The noise made it difficult for Gloria to sleep. She had never slept in an inn before. She had never been in a bustling city like Westfjord before. It was all a little overwhelming for her.
Gloria sighed, rolled to her back, and stared at the ceiling. Seth’s words played over and over in her mind: “So…pretty.” He was just drunk. Gloria told herself. Don’t get excited. People aren’t themselves when they’re drunk.
A dark thought reared its head. Sometimes they’re worse… Gloria tried to shake off nightmarish memories.
She heard Seth sigh in his sleep and started. Then she laughed a little and shook her head. It was sweet that Seth wanted her to have the bed, but truth be told, Gloria wasn’t sure she could’ve slept in the bed. It had been a long time since she’d slept on a mattress.
Despite her efforts to lower her expectations, hope bubbled in her chest. As much as she didn’t approve of Seth getting drunk, she couldn’t help but be hopeful that it was a sign that Seth was beginning to come around.
Then Agmundr’s comment about her hair flashed into her mind. That was too close. She thought, gripping her blanket. She hoped that Seth wouldn’t remember in the morning.
Seth groaned and mumbled in his sleep, interrupting Gloria’s thoughts. Her heart stopped – Was she about to appear?
Gloria sat up and watched Seth. She saw him clench the blanket and his head tossed in his sleep. His mumbling got louder, and Gloria could pick out a few words. “No”, “Please”, and “Stop”, but the ice woman didn’t appear.
Is he having a nightmare? Gloria wondered. Should she wake him up?
The ice woman’s taunt echoed in her mind: “You don’t even know what haunts him at night…but I do.”
Gloria looked down at her hands. She could peer into his dream if she wanted. It was risky magic, but she could do it. Gloria bit her lip. But I would be peering into his personal thoughts. She thought.
The memory of the ice woman’s words took on a life of its own. I comfort him at night when terror strikes. He calls out to me.
Gloria crept close – temptation overwhelming. She looked down at Seth. His face was bathed in sweat. He moaned in his sleep.
What are you to him? The voice continued to echo. What he and I have is special.
Gloria reached her hand out, then hesitated. What if he gets angry? she thought. Would he leave me? Is it worth the risk?
You could never compare to me.
Gloria drew a sigil in the air; It glowed a golden yellow. She touched Seth’s forehead and leaned in. Let me see your fears…The world faded away and she felt her body lighten. After a moment, everything around her came into focus.
Gloria blinked and looked around. She stood on a beach. The sky was pink from the rising sun. Then something black snowed down. Gloria held her hand out and caught a flake. She frowned. Ash?
Gloria turned around and gasped. A castle was being razed to the ground. Gloria could hear the screams from here.
Someone raced past her. Gloria turned and saw a woman dressed in a rich robe racing to the beach. Gloria followed her. The woman dropped to her knees sobbing and cradled her swollen stomach.
Gloria’s mouth dropped open. She looked around. “Help!” She cried. “Somebody help!” When Gloria looked back, the woman had thrown herself into the sea. Gloria scrambled after the woman, but the waves had already carried her away.
The scene shifted to another shore, miles away. The smoke from the castle could still be seen. Gloria saw the woman wash up on shore. Not too far away, she could see a young man walking towards them. As he got closer, his stride changed to running.
“Please help her!” Gloria cried. In the back of her mind, she knew that anything she said wouldn’t help, but in the moment, she couldn’t help but feel these emotions. The man scooped up the woman and carried her away.
The scene shifted and now Gloria saw Seth in a dark vault with a dull green light shining on a pedestal. On the pedestal was a golden crown set with deep blue sapphires. Gloria watched Seth enter the vault and approach the crown. He picked it up and put it on his head.
In an instant, the scene changed once more to seven knights bowing. On their chest plates was the emblem of a golden leaf. Behind them a great crowd cheered.
“Hail! Hail!” They cried. “All hail to the king!” Gloria turned around to see Seth dressed in a magnificent tunic and on his head was the crown.
Gloria frowned in confusion. Why would a blacksmith’s son dream of kingship?
