The Asgardians all look on in a mixture of fear and bewilderment. On any other day, the idea that Loki, Sigyn, and a couple of humans could ever be a match for Odin would have been ridiculous, but today everything seems turned upside down. Loki is free, but it isn’t Ragnarök. Fenrir is loose, but he went after Thor, not Odin. Even Hel is walking among them, and yet Jormungandr is nowhere to be seen. Nothing is as it should be, and there seems to be nothing they can do about it.

As they watch, eagle Loki slowly lowers Odin to the hill, placing him in front of Sigyn, and then turning back to human form. Odin stands up at once, as if ready to thrust his sword straight through her - but his sword still lies on the field with all the other weapons. Only Mjolnir lies close at hand, and Sigyn already stopped that once.

“What do you want?” Odin hisses.

“Same as you, I suppose. My family safe.” Odin snarls.

“And this is what you call your family? Loki’s band of misfits?” Sigyn’s jaw clenches.

“You took my family,” she says through gritted teeth. “You took my sons from me, for no other reason than Loki being their father. You harass and you rule as if no one but you matter, as if we are merely pawns for you to play with. You all mock me for my loyalty to Loki, and maybe you are right, maybe he doesn’t deserve it, maybe I can’t trust him, but I should rather be this than be like you. You have no loyalty to anyone, you kill on a whim and serve no one but yourself. You cared nothing for Hod’s death, but wept like a baby for Baldur. What was Hod’s crime, other than being like you? You shot at Baldur yourself, and you’ve been fooled by Loki yourself. Hod committed no crime but mistakenly believing that Frigg, that your wife, had actually done what she said she had, that she had gained a promise from every living thing that none of them would harm Baldur.

“I am sick and tired of your rule, Odin Borson. It is time for a change. Right now, the only thing standing between you and the end of times is me. Fenrir refrains from killing you only as long as I ask him to, and there is nothing you can do to change that, there is no way you can escape Ragnarök. But you can prolong your life, the lives of the people you claim to love. If you admit your own guilt, if you admit that you killed my sons out of petty vengeance to Loki, and that you were wrong in doing so, if you admit this in front of everyone, then we shall leave, and you may continue to draw breath another day.” Odin grits his teeth. She is asking him to humiliate himself, in front of everyone, for the sake of two dead kids, Loki’s kids. But when she is done talking Sigyn looks away from him, almost as if she passed on her message, and now she has other, more important things to do. For the first time in seemingly forever, she looks her husband in the eyes. A small smile plays on his lips, shines in his ever-charming eyes.

“You are wonderful,” he says, almost as if he could not hold the words back for one more second, even though he knows he shouldn’t speak them. Sigyn blinks. Not now, not after all this time. She had finally made up her mind to leave, to get away while she still could, all she needed was to make sure he was safe, make sure she didn’t have to worry about him anymore, and then… and then she could leave. She could take Nari and Vali and make a life for herself someplace else. Midgard, perhaps. It isn’t fair that he should do this now.

But that is Loki, she reminds herself. He never does anything until the very last second, he always has to see how far he can push something, how much he can risk and yet never lose. It was like this when he made his bet with the dwarfs too. He offered up his head in a bet he knew, he must have known, that he would lose. And then he did lose, and what did he do? When the dwarfs came to collect, when they came to chop off his head, he told them that his head was theirs to do with as they please, but his neck was still his own, and he did not consent to that being cut. They sewed his mouth shut for a good long while, but that was all they could do to him. It had, however, made for an interesting time - with Loki unable to speak, he had found certain other ways to keep that marriage alive. Sigyn almost smiles at the memory. Loki was inventive, no one could ever claim otherwise.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“And what of your… husband?” Odin asks, all but spitting out the “husband” with such disdain one would think it was literal poison in his mouth. Sigyn looks away from Loki, her eyes falling to Odin once again.

“I am not saying what he did wasn’t wrong, I am saying a thousand years is punishment enough. Loki goes free now.”

“And what about next time he kills one of ours?” Odin spites.

“Well, what about next time you kill one of your own?” Sigyn exasperates. “Once Hod’s killer is brought to justice, once you take responsibility for your part in his death, you may assign whatever punishment you want to Loki if he kills one of you again. Until then, you have no right to judge him.” Odin grits his teeth. He doesn’t have much to bargain with, except if he can win over Sigyn to his own plight.

“He killed my son,” he says, now a soft plead creeping into his voice under the anger.

“And you killed both of mine,” she counters before he can go on. He bites his tongue. “I will not argue with you, Odin, my offer stands. I will allow you time to think it over, if that is necessary, but I will not change my demands. Loki goes free, as does Fenrir, Hel is allowed to walk freely too, she isn’t bound to Helheim, Sleipnir is no longer in your service, but free to go where ever he pleases, and no child of Loki’s shall ever be punished merely for being a child of Loki’s ever again. We will be allowed to live peacefully, without your interruptions from now on. Those are my demands, and those will not change.”

“You demand and you threaten,” Odin replies. “But if Ragnarök truly does ensue, you lose your beloved husband too. He won’t survive the final battle anymore than I will.”

“Better death than that cave,” Sigyn replies as calmly as if she was debating Pepsi versus Coca Cola - or, indeed, more calmly, for humans have an interesting knack for getting riled up about things like that.

Max and Ian don’t say a word, but they follow along with the negotiations intently. Loki too, watches every move Sigyn makes, imprints every word of hers in his mind, but does not speak again out of fear of saying the wrong thing. The Asgardians are right, she is loyal to a fault, and loyal to him for some reason. He cannot take advantage of that, he cannot say the things he wants to say, for if he did, she would surely never leave him. And she needs to, she needs to leave. For her own sake, for Nari and Vali’s sakes, if indeed Hel keeps her word and lets them come back to life.

“Fine,” Odin says finally. Loki looks down in shock. He agreed? “But the next time he steps out of line, and we will not have long to wait for that to happen, Loki doesn’t do well with boredom, and he has been locked up for a thousand years, so next time he crosses the line, we will come for him. You can get him a pardon for sins past, but not a free pass for the future.” Odin looks almost pleased with himself, Sigyn notices. As if he’s taking her offered deal and amending it to suit his own needs.

“And his children?” she asks.

“His children won’t be charged with his crimes,” Odin concedes. Loki’s face splits into a smile. She did it. Can it be? She actually did it? His children, all of them, are safe now?

“Then we have a deal,” Sigyn says. “As soon as you agree to these terms in front of everybody.” She nods towards the Asgardians, all watching them intently, prepared to attack at a moment’s notice if it looks like Odin is in any real danger. Sigyn breathes out a sigh of relief.