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It was wrong to scold him right after a trauma, but he needed to do better. No one should rely on others to protect them. It was one of the few lessons my mother ever taught me. That, and how to use daggers to keep myself safe. The lessons had saved my life more times than I could count.

Finn basically plastered himself against my back, still sniffling and whimpering quietly. I shushed him but didn’t force him to step away. I wasn’t that cruel. I snuck toward the village center again, this time with Finn behind me, and when we got there, I grimaced. Most of the fighting was here. I might be able to sneak through, but I couldn’t bring Finn into that mess.

“Where’s Patrick?” I hissed.

“H-he was with Yami when I left,” Finn whispered, pointing toward the tent I’d seen him in before. Nodding, I pushed Finn back and stuck to the shadows, leading him around the fighting and up the side of the cooking tent. I heard a clang, like a pan hitting something, and a thud, and my heart skittered in my chest. Dragging Finn with me, I rushed forward into the tent, skidding to a stop when I saw what was happening inside.

“Holy shit. That actually worked?”

Patrick stood over a fallen barbarian, a heavy pan in his hand that he’d obviously used to bludgeon the man. The older woman, Yami, was in a corner, with half a dozen little kids hiding behind her.

Patrick shrugged. “It was all I had. Are you two okay?”

Tugging Finn forward, I pushed him toward his friend. “He was attacked. He’s shaken up but ok. Keep him with you until his bondmate can get to him. I’ll be back.”

“Where are you going?” Patrick demanded.

“To kill a barbarian,” I growled, marching out of the tent.

The asshole clanleader didn’t make it easy to find him. I thought he’d be in the fray, cutting down his enemies or whatever it was big men did when trying to show off. But he wasn’t in the village center like the rest of them. Not at first, anyway. I was going to go check on Maman and hopefully find some other enemy barbarian to question on the clan leader’s whereabouts when he came out of the tent I was brought to when I first arrived. Two big guys followed him, dragging Orthorr. He was unconscious, or dead. I couldn’t be sure. It washard to see if he was breathing when they were dragging him around like that.

“Look around, Orthorr. See what you’ve made me do. If you’d done as you were told, I wouldn’t have to take over your clan.” He tsked. “I can’t feed this many mouths. Many will not survive the winter, all thanks to you.”

I ground my teeth, listening to his little speech. Typical macho man, putting the blame on the victim. I hated people like him. He looked like he was enjoying this way too much. And I knew just how to ruin his day.

“Hey, asshole!” I shouted, cutting through the noise of the clan. “I challenge you to a blood duel!”

We were standing far enough apart that most of the people fighting in the village center heard me. They shoved away from their opponents, looking to their leader to see what would happen next. I marched forward, ignoring the sneers and glares along the way. I stopped a good distance away, enough that he and anyone else couldn’t lunge at me and try to catch me by surprise. They wouldn’t get far. I was still armed and ready.

The asshole clan leader scoffed. “You are not a brother of the clan. You cannot challenge me.”

“What’s the matter?” I taunted. “Scared?”

Men like him hated any sort of insult to their manhood. And being afraid to fight someone like me, a whore half his size with what he thought was very little fighting experience, was definitely an insult.

“You think I’m scared of you, little whore? Do you know who you speak to?”

“Do you really think I care?” I countered. “All I see is a coward who sneaks into a village and attacks without warning because he knows he can’t take a clan without cheating somehow.”

His eyes widened, and he bared his teeth at me. “I am no cheat!”

I ignored him, continuing to pick at his pride. “Why is only part of your clan here? Did the rest not agree with your cheating ways and refuse to come? I could definitely see that happening. I know I wouldn’t waste my time following a coward like you.”

He took a step forward, almost shaking with anger now. Good. Angry men got sloppy. He’d make a stupid mistake eventually.

A shadow passed behind me and I ducked before the barbarian behind me could grab me. Using the move that seemed to stun most of the clan when I sparred with the angry scarred one, I sliced up the barbarian’s leg, straight to his groin. He dropped with a shout and I straightened again, raising my eyebrow at the clan leader. In the distance, I heard the clatter of hoof beats approaching at a fast pace. I seriously hoped that wasn’t backup for them. I might be able to fight one on one, but I wasn’t a warrior, and I didn’t belong in an actual battle.

“See? Cheats. I challenged you to a blood duel. Doesn’t seem fair that your little friends are trying to fight for you. Then again, maybe you really are too scared to face me. Do they fight all your battles for you?”

“You cannot challenge me!” he bellowed.

A stallion broke through the surrounding crowd and Feigrind launched himself off the animal, striding over to me.

“No. He can’t. I can. I challenge you, Feiskedr. Face me or give up your honor as a warrior and leave.”

“Try arguing with that, bitch,” I added with a sneer.

Twenty-One