but no promises.

Xx