He cannot bring himself to tell her the truth or allow Lavinia and the Jarls to use her against him. Just as he cannot allow hisseidrto destroy the Endless Shore to shield her from his demons. He must consider the fate of his people and hers!
Therefore, he focuses on the fury and turmoil. “I could never be with someone like you. I don’t want you, Aura.”
Finally, she stumbles back. Hurt, betrayal, and anger flood her features. She lifts her hand as if to smack him across the face, but tugs her hand to her chest before vanishing into the frozen maze.
13
AURA
September 5th, Year 21, 10th Era
Blackwood Estate, Treland
“What troubles you, Aura?” Avina tugs her dark auburn curls into a braided crown wrapped around a thin silver tiara embedded with sapphires. “You have hidden in your room again over the last several days. You seemed to be doing so much better since the Trial.”
Aura steadies her expression, knowing her mother watches her facial features closely in the mirror.
Calder’s betrayal hit so much deeper than Isabel’s. The latter presented signs she simply chose not to adhere to, where the Iss Drengr was everything she could have ever wanted.
How could he pleasure her to release one moment and then tell her he could never be with her the next? Since that day, she has chosen to remain in her room, not even confiding in her family about the men who took her that day.
They planned to kill her.
Worse, there was a familiarity with Calder.
Her captors knew him.
Why has her presence strengthened his powers and unsettled his ability to control them?
“Mum,” she says, picking at the fabric of her gown. “How did you handle Pops when he denied his feelings for you?”
Avina’s hands momentarily pause in her hair. The Princess had stopped inquiring about her parents’ complicated courtship as a child.
“It was complicated,” she recommences her twisting of Aura’s locks. “We had to grow to trust and respect each other.”
Avina catches her hesitation and stops, placing her hands on her shoulders to meet her gaze in the mirror. “Did something else happen with Isabel?” While the look in her mother’s eyes was nothing compared to her father's, she caught a hint of the simmering intensity reserved for the King’s berserker side.
“Nothing.” Aura lies.
I should tell Mum the truth, yet something holds her back.
After the Trial, those around her seemed to treat her like a delicate flower. She wants desperately to prove herself as a strong Salt Warrior, even if she could never become a Drengr.
“Aurie,” Avina spins her around. “My daughter, I want you to know I am so proud of the woman you are. I also worry about this pressure you place upon your shoulders at no one else’s bequest.”
Aura wraps her arms around her Mum, laying her head on her shoulder. “I want to be worthy of your admiration.”
Avina kisses her forehead, redirecting her to the mirror. “You always are worthy of my admiration. I just need you to be worthy of your own.” They smile through the reflection, and Aura nods. This is not the first conversation about her self-worth between mother and daughter.
“Now, this,” Avina taps the tiara on Aura’s head. “It was my favorite headpiece when I was first Queen. Your father crafted it for me, along with all my jewelry. It reminds me that he will always be at my side. Let it be a reminder today that you are our daughter, and we love you, no matter what has happened.” Avina twirls the perpetual loose hair at her temple. “Come on, let's finishgetting ready.”
Her mother insisted that she and her daughters wear the same gown style: a tight bodice, crisscrossing corset, and flowing satin skirt. While the Queen’s fabric is the color of the South Sea, the Princess’s is deep crimson.
Thora makes a choking sound in the doorway of their parents’ bedchamber. Despite her discontent over wearing a dress like a proper lady, she still shuffled into the matching gown. Except hers is a stunning shade of deep green, akin to the leaves on the Blackwood trees.
“Thank the gods, Aurafinallylooks respectable.”
“That’s ripe, coming from the one who stinks like an unwashed man. You must need two baths before anyone will even look at you.” Aura quips back.
