"Only pieces? What a shame." China sighs lightly, and she puts the tale in order. "Very well, then. Sif was the wife of Thor, as you may know, and she had flowing hair like spun gold, and it was her pride and joy. Not only for its beauty, but because her husband loved it well. This was a well-known fact, and so when Loki found Sif asleep outside her house he could not pass up the opportunity, mischief-maker that he was."

She doesn't bother explaining identities, since Arno has already said he has some familiarity with the Norse. "So Loki cut her hair," she explains. "Carefully not waking her in the process. Sif was distraught, of course. Enough so that she hid from her husband on his return. She'd assumed that her beauty lay only in her hair, or perhaps that her husband loved her for her appearance and no more than that."