Of course, I didn’t want to tell Kanesha any of this. I was, perhaps, afraid of what she might do.

 

I was afraid that she would leave me if she thought it would save the world, that she would go all stupid noble the way I’d been resisting.

 

It would make things so much easier. Instead, I was determined to find another source. And I had an idea for who I might ask.

 

If I wasn’t still locked out from the knowledge of how to open the bridge myself I would have just gone there. As it was, I was stuck until Thruor came back.

 

I was going to go talk to some dwarves. Specifically, a set of twins. I had a feeling they would help me.

 

I had a feeling they were important allies. So was Angrboda, but I somehow didn’t think she had the knowledge I needed.

 

Nobody was better at enchanting things than dwarves. So, who better to know how to fix this kind of problem.

 

Except for the fact that I had a feeling most dwarves would like to see something bad happen to Muspelheim. So?

 

The twins, specifically. Of course, their father had set things up so we’d become friends. I had to wonder what the King under the Mountain was really up to.

 

See. This was why I didn’t want to be a queen. Politics.

 

But I also knew the real reason deep within me was still the knowledge that as a queen I would have to abandon her.

 

And I knew I’d known that all along, at some subconscious level. I wanted, honestly, to be able to live out a human lifespan with her and then worry about my duties.

 

Selfish.

 

I acknowledged that now. But none of this got Thruor back any faster.

 

Then Angrboda showed up. She looked like she was already drunk and ready for more.

 

“Oh no, I’m not going with you to celebrate this time.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Because you need to be cut off.”

 

She scowled at me. “I…”

 

“You’re not even quite walking straight. Come in and sober up.”

 

She did, surprisingly, flopping on my couch…I’d deliberately acquired the sturdiest I could find…and giant-snoring for a couple of hours. Thankfully, Kanesha was busy.

 

I hoped none of our neighbors were home.

 

When she came around, she was glaring at me.

 

I handed her a glass of water and four aspirin. Double the dose, for giants.

 

“How much did I drink?”

 

“Enough, apparently. What did you drink?”

 

“Dwarven ale.”

 

I laughed.

 

“I’d forgotten just how strong dwarven ale is.”

 

I laughed more. But I was glad to see her, and I suspected that drunk on dwarven ale equated to good news.