“Than you did the last time I saw you,” Odin said seriously. “No, youfeeldifferent. The spellhasbeen altered; I'm certain of it.”
“You can tell that from a feeling?” I asked dubiously.
“You forget that I was there at its casting.” Odin frowned thoughtfully. “I believe you've been tampered with, Elaria—both you and Verin—and I don't think it was by Vivian.”
“I can't imagine that it's her either but I haven't had the best luck with trusting witches.”
“And yet, here you are, trusting one to help you.”
I snorted. “You, I trust implicitly.”
Odin stumbled a step, caught himself, and looked over at me in shock. “You trust me but not Vivian. She saved your life and cast two love spells to help you.”
“When I said that I didn't have the best luck with trusting witches, it was to imply that Idotrust her. I just don't trust her as I do you.”
“Why not?”
“I don't know.” I glanced at him. “It's just a feeling.”
Odin chuckled. “I have that feeling about you too, kid.”
“You know that I'm an ancient goddess, right?” I teased him.
“Maybe your soul is, butyouare still Elaria and you'll always be a kid to me.” He shrugged.
“I'll take that as a compliment and won't bring up the time when you pretended to be into me.”
“Pretendedbeing the keyword. No offense, Elaria, but kissing you would be like kissing my niece. Which is what I consider you to be.”
“Some people are into that.”
Odin gave me the disgusted expression my statement deserved, and I giggled. Yeah, I suppose I did turn into a kid around him.
“Ah! Here we are.” Odin stepped up to a shop with huge display windows full of thriving plants.
The gilded lettering on one window formed a word that I couldn't even begin to pronounce. I assumed that it said something to the equivalent of “apothecary.” We went inside, where a wealth of polished wood and hanging plants helped customers forget the fact that they were in a bustling city. Either the soundproofing was excellent or a spell had been cast into the walls to dampen the noise because once the door was shut, none of the city clamor could be heard. The walls to either side and the back were lined with wooden compartments, shelves, and drawers. The compartments featured fascinating things like the skulls of unusual creatures, crystal bottles of brightly-colored liquid, and strange devices—some of which flashed with blinking lights. The shelves held large jars containing dried herbs, powders, berries, animal parts, and resin. There were no signs to indicate what the drawers contained—not that I could read them even if there had been any—and I couldn't go snooping since all three of those walls were blocked by a long, U-shaped counter, its barrier broken only by a single swinging door near the back.
A perch stood in a corner near one window with a large bird sitting atop it. The bird didn't even glance at us as we passed by, just pecked absently at its bright plumage. If it was intended to be a greeter, it failed miserably. We navigated past several round tables that spotted the open space between counters and I wasn't the only one of our group who wound up gawking at the objects on display there. I saw Verin cock his head at a stuffed creature with the body of something small and furry and the head of a large snake. Odin was unsurprisingly less impressed and merely made a beeline for the back counter, where a man was busy shuffling through one of the wide drawers of unknown items.
“Alden,” Odin called to him.
The man spun around with a smile on his face and rattled off in a language I didn't recognize. All I caught was Odin's name. Odin said something back, the men shook hands, and then Odin waved toward us and I recognized another word—English.
“English it is,” Alden said amiably. “Welcome to my shop, friends of Odin from Earth.”
“This is my niece, Elaria,” Odin introduced us. “And her... friends, Verin and Darc.”
“How do you do?” Alden bowed to us.
“Very well, thank you,” I said. “It's a pleasure to meet you, Alden.”
“For me as well.” Alden beamed as if he were proud of getting the social niceties of Earth correct.
He had a friendly face—rounded with a wide mouth—and looked as if he spent half his time climbing mountains. With his rosy complexion and wiry build, I could easily imagine him hanging off a cliff while searching for dead nooten.
“What are you after today, Earthshaker?” Alden asked Odin eagerly. “Beetunerg? Hevintraup? Or are you looking for something especially rare?” He waggled his eyebrows.
“I'm looking for information.” Odin drew a coin out of his pocket and placed it on the counter.
