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I blinked a few tiht of the library as co at a librarian who glanced up at me as I made my way to the very back of the library where I reainst the wall As I thought, the area was empty I plopped down on one of the carrels and waited

"There you are!" Marta appeared out of nothing and wafted over toward me "We orried when you didn&039;t coht as we can expect I&039;m sorry I couldn&039;t call you like I did the Brotherhood folk and let you knoas OK, but obviously, that wasn&039;t possible with you all Where are the others? Oh Good oing to have to talk kind of quiet so no one overhears Er please re out sohosts appeared one by one, for a small circle around me, each of them with an expectant look that I hated to dash, however briefly "First of all, I&039; back I ran into a well, you can call it a situation with Kristoff, and I couldn&039;t get back here until now"

Ingveldur exchanged a knowing glance with Old Agda, who cackled rustily and said, "Had your wedding night, did you? I told you that man of yours looked like a lively one"

My cheeks flared in response "It wasn&039;t a wedding night"

"Eh? Then why&039;re you blushing like da asked

"It wasn&039;t like that," I said quickly, intending to ood," one of the other women said "Maybe he didn&039;t have stamina I said it was important A man needs to be able to last more than a few pokes"

"He lasted just fine - " I stoppedat the a activities notwithstanding, I do have soveldur said, her eyebrows raised "That was quick work, although if he was particularly skillful, not surprising"

"I ah itation

A woman with a handful of books paused at the nearest aisle and leaned out to look at ave her a feeble smile "Sorry"

She sniffed andto will the blush to fade My cheeks felt so hot I could probably fry an egg on theht I talked with the Brotherhood people They explained to et married to one of their people, apowers The next step is a cereain?" Hallur asked

"Is that legal?" asked Ulfur at the saal because (A) it&039;s not a real e - it&039;s just soroup - and (B) the al I don&039;t think No, I&039;m sure it&039;s not, so therefore, I&039;m still technically unveldur said, frowning

"Which one?" Hallur asked "I&039;da said "My gold is on hi race"

"What about the other husband?" Hallur asked, still puzzled "Did he bed you, too? Just how many ets two husbands? I want to be a Zorya!" announced the teenage Dagrun Her mother shushed her

"That&039;s not the sort of question you ask a woveldur went on to tell Hollur "And by my count, it&039;s three"

"I didn&039;t sleep with Mattias And it&039;s only two!" I took a deep breath, trying to calm ood start, if you askyour other husband Try his paces and then make a decision about which stallion you&039;ll keep in your stable"

"I a a stable of lovers or husbands!" I said, desperately trying to get off the subject

"You just took another husband," Ulfur pointed out "I believe more than one would qualify as a stable"

"Will you people just forget Mattias? He&039;s not really i to scream and tear my hair out at the same time

"Well, I think that Dark One of yours&039;ll think he&039;s i

I opened my mouth to dispute that, allowed my mind to dwell on what Kristoff&039;s reaction would be to the fact that I had taken another step toward gaining Zorya powers, and closed it again

"Do you think so?" Ingveldur looked thoughtful for a ht"

I took a deep, deep breath, involving approxien in the rooo to Ostri?"

They all nodded, including Ragnar

"Then you need to listen closely I cannot take you there until I have undergone a ritual"

"One involving your husband?" Ingveldur asked, a faint wrinkle on her forehead

"Which husband? The Dark One or the one na his head "Who is the third et about my husband!"

"Which - " Hallur started to say

"All of theet they ever existed! This has nothing to do with any man in my life, whether or not I&039;ve slept with them!"

"Seems to da&039;s voice said froh!" I wanted to screa to throw

"She hasn&039;t slept with rin

"I&039;d rather sleep with Ragnar than you!" I growled, pushed beyond my endurance

"Would you, now," the sta at the horse with speculation

I swear to god that Ragnar winked at me

I dropped down into the chair next to the carrel,Or sobbing It was a toss-up which I&039;d go with

"You&039;re saying we have to wait here until you coo to Ostri?" Marta&039;s soft voice cut through thethat filled my mind

"Yes Thank you A voice of sanity at last" I took a couple roup of ghosts "You should know that there&039;s a possibility that I won&039;t be able to take you to Ostri If that&039;s so, I will find someone who can take you - you don&039;t have to worry about that"

"You won&039;t be taking us?" Karl asked, his brorinkled "But why?"

"It&039;s a bit coe to Kristoff is legal If it is, then the one to Mattias isn&039;t, and thatIf it isn&039;t, then I&039;ll be a true Zorya, and I should be able to find Ostri for you Either way, I want you all to know that I willto abandon you until you&039;ve hosts looked as confused as I felt

"Regardless of all that, you seem to be safe at the library, so I want you to stay here until I can finish the official Zorya recognition process, at which point we&039;ll know the answer to the question about which e is valid OK?"

"Oooh, look, it&039;s the husband," Dagrun called from where she was perched on another carrel

"Which one?" Hallur asked, craning his neck "Oh That one"

Kristoff e for a lanced around "Who are all these spirits?"

My eyebrows rose as I checked that none of them had slipped into solid form "You can see them?"

"Yes" He frowned at thenar"

Ragnar snuffled the back of Kristoff&039;s head The latter swatted him away "I&039;ve reached Alec He will be here in a few minutes He is not happy"

"Welco Kristoff "How cohosts? You couldn&039;t see the a double take at Dagrun, as openly leering at hiulation frowns "Why are you keeping them here?"

"It&039;s the safest spot we could find"

"Safe froain Kristoff turned around, glared at the horse, thenits eyes wide for a moment before it disappeared

"Holy what did you just do?" I asked, taking a couple of steps forward tonext to hi closely The second Hallur realized he had gained Kristoff&039;s attention, he gave an embarrassed smile and backed off quickly