Page 167 of The Last Valkyrie

I also knew Valhalla was not searching forinnocentpeople. Odin invited the fallen soldiers of battle into the golden hall because they werewarriorsworthy of sitting beside other warriors.

And in that sense, I knew Dahlia struck the right chord.

“You again,” he grumbled as he shuffled forward, the giant bearded god staring down at me. “Do you bring me another broken soul, valkyrie?”

I gulped, trying not to wilt under the beatific gaze of this deity. “Every soul is broken in some sense, Allfather. Are they not?Are thereperfect souls?”

He said nothing, reaching out to take the golden body of Dahlia from me so he could examine, weigh, and judge her.

Dahlia’s soul was not as light as Elayina in her infancy, yet not as heavy as Damon, who had shown no “growth” or regression back to his means during our flight here, either.

It seemed the gods did not make it their business to answer the questions of humans. I had to be all right with my inquiries going unanswered.

Dahlia’s body floated in the air in front of Odin. His lips puckered and he tapped them with the head of his staff. “Hmm,” he said, circling Dahlia’s naked form in front of him, until his back was to me and showed me the great black cloak swooping out behind him.

Once he was standing in front of me again, with Dahlia’s floating form between us, he studied me with expectant eyes. “This one is different than the last. There is a touch of valor here. A hint of goodness.”

“She fought to defend people, in the end, Allfather.”

He tilted his head at me, leaning heavily on his staff. “This woman redeemed herself in life, did she?”

Um, I thought that wasyourdecision to make.I was baffled to try and answer such a question.

“Itismy decision,” he said, responding to my thoughts like he had plucked them from my brain. “Yet I would hear it from you.”

I nodded firmly. “She did.” What more could I say? I had nothing. It wasn’t every day a god put me on the spot.

Odin scrunched his chin, nodding. “I will allow her entrance into Valhalla. Let her sit and fight with the others.”

Hope bloomed in my chest. “Thank you, Allfather!”

He held a hand out to stop my elation. “I will tell you, chooser of the slain: Her daughter will not be found here. She was tainted by a vile, wicked spirit that had no place in my hall. Born from it, in fact, was the girl, with the darkness wrapped around her out of the womb. This will be Dahlia Anfinn’s burden to tolerate—her absolution from a life not lived wholly in service to her people.”

My throat constricted and I nodded wordlessly.

Again, what could I do? Hope dwindled, becoming a tiny light in my heart because I knew how much Dahlia wanted to be reunited with Astrid. Odin was telling me it wouldn’t happensince Astrid had been born from Korvan, through no fault of her own.

An alarming thought came to me.

“I fear I was born from the same darkness as Astrid Dahlmyrr, Allfather. Am I, too, cursed to suffer the same fate and never see Valhalla’s wonders?”

Odin chuckled humorlessly. “That may be true, valkyrie. Your fate is written by the Norns, but your future is not yet yours to know. You are not yet dead, are you?”

My brow furrowed. It was so simple and obvious a question, and maybe that was Odin’s point: I was looking too far into something I couldn’t control.

“No. I am not dead, Allfather. I’m alive.”

I’m alive.

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