Page 27

The old woman snorted and lifted her arms. “We’re going to need it all. Get me up there.”

“What?” Vartok glanced around.

“Yer horse, laddie! I cannae climb up there myself, no’ at my age, and dinnae think I’ll be riding by myself. We need to get back to the village as quickly as possible and start those roots simmering.”

Someone was ill. Someone besides Avaleen needed the sea holly?

I exchanged worried glances with Vartok as he wrapped his hands around my waist and lifted me from his lap. I barely had time to gasp before I was settled in the second saddle and Vartok was bending to lift his grandmother.

After he settled her before him on the horse, he tossed me my reins and nodded, silently letting me know he trusted me to keep up with him.

“Aright Nan?” He gathered the fragile woman close. “We’ll get ye home to brew yer potions. Who needs it?”

“Did I forget to mention that?” Even I heard the smirk in her voice. “’Tis yer brother. On the night of the full moon, the veil parted and Kragorn returned to us!”

Vartok

I didn’t remember the ride back to Bloodfire Village, but suddenly, there we were. A grinning Torvolk met me to take the reins of our horses—had he not gone through the stones? Mayhap he had, and found Kragorn? I would get that story from him.

For now, though, I could barely concentrate as I handed Nan down to the Keeper, who was also here for some reason.

“Where is he?” I barked, desperate for confirmation of what my senses were telling me: my brother was here, alive .

Torvolk nodded toward Kragorn’s home which we’d kept ready all these months.

“He’s keeping his prisoner close.”

Prisoner? I jumped down to help Myra unstrap all the sea holly we’d collected, determined to see her safe before I went to my brother. But my Mate knew me well.

“Vartok.” Her hand was on my cheek, turning my gaze to hers. “ Go . Isadora will help Nan start the concoction while I check in on Avaleen.”

“But I can?—”

“You can see your brother and chief,” she whispered, a fond smile on her lips. She knew me so well. “ Go , my Mate.”

Gods below, I loved this female. Crushing her to me, I stole a quick, fierce kiss, then set her away and turned to Kragorn’s cottage.

“It seems I’ve missed a few things,” I heard Torvolk mutter to someone—the Keeper?—behind me. “Vartok and Myra are Mated ? ”

“Ye’d ken this, ye big idiot,” our grandmother announced, “If ye hadnae spent the last sennight in bed with yer own Mate!”

Briefly, I had time to wonder how Nan had known we were Mated—was that a guess, or had she known even before she sent us on this quest together? But then I was pushing open the door and inhaling my brother’s familiar scent.

“ Kragorn !”

At my bellow, the mousey human female—whom I didn’t recognize—by the hearth dropped a bowl with a startled yelp, but I didn’t care about her. Because from the bed came a weary chuckle.

“Good to see ye, brother.”

“Palton’s Spear.” I crossed the room, exhaling, and feeling as if all the worries of the last months were leaving my body with my breath. “No’ as good as ‘tis to see ye .”

But when I reached the bed, I winced.

My brother was propped up on pillows, his torso bare. It allowed me to see the bruising across his jaw and shoulders. One arm was in a splint, and bandages wrapped around his chest. His forehead and chest sported new, ugly wounds, barely healed, and one eye was covered in a bandage.

But his lips were twisted into a rueful grin as he held out his good forearm for me to grasp.

I clutched him like a lifeline as I sank to the mattress beside him .

“Who did this to ye?” I whispered. “The Stormseeker said ye’ve been in the Tarbert dungeon?—”

“Ye’ve met the Battleborn chief?” Kragorn’s brow twitched. “Ye have been leading our people well.”

“I never wanted the position,” I hurried to assure him. “I’ve been praying hourly to the gods for yer return.”

“So ye could give up the responsibility.” His lips were still twisted as he closed his good eye and settled back against the pillows with a little sigh. “Only that?”

“Aye, ye fooking arsehole.” I nudged his thigh beneath the blankets. “Only that reason. ‘Tis no’ like I missed ye or aught.”

My brother’s smile grew, although he didn’t open his eye again.

“Of course. I did no’ miss ye either.”

