Page 5

“Let me in,” she was saying. “Roan, Baer wants you in the meeting house.”

I fell out of my chair, striking my elbow against the side of the now-cold hearth. I rubbed it, blew the hair out of my face, and rose, my hips aching from having slept all night in the chair.

“Am I interrupting something?” The knocking continued. “Have you two killed each other, or are we getting along a little too well?”

“Hold on,” I called. I muttered curses on my way to the door and raked my hair back with my fingers. Begrudgingly, I drug the thing open. Esska took one look at me and frowned before peering over my shoulder.

“Oh shit,” she said. “You killed him, didn’t you?”

I shot her a look before turning away.

“Where is he?” she asked, following behind and closing the door.

“Don’t know. He didn’t…”

“He didn’t stay here last night?”

I shook my head.

“Where did he stay?”

Hell if I knew. I didn’t even try to answer her. Instead, I went to my table and pulled out a chair. The night before came back to me in waves, and I relived the nightmare in my mind. He’d been there, in my hut. He’d laid out his things in the corner, his arms wrapped in the same ribbons as mine.

I’d hated seeing that. Our ribbons made a match, a pair.

Like we were meant to.

No, no, never, and no. That man or boy or whatever he was could not be my husband. I would dig in my heels, and I would refuse. Only as quickly as the stubborn thought swelled, the cold reality seeped back in, reminding me of my precarious place in this clan. I was in turbulent waters, and there was already a riptide threatening to pull me under.

Elsynbr, help me.

Had I really gotten away with having sent Roan away for the entire night? Baer must not have heard then. Roan hadn’t told him. It was possible that he didn’t want to involve his father any more than I did, and it dawned on me for the first time that maybe the old man was as hard on his son as he was his daughter-in-law.

“I can see this is going well,” Esska said, hands moving to her hips. “How bad was it?”

I sighed, staring at the empty table in front of me, but my gaze went through it.

“Bad,” I finally said. “He and Goose got into it. I yelled at him.”

The dog perked at the sound of his name.

Esska shook her head at that. She walked up to the table and looked over my shoulder. The whole surface of it sat bare. She noticed, no doubt. I had cleaned up, and Inevercleaned up. She knew what it meant and why I’d done it. “I’ve never known you to raise your voice at Goose.”

I frowned and gave her a sideways glance.

“The dick, not the dog. I yelled at Roan.”

Esska opened her mouth to say something, then shut it. The surprise she’d shown withered into something significantly less impressed, and she sighed.

“Of course you did.”

I twisted to face her. “He pulled his knife.”

Esska frowned. “He did?” When I nodded, her mouth hardened. “Well. My brother is going to regret the day he threatened Goose.”

“Yes. That.”

“I will kick his ass myself.”