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“You are brave. I did not think to see you.” The rumbling words were so soft and low that Gytha barely heard them.

The young woman took a deep breath to steady her voice. “I will go with you and do as you asked.”

The bear twitched in surprise and stared at her. “You will?”

“It means a lot to you, doesn’t it?” she asked softly.

“It does.” Alexander sighed. “But you are not bound by what binds me. You need not take on this hardship.”

Gytha licked her lips, tempted by the opportunity to forget it all. A whole year without her family! But the bear—Alexander—had been generous to them. He had saved them from a cruel death.

Wouldn’t it be wrong to refuse to help him in return?

The door opened suddenly, and Ivarr stepped outside holding a lamp, his eyes wide. “It’s not growling,” he said under his breath. “What strange creature is this?”

He held the lamp higher, so the light gleamed on the bear’s glittering eyes and caught the blood dried dark on his muzzle. “What do you want with my daughter?”

Alexander said, “I have asked a great favor. I have not compelled her.”

Ivarr’s eyes widened, but he looked at Gytha. “Do you hear words? I only hear growling.”

Gytha nodded. “He said he asked a favor, but he has not compelled me. It’s true, Papa. He isn’t forcing me.”

“Why do you want her in particular? Couldn’t anyone do what you need?” Ivarr addressed the bear and then looked to Gytha to understand the answering growls.

“It could be any maiden, unmarried and unpromised,” Alexander answered. “But I had only enough magic to ask one. I chose you, Gytha, because I saw how courageously you bore your suffering, and because my time here in the south is short. I am bound tightly, and I will soon either return or die.”

Gytha relayed this to Ivarr, who studied the bear with narrowed eyes.

“What will you do if she refuses?” he asked.

“I will die here. I will not return alone.”

Gytha met her father’s eyes.

“He told me not to agree out of obligation. He isn’t forcing me at all. But have you not taught me to meet kindness with kindness? How much kindness has he already given ourfamily? Mamma and I are healed, and we all have food enough to last the winter. Would it not be cruel to refuse him this?

Ivarr’s eyes burned with emotion. “It is cruel to ask so much of you.”

The bear dropped his head. “He is right. I should not have asked.” His voice was nearly inaudible.

Gytha took a deep breath. “Even before I knew he faced death, I knew that I ought to go with him. I need to do this to stand upright before God and before you and Mama. I need to know I was brave enough to do the right thing.”

“And the right thing is to go with him for a year and risk all manner of suffering for a bear?”

“Yes, it is.” She raised her chin and met his eyes, keeping her gaze steady. “You taught me honor and compassion, and you taught me courage. I’ve seen you live it well, Papa. Let me follow your good example.”

With one eye on the bear, Ivarr set the lamp down on the snow. He wrapped his arms around her again, heedless of the bear and the cold deep enough to freeze a man’s blood in his veins. In the strength of his arms and the shuddering of his chest, she felt his grief and pride. “Don’t leave without kissing Mama and your brothers and sisters.”

“Of course not.” She smiled up at him and stepped back inside. The others were stirring, even though it was far earlier than the little ones usually woke, and she embraced them one by one, kissing the little ones on the cheeks for good measure. “Be good for Mama and Papa while I’m gone,” she said at last. “I’m not afraid, so there’s no reason for you to be. I’m having an adventure!”

Sigrid looked at her doubtfully, but Solveig smiled back at her. “You’ll be all right,” she said, her voice only a little unsteady. “He’s a nice bear.”

Her mother went outside and talked quietly with her father for several minutes. Then she hugged Gytha tightly and whispered in her ear, “Are you sure, Honeycake? You don’t have to do this.”

“I’m sure, Mama.”

When she stepped outside again, she had a pack full of hastily made flatcakes, some acorn flour, and cooked elk venison wrapped in cloth. The meat and flatcakes would freeze in the pack and be ready to warm and eat as she traveled, and the flour could be cooked when she arrived at their destination.