“The only way that monster is my father is that one night he and my mother both had too much to drink. I’d barely ever laid eyes on the brute my entire life,” he said, voice rough. “My mother hates him. I’ve seen him maybe thrice in my entire existence, and it was never good. I’ve spoken to him personally once. The fact that he calls me son so casually makes me feel sick. I came here as a member of your guard. I joined your guard to protect you two, not for him.”

“That’s not fully true, though, is it?” Diaval asked quietly, for once all the emotion and teasing gone from her voice.

Rosamund shut his eyes tight.

“What does she mean, Rose?” Seppo asked, looking slightly like a hurt puppy.

Rosamund shot a glare at the goblin being slowly impaled by the roots of the world tree and the goddess sitting on the throne they made. “I bet you’re loving this.”

Lydian shrugged, wincing in pain as the movement ripped his skin. “I’ve been without amusement for far too long. And well, here it is for me right now. How can I not indulge?”

If we hadn’t needed the brute for our mission, I would’ve killed him a second time right then and there.

“I needed to see if it would happen,” Rosamund said after a moment. “They always say if latent abilities don’t wake after seeing the world tree, they never will … I needed to make sure…”

“And you are, now, aren’t you?” Lydian’s own voice was poisonous. “Congratulations, son. You have the ability that I drove myself mad to get.”

“You were always mad,” Soren spat as Rose said, “Don’t call me son!”

Soren turned to Rosamund once again. “What ability? Are you claiming you’ve got the sight?”

“It was in bits and pieces before now,” Rosamund said. “Just little things. Knowing reactions to things that hadn’t happened yet. Knowing someone’s moves before they happened. I could see Lydian’s shade hanging around Janneke sometimes. But nothing full on … like that.” He indicated between himself and the now-visible world tree, to the veil he pulled off. “Until now. But you have to know that while that was a benefit of this, it was not my goal. My goal is to serve and protect both of you to the best of my abilities. You know that. I need the sight like I need a hole in the head. It should be obvious how I feel.”