Then from behind Seth, a shadowed figure rose up behind him. The figure backstabbed Seth and stole the crown off his head. The figure placed the crown on his head and the crowd continued to cry, “Hail! Hail! All hail to the king!”
Gloria raced to Seth’s side. “Seth!” She cried, but as soon as she touched him, there was utter silence. She looked around her. Everyone was staring at her. Gloria felt uneasy.
The mouths of the crowd moved, and Gloria heard Seth’s voice from them. “What are you-?” The world cracked like a glass mirror, then shattered.
Gloria heard a rushing wind race past her ears and felt her body grow heavy. Someone gripped Gloria’s wrist and yanked it back. She gasped and found herself back in the inn room.
Gloria looked down and saw Seth tightly gripping her wrist. “What are you doing?” He demanded.
Gloria’s throat went dry, and she shook. She had never seen him this angry. “I- you were having a nightmare.” His grip tightened. Gloria sucked in her breath. “Seth, you’re hurting me.”
“What did you do?” Seth sat up now, glaring at Gloria.
She bit her lip and looked down ashamed. “I…I used my magic to look into your dream.” Seth didn’t answer, but she could feel him shaking.
Gloria trembled. Fear raced through her mind. He’s furious with me! She had to put distance between them. She tried to pull away, but Seth wouldn’t let go.
“How much did you see?” He demanded. Gloria looked back up at Seth, she expected to see dark rage, but instead she saw terror mixed with anger.
“What?” She asked.
“How much did you see?” Seth cried. “I need to know what you saw!”
“A-all of it,” Gloria whispered, afraid. “I saw everything.”
Seth dropped her hand. Gloria pulled it away and scrambled back a few steps and fell to the floor. She looked at her wrist. There were a few marks on her skin from where he gripped her.
Seth held his head in his hands. “This can’t be happening!” He panicked. “Not again! It can’t be happening!” He looked up at Gloria; she flinched back.
Seth’s eyes traveled to her wrist. He blinked. Realization came into his eyes and horror came over him. Seth tried to scramble out of bed but got tangled in the blankets and fell to the floor on his face.
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Gloria crawled back. “Stay back!”
Seth picked himself up and looked into Gloria’s eyes. “Gloria, I am so sorry. Are you okay?”
Gloria didn’t know what to say, she just stared at Seth, trembling. Seth slowly and gently reached out. “Please forgive me,” he said, tears in his eyes. “I wasn’t thinking. I was startled and I…I hurt you.”
Gloria sat frozen as Seth slowly inched over and took her wrist. He held it gently and stroked it as if he hoped that that would undo the damage he had done. The fear in Gloria’s heart slowly melted and the tension in her body relaxed.
“No, I’m sorry,” she finally said. “There’s no excuse, for what I did. I violated your mind. I broke your trust. I was tempted and…I fell. If there’s anyone who should be asking for forgiveness, it should be me.” Gloria bowed her head in shame.
Seth didn’t say anything for a long time. He bowed his head and sighed. “I suppose it doesn’t keep you any safer not knowing anymore.” He met Gloria’s eyes. “Do you want to know why I’m being hunted?” Gloria slowly nodded.
“I should warn you,” Seth’s voice was strained. “Once you know, your life will never be the same.”
“My life will already never be the same.” She whispered.
----------------------------------------
Seth felt horrible. What was it that Bhaldran called people like him? An asal? That’s right. He was an asal.
Seth stroked Gloria’s wrist. A knot twisted in his stomach as he saw bruises beginning to form. What would Gloria think of him now? Would she think he was no better than her father? Maybe he wasn’t.
“Seth?” Gloria whispered, interrupting his thoughts.
He sighed and looked up at Gloria’s green eyes for a moment before looking away again. He felt too ashamed to meet her gaze.
“Why are you being hunted?” She pressed.
Seth stared at Gloria’s hand and took a deep breath. “I was telling you the truth when I said I was born in Weatherridge and that the man who raised me was a blacksmith,” Seth paused, struggling to get the words out. “But he’s not my real father.”
