“Ye all think I’m jestin’.” Ivar continued, though his mouth twitched. “I’ve a whole plan, ye ken. There’s a monastery that?—”
“They wouldnae take ye.” Magnus said.
“Why nae?”
“Because ye talk. Constantly. I wager they’d pay ye tae leave within a day.”
“I could take a vow of silence!” The entire table blinked at him. “Aye, all right, fair point.” He slumped in his chair. “I’m just as doomed as the rest of ye.”
Claricia leaned toward Isolda, her voice soft. “I hope ye’ll write tae me. I wish I’d had someone who understands all of this, what ‘tis like.”
“Aye,” Ada offered. She met Isolda’s eyes with understanding. “We ken everythin’ feels strange and wrong right now, like ye’ve lost yerself completely.”
“But it’ll get easier,” Claricia added gently. “There’ll be days when it daesnae feel like it, but… ye’ll find yer footin’. We both did.”
“I’d like that,” Isolda said quietly, and Ragnar’s chest clenched at the loneliness threaded through her voice.
“Good.” Claricia squeezed her hand briefly. “Write tae me about anythin’.Everythin’!Daesnae matter how small, or hard, or confusin’.”
“And if ye find ye need advice on how tae manage a stubborn Viking,” Ada added with a small smile. “We’ve both had plenty of practice.”
“They’re nae so different from Highland lairds,” Claricia added.
“They brood,” Ada added, “but underneath all that silence, they’re just men tryin’ tae dae right by their people.”
Isolda glanced at Ragnar but he kept his attention on his cup, giving her the privacy of the moment.
“Thank ye,” he heard her say softly. “Both of ye. I… I didnae expect tae find friends here.”
“Well, ye have us now.” Claricia said simply.
Servants began moving through the hall, clearing trenchers and cups away while stable hands appeared with travelling cloaks and trunks as the castle prepared for the couples departure.
Ragnar watched Erik, Magnus and Ivar’s men gather near the doors, checking their weapons and discussing the tide.
“I should fetch Thorsten,” Claricia said to Erik, rising from her seat. “The wee terror’s probably convinced Cook’s helper tae let him adopt every stray cat in the keep by now.”
Ada joined her and the two women moved toward the doors together, still talking, and Ragnar noticed how Isolda watched them go—not with envy, but with something closer to yearning.
Magnus clasped his forearm. “Keep yer guard up, aye? Things willnae stay quiet fer long.”
“I ken.”
Ivar clapped him on the shoulder with entirely too much enthusiasm. “Try nae tae scare the poor lass off before the month’s out, aye? The King wouldnae be impressed if she fled back tae the Highlands screamin’.”
“Get out of me hall, Ivar.”
“I’m goin’, I’m goin’!”
The space slowly emptied out, the noise and chaos fading into quieter rhythms.
Ragnar found himself standing by the hearth with Isolda hovering a few paces away.
Then, she stepped forward, closing the distance with her chin lifted in that way she had when she was preparing for a fight. “May I speak with ye?”
“Yearespeakin’ wi’ me, little wolf.”
Her mouth twitched despite the obvious nerves. “I want tae go tae the village.”
