That part of their relationship settled, Sig returned to her meal. They were staying at the inn until morning so she could recover. She and Loki decided to spend some time relaxing before they returned to bed. So Sig curled up with him on the couch and summoned a book to read. "According to the Midgardians, we're married," she told him dryly once she'd read for a little while, indicating the book she was reading as the source of this tidbit of information.

Loki raised an eyebrow, looking interested. "I wonder where they got that idea..." he mused, but wasn't upset by the silly Midgardians. He loved a good story, especially as he was the god of stories. This one was amusing.

Sig had still been expecting an answer, so she upped the ante. "They also think you gave birth to an eight-legged horse," she added with a smirk. That should get his attention.

It indeed got his attention. His eyes widened and he looked at Sig horrified and shocked. "That's ridiculous!" he protested indignantly.

Sig giggled and continued on her teasing of Loki. It was so much fun. He made the best expressions. "Apparently you were also the father of a giant wolf, giant snake, and half corpse girl," she added with a grin as she looked at the book for confirmation of her story.

Loki looked even more horrified. "The Allfather rides an eight-legged horse but I certainly did not give birth to it. Where in Hel are they getting these things!?!" he demanded, puffing up like an affronted cat.

Sig laughed even harder at his indigence. "You also apparently cheated on me with a Jotun woman," she informed him.

"I would never!" he protested, looking and sounding completely scandalized.

She laughed, enjoying her teasing of Loki. He was so easy to rile up. "I know," she told him warmly. "They're just silly Midgardians, love. Besides, I'm sure Thor and his idiot friends had something to do with the stories..." she reminded him. She had a feeling that most of the Midgardians' ideas of Norse mythology was caused by Thor and his idiot friends being drunk and making up stuff while they were on Midgard.

Loki sighed heavily. "Probably. Damn him," he growled, looking like he was ready to go stab his idiot brother.

Sig giggled. "Did you really have to get his hammer back from the giants disguised as women?" she asked. That story sounded like it might actually be true.

Loki relaxed and actually laughed, amusement lighting his eyes and expression. "Yes. And the oaf could barely pull it off. He had to say that he would marry one of them and they literally set the hammer in his lap. It was ridiculous," he had a fond expression on his face as he told the story. It seemed it really had had fun with Thor on that occasion.

"How in the nine realms did he not get caught? You, I trust to be a convincing woman, but him?" she made a face. There was no way Thor would make a convincing woman. Much less a convincing Freya, who was supposed to be the most beautiful goddess.

"It was a close call multiple times. He consistently almost gave us away. The idiot should have known better than to eat the entire wedding feast himself. And drink all the ale," he grumbled over the memory. "We surely would have been killed if I hadn't covered up for him," he grumbled. Sig laughed again and moved to curl back up under her heated blanket to return to her book, but Loki gave you a look. "Darling, you should be sleeping. You need to get your energy back if you're going to close the doorway tomorrow," he reminded her gently. It was getting late.

Sig sighed. "You're going to find me dreadfully dull if all I do is sleep," she grumbled, but she kissed his cheek and stood to return to bed anyway. He was right, she did need to rest in order to be able to handle the doorway the next day.

Loki chuckled and she saw the tint of a light purple blush on his cheeks from the kiss, even if it was on the cheek. "I'd rather you be dull than dead, love," he told her gently.

"I know. Just one more gate tomorrow," she reminded Loki and returned to the bedroom and the bed. She stayed curled under her heated blanket and left plenty of room for Loki to join her when he was ready for bed.

*

They all rose early the next morning to head out to the last doorway. The warriors three were getting on Sig's nerves quickly that morning as they were loud and boisterous and flat-out annoying. Everyone was eager for this task to be over so they could all return home. Sig found herself equally annoyed that the warriors three thought this task for the crown had been remarkably easy. Maybe for them it had been. For her? It was Hel, except for the quiet moments with Loki.

Loki was keeping a close eye on her as they rode to the final doorway. He looked extremely worried and they both knew how drained she'd been the previous day, how she hadn't recovered as much as she were pretending. And how Loki was beating himself up for speaking her name and possibly getting her caught. "Are she sure you're up to this, love?" he asked her gently.

"It'll be ok. It's just one more and then we can go back to the palace. It'll be better to recover there afterwards than to try to wait another day of resting," she reassured him. She saw that he wasn't convinced, but he knew her well enough to know that there was no point in arguing with her. She was stubborn and he knew it.

The group quieted as they neared the last gate.

The woods around them were quiet, too quiet and they all sensed the unnaturalness of it. "Sig, any danger?" Loki asked her softly as they approached the gate. He trusted her to tell them about anything they needed to worry about, and she could sense the fae better than any of them.

Sig shook her head, her eyes a bit glazed. "No, but..." she paused as they all dismounted. "Something doesn't feel right,"