“Um, sure.”
I didn’t really think I had a choice, but I wanted to walk with her. I wanted to know what was going on and why I was here…wherever here really was.
So I stepped up beside the goddess, and the two of us slowly meandered around the courtyard. Maybe I should have curtsied after all, because it seemed like every single one of the wildflowers bowed its brightly colored head to Sigyn as she passed them. I bit my lip, wondering if it was too late to curtsy. Probably. Besides, if the goddess knew anything about me, then she knew I definitely wasn’t the prim, proper, curtsying type.
“I’m sure you’re wondering why we’re here, in Eir’s courtyard,” Sigyn finally said.
“The thought had crossed my mind.”
Sigyn looked at me out of the corner of her eye, and I winced.
“Sorry. Was that too snarky?”
She let out a small, pleased laugh. “On the contrary. I enjoy your honesty. It’s refreshing after so many lies from so many people over the years.”
A shadow passed over her face, dimming her beauty, and another wave of sorrow radiated off her, as cold as a cloud of snow kissing my cheeks. Somehow I knew that she was talking about Loki and how he had betrayed her. My heart ached for her—and for myself too. My parents had lied to me my entire life, and I didn’t know how to let go of my anger at them.
“Well, I hate liars too,” I said. “Just as much as you do.”
The goddess nodded, and we walked on. It took me a minute to work up the courage to ask her the question that was burning in my mind.
“So…why am I here?”
Sigyn eyed me again. “Gwendolyn Frost didn’t tell you?”
I shrugged. “Not exactly. Gwen has told me lots of stories about her meetings with Nike…and you. How she finally realized that you were masquerading as that old woman, Raven, all this time. Gwen said that you had…plans for me. Or something like that.”
I had been more than a little skeptical when Gwen had told me that Sigyn seemed interested in me. But here I was, face to face with the goddess and talking with Sigyn the same way Gwen talked to Nike. So why was I here? As far as I knew, Sigyn took care of her own problems by wandering around the academies in her Raven disguise. Besides, she was a freaking goddess. What did she need me for? Unless…
My breath caught in my throat. Sigyn didn’t…she couldn’t…she wasn’t going to ask me to be her Champion, was she?
No—no way.
As soon as the thought occurred to me, I realized how ridiculous it was. For one thing, I had never even heard of Sigyn having a Champion. Sure, the goddess had brought me here to this weird dreamscape and was talking to me, but there could be any number of reasons for that. Maybe she had been wandering around the library as Raven and had seen the chimera claw me. Maybe she had brought me here to help me. Maybe she had healed me so she could ask me to do something for her in return. Or maybe she just felt sorry for me. But she wouldn’t ask me to be her Champion.
Not me, Rory Forseti, the daughter of notorious Reaper assassins. I wasn’t worthy to be anyone’s Champion, especially not hers, given how horribly Loki had betrayed her. Even if Sigyn suddenly decided that she did want a Champion, I was probably the very last person she would ask.
The goddess must have seen the questions and confusion on my face, because she spoke again. “I had hoped that I was wrong and that things wouldn’t turn out the way they have. That it wouldn’t come to this. But unfortunately, evil never quite dies, no matter how hard you try to kill it.”
“What do you mean?” A terrible thought occurred to me. “Loki…he’s not free, is he? He hasn’t found some way to escape that prison Gwen put him in?”
Sigyn shook her head. “No, no, nothing like that. Loki is still trapped in the realm of the gods, where he will remain for all time.” She paused. “But a new danger threatens not only mythological warriors but the entire mortal world if it is left unchecked.”
“What new threat? And why are you talking to me about it?”
“Because you’re the only one who can stop it…if you choose to do so.” Her voice was soft, but her words made a chill slither down my spine.
I frowned. “Why wouldn’t I want to stop some evil threat?”
“Because of what it might cost you in the end, Rory Forseti.” Sigyn stared at me, her eyes like two midnight-black pools in her pale, beautiful face. “What price are you willing to pay to protect the ones you love? That’s the question you have to answer for yourself.”
I frowned again. Gwen had told me that Nike always talked in riddles, but I had never thought Sigyn would too. Then again, what did I know about the goddess and what she wanted with me? So far, she hadn’t told me anything important. Nothing specific about this threat or how I could stop it or why she thought I should be the one to face down this new evil.
“I don’t ask this of you lightly,” Sigyn continued. “It’s your choice, Rory. Everything is always your choice. Remember that. But if you decide to fight, know that I gave you a proper weapon to help you in the days and battles ahead.”
A weapon? What weapon? The answer came to me a moment later. Babs—she had to be talking about Babs.
Something the sword had said popped into my mind. My eyes narrowed. “Wait a second. You were the nice old lady who took Babs out of storage and put her on display in the library?”
Sigyn nodded. “Yes, I did that as Raven.”
“But why? Why would you do that?”
She shrugged. “Because Babs needed a fresh start, and so do you. Besides, with this threat, you’re going to need all the help you can get, and talking swords can be quite useful.” Her mouth curved into a faint grin. “Especially the ones who truly love to talk, like Babs does.”
So Sigyn had given me a sword and was asking me to use it to battle some vague new threat. I had heard of situations like this, where the gods asked something of mortals, but I had always thought they were stories out of myth-history books. Well, except for Gwen, of course. But I had never thought that a goddess would ask me to help her with anything.
I didn’t know whether to be honored or frightened. Not all of those myth-history stories ended well for the mortals. Sometimes death wasn’t the worst thing that happened to those who wanted to be heroes.
But the one thought that kept running through my mind was why me? Out of all the warriors out there, why had Sigyn asked me to help her? What could I do that someone else couldn’t?
I opened my mouth to ask her that question and the dozen others that popped into my mind, including where those creepy chimeras in the library had come from, but Sigyn tilted her head to the side, as though she were listening to something very faint and far away.