Gloria furrowed her brows. “I don’t understand. Why would-?”
“I’m the heir to the Fenguar throne.” Seth blurted out, his voice trembling. He slowly looked up at Gloria again to see her reaction. She stared at him in shock. “My father is the king of Fenguar, or at least was before he was murdered.”
Gloria shook her head clearly reeling. “You’re royalty?” Seth nodded. “But how did-? Why are you-? The dream-?” Gloria stammered out half questions
Seth understood her confusion. He put up a hand. “Let me explain.” Gloria closed her mouth and settled down to listen.
“Twenty years ago, Lord Ember, one of the nobles staged a coup by razing Autumnport. Under the cover of fire, he murdered the royal family, all except one: my mother.”
“She never told me what happened, so my best guess is whatever I see in my dream. I don’t know how she survived, but that she did.” Seth leaned against the bed and looked up at the ceiling.
“She married my father- I mean-” Seth’s voice cracked. “She married Daniel Smith. My mother settled down as a blacksmith’s wife, and I was born not much later. I don’t think he knows.” Seth took a shaky breath and clenched his hands together. From his peripheral, Seth saw Gloria slowly reach out, but he shook his head and kept going,
“Mom used to tell me about how I was so eager to be born that I didn’t wait until it was time,” a faint smile came across Seth’s face, then it vanished. “She lied to me. She was pregnant with me when she fled Autumnport.”
Seth paused, then moved on. “When I was four, I started having the dream. I remember waking up screaming one night. Mom ran in and asked what the matter was. I can still remember how pale her face was when I told her my dream. She forbade me from telling anyone about it, even my father.
“I didn’t understand why, but as I got older, I didn’t want to tell anyone because it always rattled me so much. I knew there was a message for me in it, but I had no idea what.”
Seth sighed. “My childhood was like any other child in Weatherridge: I played, fished, got into trouble.” Seth chuckled at a few memories that floated by. “But when I turned fourteen, my life changed – I met my master, Naboth.”
“What was he like?” Gloria asked.
Seth smiled at Gloria and laughed. “He is a cranky old man who hates social convention, but kind to those he cares about. He is passionate about the arcane arts and demands that it be respected.
“He saw my aptitude for magic and offered me an apprenticeship. My father – er, Daniel – was thrilled. A wizard is very well thought of in Fenguar, so he thought this would raise our family’s status. Not to mention, I would have enough money to take care of him and Mom when they grew old.”
Sadness then filled Seth. “Mom wasn’t happy about it though. I remember they argued about it for a few nights. Dad would demand for a good reason for me not to go, but Mom couldn’t give him one. Just that I couldn’t go, and it would be a danger for me. Around and around they went until Dad eventually thought that Mom was stifling me and decided that it would be best for ‘the hatchling to spread his wings’.” He paused and took a shaky breath.
Gloria reached out fully this time and touched Seth’s hand. He flinched a little. How can she touch me after what I did? He thought. Seth looked up at Gloria who smiled faintly. His mouth went dry; he wanted to say something, but no words came out.
Gloria scooched over and sat down next to Seth. She put her chin in her hands. “Then what happened?” She asked. Seth couldn’t help but stare at Gloria. “Well?” She encouraged.
Seth stammered and continued his story. “Well, I left Weatherridge to become a wizard in Autumnport. I remember being overwhelmed the first time I arrived. Autumnport’s twice the size of Westfjord, and she never stops moving.”
“Did you enjoy your studies?” Gloria asked.
Seth beamed. “I loved every minute of it. Master Naboth often had to remind me to eat something or go out in the sun.” He laughed and held out a pale arm. “The ice witch took it, but I used to have the faintest tan from being out here.” Gloria laughed alongside him.
“So how did you end up coming out here then?” Gloria asked after a moment.
Fear shot through Seth. He tried to steady himself and continue. “I had a particularly vivid rendition of my dream. It was…violent. Even more so than I usually dreamt. I woke up screaming like I was four again and Naboth came stumbling in. In a stupid panic, I ended up telling him everything.