“Liar.”

His smile fell as he looked at me once more. “I would no’ have wished ye there with me, for certes.”

Gods below, his gaze was haunted.

“That bad, eh? The Tarbert is no’ a welcoming host?”

There was a whimper from behind me, and I almost turned. I’d forgotten the little human woman—was that the prisoner Torvolk had mentioned? But I watched Kragorn’s gaze flick over my shoulder to land on her, and something in his expression… shifted .

Thoughtfully, I glanced back at her. Her head was bowed and her hands shook as she stirred the pottage in the cauldron over the fire. She was not the type of female who usually caught my brother’s eye. He preferred his partners curvier, to match his size. This mouse must be here for another reason.

When I turned back to the bed, Kragorn’s eyes were closed again, tight lines around them speaking of his pain.

“Nay,” he murmured. “Tarbert is a bastard.”

Swallowing hard, I leaned in, my hand falling to his forearm again.

“Will ye tell me what happened? Or have ye spoken of it already, and I should nag Nan?”

“I dinnae mind. The battle…”

His breath eased out on a sigh, and I realized how weary he was. Nay, not just weariness, but weakness . There was a reason Nan had been anxious to get more of that sea holly. Myra had explained the herb’s restorative properties, and now Avaleen and Kragorn could be dosed with it.

“ Please .”

Suddenly the small female was at my side, her voice as tiny as the rest of her. She wrung her hands.

“Please,” she whispered again. “Let him rest. I can tell you what you need to know. Do not make him relive it.”

I studied her in surprise. Was she…protecting my brother? From me? I opened my mouth to assure her I would do naught to harm him, when Kragorn interrupted.

“He’s no’ bothering me, Lillian.”

Lillian, eh? But we could both hear how weak he was, and I squeezed his forearm before sitting back .

“Nay, she’s right, brother. I’ll let ye rest now.”

The wee human let out a sigh of relief and I nodded to her once to let her know I appreciated her defense of Kragorn.

“Do ye need aught?” I asked her. “Nan is making more of the sea holly restorative for him, but my Mate can make ye?—”

“Mate?” Kragorn rasped. “Fook me, I have to get better so I can hear the mess ye’ve made of things here.”

I began to chuckle, but the female—Lillian, I reminded myself—limped away, her head bowed, and her hands clasped in front of her.

“Nay,” she whispered in response to my question. “I am his prisoner. You must not be kind to me.”

My brows went up, and I tipped my head to peer down at my brother.

So she was a prisoner here in Bloodfire Village? The thought was preposterous enough to make me snort, but Kragorn’s lips were set in a firm line, and despite his eye being closed I did not think he was asleep.

And he didn’t contradict the wee female’s claim.

So I was in a thoughtful frame of mind as I patted his arm and pushed myself to my feet.

“I look forward to hearing how ye came to be here, brother. In the meantime, I’ll fetch ye some ale.”

“Ale is not good for illnesses,” Lillian said, her gaze on the floor. “He needs fresh water.”

“Aye, he’ll have that, and sea holly potion as well.” My tone was mild as I tried my charm on her, but she didn’t look up. “But he wants ale, so I’ll bring him some. And fresh brown bread.”

Behind me, my brother snorted softly, and Lillian peeked up at me, her face half-hidden by the dirty shawl wrapped around her head and shoulders. I could tell from her expression that she didn’t know what to make of me, so I nodded approvingly as I headed for the door.

“Thank ye for caring for him, lass. Keep his big hulk alive, aye?”

Her eyes had gone round now, and she glanced toward the bed. “Aye, of course.”

And in that moment, I saw that same something in her expression as well. There was more here than captor and prisoner, and I, for one, looked forward to hearing the story of how Kragorn and this little human came to be in Bloodfire Village.

But first, I had a welcome feast to organize, a grandmother to nag for details, and a Mate to thoroughly claim.

With Kragorn back, I’d soon be able to pass on the mantle of responsibility and return to my forge. I wanted to settle in with my tools, my metal…and my Myra.

We had a future to begin, and I couldn’t wait.