“If the book is correct, then Aria’s merely one half of the power needed to end the goddess.” Heat rushed through me as the image of Aria fucking me sliced through my mind. The girl was mine, period. I didn’t give a fuck what preordained bullshit our ancestors had put into work. I wouldn’t be sharing my girl with anyone else. Fate be damned. “It forced Draghana to sacrifice something for what she molded into existence through seidr magic—”
“I know we all assumed it was Hecate’s doing, with us not being able to take dragon form. But what if Draghana’s sacrifice was our ability to take our feral forms?” Brander questioned as he cut me off. “If she was the last to take dragon form, maybe she gave it up to protect her people.”
“It is possible,” I agreed with his perceptive reasoning. “But we need to consider Dracarius as well. After all, he held the ability to foretell the future and shapeshifted into a dragon in order to breed with Draghana. I think they prevented us from shifting, but it’s weakening. It is possible that it wasn’t what she sacrificed. In fact, I don’t think she would remove our ability to protect ourselves or that of future generations. Whatever she did, she did it after Hecate was within the Nine Realms. I don’t believe she’d leave us defenseless against the goddess demanding we concede to her reign of terror throughout the land. I think Dracarius bound our ability to shift in order to protect us from ourselves. Whatever Draghana sacrificed is irrelevant right now. It’s who she sacrificed it for, that is.”
“You’re saying both women sacrificed something in order to create one weapon?” Killian asked with a perplexed look tightening over his face. “You?”
“I don’t think so,” I admitted. “I can wield her magic. That isn’t a question, but it takes a lot of effort for me to manage siphoning enough to do serious damage. It doesn’t come freely to me, which it should if Draghana sacrificed to create the second half of the weapon designed to force the goddess back to her tomb.” It was irrefutable. Acting as a conduit for Aria’s magic was difficult. If they’d used seidr magic to forge me, it wouldn’t be so.
“You think the one prophesied to be the conductor of Aria’s magic is within the new realm?” Brander questioned as a soft rap of knuckles sounded from outside the library. He waited until Lore and Greer both entered the spacious room before continuing.
“It’s possible, but in order for her to be what they prophesied, she had to reach for the crown. Once she reaches for her throne, it will set everything else into motion. Once Aria reaches for her crown, whatever the old gods promised Draghana will come to pass in all the realms. Her going there was inevitable. If it wasn’t, I’d have prevented her from leaving us.” Greer’s eyes met mine briefly before he sat down beside me.
“It’s rather amusing that you think you could prevent her from going, Knox. I assure you of this, that girl’s chaos in motion. Aria Prometheus is the chaos effect. What Scylla and Draghana did, it’s the butterfly effect. A small action that produced something larger. Aria is small, but her impact within the Nine Realms won’t be. Scylla wasn’t selfless. She was a great queen skilled in both warfare and seidr magic,” he said with a sly look in his eyes.
“That much I’ll agree with,” I uttered.
“After all, Scylla knew what she was doing when she set forth the prophecy pertaining to the child born of the first people. Scylla was among the first people within the Nine Realms. They’re mirrored after the nine worlds in Norse mythology. Her blood houses the gift of fertility through it, which is how she could influence and design the matter of Aria’s birth. Scylla didn’t blindly select Aria as a champion. Instead, she molded her from magic and carefully built her into what would be needed to end the suffering of her people. Everything Aria is, or will be, isn’t by chance. It’s by design.”
“How do you know that?” I queried as Lore picked up the volume I’d been reading earlier and began tossing the ancient tome into the air. “Lore, that’s older than you are. Put it down.” Greer glanced across the room at Lore, smirking as he begrudgingly placed the heavy tome back on the table.
“You’re not the only one who has access to the library, Knox. Do you think I waste away pining for you when you go out to safeguard against attacks? I pity you if you truly thought I did so. I enjoy history, but I love learning about the little queen driving you up the wall. Your pretty peasant is a mystery to even those of us who know it all.” Dusting an invisible speck of lint from his tunic, he returned his attention to me. “If you’d have been paying attention instead of fantasizing about Aria, you’d have read the part where Scylla didn’t merely call upon the old gods. She called on the Norns. The beings who shaped the course of destinies from two beings into that of one.”
“What does that mean for Aria?” I demanded, as emotion shot through me. Fear of losing her after I’d finally learned to see more than my anger. I’d never craved to be bound to anyone. Definitely not as badly as I wanted Aria to be tethered to me.
“It means, you dolt, that she’s destined to discover who she is and then, once she has, whoever is connected to her will grasp onto the thread. Once they do, it will either intertwine their destinies and souls together, or create inner turmoil until both rip it from their souls to free themselves of the connection. The Norns were both malevolent and benevolent maidens. Which one answered Scylla’s call remains unknown.”
“Are you telling me Scylla was unaware of which type of Norn answered her fucking plea before she sacrificed God only knows what in order to create Aria?” If that were true, it meant Aria could be malevolent, as well. If what Greer said was factual, it meant she might turn into the monster the Nine Realms feared she’d become. Which would leave us with a new, stronger, more calculated monster running rampant through the world.
“It’s impossible to know which type answered her call. I can tell you that the malevolent Norns enjoyed causing tragic events, while the benevolent Norns were both kind and protective. If you’re asking if either taints Aria, then the answer is no. She’s neither. That girl is the monster you and others created. They couldn’t influence her any more than I could. Who and what they are isn’t the issue at hand. It’s who they twined the thread of fate to, which should worry you the most. If the latter of the two held the thread, then Aria would know much more tragedy before she unravels it, severing the thread. Aria will have to decide whether she wants to intertwine her fate with someone else or cut the thread that connects them together. But if Aria breaks the thread, she may lose her own life.”