“This I know, Fiske.”
He shakes his head, I can see his hair flying around in my peripheral vision. I don’t turn to look at him, he is angry, he is not reasonable, so there is no point in attempting to speak reasonably to him. Fiske needs to get his anger out, to accept that this is the way our family is turning and he needs to accept it and find his piece of happiness.
“You are possibly bringing a demon into our home, bródir,” he hisses. “Will you be able to live with yourself if you do such a thing?”
I hum, not showing him my true anger at his accusations. If anything, he will be the cause of civil unrest with our people, not Liv. “We shall see, Fiske. The seeress will tell me what she sees. The gods will guide me, bródir.”
“The gods or your böllur?” he spits before he turns and stomps away from me.
Shaking my head, I snort at my brother’s naivety. Women have been the fall of many countries, does he think that I have not learned from our ancestors past? I am not a man who solely thinks with the sword between my legs.
Liv makes me feel different than any other woman I have ever met, but if I did not truly believe that the gods brought her to me, then she would be my bed slave and nothing more. There is nothing on this earth that would make me betray my people, not a single thing.
Gunnar shouts that we’re approaching the docks shortly. I know that we have at least two hours, so I do not rush to ready for departure. Instead, I enjoy the quietness, the stillness of the sea and Liv pressed up against my front.
“Aaric?” she asks a few moments later, breaking the silence. I hum, not wishing to speak. She sighs but doesn’t say anything immediately. “This is beautiful. I don’t know what is going to happen, how long I’ll be here, but whatever this is, I’m afraid I really really like it a little too much.”
I grunt, having no idea what she’s just said to me, but judging by the inflection of her voice, it sounded very meaningful. Holding her for another moment, I let out a sigh and release her. “Standa,” I demand.
“Stand?” she asks.
Dipping my chin, I grin. “Standa,” I repeat.
Her lips twitch into a small smile. “Stand,” she repeats.
Shaking my head once, I turn away from her and head toward Gunnar. He shouts out an order and the men grunt as they fulfill his demand. Grinning, I must admit that this is my favorite part of sailing.
We’re so close to home and yet still far enough that it will take some time and effort of all the men, together as a team, to guide us home safely. There is something about heading home from a trip, especially a successful raid. Everything is just that much sweeter as you guide the ship toward the dock.
“We’re close,” Gunnar announces as the men push themselves harder and harder. The rest of our fleet are behind us. As always, my ship always comes into the port first—always.
Lifting my head, I search for Liv. She is where I left her, except she is now sitting and leaning over, taking in her new home.
My lips curve up into a smile. I’m far more excited than I should be to introduce her to my people, but I can’t help it. This is all so new to me, every single part of it, and I can’t deny that the excitement is almost overwhelming.
LIV
Aaric practically flies off of the boat when it is tethered to the wooden dock. I don’t know why, but I expected something grander. It is a very plain, simplistic dock. Lifting my hand, I slip my fingers inside of Aaric’s waiting one.
I try to take a step from the rocking boat to the dock, but Aaric is far too impatient. I let out a cry as he leans down, wrapping his hands around my waist and picks me up from the boat before slamming me down on the wooden dock.
Placing my palms on his chest to balance myself, I tip my head back and look up into his eyes. “Excited?” I ask.
He grins, obviously not understanding my words, but possibly my tone. His lips are turned up, a huge grin with his straight white teeth. I don’t know how he has such white teeth that are actually straight, when it doesn’t look like braces are part of these people’s lives, but he does.
“Koma,” he urges.
Rising to my toes, I touch my mouth to his. “Okay, Aaric, I’ll come with you,” I murmur against his lips.
I don’t kiss him. He doesn’t kiss me either. Instead, he takes a step back from me, laces his fingers with mine and tugs me gently behind him as he heads toward the crowd that has gathered at the end of the dock.
Nobody walks in front of us, or beside us. This is Aaric walking toward his people. I see women young and old looking all around us, at us, and behind us. I assume they’re looking for their husbands and sons.
A woman steps through the crowd, they seem to part for her, and my stomach drops. Something inside of me knows exactly who she is, who she must be, and I am sick.
I never thought to ask.
My body completely took over my good senses and I didn’t ask. He never told either, but it never crossed my mind.
“Aaric,” she purrs.
I close my eyes, the pain that radiates through me is almost palpable. Opening my eyes, I take her in. She’s beautiful, curvy in all the right places with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She doesn’t even spare me a glance, her eyes are for Aaric, and only Aaric. If she notices me, I am insignificant.
“Isolda,” he grunts.
To his credit, Aaric does not push me away, he doesn’t pull her close either. He dips his chin and stares down at her. Her smile falters slightly right before her gaze flicks to me, then back to meet his.
She breathes something, and judging by the way her eyes roam over my body before she shifts her attention back to Aaric, it isn’t something that I would particularly like.
My heart hammers against my chest. I want to push him away, to turn around and run, but I don’t. Standing one step behind him and to his side, I am frozen in my place, my hand in his.
There is a long pause, Aaric stays silent for far too long and my stomach clenches even harder as pain rips throughout my entire body. I hear someone shout behind us, but I can’t make out what they’re saying. I don’t understand anything, nothing at all.
Aaric’s hand drops from mine, he spins around, but I can’t look behind me at whatever now holds his attention. All I can do is think about this gorgeous woman standing in front of me. This is his woman. I’m the other woman, I’ve cheated and nothing that happened between us was real—not a single ounce of it.
The woman shifts her gaze from me to the new wave of commotion that happens behind me. Her eyes widen and she lets out a scream. Only then do I turn around to see what has everyone upset.
My lips part in awe or shock, I’m not sure what I’m feeling, it’s indescribable. The green water swells, then curls, as gigantic waves crash against the dock and the shore. Something causes my stomach to clench and I double over in pain.
The water starts moving harder and faster. People are screaming, running, panicking all around me while I stand frozen, just watching as people scramble to get livestock and cargo off of the ships.
I can’t watch. I take a step back, stumbling when I run into the beautiful blonde, Isolda. I try to sidestep her, then turn around to run. I don’t know where I’m going to go in this strange place, who will help me, what will happen to me, but none of it matters.