Chapter 32
Revna
In my dream, I was visited by the Tapestry. S?ren had passed out too, it seemed, because he was there with me.
“We feared this would come to pass,” the Tapestry said, not even bothering to greet us. I was just grateful the vertigo wasn’t present in this place of nothingness. “You must destroy Callum once and for all. We should never have let her—”
It broke off mid-thought and sighed. S?ren and I exchanged a glance. I raised an eyebrow and said, “I wasn’t aware you cared about the political state of the Fjordlands.”
“Politics are but a second string in this equation,” it murmured. “This is bigger. This is about magic. The threads tying the world together. They are all at risk, more now than ever before.”
“Because of Callum,” I said. Then I swallowed and looked away. “Because I brought him back.”
“Yes.” There was no sympathy in the many voices. I wrapped my arms around my middle. “But the past cannot be undone. Only the future is still susceptible to change.”
“You can see the future. See what happens. Do we manage to defeat Callum? Even without our Lurae?” S?ren asked.
I looked down at my palms. Sure enough, I didn’t hear the song of my Lurae anymore. The telltale twist of something more in my blood was gone. “How are we even here if we don’t have our Lurae anymore?”
“So many questions.” If the Tapestry had possessed a face, I would have expected to see a wry smile on it.
“You are able to be here because you were chosen—selected by Aloisa personally to be her heirs.
Your connection to us does not change even if your abilities to manipulate life and death are gone.
“As for your other questions: we can see the future, yes. Every possible future, like rolls of unspooled threads tangled together. But we decided long ago it is not our place to tamper with your choices. They will simply be made or not.”
“You can’t offer us anything?” I knew my frustration was obvious and I didn’t care. “Nothing to help defeat a monstrous dictator? You’d leave us alone to suffer through?”
The Tapestry’s voice sharpened. “Need we remind you who withdrew said dictator from our peaceful weaving and restored him to life?”
I scowled. S?ren grabbed my hand, squeezing it gently.
But it continued before I managed a retort. “We will offer you the only gift we have to give—the past. In your visions, you will find all the answers you need.”
It waved a hand, and the room flooded with color. I blinked and readjusted to the disconcerting sensation of seeing the world through a stranger’s eyes.
My hand pushed open the door in front of me. I stepped into the wastes, my boots sinking in two feet of powder. “Boys!” I shouted, cupping my hands around my mouth so I could be heard. “Time for dinner!”
Six small figures rushed over the hill in the distance.
One tripped and proceeded to roll all the way down, the snow cushioning his fall.
I only chuckled. An older brother helped him up when, with a wave of his hand, the snow beneath the fallen toddler lifted and deposited him directly on his feet once more.
Delighted, he clapped his mittened hands together and ran over to me.
I scooped him up in my arms, and he immediately pressed his tiny, cold nose to mine. “Welcome home, Hjalmar.” My voice was filled with all the fondness I—or rather, Aloisa—possessed. One by one, the other boys filed into the house and I called them by name.
Somewhere far away, I felt myself breathe in sharply. Hjalmar. Like the god of fire from Bhorglid’s pantheon. Six sons…which meant the rest of them had to be…
“Aksel.” I ruffled the hair of the oldest. “Asger. Viggo. Elias. Valdemar. Your father needs help setting the table.”
She set Hjalmar down, and Asger immediately stooped to help the tiny one take off his fur cloak and boots. The gods of Bhorglid’s pantheon, I thought. A mother and her little boys.
Aloisa moved to step over the threshold also, but then she heard it. I heard it.
A whisper on the wind.
The notes of a familiar melody.
I frowned and murmured, “After all these years?”
“Mama?” Elias said. “What is it?”
“Tell your father I had to run into the woods for just a moment,” I told him. “I think I hear an old friend.”
I blinked and rematerialized in the woods, staring at the Tapestry. It was identical to the version that appeared to me now. I—well, Aloisa—crossed her arms. “What are you doing here?”
“There is a…situation,” it said. “We understood your decision to be left alone, but we’re afraid someone must interfere before things are taken too far.”
I bit my lip and glanced back over my shoulder at the cabin. It was nestled at the foot of a mountain, safely shadowed there. Smoke puffed out from the chimney, and the clear windows were easy to see through—wrestling boys pulled apart by a laughing, patient man I knew was my husband.
“It is the only way to keep them safe,” the Tapestry said quietly. “The threads of the future have never pointed in a single direction so clearly before.”
She set her jaw. “Where are they?”
I blinked again and found myself in a familiar place—the prison where S?ren had kept me, where hundreds of years prior Arraya had tortured Tam. But it wasn’t the dank, horrifying place from my last vision. Now it was polished and clean, lit well, and staffed with a dozen guards.
But I barely stepped through the front door before I was intercepted.
My sister stood in front of me, her smile too genuine for comfort.
I tried to flinch away from Arraya—she looked as young here as she did in the present.
Aloisa’s body didn’t move, though, reminding me once again that I was not the one in charge of this vision.
I realized I still didn’t know exactly what Arraya’s Lurae was. Something that kept her from dying, clearly. I tucked the question away, thinking I needed to consult with S?ren upon waking to see what he thought. I didn’t see him anywhere, so I wasn’t sure if he was experiencing this vision, too.
“I’m so happy to see you.” Arraya wrapped Aloisa in an embrace. I stiffened, and she clearly noticed. She pulled back with a slight frown on her face. “Aren’t you here to join us?”
