I knew Thruor hadn’t seriously suggested assassinating him then vanishing. That had been a test.

But she seemed to think I might be capable. Which made me wonder again what was in the prophecy nobody seemed willing to share the full text of with me.

Whether I was making my own destiny or whether it was all decided. But then, maybe that was the downside of being a goddess.

No. I knew it was. But I still had some choices within what was laid out in front of me.

I could continue doing what I was doing and hope I could protect the rest of my friends better.

I could say yes to Surtur and watch the world burn. It was bad that there was, yes, a small part of me to which that appealed. Maybe the fire giant part. No, less than that.

But the fire in me responded to the thought, a little.

I could say yes to him and then kill him and likely die myself. That almost appealed. Neat, tidy.

Would start a fire giant civil war, but did I care? I supposed Thruor was right. It depended on who came out on top.

Maybe I did care.

I could try to take him out some other way. Which meant me up against an ancient fire giant who had an army at his back.

No.

I had to think of something that wasn’t any of those courses. A neutral ground duel would, as Thruor had pointed out, resolve nothing with somebody who didn’t want it to resolve anything. This wasn’t a matter of honor, after all.

And I’d lose anyway.

Thruor seemed to think I had a chance, but I knew I didn’t. I knew I couldn’t beat him.

Unless I found some power I had that he didn’t. The fire wasn’t the answer, of course. Fire giants bathed in fire. Loved fire.

There had to be something else.

And it couldn’t be something from my father’s side. He bound fire and frost together, but I was almost pure fire.

It had to be something from my mother.

Loyalty. Fidelity. Honor. Those things came from her, even if I did have the trickster in me too.

Tricking Surtur was something I’d leave for my father.

Honor.

I couldn’t beat him. Why was I worrying about the consequences? I had to know, somewhere, that I could.