Chapter 9 #3
It was quiet for a moment, and my shoulders moved on their own, hunching forward in preparation for what else he’d throw my way. But when silence stretched on, I lifted my head. He was back to talking with his men as if he hadn’t spoken at all.
“Who is that?” I hissed under my breath.
“You don’t know who Darcke is?” Ottoh, Adrion, and Rakkel strolled up to us, the former with a cruel twist to his lips. “Did your father tell you nothing before you came here?”
“She knows who he is,” Ivren said, shoving an elbow into my ribs hard enough that it was difficult not to wince. “Remember our fathers told us about the foreign commander who leads the efforts to stave off our enemies?” He nodded to the warrior. “That’s him. That’s Darcke A’lian.”
I had no clue what he was talking about, but I felt more eyes than the heirs’ on me, so I nodded. “I guess I didn’t realize he would be here at the Hird.”
I hoped it was the right thing to say.
“I don’t think anyone did,” Rakkel said as she took the spot beside me. “He hasn’t been here long.”
“The king brings him home from time to time—to show how short his leash on the man is,” Ottoh said.
“Something must be worrying Gustief to have Darcke be part of the Hird, though. Our enemies have started to come closer, but them daring to anchor in the waters around Nordoen? That they’d come here?
Doubtful. We’re much more likely to die at the hand of one of the karls than our enemies. ” He shot me a look. “Especially you.”
“Give her a break,” Rakkel said as she sipped on her wine. “You’re not winning any popularity contests either.”
Ottoh bared his teeth when Ivren laughed.
“Do you think it’s because his second is getting old?” Adrion asked. “Perhaps he wanted his best warrior to train us?” He shot a dark look Darcke’s way. “Even if that warrior is but a prisoner clad in our furs.”
“Like he could teach us anything,” Ottoh snapped.
“His people don’t have magic, since the king’s shaman spelled them—since he leashed that part of their minds.
He has no runes carved on his chest. He won’t be blessed by the gods after bleeding for his people, gifting them the strength that makes us superior to other nations. ”
“He is a brute,” Ivren agreed. “But you shouldn’t underestimate him.
There is a reason the king keeps him on the front lines, and why we haven’t lost a battle since he began leading our quests.
He is reckless and fearless, and that makes him dangerous.
He also hates us heirs, so we should all stay away from him. ”
“You scared, Solsken?” Ottoh teased. “Can’t use your rune to make him your friend?”
Rakkel tapped her glass against mine. “You’re brave.
If he looked at me the way he does you, I’d be far away from the Hird by now.
His kin were all vicious warriors. They spoke to the sea in a way our people never could.
I heard they could control the tides and make the water call to our men and women so that they willingly drowned in its depths.
We lost so many trying to take them down at sea that Gustief made us kill every last man and woman when we finally broke their borders. ”
“We killed an entire people?” I asked.
“Adrion’s parents did,” Ottoh said. “They carved the skydd rune on all their daggers and arrows, making them all but invisible. Then they spent weeks hiding in the trees around their villages until they’d killed every person who dared leave their homes.
They couldn’t anticipate their strikes. When there were only a few left, they did the same to their swords.
We only lost four people in the attack. It was brutal but brilliant. ”
Adrion looked everywhere but toward the warrior. “It was on orders from the king.”
“Darcke’s people worshipped Njord—one of the Vanir,” Ottoh continued, his voice lowering.
“When he realized Njord wasn’t coming to aid them, Darcke switched sides.
He showed us where we could anchor our ships and sneak onto their land.
Imagine being so cruel you betray your own fylki—let them burn while you bask in promised power and rank.
” Ottoh grinned at us. “Makes us seem like saints.”
A strange taste filled my mouth when I met Darcke’s hard, dark eyes again.
My father tried to keep bloodspill to a minimum in the nations we were expected to take over.
He preferred to set up friendly trade and mutually beneficial agreements instead of using force to make others bend their knees for Gustief.
It took longer, and sometimes we weren’t successful, but it generally garnered better results, which is why I believed our king allowed it.
Betraying your own people, though? I couldn’t even imagine.
“We might be saints,” Rakkel said sweetly. “But I don’t think there is much that can redeem your family’s actions, Ottoh.”
“Just because we don’t just hide whenever enemies attack, it doesn’t mean we’re cruel. We save women and children,” Ottoh snarled.
Rakkel tilted her head. “Do you? I heard about an incident in the Western Sea…”
“Watch it,” Ottoh warned as he reached for a dagger with a bone hilt resting by his waist. “You do not know what you speak of.”
“Are you threatening me?” Rakkel took a step toward him. “What was that about protecting women and children?”
Ottoh laughed quietly. “You don’t count.”
“Can you stop?” Adrion snapped. “We all know you hate each other since you fucked last summer. Do it again. Or don’t. But stop boring the rest of us.”
Rakkel’s cheeks flamed red, and a choked sound left her guard, who hovered only a few feet away, his hand on the handle of his axe as he kept one eye on the glen and one on the deck.
A shocked laugh left me when Ottoh lost control of his features, his face hardening with something I might have called pain if it didn’t belong to the Briggen heir.
Before I had time to react, Ottoh was in my face.
“Why are you laughing? Have you not seen how A’lian looks at you?
Like every karl here, he’d kill you in a heartbeat if he got the chance.
I heard he likes to crush the skulls of his enemies.
” Ottoh trailed a finger down my cheek, but I refused to shudder.
“I’ve always wondered what a mind looks like when spilled onto the ground. ”
“I can show you.” Darcke stood right behind Ottoh, and the latter’s face whitened. “Well?” he demanded when Ottoh remained silent.
“I’m good,” the heir mumbled before he slipped away, a grimacing Rakkel and Adrion following.
“Leave her alone,” Ivren said.
Darcke ignored him as he took another step in my direction, and his expression…
“Did you hear everything?” I asked, fighting for air to keep filling my lungs.
His lethal presence settled around me, and it became impossible to breathe when his fingers carelessly tapped his axes. The thrum of my blood became deafening as he leaned in, his lips brushing my ear. “The waters carry voices, heir. You do well to remember that.”
My pulse stuttered, and Darcke laughed as he shot a look at my chest before spinning on his heel, returning to where he’d come from.