CHAPTER FOUR
After the jarl had sprinkled the assembled villagers with the horse's blood and made the final plea for a safe and successful winter, he returned the branch to Gunilla and turned toward the village square.
The older witch grabbed Katrin's upper arm and pulled, falling several paces behind the jarl.
Aware Hradi still watched her closely, Katrin forced her gaze on the path before her.
Gunilla's grip tightened when she leaned close.
"You must tell him you find the arrangement unsatisfactory. You must return to the small cabin they have provided me."
"I fear he will insist. If we fight them too much, they may grow suspicious and we will no longer be welcome, or worse." She glanced around, but it appeared none had overheard.
"I need you." The older woman's voice deepened with a hint of annoyance.
Katrin again looked around in another quick check to see if anyone lingered close enough to hear.
Satisfied no one listened she whispered, "I have given this much thought last night and my instincts tell me we must handle this village differently.
I will come with you to the hut soon, but if we are confronted by…
him, you must allow me to speak. I will explain all as soon as I can. "
She hoped the half-formed excuse was enough to satisfy the older woman. Gunilla's eyes narrowed before her expression turned thoughtful. After several moments, she finally gave a nod and a half-smile.
"I have taught you well, haven't I?"
"Of course." Katrin gave a prayer of thanks to the gods that Gunilla truly no longer possessed the ability to see anyone's thoughts.
If she did, she would surely see the lie in Katrin's words.
While she had no solid plan, she knew she must take her chances with her Dream Man in order to keep herself, Gunilla and all the other girls safe.
Truthfully, she was more concerned with the young women.
She knew well her visions always came to pass, eventually.
If the vision of Gunilla's grim fate occurred first, Ranka and the others would suffer for it.
Damn them to Helheim! Why should she care?
Despite her position, the other girls, with the exception of Ranka and one or two others, had mostly shunned her, unless they needed to get close to Gunilla.
If any of them faced this dilemma, would they consider her well-being?
No. While she wished them no harm, she had to first tend to herself and hope to survive the days ahead.
While she would do what she could to best protect the girls, but not be at her cost.
At the moment, she didn't know who posed more danger – Hradi, her Dream Man, or Gunilla, her mistress. She refused to acknowledge the preference poking through her thoughts.
When the assemblage returned to the longhouse where the rest of the celebrants were rousing from their indulgent slumber, the mood among the villagers quickly grew raucous once more.
The servants and thralls had already begun cooking more beasts and vegetables and the aroma stirred a reminder of her hunger.
Katrin followed Gunilla to the head of the large table where Thorfinn offered the chair beside him to the silver-haired woman.
He motioned for a servant and soon flagons of mead and platters of cheeses and flatbreads with honeyed fruit were set before them.
Katrin sensed Hradi's presence before he took a seat beside her. She didn't look at him until he leaned close.
"Did you find my bed to your liking?"
Heat blazed across her cheeks. With a deep breath for courage, she faced him. "It was adequate."
"Have you made your decision then?" His pointed stare bored into her and she feared he might be able to read her very thoughts.
A tight grip on her arm warned that Gunilla listened as closely for her answer as Hradi. She turned to her mistress, hoping the woman could read the silent message in her eyes. The awareness that several of those seated close by listened as well chased her appetite.
"Katrin, I will need you to help me oversee the nightly offerings," Gunilla said, in a deceptively cheerful tone.
"I will gladly assist, as I always do. But I will accept Hradi's offer of his bed." She kept her voice to a soft whisper so only Gunilla could hear.
"You cannot risk your gift!"
"I won't. Remember what I told you."
A peculiar expression glinted in the other woman's eyes, one Katrin could not identify. With a nod, her mistress said, "Very well."
Raising her voice, she added, "As I explained to Gunilla before, I found my back did not ache as much as usual upon waking. We have journeyed very far and for a long time. Surely you understand that I may need a few days more to continue to recover."
