“My favorite,” he says as he pops a handful in his mouth. “I heard you liked berries.”
“Oh, you heard that, did you?”
“I did.”
His teeth light up in the dark. I shake my head.
“I was just eating a couple with the girls.”
“I know.”
He picks strawberries from around him before holding them in front of me.
“For me?” I ask, unable to hide the playful tone in my voice.
“For you.”
“You don’t say a lot, for a renowned skald,” I say.
“I only speak when it’s necessary.”
“Like when I was in front of Asbjorn? Begging on my knees?”
“And his wife,” he corrects me. “I couldn’t help myself—inspiration was offered by Odin and Freya.”
“Don’t drag the gods into your degeneracy, skald.”
I pop the strawberries in my mouth. He laughs.
“Degeneracy, I like how you describe my work.”
“More than I like your work,” I reply while chewing. “Wow, these really are divine. A bit sour though, no?”
“They are best like that—some sourness to pair with the sweetness.” He turns to me, moonlight shining in his eyes. “Like people.”
“You like sour people?”
“I like folk with layers. A person may have many unlikable aspects we have to dig our way through before we get to the sweet treat at the center. Like your skirts.”
I smack his shoulder. Such a rude bastard. Yet my heart flutters at his raunchy flirting. He’s so direct, the opposite of Narve’s quiet longing.
“There will be no digging here, you horny skald.”
I stroke the bushes around me—strawberries all over. I grab more and place them on my tongue, crushing them against my palate. As a girl, mushing berries without chewing had been my way to eat them, a textured memory that lingers after all these years. We sit in silence, enjoying the simple pleasure offered by the berries.
“Come.” He stands and reaches out his hand.
“No more eating?”
“You can eat all you want after I show you something.”
He leads me to the stone in the center and begins climbing.
“Just use the same route as me,” he says.
“I’m surprised you didn’t want to go behind me,” I say, making him turn to me confused. “You know, to look up my skirts.”
He laughs as he climbs onwards.
