Chapter 46 Aura
AURA
Coldheart Keep, Skalor
Dark silhouettes swirl through her mind. Their whispers envelope her seidr with a warm familiarity as if they are a part of the fiber of her being. The trio of shadow figures' language sounds foreign yet reassuring to the young witch, who feels a sense of serenity in their presence.
“Aura?” Her name floats through her mind. The sound restarts the beat of her heart in its deep timbre.
The figures in her mind fade as her soul becomes entwined with its physical state.
No, do not leave me!
The three distinct beings ignore her callings as they vanish one by one.
As soon as the darkness falls over her, she feels a whooshing in her ears, and her eyelids fly open. She gasps as if she has never truly taken a breath before.
She discovers herself in Calder’s bedchamber in Coldheart Keep—a rare ray of sunshine in Skalor shimmers through the open window. A light breeze tickles her cheek, bringing with it the sweet scent of apples and autumn leaves.
“Aura!” Calder’s haggard face appears before her. His calloused hands grip her cheeks as the anguish in his features dies, replacing it with a man who has finally seen the light of day.
He clutches her body as if at any moment someone might rip her from his grasp. She relishes the sensation of being held safe within his strong arms.
Their moment hangs outside of time, belonging only to the relief that, hopefully, their quest is over.
She rests her cheek against his soft chest, sensing him shudder as he releases the emotion he has no doubt quelled beneath his stoic focus.
There is not a single word of comfort she can utter to this man, for she knows that’s not what he needs from her upon her return to the mortal realm.
“Even with the great axe, I still feared,” his voice is thick with emotion. “I thought you were truly lost to me, Aura.”
She licks her dry, cracked lips, wondering how he could have possibly entered and returned from an afterlife realm.
What had he done to free me from the cage of shadows where Makt had trapped me for what felt like an eternity?
“How did you do it?” She whispers against his ear.
She attempts to pull away when he doesn’t answer, but his grip tightens, refusing to let her out of his arms.
“I slew Makt.”
She lets out a sigh of relief.
At least he didn’t make a deal.
“And I owe Volund a favor.”
Her body seizes as she struggles to slowly process his words. “Volund? As in the God of Death?”
At last, he pulls her away so their gazes lock. His icy eyes are unnaturally red from lack of sleep, and tear stains mar his cheeks. “You need to understand something, beautiful girl,” his fingers trail along her jawline, “there is no life without you.”
“I love you, Iss Drengr.”
“Forever, Princess.” His forehead rests against hers as they silently relish the quiet peace, broken only by the songbirds outside the window.
Footsteps approach the chamber, and Edmund’s shriek nearly sends her back to the Abyss. “She’s alive! Aura is alive!”
The rest of the afternoon is a whirlwind spent relaying the events of her possession and Calder’s journey into the underworld with the Healers, Gothi, Crystal, and her parents.
Aura spent much of the time in the Abyss wandering through an eternal darkness that threatened her sanity. She is forthright in answering their questions, while Calder clamps his jaw and provides minimal information.
She still has yet to see Argnier or have anyone tell her what happened after Makt took control of her body.
Each time she broaches the subject, Edmund suffers a coughing fit and exits the room, leaving a knot twisting in her stomach.
Thankfully, by the time her belly grumbles loudly enough for the room to hear, the Healers announce that she is healthy, and the Gothi agree to hold a gathering to discuss the spiritual implications of the existence of gods trapped in the Abyss.
“In my lifetime, I have never known a mortal to enter Volund’s domain and re-emerge.” Crystal leans against the far wall as she braids her long red hair over her shoulder. “Your favor to the God of Death must be continent-changing, Calder.”
His grip on Aura’s hand tightens.
Avina enters the room with a tray stocked with Aura’s favorite foods.
“Thanks, Mum.” She gushes as Avina sets the tray beside her on the bed.
“You gave us quite the scare.” Her mother leans around Calder to kiss Aura’s cheek. “Why did you agree to Makt? Surely you knew your father and Calder would find a way to destroy him.” Avina leans against her father’s side, who has remained strangely silent since she awoke.
Aura picks apart the piece of cinnamon sugar cake into tiny pieces before explaining her interaction with Makt in the tower, and the revelation that she was the willing sacrifice.
Calder tenses at her side while Crystal bristles by the window.
Aura parts her lips to ask what happened after Makt assumed her form, only for her father to clear his throat.
