16. Bryn #2
“Hole?” Those eyebrows rose again, this time more warily.
I shrugged and crossed my arms. “Hrim may have broken through the top of his house. I imagine roof repairs might be easier for him considering he’s a frost giant, but it was a rather large hole.
May also have exposed some of his treasures, which would be a shame considering the amount he had down there.
Water and certain metals don’t mix well together. ”
“You are—” A knock sounded at the door, interrupting his sentence. “Enter!”
The door swung open, and Sverre and Eira entered in a swirl of capes and cold. Shutting the door firmly behind them, they saluted.
“Report for you, Captain,” Sverre said, his usual gruff tone laced with something I couldn’t quite place.
“Proceed,” Henrik replied.
Eira squared her shoulders and clasped her hands behind her back. “Storm ahead, sir. A bad one I’m afraid.”
“How bad, weatherspeaker?”
My jaw hit the floor, and I leaned away from the table and took in Eira anew.
A weatherspeaker? There were very few Fjord Fae with the ability to sense weather patterns.
We could all summon water and some rain depending on an individual’s strength, but to be aware of patterns, to sense them before they arrived, that was rare.
As rare as the Forest Fae treespeakers who could converse with and control the movement of trees.
“Very bad, sir,” Eira replied, drawing my attention back to the ominous conversation. “There is a far-reaching storm just to our north, snow and freezing rain.”
“Damn.” Henrik straightened and raked his hands through his hair.
Freezing rain was my least favorite rain and I suspected Henrik’s too. If water froze quickly against the top of the boat, it would make it top-heavy and risk flipping it. Though, with Henrik and his crew’s powers they could probably break it off and avoid too much calamity.
“How is that impacted by our recent losses? Any news from Laknar on the injured?”
Sverre cleared his throat. “Total losses from Hrim remain at seven, Captain. Three more remain in Laknar’s care with time being their only remedy for now.”
Henrik nodded.
I bit my bottom lip and clenched my hands. Hrim had killed them. Not me.
Didn’t make the hurt go away though.
“Is it enough power to sail there quickly and divide the crew into excursion teams?” Henrik asked.
“It would be tight,” Sverre replied, “but doable.”
“Good. Now, this storm.”
“Could you sail beneath it?” I chimed in.
Three pairs of eyes swung to me. Henrik’s gaze softened with something akin to pride.
Eira tilted her head from side to side. “Usually, I would say yes, but with the number of ailing crew…”
“Agreed,” Henrik added. “It’s a good idea, Bryn, but I fear it would tire too many crew members before we need to venture onto Hrim’s island.”
Well, it was worth asking. I took a step back and leaned against the sideboard that ran across the rear of the cabin. Henrik followed my movements and came to stand beside me, crossing his arms and staring at the members of his crew.
“Bryn has a heading for us. I’m afraid we need to go straight through that storm toward Alta and then turn northwest.”
Eira winced. “That is directly into the storm.”
“Aye, but we need to get to that island to return the necklace that Hrim is after.”
Eira and Sverre blinked back at their leader.
“The Heart of Hrim is on this ship?” Sverre asked, his voice filled with a caution that I had yet to hear from the man.
Henrik nodded.
“Where?” Sverre asked, facing me.
I pulled the necklace out from its hiding spot beneath my shirt—where it now lived again after Henrik had taken it off me prior to the attack.
Eira let out a low whistle before straightening to attention again. “That might be what is behind the storm. Hrim, that is. Cannot know for certain, but there is a strangeness to the weather that I haven’t felt before.”
“Let us get to Hrim’s island, then. As swiftly as possible.”
“Aye, Captain!”
We sailed right into the colossal storm near Alta and turned northwest, venturing deeper into the icy melee.
Wind whipped around the sails, rain so cold it could almost pierce our clothing trying to soak us all through.
If it weren’t for our Fjord Fae powers and being able to form air pockets around ourselves, we’d have all developed hypothermia hours ago.
Still, my body trembled with the enormity of what we were about to do. The lives we were about to put at risk. And the incessant chilly wind.
