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In the silence, he whispered, “I cannot believe I so freely betrayed my family.”
He kept that secret for so long, only to blurt it out now to strangers. Even if one of them is a descendent …
“You weren’t betraying them,” I said as realization hit me. “You were just talking to a really watered-down version of your family.”
“Yes! That is it.” The relief on his face looked almost painful. “You are kin.” He told Charlie. “Your family is mine.”
“We won’t say a word,” I said.
Zaide nodded his agreement. “Of course not.”
“You’ll have them swear?” Sigurd asked Charlie, his eyes darting between us all.
“Sure.” He shrugged and said, “I don’t know how, but I’ll get Elizabeth to do it.”
Nervous energy stuck to my skin, and I felt the need to shake it off as I walked to the kitchenette and filled a glass of water.
Charlie asked, “So, you were chosen from the family to close the portals made by other races. How does that work?”
Sigurd explained, “Since males don’t carry the line, I was chosen for the task. It was experimental magic, and no one knew if it would work. I was imbedded with portal magic from races who can portal. I was also given more magic so the ability wasn’t based on conscious thought or action. I only needed to be alive for it to work. It took many years.”
I imagine it wasn’t nearly as simple or as painless as he makes it sound.
Charlie shook his head in disbelief. “You gathered species who could portal in one place when you were trying to stop someone from portaling?”
“Thankfully, Fafnir was too busy working on his own theory to bother with us. He was attacking witches and trying to use their magic to gain the power to portal himself.”
“You didn’t stop him from attacking the witches?” I could see Charlie attempt to control his face and voice so the disapproval and judgment didn’t come across so obviously.
I didn’t work, because Sigurd sighed and stared at the ground. “We had some people trying to distract him, but our most urgent work was to ensure that I could stop him from escaping.” He clenched his jaw and said, “We let too many die.”
“How do you know he wanted to portal himself away?” I asked. “Why do you think he was trying to use the magic instead of just consuming it?”
“Ah.” Sigurd nodded. “You don’t know the truth, only our myth. Allow me to give you all the knowledge I have on our enemy. Clawdia, would you mind?” He looked at the glass of water I held.
“Oh, of course.” I hurriedly turned around and filled three glasses of water before carrying it over.
He’s parched from talking so much after being dead for years, and you’re standing around only looking after yourself.
It was my mother’s voice. With everything going on, the dark thoughts had no time to shake me. But they did now. I swallowed as I handed the glasses to the men, my smile tight.
Talking about Fafnir was bringing Margaret Claudia back to the surface. But I was a different person, and her fears and behaviors weren’t welcome.
As I calmed myself, Sigurd took a long drink of his water and began. “Fafnir is part Drakorian—”
“That’s an old name for somewhere in Sweden?” Charlie asked.
“It’s a realm. My brother is in Drakor,” Zaide said, sitting up straight.
“And Drakorian’s do what?” Charlie asked.
“They are people who share their soul with a dragon.”
Zaide thumped his head. “Of course they are. Witches cannot turn into dragons from stealing magic.”
“So, the magic-stealing thing is a Drakorian trait?” Charlie asked.
“Dragons have hoards. Things they collect and treasure. Hoards are usually made of physical things. There are hoards of gold, glass, plants, food … but Fafnir hoards magic.” Sigurd’s words were punctuated by a shocked silence.
