Needless to say I wasn’t getting that wish any time soon. Whatever Monica was doing for Odin, it was on other planes.

 

Or he was keeping her away from me for the sake of not making things too easy. I was pretty sure, no, very sure, that Odin really did enjoy watching people struggle.

 

Never asking anything he wouldn’t give himself.

 

Sure.

 

Okay. Now I was just being petty. But the school was empty, and the fire damage was…no worse than last time the school had been attacked because of me.

 

“It was supposed to be safe once I graduated,” I grumbled.

 

“Nah, it won’t be safe until I do.”

 

I sighed. “Hey, Clara. Sorry if I don’t seem happy.”

 

“I saw you talking to the fire giant.”

 

“He’s going to keep doing this until I agree to marry Surtur. At which point, Surtur starts Ragnarok. So I have to let him keep doing this.”

 

“Hrm.” She studied me. “Any progress on the Muspelheim problem.”

 

“Enough to know that Surtur’s idea is stupid, dramatic, and will start a war with Asgard for no reason. Not enough to know how to fix it. I’m going to have to go there.”

 

“I don’t have a fire resistance spell that can take that,” Clara grumbled.

 

“I know. Don’t worry. I’ll…” And I tailed off. “…take friends.”

 

How well did dwarves handle Muspelheim? The twins would be very handy to have along. Or they might know a way to help some of my other friends. Not Angrboda, of course. That would take an entire tribe of dwarves to achieve.

 

I wondered idly how my grandparents had actually managed to have sex without killing each other.

 

Well.

 

That wasn’t my problem. Talking to the dwarven twins was smart, but I was still blocked off from personal access between the Realms.

 

Which put me right back to finding a fire giant I could reasonably trust.

 

Already acting like a queen. No. I mean, I wouldn’t start Ragnarok to avoid it, but I would go hide in Jotunheim if that was what it took.

 

Surtur could not touch me there, I mused. But he’d keep hurting others until I came back out.

 

So, time to find a friendly fire giant. Or a dwarf. Either, at this point, would do. “I promise I’ll be careful. Keep an eye on Kanesha?”

 

“I will,” she promised.

 

That was one person I could trust, Thruor was another. Kanesha herself was a third.

 

She would, I decided, be fine.