“May I speak with Aura alone?”
Shuffling sounds fill the air as Crystal and her mother leave.
However, Calder doesn’t shift on the bed.
Sigvid’s jaw momentarily tightens before he perches on the other side of her.
“Aura,” he starts, taking her hands in his, which are somehow rougher than Calder’s.
“Nothing I can say will compensate for what I said to you in the carriage. I have regretted my words since they left my mouth in anger. And that does not excuse it.” He releases her hands to reach into his pocket and removes a Drengr medallion.
Oh, Pops.
“I made this for you before you took your Trials. I know if that fucking bitch did not blindside you, I would have placed this around your neck that day.” In a rare instance, Sigvid hesitates as if truly considering uttering his next thought.
“I know you can never pledge the oath to me,” he shoots Calder a narrow-eyed glare, “but I still want to give you this.”
She accepts the metal disc from his hand and grazes her fingers over the top of the rune. To think she dreamed of this moment since she was old enough to understand the importance of the Drengr Trials.
Yet, holding the medallion that should have been hers feels hollow. A moment that should have felt all-consuming, considering how long she had built it up in her mind. But Isabel saw fit to steal the magnitude of that broken path in her life.
There will never be a retake.
Aura would never become a Drengr of Sigvid.
However, a part of her now realizes that fate has always destined her to become a Drengr of Calder. Their journey represents only a tiny fraction of what the Norn have destined for her future.
“While I want to be the Queen Treland deserves,” she tucks a strand of curls behind her ear, “I cannot help but feel I have failed you as a daughter. As a Sigvidsson. I understand you need to make these amends with me, but,” she steels herself, knowing neither of them will accept anything less than the truth, “I stopped feeling like your kid winters ago.”
He looks like she slapped him across the face.
“Aura,” he shakes his head, realization dawning across his scarred features.
“I should never have allowed my issues as King to come between being your father.” He takes her shoulders and kisses her forehead.
“I am so sorry, Aurie. You should never have had to hold the brunt of my failures on your back by thinking you were anything less than worthy of me. I have not been fair to you.”
“I can forgive the things you said in anger.” Her time away has helped her see that life is too short to hold such grudges. “I felt as if I would not be enough for you.”
He wraps his arms around her in a tight embrace. She savors a rare moment with him that doesn’t involve death, sharp objects, or Sacred Stones.
“You are my world, Kid. You should have known my love for you is unconditional. And for that, I have failed you. I never should have pushed you so hard to become a Drengr.” He reaches into his breast pocket, removing Avina’s golden curl and a folded bit of worn parchment.
“I still keep the first drawing you ever gave me.”
He unravels the paper, revealing a sketch of his blackwood axes crossed along a creekbed in the Blackwood Forest.
She smiles, tracing the detail of the runes along the handle. “I thought you always wanted me to be a warrior, like you.”
“A part of me has always wanted all three of my children to follow in my footsteps,” Sigvid’s eyes glass over, and he glances away. “But I cannot deny the joy in you when your quill brings the nature of Salt to life.”
“My quill has always brought me a tranquility I can hardly describe. But that’s only part of who I am. I’ve only ever wanted you to accept that the little girl who sat beside you in Blackwood Forest is the same one who can hold her own in the ring.”
Tears brim in her father’s bright blue eyes. For the first time, in a long time, she can feel the pride emanating from the gruff warrior.
“There is, uh, one more item we should discuss now since Calder is here.” Sigvid grumps, turning to him. “Briny and I conversed the other day. The, uh, Norn have spoken regarding the next Guardian.”
Aura looks between the two men, and her heart warms.
“They have tasked you, Avardsson, as the next Guardian of Treland.”
Calder’s expression scrunches in adorable confusion. “Are you sure they spoke my name?”
Sigvid grunts, running his hand through his copper braid. “Briny could not have been more certain. You and I will discuss that process soon.” His words are vaguely threatening, forcing Aura to conceal her smirk.
Instead of frustration or bitterness, she feels only excitement for Calder. Since Crystal's uncollaring of her witch abilities, she is ready to embark on a different path than she had envisioned.
Her father offers Aura one final embrace before leaving her and Calder alone once more.
“Before anyone else interrupts.” She holds up a hand. “I must know what happened when Makt assumed my body.”
Calder’s throat bobs, looking away.