“You were the first to say my name. The first to put on my necklace.”
He holds my shoulders and stares into my eyes, an attempt to calm me.
“I will be there for many first times, Kilda the Wild.”
“And I for you.”
“And you for me.”
We both nod. I dry tears with his cloak.
“I’m sorry, it’s just?—”
“Look there!” he says excitedly, pointing to some birch trees beneath us.
“What? I don’t see anything.”
“It’s still now. Wait until it moves again.”
Then it moves. My eyes widen. Such perfection. Blending in with its environment. Seeking its next prey. A shadow among the trees. Unseen until it’s too late.
“A lynx,” I whisper.
It pauses, its gaze sweeping the ridge. My heartbeat flickers. It’s like it can sense us. Or me. Like it feels my presence. It moves on, as it wills, unclaimed.
Ari massages my shoulders carefully as we enjoy sharing a surreal moment together.
“Like you,” he whispers back.
He’s right. I am free. Hiding in the shadows of the mountains. Like the lynx. The lynx decides where to leap. It decides when to strike.
It has no master.
It has claws to shred with. Teeth to rend.
The lynx’s ears hear the lightest paw and its eyes see the furthest peaks.
It rules its territory. A creature that bows to no one. It slips into the trees and out of sight. A secret I get to keep or share.
My fingers stroke the lynx head hanging from my neck as I gaze across the mountains. The gold and rubies vibrate against my skin. A thrill under my fingertips. But I’m not worried. I’m used to it now. It threatens me, not with danger, but with promise. My will moves with the same motion.
Powerful winds create waves in the treetops below. Somewhere down there, Ragnhild lives. The girl I orphaned. She cursed me with blood on her hands—her mother’s blood.
I curse all you love, she screamed.You will burn.
I should feel guilty. Maybe I do. But guilt is a chain I’ve already broken.
She’s just a child. She’ll forget. Forgive.
The necklace pulses warm against my throat, as if in agreement.
Won’t she?
My eyes wander past Opdal. Beyond the valleys.
This land will be conquered. Its thralls will be freed. Nature will be restored. Fate is not carved or woven. It is taken. Shaped.
My hand finds Ari’s. We share heat. Share life. With every breath.
