Chapter 33
Kai
FREYA’S BEST FRIEND
At the manor, waiting in the living room, I’m filling the boys in on what Avilyna told me last night.
“That’s crazy. A valkyrie? I mean, I knew some survived, but actually having proof of it? And all this time hidden in the Mundane World, that’s mindblowing.” Caleb’s eyes are wide open, as if he just saw one of the gods.
“And that’s exactly why this stays between us. The plan is to help her awaken, and for that, she needs to remember who she is. Otherwise, she’s as good as dead.” My arms are crossed tightly.
“So, basically, our job is to do research and find ways to unlock her memories.” Caleb summarizes.
“Exactly.”
Wyll pipes up for the first time, “I think I know where to start. Remember when I told you I had that sense of déjà vu?”
I nod.
“Well, when I tried to think about why I called her Lyna, everything just went blank. But when I stopped trying so hard. As my focus shifted to the other details of the memory, little flashes began to return. She was Freya’s best friend…
and Sammy’s.” Wyll looks up from his hands, locking eyes with us.
Then, it slowly falls back into place.
Coming back home from my day with Dad, I sprint toward the yard where Mom is sitting with a circle of women.
Wyll’s mom, Lirael, is among them. She grabs my shoulder as I pass, pulling me into a hug.
Her brown hair brushes against my cheek, soft and ticklish.
I put on a little show, pretending to struggle out of her arms, as if it bothers me, but I don’t mind.
In fact, I kind of like it. Not because my mother doesn’t love me. But because it’s nice to feel appreciated by someone else, especially when your Dad spends the whole day pointing out everything you do wrong.
“Aren’t you going to salute our guests?” my mom asks, more reprimand than question.
“It’s okay, Willow. After all, family isn’t really a guest,” Alek’s mom offers with a kind smile. She’s right, in a way, we’ve all been around each other forever. Our moms are kindred spirits, our dads friends. In the end, it creates a bond that feels a lot like blood.
I spot Wyll up in the tree branches, drawing in a small crowd of kids like some theatrical forest spirit.
No surprise, it’s all thanks to the ‘movie’ they watched in the Mundane World, similar to a play here.
Now he’s convinced he’s a cowboy. Made me promise we’d see the film together, swore I’d love it.
Before I can get to him, Sammy spots me. He bolts at full speed and tackles me to the ground. Then, with impressive determination, he manages to lock my arms behind my back.
Grunting into the dirt, I say, “Hello to you, too.”
“Soon I’ll be as strong as you! Then I’ll join you and Dad!”
“Oh yeah?” I slip free easily and flip the tables on him, pinning my six-year-old brother with exaggerated effort.
“So who taught you that move? Alek?”
Through a storm of giggles, he answers, “Lyna!”
“Of course,” I mutter, that’s when I see the little troublemaker. Her mom gently brushes one of Lyna’s wild copper curls behind her ear.
The pain is electric, slicing through my skull the moment the vision fades. Wyll found a loophole, and slowly the full picture is coming together. Avilyna looks so much like Camyla. Those eyes, windows of a soul I already know, and similar to Alek’s. She’s not just some girl.
She’s the lost princess of Kallahan.
The rules of the game just changed, confirming the giant, flaming target on her back, the kind you can’t miss.
“It’s always when I start thinking you’re hopeless that you pull some clever shit out of nowhere,” Caleb says with a sigh, shaking his head. Those two have always been like cat and mouse. Constantly trading jabs, yet somehow always complementing each other.
The fact that no one remembers her only deepens my suspicion. There’s a spell, something powerful, strong enough to wipe her from collective memories. There’s something wrapped in smoke and mirrors around Avilyna. So, I keep my mouth shut. No point in poking that hornet’s nest, yet.
“Ouch. That really hurts my feelings, Cal,” Wyll chimes in with an exaggerated whimper, clutching his chest as if he’s been shot.
But if Wyll hasn’t figured it out yet, he’s about to.
