Page 5 of The Heir
The knot in my stomach told me “no,” but I wanted to make my mother proud, so I nodded.
“Good.” She pushed gently at the small of my back. “I believe in you.”
I walked over to Thor. “Do you want my help?” I offered him in my attempt to be brave and compassionate.
“Nah, I’m good.” The way he wrinkled his nose felt like a hard rejection.
I defended my honor. “Energy work is a powerful tool to have.”
“Yeah?” Thor laughed and looked to Mason. “Who do you think would win a fight? A smoke tamer or a ruler with an army?”
Several of the French and Northlanders laughed with him while I felt my blood start to boil.
My mother might be a gentle priestess, but I was also the daughter of an Nman, and my father, Finn, had taught me not to take shit from anyone. In a firm tone, I told Thor, “An army is destructive and causes pain and suffering. We energy workers can heal and bring people relief.”
Thor shrugged. “When you know how to control people, come talk to me. That would be useful.”
I stepped closer with my hands folded into fists. “If I knew how to control people, I would make you kinder.”
“Kinder. Ha!” Thor’s face twisted into a grimace. “I’m the son of Khan Aurelius. My role is to make sure that the Northlands remain the country of free men. You can keep your kindness shit on this side of the border. We don’t need you to soften us.”
I stared at Thor wondering how it was possible that he was Pearl Pilotti’s son. As he continued to make fun of me, the infatuation I’d felt for this handsome boy for as long as I could remember turned into strong resentment.
“Oh-oh, I think the smoke tamer lost her tongue,” Thor taunted me.
I wanted to retort and tell him what a giant turd he was, but the glance from my mother made me spin on my heel and walk away. Never again would I admire Thor’s beautiful eyes or find his big ears cute. My mother might be able to control her ego and pride, but I was too much of a Northlander for that. If I never saw Thor Aurelius again, that would be more than fine with me.
CHAPTER 1
Freedom
The Motherlands – January 2467
Thor
The sand beneath my body felt nice and warm. With my eyes closed, I enjoyed the soothing sound of the waves rolling in and out while seagulls shrieked in the distance.
The isolation and tranquility of this remote beach was just what I needed. Huginn and Muninn, my two large black dogs, were playing in the water twenty feet away. With no other people around, there was no reason for me to ask them to quiet down. They loved it here and so did I.
For centuries, we Nmen hadn’t had access to tropical beaches like this one. It made me angry to think about the way my forefathers had been forced to accept the lands to the north back when they refused to be ruled by women. Four hundred years of isolation had followed.
A whisper of a thought, in the back of my mind, reminded me that I was as much a Motlander as a Northlander. It came with being a child of mixed parents.
I groaned low, wishing my thoughts could be light and happy instead of filled with regret.
A tropical beach far away from my father had to be the antidote to the default mood of anger I’d suffered from for this past year or so.
Today was the fourth day since I arrived here. The local Motlanders were kind people and none of them seemed to have recognized me as Thor Aurelius, son of the Ruler of the Northlands, Khan Aurelius. I preferred it that way. The whole reason I was here was to get away from the constant pressure I was under back home. This beach would be where I found my freedom and peace of mind.
I didn’t need much except the food I could pick up in the local town and a place to clear my head. When I arrived five days ago and asked for accommodations, I had expected a hotel of some kind. A nice older man had guided me to a tiny house right on the beach and explained that there were no hotels in the area. He didn’t ask questions about where I was from or where I was going. Instead, he invited me to use the small cabin and explained where in town I could get food for me and the dogs. The beach house was a far cry from the luxurious mansion that I grew up in, but I’d accepted it with gratitude because it offered the one thing I was searching for, isolation.
I would have thought that after a few days of not fighting with my father I would be ready to go back and face him. I wasn’t! I had been naïve to think that leaving the Northlands would make my troubles disappear. Now, I was stuck with old arguments running in loops in my mind, fueled by years of anger and resentment between us. His constant disappointment with me weighed heavily on my shoulders. It wasn’t like I’d asked to be the heir of Khan Aurelius. In all fairness, I wasn’t even his first-born child. My sister Freya was almost five years older, and everyone knew she was smarter and more strategic-minded than me. Representing our family came naturally to her, and the people of the Northlands loved her. Freya was always working on ways to make life better for everyone.
I, however, felt suffocated and pressured all day, every day. For twenty-five years, I had tried my best to make my father proud, but nothing I did was ever good enough for him.
He got mad when the press made fun of me for always looking miserable at public events. He never listened when I complained that those events felt stifling and uncomfortable to me. If I didn’t smile, I was accused of acting snobbish and arrogant. When I smiled, it was always spun in a way to make it seem that I had an interest in someone romantically. It was hard to seem enthusiastic about going to an event, knowing that no matter how I behaved I would be criticized.
I could remember arguments between my parents from the time I was little. My father complaining that my mother pampered and softened me, and my mother in return arguing that he was too strict and rigid with me. My parents loved each other, but they never agreed on how to raise me and it had caused great pain in my life.
