My eyes narrow in disbelief, then in pleasure. "The Rhinegold?" I laugh aloud. "This is much to my taste!"

I shake my head, self-deprecatingly. "Do not mistake my words. It is not lust for gold that drives me. By all the gods - I was *born* in gold! Though now my people and I have to scrounge from day to day. Even a fraction of that gold could help us. But..."

I lean my elbows on the table, looking at Wulder. "Let us not pretend. You know who I am. I have no personal quarrel with you, sir. But I came here, in the very jaws of my enemies, hoping to find your brother... or to prove my worth otherwise. To be sent on such a dangerous mission by the brother of my enemy: not only my courage is at stake here, but my honour too. And I shall prove that Thidrek's honour is worth more than all the gold in Midgard. I came here asking for a test, and I shall accept it."

I put my right hand on the table, palm down. "But before I accept, pray tell me: where is your brother Amleth, that he cannot undertake this enterprise himself?"

I keep my voice carefully under control. If Wulder told me that my father's killer is nearby, would I give up revenge for a heap of gold?... But he knows it, and will never tell me where Amleth is...