House Of Gods 9 - Samantha Snow Page 0,8

had an unconventional idea. “Hey,” he said to Abigail as she sat on the couch with a cup of tea.

She and Lopt had just been having a conversation about why magic had been hidden from mortals in the early days. She found it all very interesting, and Lopt found her objective curiosity admirable.

“Hi,” she said as she smiled at Edwin.

“I have a question for you.”

Lopt got up to leave to give the two of them privacy, but Edwin motioned for him to stay.

“I’d like it if you heard this, too,” he said to Lopt. “I’m not entirely sure it’s possible.”

Lopt sat back down with an intrigued look as he waited for Edwin to pose his question.

“Would you like to go to Valhalla with me?” Edwin asked Abigail.

“Valhalla? That’s one of the afterlives, right?

“It’s the most honorable and enjoyable afterlife,” Edwin boasted. “Well, if you’re a warrior anyway. But I think you might kind of be a warrior yourself.”

“But I haven’t died,” she said. “Doesn’t one have to either be an immortal or have died in order to gain entry into an afterlife?”

“Yeah, and that’s the part where you come in,” Edwin said as he turned to Lopt. “Is there a way?”

Lopt looked pensive about it. “Besides killing her, you mean?”

Edwin’s face was aghast.

“Relax,” Lopt laughed. “I was kidding. She’s right. In order to travel to a world of the afterlife, you must either be an immortal being, or a mortal being who has died. There is, however, a third option that’s less commonly known.”

“What is it?” Edwin asked eagerly.

“If she goes willingly and is bound to an immortal that has already gained entry, then she may stay.”

“And by being bound, you mean?” “

“I mean that you would have to ask Helia to do a binding spell on the both of you. And that if Abigail were to decide that she no longer wanted to be in Valhalla, you would thus be barred from entry.”

Edwin looked at Abigail. “Do you want to?”

“Are you sure you’re willing to take that chance on me?” she asked. “It seems like a pretty big deal.”

“Yeah,” he answered casually. “If you decide you don’t like it there, I’ll just kill you.”

His joke didn’t quite come across. “Kidding,” he said to clarify.

Abigail looked out the window, and then she looked at Edwin. “I want to go,” she said. “There’s really nothing for me here. Besides, I think I kind of like you now.”

Lopt shook his head and laughed. “That isn’t the most impressive answer I’ve ever heard.”

Edwin laughed too. “Okay, come on. Let’s go talk to Helia.”

When the five of them arrived on Valhalla, Edwin and Abigail parted ways with Kemma and Baldur. They had no desire to go visit the witch who lived outside the city. Baldur picked up a mug of mead from the city before he and Kemma began their walk outside city gates.

“It’s it a bit too early in the morning for that?” she said as she eyed his mug.

“Mead? Nah, never.”

They walked along the craggy slope until they saw the witch’s little cottage in the distance. Kemma held Tannin in her arms with his little face pointing outward so he could see the surroundings of Valhalla as they walked. He seemed content and interested.

“Do you want me to hold him?” Baldur asked when they were about halfway there.

“Why would I want you to hold him?”

“I don’t know. I thought maybe your arms were getting tired. Never mind.” Baldur focused his attention back onto the path ahead.

“Here,” Kemma said as she stopped walking and wrapped the blanket tighter around the baby’s swaddle. She held Tannin out to Baldur. “Take him for a bit.”

Baldur looked at her and at the wide-eyed infant who was staring up at him. He knew her arms weren’t really tired. She was letting him hold his son. There was a mix of emotions that pushed into Baldur’s head, and he wasn’t sure what to do with them. He reached out and took the child, then put him up against his chest so he could look at his face as they continued their walk.

When they got to the witch’s cottage, she wasn’t there. The little home was still brimming with all of her potions and reagents and spell books, and the fire in the hearth was even still lit, but the witch was gone.

“It looks like she’s still here, maybe just went out to pick more herbs or something,” Baldur said. “We’ll wait for her to get back.”

The cottage was