It was near dawn when I arrived. I’d had to walk for most of the night. I was starving; I was sore; I was limping badly. Though it was no consolation, I saw that the others had also spent a sleepless night. Odin in particular was looking weary, and Honir, fresh as the morning dew, was talking nineteen to the dozen.

He stopped when I reached the camp.

‘Loki! What happened?’

‘Nothing,’ I said.

‘It doesn’t look like nothing to me,’ said Honir. ‘Odin, what do you think? I think something happened. In fact, I’m pretty sure something happened. Loki looks terrible. Don’t you think Loki looks terrible?’

‘Shut up, Honir,’ Odin said, and, summoning Sleipnir’s true Aspect at last, prepared to carry the three of us back to civilization.

Arriving at the Sky Citadel on nothing but spleen and will power, I first ate three roast chickens, a mutton pie, a haunch of beef, a salmon and four dozen jam tarts that Sigyn had left to cool on a ledge. Then I drank three bottles of wine and slept for forty-eight hours.

I awoke feeling somewhat better, if not completely recovered, took a hot shower, shaved and dressed and went off in search of Idun. I found her in her garden, singing softly to herself. Her blonde hair was woven with daisies; her feet were bare in the damp grass. Her basket of apples was at her side, ready for immediate use.

‘Loki, you look terrible,’ she said. ‘Are you hurt? Did you get in a fight? Is there something I can do?’

I guess it was common knowledge that I didn’t make much of a habit of hanging around in gardens. Besides, as Idun had pointed out, I’d taken a lot of punishment, and even after a long sleep I wasn’t exactly Balder the Beautiful.

‘I had some trouble in the North,’ I said. ‘But that’s not why I’m here. Imagine, Idun, while I was there, I saw a tree in the heart of a wood, and on it were apples just like yours!’

‘Like mine?’ said Idun. ‘Really?’

‘The very same,’ I told her.

‘Did you bring some back?’

‘No. I was otherwise engaged at the time in single-handedly fighting off a giant eagle that had attacked our camp. But as I limped back home, I thought, I bet Idun would want to see these. Maybe these golden apples have similar properties to hers. If so, I thought, it’s my duty to check. And so I came here straight away.’

Idun cut me a sliver of fruit. ‘Eat this. It’ll make you feel better.’