The soft jangle of the falcon’s hoods pulled me from my thoughts. They had taken to each other. Drest sat perched next to Freyja, dwarfed in comparison, his head turned into her shoulder. Apart, they were fearless but together they were formidable.
Somehow, we were better together than we were apart. We would travel to Atholl for the last time. I would return with Sigurd, and we would rule together. Our child would be born and grow roots in the solid earth. Sigurd could teach him stories of the old gods and I could teach him the ways of the lamb.
I crawled once again beneath the mounds of furs, content with a full belly and a warm heart. As my eyes drifted closed, Sigurd pushed open the door.
‘Olith,’ He whispered. ‘Olith, are you sleeping?’
‘I was trying to,’ I said groggily. ‘What is it?’
‘I have something to show you.’ He draped a thick blanket around my shoulders and took me by the hand, leading me through the door and out into the darkness.
The air nipped at my skin and the black ground glistened with white frost. We threaded our way between farmsteads and scattered stones. Sigurd guiding me. No candles flickered behind shutters. The quiet was broken only by the rustle of our feet through frozen grass.
The whole world slept.
‘Where are we going?’
‘You will see.’
We emerged out onto the sand, illuminated by moonlight. I glanced up and what I saw took my breath away.
‘I haven’t seen anything like it.’
Above us, the sky danced in whorls of green and blue. Trails of pink slashed the sky. It was a glowing, pulsing arc.
‘It is beautiful, but what is it?’
‘It is the light reflecting from the armour of Odin’s Valkyries, as they lead the warriors over the Bifrost Bridge, showing them the way to Valhalla.’ He came behind me then and wrapped his arms around me. ‘It is a good omen for warriors that go into battle, they will be taken to Valhalla.’
I would not let Odin take him from me.
I turned to him and kissed his cheek. My heart beating in my chest. ‘Do not go to war for him.’ He pressed me closer. ‘We will visit with him as we agreed but it is his war, not ours.’
‘On our wedding day when we exchanged our ancestor’s swords, we were bound. I will not go against Finnleik, I am no fool, but I cannot go back on my word and I will hear your father out.’
I nodded, head leaning on his chest. We held each other without speaking. Our eyes fixed on the beautiful colours that undulated and rippled across the sky. The realisation crept over me that I would have to tell him the truth. No matter what hurt it would cause. If he was to ever trust me, I had to tell him.
‘I need to tell you something.’ I felt as though I might be sick. Closing my eyes against the feeling. ‘You will think of me differently.’
I pushed myself away from him. I could not bear the touch of his skin against the burning guilt of my own. I wrapped my arms around myself and turned to face him.
‘There is nothing that you could say that would make me think that.’
‘You must remember, whatever else is said, that I love you.’ I felt the chill of tears against my cheeks.
He was still as a stone carving. Eyes fixed on mine.
‘Our marriage suited my father,’ I said, wiping away tears with the heel of my palm. ‘He wanted peace at his borders, nothing more. It was Donada that should have been your bride.’
‘This is nothing I do not know already.’
‘She is my sister. I have looked after her since she was a child. I did not want to see her raped by a Danish husband.’ I reached for his hand. ‘So, I took her place. I had to make you choose me. There was nothing else for it. I had never planned on staying, I do not know if–’
Sigurd intervened. ‘I did not want a pious, trout-faced bride and thought twice about it after our first meeting. It did not turn out so badly.’
‘Pious trout face?’ There I was, pouring my heart out, trying to make him see how much I truly loved him, after all, I had thought of him and he had managed to infuriate me all over again. There has been no one else who could come close tomaking me love them and hate them all at the same time. ‘And now?’
‘What of it? I’ve had worse.’
