I don't know how my memory works sometimes. I'll occasionally notice something small or out of place, and that insignificant detail is somehow lodged in my mind for all of eternity. As for that day, I don't really remember what I was doing, or where I was, or if I'd eaten that morning. The one thing I do remember about that particular morning was the sunrise.

The sun was just beginning to peep over the distant mountains. The horizon was painted a beautiful orange color, with the majority of the sky still a pale blue. A few trees dotted the landscape, their shadows resembling marching soldiers on the battlefield. Like I said before, I don't exactly know why these small details stuck with me. It seems as if I noticed the peculiar way the pine needles stuck to the tree limbs more than the sound of Odin sweeping into my room. I only stirred from my place at the window when his harsh, thundering voice sounded.

"Sigyn, my sweet," he nearly shouted. I startled slightly, my gaze dropping from the enchanting scene below. Turning from the balcony and putting on my best smile, I spread my arms wide in greeting.

"Allfather, how nice it is to see you." He took both of my hands in his, raising them to his lips and kissing the knuckles. The thick white tendrils of his beard brushed against my fingers, urging me to pull away, but I didn't; one simply wasn't rude to the Allfather. "What brings you here so early in the morning?" I asked after he'd raised his head. "You don't typically venture into this wing of the palace at this time of day."

Ever since Loki's death, Odin had made it a point to come and visit me often, if nothing more than to make sure that I'd been eating Idun's golden apples. At first, I'd been grateful for his company. However, the more he apologized for Loki's death, the more I came to resent him. It was hard even now just to hold up an appearance of acceptance.

If Odin sensed my hostility, he did not let it show. Instead he perched on the edge of my bed, motioning me to come closer. I took my place next to him, keeping in mind to stay far enough away that he could not easily reach me. If there were two things I did not like very much on a good day, they were Odin and unexpected surprises. And this morning, I'd been graced with both. I smoothed my skirts out over my legs, noticing the way that the blue material appeared green in the morning light. Just like my trickster's eyes…

"I do apologize for dropping in on you so suddenly," he said, his eyes dropping to study the floor. My gaze joined his as I suddenly became enthralled with the grains of the wood slats. The veins of the wooden boards underneath my feet seemed to twist and morph around bumps and small dents in the surface, never running a straight and true course. I guess it reminded me a bit of how life tends to happen: always bending in awkward and unpredictable ways, but managing to keep moving forward, no matter how much you may want it to stop. The colors of the wood dazzled me more than the pattern, with the deep browns and hazels, coming together and shining into small sparks of fantastic greens and tans. Small black dots adorned the floor from imperfections in the tree from which they were wrought. But somehow, though those ebony spots were randomly placed and seemingly disrupting, the imperfections somehow made the whole of the wood perfect, as if stating that something becomes more beautiful through mistakes. I knew one such man, once…though now he's been long d—

"—still alive," Odin finished. I startled, not realizing that I'd been absent for most of the conversation. I'd been doing that far too often lately. I shook my head, trying to clear my mind. Odin still stared at the floor, though now his features were grave and expectant, as if anticipating to be punished. I had no idea why he would ever look such a way; after all, no man, Frost Giant, or god dared to cross Odin, even on a good day. I shifted a little, embarrassed more by the fact that he felt the need to be so reserved than the fact that I hadn't been listening.

"I do apologize Odin, but I failed to hear you." I chuckled lightly, trying to ease the mood. "Would you mind saying that again?"

His eye patch glistened in the morning light as he turned to face me, his eyes sunken and sorrowful. "I'm so sorry for keeping this from you for so long. I think of you as my daughter, and would never want to hurt you." He took my hands in his again, gripping my fingers tightly. "But I could not tell you before now, for it would have broken your heart."

I pulled back slightly, now a bit scared. In the past, Odin had been pompous, understanding, unforgiving at times, and always fatherly. But never in my life had I known him to be sorry. "What are you talking about?" I asked, my heart pounding now.

He swallowed heavily, as if trying to determine how best to tell me the news. In the end, he merely sighed, looked at me levelly, and spoke the words that have changed my view of him, even to this day.

"Your husband is still alive. Loki lives."

My hands dropped from his. My face went pale and my jaw slacked. My heart seemed to stop, as if turned to stone. Those words that Odin had just spoken were the very ones I'd been dying to hear for years, and yet dreading the most. If it had been anyone else, I would have doubted them; it would have been more believable to think that they were trying to cheer me up with false hope and lies. However, though the Allfather was known to be ruthless, cunning, and threatening, he was never known to be a liar. His words were always as straight and true as arrows. And that's what scared me the most.

But why would he have kept that information from me? What could have possibly possessed him to have kept me in the dark about my husband? Didn't he know that I'd cried myself to sleep every night since he'd fallen from Bifrost? Was he not aware that Loki was the only thing I'd thought of when the sun rose and dreamt of when it fell? What reason could he possibly have to keep such fragile and important information from me?

Instead of releasing all of these thoughts at once, only a single word managed to squeeze itself from my frozen lips: "Why?" my voice was broken and small, but Odin still managed to hear.

He dropped his gaze again, refusing to look me in the eye. "When he fell from Bifrost, Thor and I truly thought him to be gone. However, he reappeared a short while ago, having allied himself with the rebel forces from across the stars. He tried to take control of Midgard."

I cut him off. "Why didn't you tell me?"

The Allfather flinched slightly, hiding half of his face with his white hair. "We thought it best to protect you from the truth."

"We? Who was 'we'?" My cheeks grew hot as I balled my fists into my skirts. I am typically a calm person, never angry, never upset. In fact, Loki had rarely ever seen me become frustrated, and he had known me for millennia. However, I could not contain myself. People I knew, people I trusted, people I loved had conspired against me to keep me from my husband. I was not to be sated nor calmed.

Odin lowered his gaze further, refusing to speak. I could see the regret in his eyes, but I refused to pay any heed to it; I was simply too furious. I stood slowly, coming to stand directly in front of Odin. I then did one thing I had never done before and will most likely never do again: I glared at the Allfather.

"Tell me." I did not yell. I did not raise my voice. i did not strike out. Instead, my voice came out in a feral growl. I stared levelly at Odin, not calming in the slightest.

However, Odin seemed a bit shocked at my display, and rose to watch my stare. "How dare you speak to me in that way," he thundered. The regret and pain that had been in his eye a moment ago was gone, replaced by a rage to match my own. Odin was definitely not one to be challenged.

However, I was in no mood to be cordial. "How dare you try and hide my husband from me." Rage burned in my eyes to match his own. I tried to quell my temper, but something in my mind would not let that happen. Instead, I turned on my heel, stalking out of my bedroom door and into the hall.

"Where are you going?" Odin demanded, his voice following me into the hall.

"To find the one person I actually want to see right now." And with that, I sped off, leaving a very perplexed and confused Allfather behind me, still searching for the right words.

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*Sigyn is Loki's wife in Norse mythology.

*Allfather is another name used to refer to Odin. I thought it might be appropriate, seeing as Sigyn isn't really on the best of terms with him.

*Idun's golden apples are the fruit that allows the gods to maintain their youth. They give the gods their immortality. There was actually a brief stint where they all grew old because Idun had been kidnapped…thanks to Loki… Yeah, a lot of things like that happened in Norse mythology.