“To.The.Floor.”
“She isvaneruigk.Look how comfortable she is.Moving her would be a crime.”
I made a playful, innocent face in agreement.
King Arik’s volume grew.“Look what you have taught her!She is manipulating me withyourexpression!She is learning to cast.You will do her far more good letting Hallbjern rattle your skull than you would do sitting next to her.”
Fell sighed and rolled away from me.The parts of me that had been touching him grew colder instantly.
“Now, Gentlewoman.You like Fell, yes?”
I was careful to maintain my owl face, again playfully.“I am reasonably fond of him.”
Many laughed at this.The depth of my affection for Fell was something that came up in drunken conversation, the depth of my affection for anyone, truly.People assumed that if my face didn’t show it, it mustn’t be in my heart.They teased me for being cold and uncaring, and while that would have hurt in other circumstances, Fell was always looking at me knowingly.It didn’t matter what other people thought.He knew the truth.He knew it even better than I did.And Dania was always teasing people back on my behalf, saying something like, “Yes, that is just what I like about her.”
“Gentlewoman, Fell is about to be hurt a great deal if you do not help him.He has not been training.He has been lost in strawberries for many moons now.Entirely unfocused.All that time, Hallbjern has been practising killing.Lend Fell your strength.”
“Exactly the introduction a person hopes for when they step onto the wrestling floor,” Fell said, removing his tunic and earning a few more laughs.
Fell wasn’t as incapable as Arik had made him out to be—indeed, he managed to carry the fight on longer than most before him had.I was utterly enchanted by the sight until he started properly losing, and then I felt nothing but weakness, flinching and wincing each time it looked like one of his limbs was going to be caught in a careful trap set by Hallbjern, each time he seemed uncomfortable.
“Gentlewoman, aid him.”
“I…” I shook my head.“This is not?—”
“Try.He is in pain.Is power wet or dry in your mind?”
“Uhh—”
“Is it firm or flexible?”
Hallbjern flipped the pair of them, and I knew by the franticness of Fell’s movements that a loss was imminent.
“Fell!Use your true strength!You are not trying!”King Arik shouted, leaning forward.
“I am!”Fell shouted back with a grin as Halbjern pressed his reddened face into the matted floor.
King Arik muttered under his breath, on the verge of a proper rage, which was something I was learning to sense from him.There were degrees to his fury.
“Surely he is trying,” I said.“Look how red his face is.Look at the vein in his neck.”How I loved that vein.
“No.Hallbjern tries harder.He cares more about sparring.He wants to win every match with his entire heart.This is why he is the best.You have not seen Fell on a raid.When the fight means life or death, he is twice as skilled as you see him here.But he practises with no true energy…”
“You have raided together?”
The crowd sucked in air in unison—a telltale sign that the fight was nearing its end.I wasn’t accustomed to watching wrestling, so I often couldn’t sense the shifts as early as others could.
“Gah!”Arik stood.“You both are lazy!How am I supposed to manage a kingdom with a lazy gentlewoman and a raider who cannot even try a little while wrestling?A king needs strong friends!”King Arik stormed out of the hall.
At first, it seemed Jorn would go after him, but then Hallbjern released Fell, and Fell said, “I will cheer him.”
It was quiet for several moments after he left.Hallbjern was red in the face and breathing heavily, glistening with sweat.
Ivar said, “Did you feel a change—when she was casting?”
Hallbjern looked at me, somewhat apologetically, before shaking his head.“Everyone felt like uncooked bread in my arms.”
Several days after King Arik was disappointed by my unenthusiastic attempt at casting, Fell and I had planned a little evening.Ourselves and Dania would visit Rowan and then find one of many outdoor hearths in Aalt where rowers fromThe Tornadomight be drinking, as Fell wanted to spend the evening with his friends.I was more than happy to curl up in his arms near a fire and drift almost to sleep as he laughed and chatted, as the deepness of his voice buzzed against my cheek.Recently, I had been either napping or wishing I was napping, and this gave me a sort of sleepy agreeableness that was rather unlike me.If I could sleep somewhere—especially if I could sleep on Fell’s shoulder or chest while I was there—I would go.If the sky was pale blue and glistening with the first hint of stars—as it was that night—so much the better.
