Anike's smile faded into something more somber, more weighted with years of held secrets.
"Your grandmother was Asgardian," she began, her voice quiet against the wind. "Your mother—your birth mother—knew very little about the tribe. She was born after the submission, after everything had already fallen apart."
Northern's expression didn't change, but internally…
'Asgardian.'
The name meant nothing to him. He'd never heard of them in any text, any historical record, any conversation. 'Which means either they're so obscure they've been erased, or someone deliberately buried them.'
Neither option was particularly comforting.
Anike continued, her gaze distant as if seeing into the past.
