I open my eyes. My eyelids feel like lead. The air almost burns inside my lungs.

The room is warm and dry, and the sun slants in through an open window. We are far from the damp murky banks of the Rhyne. I would think I am dead, but I do not remember being embraced by the Valkyrie, and if this is not Valhalla, certainly it is not Hel either.

I try to raise on my elbows and every bone hurts. A particularly sharp pain pierces my left shoulder, just above my heart. My hand goes there and finds fresh bandages and clean linen. I frown, struggling to remember.

"Rest now, Lord Thidrek," a voice says, close by. "All is over."

I lift my eyes to the figure that stands beside my bed. Wulder - or should I call him Waltharius? My lip raises in an amused grimace, but even my face hurts.

"Eckisax?" Like a child, I add: "I have broken my sword," as though it were a wooden toy, and not one of the highest products of dwarven skill.

"Alberich has it," Wulder replies. "He will reforge it, when his wounds are healed. He has sworn he will send it back to you."

I lay back and close my eyes. "I have failed," I whisper through dry lips.

"Why do you say so?" Wulder asks. "You have accomplished your mission. The Rhinegold is now restored to its legitimate owners."

"No thanks to me, but thanks to the maiden; and maybe I just went there to seal a destiny that was already written. But what did I do, in truth?"

I turn my face away from the sun. On the nightstand, on a small silken pouch, lies the glittering dragon scale that protected me... or did it? Did it not reveal something inside me that I would have rather left hidden, even to myself?

"It was not I who killed the dragon; I did not manage to save Hagen; and all I accomplished was to be wounded by his sword." A bitter laugh. "Quite a feat."

"Rest, now," Wulder says again. "The bond between our families is strong again. This is a feat indeed, son of Thetmar."

"It will be good for my people," I whisper, strength fading. Inside me, I know that nothing has changed for me. Wulder and I may have a mutual debt of gratitude, now; but my need of revenge towards Amleth has not been sated, and his brother knows it. But how can I endanger the delicate trust that is slowly building again between our peoples?...

It is too much now. My brain hurts. I will think about it another day. Tomorrow, maybe. Tomorrow...