A darkness flashes across Lavinia’s face. “My mother became a whore to keep food on our table and a roof over our heads. What many don’t know is that a certain King of Skalor enjoyed calling upon her night after night. King Edric Zymer, my late husband, was cruel and unusual in his expectations. When I offered myself to him instead, I thought his savagery would cease. Alas, he took one final turn on her…and all of my younger siblings. In my nightmares, I can never unsee their twisted bodies.”
Aura halts as her veins run cold.
“Makt found me not long after. He offered power in exchange for loyalty. If I agreed to give him a son, he would raise me to become a lesser Goddess and his one, true Queen. We would take back his afterlife, the Palace of Virtue!”
“At the cost of Calder’s life!” Aura hisses. “Your son’s life.”
“He would have been a prince! He would have sat beside us in the Palace! All that would cost him is his mortal body.”
It is futile to wade through the murky waters of this confession and discern what is true or false about Lavinia.
The sound of her father’s gruff voice in her mind is the one certainty of this moment.
“Out of all the fucks in this world, be wary of desperate men. Those with nothing to lose will take the greatest risks.”
“Aura!” Argnier’s voice cuts through the crowd. Sheer terror laces his tone.
“Awe, there’s my favorite pet.” Lavinia’s twisted smile turns on him. “I see I am still your greatest fear, Argnier.” The Queen of Skalor's mirth turns Aura’s stomach. “Do give my son my best.”
Aura stands helpless as his body seizes, stumbling into a piling. Lavinia grabs Aura’s upper arm and drags her toward a waiting vessel. The Queen of Skalor pauses to remove Aura’s father’s blackwood axe, tossing it onto the pier.
“You won’t be needing that. Frankly, neither will Sigvid.” Lavinia forces Aura onto the ship, seating her beside her mother.
The Princess watches Sannhet Burg fade as they approach the larger vessel in the channel.
“Don’t worry, little Sigvidsson, after my son agrees to Makt, I will give you a swift death. You can join Calder in the Abyss while we reclaim Makt’s rightful place in the pantheon.”
“Why does it have to be Calder?” Aura watches as Lavinia focuses on the vessel waiting to take them to Nightwall Keep. “Because he is Makt’s son?”
“Gods can possess any mortal form. However, a halvgud offers perpetuity and strength unlike that of a mere mortal. Consequently, your kind requires permission.”
Aura cringes. “So Makt created a vessel just for him. One who would bear his power and likeness.”
Lavinia nods. “You catch on quick. The Norn hold a longstanding arrangement with the gods. Halvguds will always receive at least oneseidrability, whether it is the elemental that their godly parent wields or a Sacred Stone ability. Sometimes, both.”
She waves her hand dismissively, making Aura wonder even more about how powers are passed on.
“What a wonder it was when the Norn gifted him with Makt’s frost elemental,” Lavinia mutters. “But it is a shame, little Sigvidsson,” Lavinia continues, “to consider what gifts the Norn could have bestowed upon the children of you and Calder.”
40
CALDER
October 22nd, Year 21, 10th Era
Sannhet Burg, Skalor
“Have you seen Aura?” Calder forcibly questions Crystal, who has since returned their ship to the docks while in wyvern form.
She finishes dressing, tying a set of woven gauntlets to her wrist with one brow raised in warning at his tone.
Aura should have returned long ago, and the channel remains unfrozen. A sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach makes his palms sweat as a familiar sense of unease trickles into his heart.
Edmund rushes toward them, bending at the knees. “Aura is gone!”
The trio rushes further along the dock to find Argnier kneeling at the end of the pier, his hands tangled in his white hair.
Calder seizes his old friend’s shoulders. “What happened?”
