Chapter 11 #2
An image of the seven men and women we’d said goodbye to a moon prior—the ones to whom my father had gifted a ship for safe travels, who’d wished to join the Hird because they hoped for more adventure than our small, safe village would provide—assaulted my mind.
I imagined I was as pale as Ottoh, who was approaching with Adrion not far behind.
As the blond heir opened his mouth, a woman got hold of him, and she whispered something furiously in Ottoh’s ear before letting go. His face was hard, but he remained quiet as he closed the distance to us, halting right behind Rakkel.
Ivren made his way over as well, and the warning in his eyes was as clear as the sky above the green glen. “Don’t,” he mouthed. “Not now.”
I ground my teeth as I began to shake my head.
“Look at me,” Guner ordered, and the loathing in his tone silenced everyone around us.
A surge of fury washed through my veins, replacing the sorrow.
Who did he think he was? Bragging about killing my people?
I might be new, and I might be hated by most here, but I was still the Sweengard heir.
Lika wouldn’t have stood for it. I very much doubted my father would have either.
I was about to say as much when Darcke bore his eyes into mine and jerked his head with such icy precision my words stuck in my throat. He only did it once, but there was something about his dark eyes, like a lethally quiet glassy lake at night, that made me hesitate.
“I don’t care what you get away with at home, heir,” Guner snarled.
“But here at my Hird, you will respect me like you respect our king. That means you do not speak to me unless I speak to you first. That means if something changes for your fylki—like another sibling taking over as heir—you tell me first. You don’t just fucking show up and surprise everyone.
And that means I say if you live or die. ”
He turned to face Rakkel and the male heirs, and from their shared look, I wasn’t the only one who was shocked by the hostility.
“That goes for all of you. You have been spoiled and pampered at home, but here? It’s time for you to grow the fuck up.
There are no more rules that make your life easier than anyone else’s.
There are no parents who will protect you.
” His eyes went between me and Rakkel. “There will be no more guards to whisper in your ears. You’re the next chieftains, and the king will accept nothing other than exceptional warriors and conquerors when you graduate.
” He rose, his eyes drifting my way again. “If you graduate.”
With that Guner whirled so fast the fur cloak he wore—which was far too warm for summer, but he probably believed it granted him more status because it looked like a shabby version of the king’s—flew out behind him as he stalked off.
Rakkel made a gesture as if to help me get up, but one of the warriors got into her face, so close she stumbled back. She threw me an apologetic grimace, and I tried to give her a crooked smile back, waving for her to leave. No point in more of us getting hurt.
Ivren hovered as well, but as another guard approached him, I shook my head.
“Go,” I urged when he still lingered, not a trace of his usual grin brightening his features.
He shifted his weight from foot to foot, but when the warrior shoved him forward, he finally fell into step behind Ottoh and Adrion as they tailed the old man, the four heirs following Guner as he shouted orders for the karls to come.
Using my sleeve, I wiped off the blood best I could.
I took deep breaths to calm my racing heart and the fury that urged me to go after the king’s second.
If I hadn’t seen Viljan alive—struggling against the five men it took to keep him away, but alive—I might not have been able to hold back.
Even without my magic, I should have been able to take down an old man.
But Viljan hadn’t been harmed. Not like my people from home.
My fingers dug into the ground as their familiar faces faded in and out of my thoughts.
I wanted revenge. I wanted to know why my people had been killed. There was no way anyone from our fylki had somehow betrayed the crown.
Dirt gathered beneath my nails, and I spat more blood onto the grass.
They’d kill me instantly if I even touched Guner. That much was clear from how the soldiers had hovered around him.
A frustrated sound wound up my throat. I was about to push myself up when someone got hold of my collar, and I found myself in the air for a second before I was slammed onto my feet with enough force to rattle my teeth.
A shadow eclipsed the sunlight as I swayed, and it took every shred of will to keep me from burying my rage in the warrior who stared me down. When my hands fisted, his face hardened further. I wasn’t sure how that was even possible, since it already looked like it was etched out of stone.
“What?” I snapped as he continued to glare at me.
“Follow the second,” Darcke ordered as more of that strange accent seeped into his deep voice.
“Yes.” I threw out my hands. “I was just about to. You didn’t need to stay behind for me.”
His dark laugh was even less amused than Guner’s. “I did not stay for you.” He shoved me forward so I almost fell again. “Move.”
“Stop touching me!” I snarled.
I clenched my hands when his face came to mine. “I haven’t touched you,” he replied quietly, his accent even stronger. The warrior flicked the collar of my jacket so a rush of wind found its way inside. “I touched this.”
My eyes nearly rolled into my head. “Listen to me, you—”
He came even closer, his breath warming my face.
“Watch your mouth,” he warned as something cold slid against my neck.
The warrior had crossed his axes with each blade resting against my collarbone.
I sucked in a breath when a sharp edge glided against my skin.
“You didn’t take the heir’s help,” he said, his head moving toward Ivren, who was watching us from over his shoulder.
“I don’t need anyone to help me,” I replied.
“Lie again.” The soldier laughed quietly when goose bumps rose on my skin where the cool steel touched it. “I will not kill you right now. It’s not worth the scolding. Especially as someone else will do it soon.” Dropping the axes, he stepped back. “The dark of night cannot always save you.”
“I know that,” I mumbled, earning myself another glare.
He reached out again, but this time I anticipated it and was able to slip under his arm.
“Cute,” he snapped. “Now. Move.”
He wasn’t leaving until I did as he said, so I spun, keeping my ears open to ensure he wouldn’t come for my back if he changed his mind about the killing thing.
I remained vigilant the entire time I followed the others, even though my mind was splintering like the branches on the trees around me as I worked to understand what had just happened.
We were headed toward the docks, and the sound of whispering wood rose across the water, the sense of too many watchful eyes rolling up my spine.
As Guner headed to a ship at the end of the dock—I recognized the figurehead in the bow; it was the one we’d been on yesterday at the lake—I wiped my dirty hands on my leathers.
The Hird was ruthless. It’s why it was nicknamed Fenrir’s Pit—to make it out, we had to survive the beast that was the trials and the academy. But what Guner had done?
It was personal. I was certain of it. He was angry that he hadn’t known I would attend instead of Lika—angry that one of us was here at all.
The wood beneath my boots squeaked, and I stared down at it when the ships around me quieted as if they knew the fate that had befallen my family—as if they knew our wood no longer sang or gossiped or sailed across the vast seas.
“Watch where you’re going.”
I focused my eyes when Darcke hissed in my ear, and I nearly stumbled when he overtook me. “Weak,” he hissed. “Another thing for my list.”
“Asshole,” I whispered loud enough for him to hear me, but quiet enough I could pretend like it was nothing when his back stiffened.
He didn’t spin around, though, didn’t look at me at all as he walked the brow to the ship.
Hurrying after him, I headed to where heirs stood to the side, waiting just a few feet away from the gangplank.
As I came up beside Rakkel, she grabbed my hand and pulled me up before her.
In silence, she spat on her sleeve, then rubbed the harsh fabric across my chin and above my mouth. It came back stained red when she was finished. While I wished to offer her a smile, I was too furious, so I placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed instead.
“We’ll get him back,” she whispered, eyes slicing to Guner. “He won’t get away with this.”
It was a sweet thought, but if the king wanted Guner here, there wasn’t much we could do.
“Are you all right?” Ivren whispered.
I didn’t have time to respond before a horn was blown.