That was true, which made the charade easier to succeed. Too many nights had passed since Katrin had been able to fully stretch out in comfort, instead of curled around Gunilla and the other girls on the deck of the boat or in a tent in the forest.
Katrin held Hradi's stare, trying to ignore the thrill at his delighted grin. "If you will agree, I will accept your continued offer."
His grin widened. With a nod, he seemed to agree to her demand. "I promise you that you will be safe and will sleep very well in the coming days. We leave for my house after I have tended to some matters with my father and brother."
Katrin blinked. "Your… house? But you live here."
He nodded. "Sometimes. But I also have a home a little further upriver. That is where my real bed is."
Beside her, Gunilla gasped loudly, though Katrin doubted her shock could be any stronger than her own.
The thought of being more than a few strides away from the woman who had mentored her, in truth mothered her, for all these years filled her with a complicated mixture of emotions.
While she had hopefully anticipated nights of solitude and sleep, like the one she'd had last night, though it had been uneasy, many different feelings now threaded through the riot of her thoughts, made more chaotic than ever by Hradi's announcement.
A portion of Katrin's excitement was her eagerness to be away from the suffocating presence pervading every moment of her life. Another part found herself wary, almost afraid, of being separated from the older woman who had raised and trained her.
Yet, the knowledge Hradi would be with her in his house, separate from the family's longhouse, with the two of them, alone, sent a different kind of shiver along her spine, a blend of fear and excitement.
Mouth suddenly dry, she narrowed her eyes on the man who had haunted her dreams for so many months.
"You tricked me!" she accused.
He shrugged. "I merely offered my bed."
"You didn't tell me it was not the one here in the longhouse. I have changed my mind."
He shook his head, his humor fading. "To refuse my offer now would be rude."
There was a hint of a threat in his words, truthful as they were. Hel was sure to damn him for his deception. Yet, Katrin had no choice. As a guest, to refuse his hospitality could be perceived as an insult. She didn't dare risk turning their host against them.
"I forbid it!" Gunilla shouted. She stood, waving a finger at Hradi. "You will not take her away from here. She is needed!"
Hradi stood and walked over to Gunilla, towering over the woman. "She will be here to help you each day as she promised. But we will return to my house each night for as long as you remain with us."
"Gunilla, you and your attendants are our honored guests here," Thorfinn cut in. "My son would do nothing to harm Katrin. His home is not far from here and you of course are free to visit her whenever you choose."
Something in the jarl's tone warned Katrin that while the older man was friendly and welcoming, he would not be easily duped and did not take any affront, minor or otherwise, lightly.
She suspected there was a reason they wanted to separate Katrin from her mistress.
Soon enough, she would know. Somehow, she needed to soothe Gunilla.
The frenzy in the woman's eyes grew more intense with each passing second.
If she were to let her anger out, it could end badly for them all. Katrin met Thorfinn's steely gaze.
"Thank you, Jarl Thorfinn. We remain grateful for your generous welcome. I will keep my word, and I would expect the same in return."
"Of course."
The unyielding gaze of the jarl was much like his son's. The double stare made her uneasy. She forced herself to take Gunilla's hands, hoping the men would not see the tremor in her arms.
"Gunilla, we must accept our host's offer. I will be here each day, and as the jarl has said, you may visit me often, so we can ensure our skills and gifts bring much prosperity to Grindafell."
The woman appeared to calm, though Katrin knew she was angry and very, very worried.
While she possessed plenty of concern as well, some instinct told her Gunilla's fears did not match her own.
Somehow, she managed to resist revealing her suspicious questions.
Though she possessed many, they would remain unanswered.
For now. She needed time to think on those questions and what the possible resolutions might mean for them all.
Finally, after several moments under Katrin's firm stare, the silver-haired woman nodded.
"Very well." She turned to the jarl. "Forgive my manners. You see, Katrin is like a daughter to me and I have not been away from her since the night she first came to me, not until last night. I worry for her."
"I understand," Thorfinn said. "Trust she will be well cared for. My son will ensure that."