“I am so happy that Aegir has finally found you! Where is he? Is he coming here as well?”
I was not going to risk us getting kicked out of the house, or worse—getting us back to the bobcat treatment.A desperate lie is not always a bad lie, Semuel voiced in my head. Marshen kept sipping on his tea, for once keeping his mouth shut.
“The tea is delicious, thank you, Emika. No, he still has some glass business with King Belzari that he has to take care of first. I am heading north to Nivaria.”Truth.
“Oh, I see, strange that you do not travel together.”
“Yes, we…he—”
“And oh! I realise now that you called me by my name. So you must know who I am.”
“Of course. You’re Aegir’s favourite aunt, Emika.”
She laughed at that, but it was not her laugh that struck me; it was her eyes watering at what I was sure was the love she felt for him. Then I remembered about her son…Galen. Daekon was definitely laughing at me now. But I did not lie to her; it was true, Aegir did love her. I was certain of that.
“It’s rather late, and you two look like a mess. Why don’t you bathe and rest. We’ll have tea together in the morning. Oh! And let me get you some clean clothes.”
She asked Arrow—Vinnie—to show us to the guest bedroom.
After taking the longest bath, I crawled into bed with heavy-lidded eyes, savouring theI’m-Aegir’s-ladytreatment. I slept with a comfortable body and a guilty conscience.
Outside was indeed beautiful in the morning light. The view before us was lush with towering trees, shrubs, bushes, and a variety of other plants. Blooming flowers surrounded the cottage. I could see now that they resembled a calm sea of blue—all kinds of shades.
I could also understand why a soulbound couple would choose to die here.
The Strongmen reminded me of Aegir’s men. His Vanguard. They were merciless and brutal, yet kind and full of selective love. Vinnie and Braun—Big One—gave us a brief tour of the village. Then they took Marshen and me on a hike to the peak of the hill that overlooked the charming valley. We picked fruit from trees on our way back in preparation for our journey up north.
It was truly scenic. I had never seen so many plants and animals coexisting like that. Life thrived here, not like where I was from, where only the prickliest and the most stubborn survived.
We saw plenty of squirrels along the way, which I thought were the cutest little critters. I realised then that the forest was not that terrifying after all. It was beautiful—it waslife. I felt a tight knot in my stomach, remembering how I had once planned to venture here with Cinnamon. I was sure she would have loved it here. There was certainly plenty of food and water to thrive on. I missed her terribly. I missedhimterribly. I just missed all of us, together.
During dinner, I learned that the Strongmen were the sons of Arlon and Rynn Myrchorn’s cousins.Thosewere Galen and Aegir’s second cousins. Emika also talked about her husband’spassing—not just her husband…her soulbound. And so now, at the age of ninety-three, she would soon pass on to reunite with him in the afterlife. With her son, too.
I imagined all of them heartbroken and frustrated, wondering what had happened to him. Aegir said they never found Galen’s body and that they had to conduct a funeral with an empty casket. My heart ached for them. It reminded me that I, too, never knew where the bodies of my dead parents were. Perhaps the closeness and familiarity of such a burden made my heart ache just that bit more.
I found myself smiling in sympathy as I watched Emika in Vinnie’s arms, dancing around the kitchen. By dancing, I meant Vinnie gingerly lifting Emika from her tiny waist and gently swirling her around. Striking, I thought, the contrast between their bodies, pale white against dark brown. I could see it then, the combination of both, resulting in a skin colour that was golden brown, just like Aegir’s…like Galen’s, I would imagine, too.
Long after saying our good nights, I grabbed my Earthen book and made my way downstairs. My footsteps were silent thanks to the fluffy socks I was wearing. The sitting area was empty.
I made myself a nice hot cup of blueberry tea, then sat on one of the sofas, reading something about the evolution of Dunehaven and the birth of its market.
I jerked as I caught movement. “Oh, you startled me,” I whispered, half giggling at the milk-white furry cat that curiously leapt next to me. Then I asked, knowing that I would never get an answer, “What’s your name, you cute little thing?” The blue-eyed cat gracefully made her way onto my lap and circled herself around before tucking in her paws and wrapping her fluffy tail around her body. Her eyes turned heavy and shepurred as I gently petted her forehead with the back of my fingers.
“Don’t you dare leave me,” I whispered to her. “I’m going to make myself another cup.” Her front legs dangled when I lifted her and she let out the cutestmeow. I gently lowered her onto the sofa, her hind legs meeting the cushion first. I huffed as she immediately disobeyed my order and leapt away.
I heard the cane first.Emika.
“You are so sweet,” she said, as I handed her a cup of tea. After a while, she asked, “Did he tell you about him, about my son?”
I swallowed. “He did…I am so sorry, Emika, I wish—”
“Shh, don’t say anything. We have mourned him. Offered his soul to Boreas and his body to Sylva, and now, I have come here to pass on, on the same land as my husband, my soulbound. You know that I may have had only one son, but in reality, it always felt like I had three. Aegir and Eldric are also my sons, you see. The three of them were born in the same year. We were so close. And not just us four, we were united as a family. Queen Akaterina was a good woman, an ambitious one, a dreamer, a fighter, a longtime friend. We raised Eldric ourselves. The both of us nursed him, after his mother passed during childbirth. His father blamed him for her death, you see.”
I did not know that. My heart ached for Eldric, my friend, my mentor, whom I had abandoned. Then I remembered how huge he was, bigger than any male I had ever seen. He must have torn his way into the world. I blinked the thought away and shifted in my seat, taking another sip from my tea.
“Queen Akaterina changed with time, you see. Her mortality changed her, as it did me. It made me weak and wither. Yet I would do it all over again.” She took a small sip and continued. “When Ilma was assaulted, the Queen and King of Silch were old. Akaterina signed the peace treaty without afight. Aegir and his siblings were not happy about their parents’ choice. They argued constantly about it, Aegir especially. But Akaterina feared for the lives of the Ilmans…and for Galen’s, who she believed was still alive, captured. She blamed herself for choosing him to guard Queen Mirana and her daughter. She could barely look into my eyes. But I knew my son. Yet…some part of me keeps hoping.
“I had felt that my family was drifting apart when Galen was sent away. I despised my queen’s choice. But it truly broke us after the attack. That’s why my husband and I decided to come here, to die here. Ryvar, the eldest, was appointed as the Ice King of Silch after their deaths. Akaterina’s last dying words were to the new king:‘Choose wisely, my son, for there is no happy ending. The choice is only between certain death and forsakenness.’
