“The moment you allowed those childish thoughts of revenge into your head, you made enemies of us,” the man said.Fire glowed inside his eyes. It spread slowly towards his temples, as though his entire body was waiting for one excuse to burst into flames.Kaedric looked at him for a moment, then lowered the cloth bag from his arm and placed it carefully on the ground.“I am sorry about that,” he said. “What would you like me to do now?”The question took the men by surprise. Several of them looked at one another, unsure whether Kaedric was mocking them or truly asking.The man’s expression hardened. “You think we came here merely to tell you not to think about your dead parents?”“I assumed there was more,” Kaedric replied. “It would be strange to gather this many men because I remembered them for a moment.”“You fool! This is the part where you fall to your knees. You will ask what your parents did to us, and then you will ask how you can repay their sins.”A dry chuckle left Kaedric

Kaedric did not return to the Valkyrie immediately.He was still angry, and he had no desire to sit before her while her warning about his parents continued proving itself correct.Instead, he took the longer road through the market outside Valhalla.He walked without paying attention to the people around him until a display of hairpins made him stop. One had been carved into the shape of a tiny golden dragon. Its wings opened around a red stone no larger than a grain of rice.Astrid would love it.Beside it was another hairpin made from dark wood. A small silver wing curved around its edge.He pictured it in Liv’s hair.Kaedric approached the stall and pointed at both.“I want these.”The woman behind the table looked at the hairpins. “Eight copper pieces, my lord.”Kaedric reached beneath his cloak.His hand stopped.He checked the other side, then the small inner pocket near his belt.Nothing.For all the battles he had fought and all the realms he had crossed, it had never occurre

Liv stared at the Guardian dragon.Fear moved through her before relief could follow it.The silver beast stood in the middle of Halvard’s courtyard, its wings folded against its sides while every person around it kept a careful distance.The last time anyone had seen it, the dragon had carried Kaedric away.Why had it returned alone?Had something happened to him?“Well?” Gunnhild’s voice cut across the courtyard. “Continue with those empty threats you were making a moment ago!”Liv turned towards her.Gunnhild started down the steps, anger pushing her faster than her body could manage. She took one step too many. Her leg shook beneath her, and she fell flat in front of everyone.For a moment, even the dragon was forgotten.Gunnhild stared at the ground in shock. Then she noticed every eye on her.“I have been ill because of the suffering this girl put me through!” she snapped as two guards hurried towards her. “Look at what she has reduced me to!”Liv’s uncle frowned, although he di

“Mother, where have you been?”Astrid stood in the middle of her room with her arms folded. Her small face carried far more anger than a six-year-old should have been able to gather.Liv stopped in the doorway.“You and Father both went out without me,” Astrid continued. “Where is he? I want to see him.”“It is not like that, my love. Your father had somewhere important to go, and I—”“Where is he?” Astrid looked behind Liv, as though Kaedric might be hiding in the hallway.“He will return soon.”Liv glanced at the maids. “Has she been giving all of you trouble?”“No, my lady,” one answered quickly. “She has been showing us how she can use a sword. And she even…”The maid began laughing and pointed towards another young woman near the window.Liv looked at Astrid. “What did you do?”“Only this.”Astrid raised two fingers and snapped them.A tiny flame appeared above her fingertips.It was not red or orange.It was gold.Before Liv could move, Astrid touched the flame to the edge of he

“Becoming the Guardian was not the end of your growth,” the Valkyrie said. “It was the beginning of a different kind.”She raised one hand.The air before her opened into five circles of golden writing. They stood inside one another, each larger and brighter than the one before it. Strange beasts moved between some of the lines, appearing for a moment before disappearing again.Kaedric studied them.The Valkyrie touched the smallest circle at the centre.“This is where you are now. The First Awakening of the Realm-Heart. It is called the Realm’s Pulse.”The circle opened, showing a figure standing upon a web of roots. Hundreds of small lights burned around him.“This is what answered you inside the Rootway,” she continued. “At this awakening, Midgard allows you to feel the lives standing upon its land. Fear, pain and death can reach you through the ground if the realm believes you must hear them.”“The roots opened because Midgard chose to help you,” she added. “You did not command th