Aura’s shoulders slump at the sight of a small child wearing a dagger at their waist. “Forgive me, Eivor, my mind is elsewhere.”
The child grins, showing several gaps in her teeth. “Well, best get your mind on your Trial! You need to become the Lady Commander when I take mine.”
She smiles, glancing at the dagger she had taught Eivor to craft last winter. The orphan girl lives alone with her older brother, Serk. She has instructed them both in combat in exchange for the most delectable Salt recipes she has ever tasted.
“Why is that?”
Eivor rolls her eyes. “So you can put the medallion on me, silly. Oh! That reminds me.” Her tongue pokes out of the corner of their mouth as she digs through her baggy pants. “Happy Trial!” She extends a tiny fist toward Aura, who responds with an outstretched palm to reveal a braided rope bracelet. The colors are a light shade of blue, much like ice, while the other is somehow the exact color of a flickering fire.
“Did you make this?” Aura slides it onto her wrist, a tad taken aback at the perfect fit.
Eivor nods. “You always have the worst luck, Aura. I had a Gothi bless it with good luck! You need it.”
When did the Gothi bless anything?
Aura swallows hard at the gesture and wraps the child in an embrace. “Thank you.”
“Promise you will find me afterward!”
“Promise.”
“Wait!” Eivor holds out her pinky. “Pinky promise.”
Aura kneels and wraps her pinky around Eivor’s tiny finger. “You got it.”
After shooing the young girl, she holds her breath as she strides to the stadium. Suddenly, she is overly conscious of the looming darkness rolling off the South Sea.
It will be awet Trial.
She shakes her head with a chuckle once she reaches the towering oval stadium crafted of white marble. Her father modeled the design after the very shithole he found himself in after his war with Mum ended.
She likes to think he enjoyed his time inside far more than he lets on.
The original tale of the Drengr states that while Toftlund expanded under her Grandfather, Thord, to become a trading port, the ever-flowing traffic from the sea brought more crime to an already run-down city. Her father’s newly formed Drengr muscled its way into enforcement for the traveling merchants and poor city folk.
After the country's unification, the Drengr Army exploded to replace the country's central military, and those who could not pass the trials transitioned to the guards for each province.
In the distance, she can hear the roar of the crowd as another warrior takes their trial. According to her brother, Bjorn, people traveled across Treland to witness the Princess become a Drengr. A feat that would ensure all three of the Lord Commander’s children and his wife, the Queen, could claim such prestige.
She descends the ramp under the field to an underground expanse of ready rooms where she can focus on her headspace.
“Mum!” She squeals with joy.
Family and friends are welcome to visit recruits before their Trials, but her family has offered her space during the last two. Today, she finds her mother reclining in one of the seats, her long golden curls in several braids. She wears a lovely blue dress with Salt knots matching the intricate tattoos snaking up her arms.
Avina’s smile widens as she stands to embrace her. “I am so proud of you, Aurie. Your final Drengr Trial. I had no doubt your determination would lead you here.”
She relaxes, laying her head on the shoulder of perhaps her favorite person on the Endless Shore. “Thanks, Mum.”
However, Avina’s smile does not reach her eyes, and suddenly, Aura’s stomach clenches.
“This journey has been difficult. More than anyone, I know this isnot where your strength lies.” She slides Aura’s braid between her thumb and forefinger. “Please understand that you can choose not to finish the Trials. No one will think less of you. My love for you is unconditional.”
Aura nods, her gaze fixed on the ground. This is not the first time her mother has expressed such a sentiment.
What she would not give to walk away. To purchase new drawing books and spend the rest of her life chasing mink families through the Blackwood Forest.
Alas, she is Sigvid's daughter.
