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“In there,” Pritkin said. He nodded at one of the lower cabinets.
“Oh, good.” Jonas looked vastly relieved, as if a major crisis had been averted.
I started to wonder if I was insane.
After a moment, I cleared my throat. “What others?” I asked, as Jonas began examining Pritkin’s little boxes and tins.
“Hm? Oh, the other two g
ods, of course,” he said absently. “Ah, Nuwara Eliya. Yes, very nice.”
“Nuwara Eliya is a god?” I asked, confused.
He regarded me strangely. “No. It’s a town in Sri Lanka.”
I looked at him.
“Where they grow tea. Very good tea, too.”
Pritkin put a heavy hand on my shoulder, which was just as well. It probably wouldn’t have looked good to choke the head of the Silver Circle to death right before the coronation. Then again, my reputation was shot to hell anyway....
“What other two gods?” Pritkin asked quickly.
“Oh, didn’t I say? Ah, well that’s where it really becomes interesting. According to the sagas, Ragnarok involves the deaths of three main gods: Thor, Tyr and Odin. The legends state that the war will end only when all three are dead, and that the three children of Loki are the ones fated to kill them.”
“Meaning?”
“Well, that’s just it,” Jonas started filling up the kettle. “I’m not sure. But I did locate some clues that might be useful. The first child of Loki was Jörmungandr, which we now know stood for the ouroboros spell. The snake was opposed by Thor, or Apollo if you prefer. He defeated the spell, but died soon afterward. This, of course, has already happened.”
“Of course,” I said faintly.
“Now, the second child of Loki was Hel,” Jonas said. He reached across the counter to draw what looked like a crooked smile or possibly a banana on his blackboard, which he’d set up just outside. “She was thrown into the underworld by Odin and became the goddess of death.”
“Hell?” I repeated. “You mean, like the place?”
“Yes, in a sense. Our modern word derives from her name. She was said to have power over the nine hell regions—”
“Nine?’
“Yes, the same number that Dante would later record in his Inferno. Fascinating how the myths intersect on so many—”
“Jonas.” That was Pritkin.
“Yes, well. In any case, she was said to have control over the hells, as well as the pathways between worlds. Quite a powerful figure.”
“Like the Greek goddess Persephone,” Pritkin said.
Jonas wrinkled his nose. “No, not exactly. Persephone was queen of the underworld, yes, but only because of her marriage to Hades, who already ruled it. Hel was queen in her own right. She was one of those powerful virgin goddesses you find sprinkled throughout the pages of mythology who lived independently of the authority of any man. Which is why I don’t think Persephone quite fits the bill. And, of course, the moon wasn’t her symbol—”
“Hel’s symbol was the moon?” I asked, finally figuring out what the banana was supposed to be.
“Yes, the dark side, at least. She was—”
“The dark side?”
I guess my voice must have changed, because Jonas looked up sharply. “Yes, why?”
“It’s probably nothing,” I said, wishing I’d kept my mouth shut. I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of explaining my little toy to Jonas. But he was standing there, looking at me intently, and I didn’t really have a choice now. “It’s just . . . I have this tarot deck and—”
