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We returned downstairs to find Kane in the foyer. They eyed each other carefully.
“Great news!” I said, to break the tension. “The Night Mallt is here.”
Matilda lowered her head. “Your Highness.” She entered the dining room and stopped short at the sight of the enclosure. “Hell’s bells.”
“I believe that’s my line,” Kane said.
“I can see why you summoned me. This is quite a conundrum.”
“I told you it was.”
“I know, but I thought you were exaggerating. What’s the plan?”
“I’d like you to teleport them to the crossroads, and then we’ll let them loose.”
Matilda moved closer to the pen. “Look at that gorgeous mane.”
“Don’t admire your own too closely or you might burst with pride,” I warned.
A glimmer of mischief glinted in her eye. “In that case,why don’t I teleport this one to The Corporation headquarters during a board meeting?”
“I don’t want to risk any of the animals being reclaimed and stuffed back in a storage unit.”
“Doesn’t seem right to keep them trapped in these animal forms. It isn’t natural for most of them. What if we transform them back into gods before we release them?” she proposed.
“I didn’t think we could,” I said. “I tried to remove the collars, but nothing worked.”
Kane rubbed the back of his neck. “I think we ought to first consider whether weshould. They’re not innocent people. They’re gods of wrath and gluttony and greed.”
Matilda’s nostrils flared with indignation. “And Lorelei is a goddess of nightmares and ghosts. You’re a prince of hell. I rode with the Wild Hunt instilling fear in the hearts of men. Should we be denied the right to freedom and autonomy because of what we’re capable of rather than what we actually choose to do?”
Kane appeared properly chastised. Leave it to Matilda to give the prince of hell a severe dressing down.
“Matilda’s right,” I said. “They only spread their vices because they were compelled to do so. Their collars kept them trapped in animal forms and controlled their behavior. We have no idea how they might behave otherwise.”
“Exactly,” Kane said. “We have no idea. The alternative could be much worse.”
“I wouldn’t want to be judged on my providence,” I said. “I didn’t choose to be a goddess, and I certainly didn’t choose the domain of nightmares.”
“No, but they did,” Kane pointed out. “They’re avatars, aren’t they? Which meant they made a decision to be inhabited by a god of war and a goddess of envy. Somewhere in their programming, they chose these negative abilities.”
I recalled my vision of Macuilcozcacuauhtli and his singleword—‘help.’ “We can’t know that for certain,” I countered. “And just because they were imbued with negative powers doesn’t mean they’d use them. Do you see me running around Fairhaven inflicting madness on innocent bystanders?”
“Not intentionally,” he said.
I glared at him. “They deserve a chance, just like you.” And a collar and four legs could be my future should The Corporation ever get their hands on me. It wasn’t a pleasant thought.
Kane appeared to soften. “Say we release them as gods, then what? We follow them until we’re satisfied they’re not going to inflict their vices on the world?”
“No.” I gazed at the menagerie. “We hope.”
Breaking their collars was the first order of business. If we couldn’t do that, then the whole plan fell apart.
“I know a smithy who should be able to help,” Matilda said, after trying and failing to remove the donkey’s collar.
“Someone you trust?” I asked.
“In this world, I only ever work with those I trust. His name is Stellan. He’s a descendant of Sindri.”