“I’m here to find out more about this…movement of yours,” I said, adjusting my cloak. “I haven’t made a final decision yet.”
“Oh.” It was strange to see the Queen of Kryllian appear genuinely sorrowful.
I knew her only as a cunning leader, carefully holding her secrets to her chest until she held the upper hand.
But Arraya perked up quickly. “Callum will convince you. Come sit down and I’ll get him. He’s been so excited to see you again.”
Soon enough, we all sat around a table in a barren room.
I glanced around, noting the absence of guards.
It was frigid, my breath fanning out in front of my face.
Callum’s hair had darkened a bit since his resurrection.
He wore it longer, falling to the tops of his shoulders, and his face now bore lines of wear.
He appeared to be in his mid-thirties now, but I wasn’t sure what his age truly was.
Despite the changes in his appearance, my heart ached at the sight of him. He’d been my best friend once. But along the way, he’d decided power was worth more than his responsibility to do right by the people of the Fjordlands.
He drummed his fingers against the surface before him and said, “What do you know of our efforts?”
I shrugged, feigning indifference. “Nothing, really. Only that you’re endeavoring to unite the Fjordlands. Rumor has it you’re building an army.”
“Not an army,” Arraya interrupted. “A group of trusted elite.”
“To fight?” I raised a brow.
Callum shook his head. “To worship.”
Silence stretched. “Worship…what? Whom?”
He rolled his eyes, then looked at Arraya.
“I told you she was just here to try and right our ‘wrongs.’ You know the answer, Aloisa. The moment that thing in the ice touched our souls and made them more we ceased to be human. We became gods. Letting magic run free is a recipe for chaos. The people need leadership, guidance. Someone to look to in their times of need. Who is better suited for such a thing than us?”
I folded my hands together. “Us? Not just you?”
“No. We need you, Aloisa. You and I are both gods—you deserve the worship you’ve earned as well.”
I bit my lip, knew instinctively that Aloisa was holding back dozens of responses, all of which involved screaming. I managed to keep my voice level when I asked, “And how have you earned it? What are you doing to improve people’s lives?”
“Well.” Arraya leaned forward eagerly. I realized she looked the same, but it was obvious just how much younger she was in this vision.
Time hadn’t jaded this version of her. She was no cunning monster, not yet.
Just a young woman with a vision and a husband she’d do anything for.
“We’ve built multiple prisons throughout the wastes, and most teleporters are faithful to our cause.
Callum goes from village to village and introduces himself.
Those who follow and pledge their allegiance are blessed—many choose to join the Holy Order of Priests.
Those who don’t are shown the error of their ways. ”
I tilted my head. “You imprison all who do not agree with you?”
“No,” Callum said, crossing his arms. “It has nothing to do with us and everything to do with their willingness to acknowledge what is absolute truth: the Lurae are superior to their Nilurae counterparts in every way. And within that hierarchy, you and I reign supreme.” He shrugged.
“A like-minded people create a productive society. Many villages are relocating to be more central—moving south, to where we’ve started building a capital city. We plan to name our empire Bhorglid.”
“After the lake where we received our Lurae,” I murmured. Within, my heart sank. The situation was more hopeless than I had guessed.
He nodded. “The hierarchy does not end with gods. It ends with universes of combined consciousness. With…” He gestured for me to finish.
“The Tapestry,” I concluded grimly. Aloisa’s thoughts spun, mingling with my own horror. “Tell me what would happen if I joined you. What would my role in your revolution be?”
Callum relaxed slightly at this. “You and I will reign as gods side by side. We can divide responsibilities among us. But think of what it would mean for people to know they couldn’t move on after death without accepting our teachings first! Your efforts in our cause would be a monumental help.”
Arraya chimed in. “Aren’t you tired of suffering? Living off the land? We know your home is in the middle of nowhere. Haven’t you worked hard enough? Callum’s doctrine is clear: the strongest holds the power. In this world, in our lifetime, perhaps for eternity, you are the strongest.”
My emotions changed the instant Arraya reached across the table and placed her hand gently over mine. She believes this. She genuinely believes this is right.
Anger vanished, replaced by a sorrow more bone-deep than anything I’d ever known. Aloisa’s eyes filled with tears, her vision blurring as her mind spun. I will have to kill my sister and my best friend. How? How can I do such a thing?
I stood abruptly. “Thank you for speaking with me. I need some time to think things over. For now, I must return to my home.”
Arraya stood too, and it seemed she did not understand what her sister was feeling or thinking. “Don’t let twenty more years go by before we see you again. I want to meet my nephew before he’s entirely grown.”
Aloisa nearly buckled at the reminder. Arraya had no idea that Aloisa was a mother six times over—no, she knew of only Aksel’s birth. It had been shortly after when Aloisa had taken her family away, determined to free herself of the demands her Lurae brought on them all.
She can never know of the other children, I thought fiercely. I will keep them safe no matter what it takes.
The scene faded, and the Tapestry’s endless space of nothing reappeared. “You are waking. You will not be able to access this place on your own without your Lurae.”
I sat with the knowledge. Callum and Arraya were trying to do the same thing they’d done over three hundred years ago. Imprison the Nilurae, force the Lurae to comply, and establish themselves as gods. My voice was empty as I said, “I understand.”
The Tapestry disappeared, and the real world greeted me once more.