Chapter 61
Just from her tone of voice, I could tell that she was old and frail.
“You came back to visit so soon?”
The woman staggered out of the room, tying the strings of her green robe around her slender waist. Young One was in tow, cane in hand, yet the woman kept her stare pinned on mine as she limped my way.
Her wrinkles were carved deep into her furrowed brow, visible on that milk-white skin of hers. Her long hair was just as pale. I imagined it being like that even when she was young. Then I noticed a pointed ear peeking out of it.
“My god, girl, don’t you have a scent of your own?” I noticed her eyes reflected bright blue when she moved closer. “Untie her. Now!” she demanded.
That’s when I realised that this old lady was not frail at all.
“Untie them,” she repeated, even though the Strongmen were already on it.
Then she made the four of them apologise to us as if they were not Strongmen from Myrkvein, but three-year-olds who had just disappointed their teacher.
Apparently, they thought we were the bobcats that had been eating their chickens and rabbits.
It was the bobcat’s trap that we fell into, or rather were lifted onto.
Then they figured we were bandits. Still, it wasn’t necessary to treat us the way they did, but I said nothing.
I couldn’t risk getting us back on their bad side.
“My dear girl, will you tell me your name?” she asked as she poured us a hot cup of the most delicious tea. She said it was blueberry-infused.
“I’m Delia. Cordelia Wildheart, and this is—”
“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 the I’m-Aegir’s-lady treatment. 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 was life. 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 missed him terribly. I just missed all of us, together.
During dinner, I learned that the Strongmen were the sons of Arlon and Rynn Myrchorn’s cousins.
Those were Galen and Aegir’s second cousins.
Emika also talked about her husband’s passing—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 she purred 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 cutest meow.
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 a fight. 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.’
“‘I choose neither, Mother,’ he told her.
“Ryvar’s words lingered long after he closed both of her lifeless eyes.
One may not understand her choices, but what she saw was the lives of many, including the Water Priestesses, possibly my son, hanging on a thread.
The price was too high, the risk too grave.
And so she surrendered. And with that old age, my dear, you would have to be in this state to know that you could not possibly endure a war.
I can barely make it outside the house without my cane. ”
“What the Naaris did was unforgivable. I always wondered how they could do such awful things. And for what?” I said, my voice low.
But then I told her, “I cannot imagine the sorrow that comes with losing a child, but I know loss. I lost my parents at a very young age. So despite it not being the happiest ending, I still manage to find a speck of happiness amongst your pain and heartache. I’m glad that you got to raise your son, that you had years worth of time surrounded by a close family and people that love each other.
I’m glad that you got to spend many years with your soulbound and with your sons. ”
A tear slid down her face and she reached for my hand. Her touch was so cold and frail. I swore her body felt inches away from death. I placed my other warm hand on top of hers.
“I do tell that to myself sometimes…to appreciate all those years of us together, as a family. You see, I, too, lost my father at a very young age. He died before I was even born. They hunted my parents. Killed my father while I was in my mother’s belly. My mother escaped. He saved us.”
My lips pursed. I knew the pain she felt.
To lose someone you don’t know, someone you won’t ever get to know.
Yet out of all that, I knew the not-knowing-what-happened-to-her-son was the hardest part.
I felt it, just like Alma felt it, too. Not knowing where her husband was, whether he breathed still.
Then she looked at me and said, “I am only going to tell you this because I don’t know how much time I have left, and I do not wish to enter the afterlife without getting to tell you these words.
When I first came to this Land, I gave Aegir my wedding ring.
I still remember Arlon’s heartwarming smile when he gave it to me on the day we bound our souls together.
It was his mother’s, you see. We planned on giving it to Galen, but after his funeral, my heart told me to give it to Aegir.
I want to tell you that I am very happy that you will be the one wearing it for the years to come.
I can tell that you are just like him. Brave and strong and kind.
” Guilt washed over me, gnawed at me down to my tainted core.
I imagined Daekon, his chest bobbing with every belly laugh as he carved my name onto an empty cell, waiting to snatch my soul from Amfir’s grasp.
I had no words. She said all those things to me and nothing came out of my mouth.
I felt my skin prickling, my face turning red.
Emika reached for the cane and slowly got to her feet. “Well, I’d better leave you now. But tomorrow—tomorrow have tea with me.”