“Are you sure about this?” I tucked my cloak tighter around me and turned to Henrik who stood at the wheel, his hands firmly on the handles.
“We can’t have Hrim haunting these seas searching for it.” His eyes flicked to mine. “Nor will I have him hunting you.”
The hood of my cloak whipped off my head, as stunned by his words as I was. That was yet another instance of him saying he would protect me and showing me with his actions.
“Come here, little thief.” He raised his arm and motioned to the spot beneath his own thick cloak.
I traipsed over and settled in beside him. His arm wrapped around me, and he tucked me tight against his tall form. It was warm in here. Sturdy. Safe. Protected from the elements like a sheltered harbor. A place where I felt, surprisingly, at ease. Comfortable, even.
The only other place I’d ever found comfortable was the darkness of alleys during a job or my own home—the little cabin outside Grim that had belonged to my family for centuries.
An icy wave crashed over the bow of the ship and I instinctively turned my body into Henrik. His hold on me tightened. “I’ve got you.”
“Why?” I had to get the answer. Part of me was worried that he was after something, while the other part was wondering if maybe, just maybe, he cared.
“Why what?” He turned the wheel slightly with his occupied hand and gazed down at me.
“Why are you helping me? Why do you seem to care? Why do you want to work with me?”
“First of all, I think you’d do well working with a team. Specifically, my team.”
I opened my mouth to counter, but he stopped me.
“Ah, you already have. Several times. From getting the maps to fighting Hrim. You work well with my crew, and they like you. That means something.”
My heart opened up a fraction, like someone was gently prying it open to see what lay hidden inside.
“As for your other questions,” Henrik continued. “I’m helping you because I care about you, and I care about you because you fascinate me, challenge me, and fill my days with a wonder and awe that no other treasure could possibly hold a candle to.”
I sucked in a breath. Was I hearing him correctly? “You… like… me?”
“I do, Bryn. I like you a lot and have for some time.”
I bit my bottom lip and trembled in his hold as our cloaks tangled with each other.
“You don’t have to say anything. Just know that I care, and I promise to never hurt you.
To never cause you strife. I promise to always flirt with you and make that teeny tiny smile appear.
You know, the one you don’t think I can see but I catch every damn time.
I promise to do my best to protect you from the monsters that roam these seas and those that haunt you from the shoreline. ”
My heart split open, and I melted into his arms. No one had ever made such promises to me before. No one had held me with such tenderness. No one had offered to stand between me and the things that tormented me.
“Now, will you work with my sailors? Sail with me?” He gave me a vulnerable look of hope, his eyes pleading, mouth forming a straight line.
Could I work with them? Join the ship as it sailed from port to port and venture to new places in an effort to save and protect the precious whales that were being hunted?
I had, and it had felt good. Being around Henrik brought a joy to my days that I hadn’t felt in a long time, if ever.
There was a comfort here that I’d never known—but now that I’d had it, I didn’t want to let it go.
Didn’t want to let him go. But I’d never committed to something like this, and that tiny kernel of doubt niggled at the back of my mind.
Glancing up at him, I replied, “I will consider it.”
“That’s all I ask. That and you not steal my gold.” His lips split into a storm-shattering smile. A laugh broke free from me, and he pressed his thumb to my bottom lip. “I like that laugh too.”
My chest warmed and I could practically sense the flush breaking across my cheeks. “I will consider sailing with you regardless of the gold, Captain. But I wouldn’t mind taking a peek at it. You know, to make sure it’s all there.”
He wrapped both arms around me and pressed a quick kiss to my lips. “I hope to welcome you properly to the Valur one day, Brynhild Jakobsen.”
I smiled back at him, and my chest felt lighter than it had in a very long time. I would think about it—though I had a sneaking suspicion that I wouldn’t have to consider it for long.
Henrik gave me a gentle grin and opened his mouth—
“Land ahead!”
“Land!”
Yells broke through our bliss, and I peered through the misty cloud cover. Sure enough, straight ahead and draped in a dense fog was a large, white landmass. I stared up at the island, gaping hole in the mountain mostly repaired, icy bluffs standing sentry. “We’re here.”