“I was not under Kilton’s Azure for that long.” He growls at Avina. “Did someone else sedate me, my littleQueen?” He has not addressed her with such disdain since the war. “To ensure I was asleep so Lavinia could kidnap Aura and put her life in danger!”
“Ikept you under to protectmyfamily!” She jabs her index finger at her chest. “Fromyourinability to keep your berserker sideunder control! I would trust Calder Avardsson with our lives. You have done enough damage to our daughters.”
He cocks his head slightly.
What is this outburst, Avina? And how is Calder a part of this supposed mission?
“Yourfamily? I have been protecting us for winters! You do not even know half the dangers because I fucking eliminated them without your knowledge!” He paces while muttering angrily to himself.
She slams her hands onto the table. “No one is taking away what you have done for us! But you must admit you jump before looking. I could not allow you to harm Calder or sabotage this mission, all because of Isabel’s lies.”
“What fucking mission! You still have not clued me in as to why they are in fucking Skalor with a man who has betrayed me!” He slams his fists on the table, scattering the sketches onto the floor.
Mistrust and disappointment exude from her hardened blue gaze, even after he swore he would protect her from those feelings.
“Lavinia placed a bounty on the head of our daughter to be collected by the Skalor Jarls. Maeve assures me they are on a quest blessed by the gods. We must not interfere.”
“What has Briny said about this blessed quest?”
She does not fucking trust me. Avina, my little Queen, my fucking wife, kept me under sedation because she didn’t trust me.
Half my family is fucking gone! And I do not know what is happening or where to find them. Has Calder betrayed me? Why does Avina believe in him?
I need some fucking answers!
His fists splinter the wall behind him. He pauses, staring off into the rafters of the ceiling.
“I cannot believe you are my daughter.”
I fucking said that to Aura.
“Fuck!” He breathes heavily with the realization of how wrong he has been.
I have been causing damage.
“You let Thora believe she is unworthy to be Lady Commander when there is no one better on the Endless Shore to follow your footsteps. Aura wants nothing else in all the realms but your approval, and you barely give her a second of your time.” Avina’s breathing intensifies.
“Let us be honest, Sigvid, she entered that Death Match with Isabel becauseyoumade her feel she must become a Drengr. You made her feel like she wasn’t good enough.”
He has never seen her this furious.
Sigvid stares into her beautiful eyes, feeling like he deserves to be swept away by this storm. “I fucked up with our children.”
Before Avina can answer, a loud knock echoes from the front doors.
“Go the fuck away!” He roars back.
The doors burst open, and a battalion of soldiers wearing the snowflake of Skalor swarm into their central room.
The large table blocks Sigvid from grabbing Avina to protect her. He does not wait to find out why they are here.
His berserker side is already pounding on the back door of his senses. So he releases hisseidr, and everything fades to red as he roars loud enough for dust to rain from the rafters.
Fuck, I am still down to just one blackwood-handled axe, and it is in the weapons rack. I guess I will be going in with my fists.
He charges the soldier closest, punching his fist through the soldier's head. Blood, bone, and brain blast across those nearest him.
Bjorn appears atop the kitchen stairs, drawing his axes as he enters the fray.