“He was astonished at my dream, but also ecstatic. I remember him quivering with excitement and fear. ‘You are the one.’ He told me. ‘You are the one we’ve been looking for. We knew you still had to be alive.’
“Naboth did the best he could to interpret my dream and told me that he was a part of a secret order of knights called The Autumn Knights. Seven noble houses, dedicated to finding the true king of Autumnport and restoring him to the throne.”
Seth held himself close. “We heard a noise in the hall, Naboth went to check but couldn’t find anything. Fearing the worst, he had me quickly pack a few belongings, helped me escape the castle, and told me to board a boat and sail as far north as I could get. I managed to get on the crew of The White Lily, sailed up to Stormvale, then walked to Northhorn….The rest you know.” Seth drifted off into silence.
“Do your parents know where you are?” Gloria asked softly.
Tears brimmed in Seth’s eyes. He shook his head. “No,” he said quietly. “I used to write letters to Naboth, and he would post them from Autumnport. They still think…” Seth tried to swallow his tears. “They still think that I’m in Autumnport and that…” Seth couldn’t hold back his tears any longer. “That I’m too busy to see them!” Seth sobbed into his knees.
“I don’t even know if Naboth is still alive, the last letter I got from him was a coded message six months ago, and I was too stupid to figure it out!” Seth cried angrily. “Because of that I almost got you killed, I got myself killed, and like a fool, I made a deal with some kind of dark witch or something and all for what? To run with a price on my head forever? To be tormented by her for the rest of my life? I don’t even know if I want to be king!”
Seth put his head on his knees and cried quietly. Gloria didn’t say anything, she simply put her hand on his shoulder and held it there, her presence was comforting.
After a moment of silence, Gloria spoke. “It’s going to be okay.”
“How?” Seth met her eyes, desperate for an anchor.
“I don’t know,” Gloria confessed. “but it’s going to be.” She smiled faintly. “Tomorrow we’re going to get answers about her. Let’s start there and we’ll worry about everything else as it comes.”
Seth gave a half laugh. “You say ‘we’, you don’t want to leave after I hurt you? After I treated you like your father did?”
Gloria took Seth’s face and turned it towards her. “You are nothing like my father,” she said sternly. “My father hurt me because…” Seth saw her hesitate, then she bit her lip and looked down, “he hurt me because he was angry.” Seth had a feeling that that wasn’t the whole truth.
“You, however,” Gloria continued, “were protecting yourself. This dream is dangerous and reveals so much about you, that you must be vigilant.”
“But your wrist-”
“You are nothing like him,” Gloria stressed. “My father would’ve never apologized for hurting me, but as soon as you realized what you did, you immediately tried to make things right. So don’t ever compare yourself to him again.” She smiled.
The encouragement helped, but Seth still felt sick to his stomach whenever he saw the small bruises on her wrist. Gloria followed Seth’s gaze to her wrist. She gave a wry smile. “I suppose this is my punishment for what I’ve done.”
Seth frowned. “No, don’t say that about yourself.”
Gloria shrugged and started to head back to her blankets on the floor. “It’s late. Let’s get some rest,” Gloria said.
“Take the bed,” Seth said.
Gloria looked back at him. “I told you, I’m fine on the floor.”
Seth shook his head and stood. “No, I’m insisting this time.” He quickly made the bed and patted it. “Please, it’ll make me feel better after hurting you.”
Gloria laughed softly, “You’re not going to let this go are you?”
Seth shook his head again, “Nope.”
Gloria took the bed while Seth took her place on the floor. He heard Gloria sigh as she lay down, then a few moments later, she was asleep.
Seth tried to calm his mind after everything that had happened. One feeling rose above the rest – relief. Despite his fears and doubts, Seth felt lighter. It felt good to open up – to trust someone.
Seth glanced in Gloria’s direction. Maybe William was right. Maybe she was meant to come with him. The thought of her staying with him didn’t sound so bad now, in fact, he was beginning to hope that maybe she’d never leave. Seth felt his face grow warm and was embarrassed by the feelings that followed the thought. Then he rolled to his side and tried to fall asleep.