فصل 69

Oh…So That’s Who Fenris Smelled in Chapter Sixty-Three

WE MUST HAVE LOST an entire day returning to Valhalla, because dinner was under way in the Feast Hall of the Slain. Valkyries flew around with mead pitchers. Einherjar threw bread and roasted Saehrimnir at each other. Clusters of musicians jammed out all over the room.

The fiesta slowly quieted as our procession made its way toward the thanes’ table. An honor guard of Valkyries carried the bodies of Gunilla, Irene, and Margaret, covered with white linen, on stretchers. I had hoped the fallen might come back to life when they reached Valhalla. Couldn’t Valkyries become einherjar? But it didn’t happen.

Mallory, X, T.J., and Halfborn followed the litters. Sam, Blitzen, Hearth, and I brought up the caboose.

Warriors glared at us as we passed. The Valkyries’ expressions were even worse. I was surprised we weren’t killed before we reached the thanes. I suppose the crowd wanted to see us publicly humiliated. They didn’t know what we’d done. They just knew we were escaped rogues brought back for judgment, following the bodies of three Valkyries. We weren’t shackled, but I still shuffled along as if the rope Andskoti was wrapped around my ankles. I cradled the ceramic jar in the crook of my arm. Whatever else happened, I couldn’t lose that.

We stopped in front of the thanes’ table. Erik, Helgi, Leif, and all the other Eriks looked grim. Even my old buddy Hunding the bellhop stared at me with shock and disappointment, as if I’d taken away his chocolate.

Helgi finally spoke. “Explain.”

I saw no reason to hold anything back. I didn’t speak loudly, but my words echoed through the hall. When I got to the fight with Fenris, my voice failed me. Sam picked up the story.

When she was done, the thanes sat silently. I couldn’t read their mood. Perhaps they were more unsure now than angry, but it didn’t matter. Despite my talk with my father, I didn’t feel proud of what we’d accomplished. I was only alive because the three Valkyries in front of me had kept the fire giants at bay while we chained the wolf. No punishment from the thanes could make me feel worse than that.

Finally Helgi rose. “This is the most serious matter to come before this table in many years. If you speak truly, you have done deeds worthy of warriors. You have stopped Fenris Wolf from breaking free. You have sent Surt back to Muspellheim. But you acted as rogues—without the leave of the thanes, and in…questionable company.” He glanced distastefully at Hearth, Blitz, and Sam. “Loyalty, Magnus Chase…loyalty to Valhalla is everything. The thanes must discuss all this in private before passing judgment, unless Odin wishes to intercede.”

He glanced at the vacant wooden throne, which of course stayed empty. Perched on the backrest, the ravens fixed me with their glittering black eyes.

“Very well,” Helgi sighed. “We—”

To my left, a booming voice said, “Odin wishes to intercede.”

Nervous murmurs rippled through the feast hall. X raised his stone-gray face toward the thanes.

“X,” T.J. whispered, “this is no time for jokes.”

“Odin wishes to intercede,” said the half-troll stubbornly.

His appearance changed. His huge trollish shape dropped away like camouflage fabric. In X’s place stood a man who looked like a retired drill sergeant. He was barrel-chested, with massive arms stuffed in a short-sleeve Hotel Valhalla polo shirt. His gray hair was close-cropped, his beard cut square to accentuate his hardened weathered face. A black patch covered his left eye. His right eye was dark blue, the color of vein blood. At his side hung a sword so massive it made Jack the pendant tremble on his chain.

The man’s name tag read: ODIN, ALL-FATHER, OWNER AND FOUNDER.

“Odin.” Sam dropped to one knee.

The god smiled down at her. Then he gave me what I thought was a conspiratorial wink, though it was hard to tell, since he had only one eye.

His name rippled through the feast hall. The einherjar got to their feet. The thanes rose and bowed deeply.

Odin, formerly the half-troll known as X, marched around the table and took his place on the throne. The two ravens landed on his shoulders and pecked affectionately at his ears.

“Well!” Odin’s voice boomed. “What does a god have to do to get a cup of mead around here?”