That’s Wyll for you, he plays dumb, but he’s a sneaky little bastard with more tricks up his sleeve than anyone suspects.
I roll my eyes at both of them. “Her mother was probably part of the Sergeant groups the Queen kept close by. And it looks like anything directly connected to her is hidden. The question is, why?”
I might suspect who she truly is, but why erase her from everyone?
“Guess we also have to figure that out,” Wyll replies, already stretching out on the couch, one arm tucked behind his head. “In the meantime, I’m taking a nap. You guys wake me if the world ends or if there’s pie.”
After several minutes of waiting for the girls, I finally break the silence, while Caleb still stares at the chessboard like it's gonna tell him its secrets. “Where the hell are they?”
And right on cue, a voice I’m getting way too familiar with calls out, “We’re here!”
“About damn time,” I growl.
“In the living room!” Wyll shouts back. They stroll in, Avilyna leading the way, followed by another girl I swear I’ve seen before. Long pink hair braided into pigtails, the healer uniform giving her away.
“This is Sakura Sato,” the Sensei’s daughter.
I narrow my eyes. “You already knew what she was?” I say, my voice is more questioning than greeting, sizing her up.
Everyone here heard the rumours about seers. They can glimpse the future, but it carries a heavy curse; their visions are both a gift and a burden. Sakura’s distant gaze tells me she’s seen things no one else can, and that makes her dangerous. She’s no simple healer.
“Oh yes, I did,” Sakura replies dreamily, barely acknowledging any of us. Too busy eyeing the room.
Avilyna tilts her head, “How’d you guess that?”
“She tested you on your first day; it’s mandatory.
” I deadpan, lucky it was that girl, anyone else would’ve reported her in a heartbeat.
And if that had happened, Avilyna’d be in a cell right now, getting questioned, picked apart.
Probably tortured for scraps of intel. Just the thought of it makes my chest tighten, my heart pound loudly, a damn drumline in my chest.
What the hell is happening to me? This is worse than turning.
At least that torment makes sense; it is a means to an end.
Everyone can probably feel it, the tension thick enough to choke on.
Vi’s frowning at me, reading my face like one of her stupid books.
I’ve got that look again, the one that says stay away.
Wyll steps in, “So, since you’re the healer.” Sitting up and fishing a joint out of his pocket, “How do we jog someone’s memory when it’s been wiped clean?” He lights it up, all calm. Nalaka stares at him, totally baffled.
“Wait… you smoke inside?”
Wyll takes a slow drag and shrugs. “My place. My rules.”
“Well, the quickest way is for Avilyna to awaken,” Sakura says, fingers lazily drifting over the ivory keys of the piano tucked away in the corner of the living room.
“It’s kinda like how someone wakes up after inhaling faerie dust, a total blank slate.
But at least for them, it’s only temporary.
” Not the comparison I would have used, but to each their own.
“There’s gotta be something she can do in the meantime,” Caleb says, leaning in.
“Visiting places tied to important memories might help,” Sakura adds. “Memories are tied to emotion. Familiar spots could trigger something.”
“I’ve been trying that,” Avilyna says, arms crossed tight.
“Before I got here, all I had were nightmares. But now… In Kallahan, it feels different. Familiar, but blurry. I’m grasping elements but not yet the big picture.
” She hesitates. “It’s like I don’t know where I’m headed until I’m there.
Then something clicks, a sixth sense telling me what to do. It’s hard to explain.”
We lock eyes.
“Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out.”
If she’s Lyna, Sammy’s Lyna, I’ll help her remember, for him, for me. So another person can keep his memory alive.
“You said it’s a spell. We must have some counter-spells for that kind of situation,” Nalaka interrupts, cutting through the silence.
Caleb, already moving toward the stairs, calls out.“If this is a Kvirr enchantment, we’ll need a specific kind of dispel. Sakura, can you get some grimoires on that type of enchantment?”
