Chapter 39 Aura
AURA
Sannhet Burg, Skalor
The team divides the remaining tasks to fortify Sannhet Burg against another attack. While the men stay in the city, Crystal flies back to retrieve their boat, and Aura heads to the docks to freeze the channel and prevent reinforcements from reaching the city by ship.
As she steps onto the pier, she notices a larger vessel anchored in the channel.
Another crew of Odo’s?
Aura’s feet barely reach the end of the wharf when her hunter seidr senses she is not alone. Slowly, she pivots and finds the pier surrounded by soldiers in Skalor uniforms.
In the center stands Queen Lavinia, wearing her signature coy smile and a black velvet cloak over a form-fitting gown the color of melted gold.
“Good Day, little Sigvidsson.”
Aura raises her hands, the fury of her fire element coursing through her veins as she recalls Crystal’s training on ranged attacks.
“Nuh, uh, uh,” Lavinia wags her index finger, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t scorch you and your men!” Aura snarls.
Lavinia’s smile widens as she steps aside to allow two men to drag forward one of the few people who could stop both Aura’s heart and hands.
“Mum!” She rushes forward, abandoning her seidr.
A group of guards cross their spears, preventing her from reaching Avina. Her mother is bound and gagged, with sudden terror reflecting in her gaze at the sight of her youngest child.
“I believe your dear mother is a compelling enough reason.” Lavina clasps her hands behind her back, her heels clicking across the decking until she towers over Aura.
“You will come willingly onto my ship, where you will provide motivation for my son to embrace his fate. If you choose not to comply,” she snaps her fingers, and one of the guards presses the edge of his blade to Avina’s throat.
Aura glances at the sheer number of soldiers and her mother’s presence, realizing that she and her companions have fallen into a trap. “You knew Calder would never abandon Clementia to Odo!”
Lavinia laughs. “Oh, little Sigvidsson, I anticipated everything.”
She paces past Aura along the dock.
“I knew you allied with that wretched Wicked Wyvern and that she would foresee the fall of Sannhet Burg. I counted on my son’s weakness for you after destroying that tool of a man, Odo.
Calder would want to block himself off from me.
It was just a guess that between you and the Wyvern, you would be the one he sent to the docks.
” She says her name with a sneer that has Aura’s blood boiling.
Aura shakes her head, unable to believe they fell into Lavinia’s hands so effortlessly. “My father will rip your skin from your bones when he learns what you’ve done!”
Lavinia brushes her delicate hands over her cloak. “First, he must overcome his anger at your mother for keeping him under Azure.”
Mum? She glances at Avina, who hangs her head.
“Should the Beast manage that, we all know his need for vengeance mingles nicely with that berserker trait of his—a beautiful concoction that outweighs common sense.” Lavinia glances out over the channel with a smirk.
By the gods, surely Father will not have fallen into her clutches, too.
“You see, little Sigvidsson, your true fear on that dais in the longhouse was not just your father’s death by the hands of my son. No, you had another fear that you would be the cause of more pain for your mother.”
Lavinia stops next to Aura, leering down at her. “Now, look what you’ve done.” She spits in her face before sweeping away. “Your father is in Kaldrgataness, awaiting the Iss Drengr to arrive. We both know how the King of Treland will react. We both know how my son will respond.”
Aura stumbles backward, trying to maintain her logical thought amidst the spiraling emotions. Surely Calder would know this is a trap.
He wouldn’t kill her father.
Would he?
What if Pops berserks and won’t stop?
What if Calder has no other choice?
As if sensing Aura’s thoughts, Lavinia wraps her arm around her shoulders, guiding her back to the troops. “My son has one weakness on the mortal plane. I fear it is you.” She brushes Aura’s curls from her face.
The simple touch enrages the Princess, who shoves away. “Did you ever love him? Did you ever care for your only child?”
A darkness flashes across Lavinia’s face.
“My mother became a whore to keep food on our table and a roof over our heads. What many don’t know is that a certain King of Skalor enjoyed calling upon her night after night.
King Edric Zymer, my late husband, was cruel and unusual in his expectations.
When I offered myself to him instead, I thought his savagery would cease.
Alas, he took one final turn on her…and all of my younger siblings.
In my nightmares, I can never unsee their twisted bodies. ”
Aura halts as her veins run cold.
“Makt found me not long after. He offered power in exchange for loyalty. If I agreed to give him a son, he would raise me to become a lesser Goddess and his one, true Queen. We would take back his afterlife, the Palace of Virtue!”
“At the cost of Calder’s life!” Aura hisses. “Your son’s life.”
“He would have been a prince! He would have sat beside us in the Palace! All that would cost him is his mortal body.”
It is futile to wade through the murky waters of this confession and discern what is true or false about Lavinia.
The sound of her father’s gruff voice in her mind is the one certainty of this moment.
“Out of all the fucks in this world, be wary of desperate men. Those with nothing to lose will take the greatest risks.”
“Aura!” Argnier’s voice cuts through the crowd. Sheer terror laces his tone.
“Awe, there’s my favorite pet.” Lavinia’s twisted smile turns on him. “I see I am still your greatest fear, Argnier.” The Queen of Skalor's mirth turns Aura’s stomach. “Do give my son my best.”
Aura stands helpless as his body seizes, stumbling into a piling. Lavinia grabs Aura’s upper arm and drags her toward a waiting vessel. The Queen of Skalor pauses to remove Aura’s father’s blackwood axe, tossing it onto the pier.
“You won’t be needing that. Frankly, neither will Sigvid.” Lavinia forces Aura onto the ship, seating her beside her mother.
The Princess watches Sannhet Burg fade as they approach the larger vessel in the channel.
“Don’t worry, little Sigvidsson, after my son agrees to Makt, I will give you a swift death. You can join Calder in the Abyss while we reclaim Makt’s rightful place in the pantheon.”
“Why does it have to be Calder?” Aura watches as Lavinia focuses on the vessel waiting to take them to Nightwall Keep. “Because he is Makt’s son?”
“Gods can possess any mortal form. However, a halvgud offers perpetuity and strength unlike that of a mere mortal. Consequently, your kind requires permission.”
Aura cringes. “So Makt created a vessel just for him. One who would bear his power and likeness.”
Lavinia nods. “You catch on quick. The Norn hold a longstanding arrangement with the gods. Halvguds will always receive at least one seidr ability, whether it is the elemental that their godly parent wields or a Sacred Stone ability. Sometimes, both.”
She waves her hand dismissively, making Aura wonder even more about how powers are passed on.
“What a wonder it was when the Norn gifted him with Makt’s frost elemental,” Lavinia mutters. “But it is a shame, little Sigvidsson,” Lavinia continues, “to consider what gifts the Norn could have bestowed upon the children of you and Calder.”