Never.

Goddamned soothsayers.

“Okay,” I said. “Never mind. Forget I asked, okay?”

The Norns nodded in unison, returning to their wooden buckets, drawing water from the spring.

Maybe it was true; maybe it wasn’t. Hell, Janek Król had believed my existence was a sign that God had forgiven the Outcast, and damned if they didn’t have a second chance at redemption now.

Maybe that had been the divine plan all along. Maybe it was the only way it could happen.

I’d even made my mom’s teenage fantasy come true. In the end, I’d made the choice she’d dreamed of . . . and my father, Belphegor, knew he’d picked the wrong girl to mess with when he chose her.

The world was still here and Yggdrasil II was still standing. Life in Pemkowet would go on for all of us.

Whatever the truth might be, I’d just have to live with it.

And I was pretty sure I could.