She claps her hands like a kid who has just been proposed a playdate. “I know exactly where to start!”
Another hour passes, and a step-by-step plan is pieced together.
Every role mapped out, every angle covered, and we finally call it a night.
As I am about to take the stairs, I spot Avilyna lingering behind, pressed against the cold wall.
Eyes locked on the ink-black sky outside, the stars distant pinpricks of light.
Tiny witnesses to the weight hanging on her shoulders.
We might not remember exactly who we are to each other, but my body sure does.
Because the moment I see her upset, words slip out.
“You wanna go for a ride?” She looks at me, hesitates for a split second, then nods.
We roll up to the closest portal, the same one we used, which feels like a lifetime ago now. Figured I’d turn it into a teaching moment and let Avilyna handle the opening.
Slicing her palm without missing a beat, speaking the magic word “Ftah,” and just like that, we’re through. I steer the bike toward the town entrance, pulling up in front of a general store.
“What are we doing here?” Vi asks, hopping off the bike, dust kicking up around her boots.
“I figured you might wanna restock on your favourite things.” She grabs my arm with an excited little jump like we just walked into a fair. Avilyna practically drags me inside. The bell over the door jingles, mixing with the smell of old wood and fresh coffee.
Next thing I know, she’s loading up a basket with everything from chocolate bars to lotions that promise to make her skin glow like a damn donut.
Then, of course, Vi heads straight for the books, a kid in a candy store.
She takes her sweet-ass time, flipping through every title as if she’s hunting for some secret message hidden in the pages.
Tilting her head, scanning every angle of the covers, as if they’re puzzles waiting to be solved.
I swear, the way she does it, you’d think she’s buying an aetherium weapon, not picking out bedtime stories.
I scan the shelves and spot a book that looks familiar, tall pine trees standing proud on the cover. I grab it and hold it out.
“I think you might like this one.” Avilyna’s green eyes flicker with recognition, and a soft blush creeps up her cheeks.
She bites her lip, looking away for a beat before quietly asking, “Oh… I’ve heard of it. Have you read it?”
I flash her a slow, knowing smile. “Here and there. Maybe I should tell you some parts.” Her breath catches, and I see her swallow, hesitating, then nod.
I close the distance, trapping her between me and the shelves.
The space between us hums, thick, electric, heavy.
I lean down to her level and drop my voice to a whisper.
“I rub my clit in soft, slow circles, and that’s where we stay for a minute. Felix pawing my tits as I play with myself, and Charles’ finger rests inside me.”
“KAI!” I burst out laughing as Avilyna’s face turns the same fiery shade as her hair.
“What?” I grin. “That’s your kind of book, you filthy girl.”
She fires back without missing a beat, “I don’t read it just for the smut, it’s about the romance, the tension, the build up.”
“Liar,” I shoot back, smirking as her eyes narrow like she’s two seconds away from throwing something at my head.
Squinting at me. “How do you even know that line? Or the character’s name?”
I shrug, cocky. “Let’s just say I had to make up for the whole electronics fiasco.” Her lips part, but before she can answer, I lean in with a smirk. “No shame in it, Princess. And hey, if you ever need a study buddy… I’m more than happy to oblige.”
Vi’s eyes flash with that fierce spark, and she crosses her arms, tilting her head just enough to give me that classic glare.“Study buddy, huh? You sure you can keep up? Because I don’t do slow learners.” Avilyna smirks, biting her lip, knowing full well she’s got the upper hand.
I step in closer, my voice dropping low. “Oh, I can show you just how fast I learn.” No teasing, no smirk, just the truth. Raw and heavy in the air between us, and we both forget to breathe for a second. Time stalls, the world narrowing down to just this moment. Then she breaks it, her voice soft.
“You should get it too, then.”
I reach past her, my arm brushing the top of her head as I grab another copy of the pine-covered book, and all the ones she’s holding.
“Deal,” I say, letting the tension slip into a grin. “Now let’s go get you a phone.”