“Let me finish, Sifa,” Frida urges, her eyes pleading with me, even as she tries to hold back her own tears. “I won’t be long.”
“You’ll be as long as I need you to be,” the woman demands.
I nod once and turn to return to the hall. In almost no time, the woman’s shrieking again, her cries escalating quickly. She ends with a few moans and then a whimper, whispering something I can’t catch when she’s done. Less than a minute later, she stomps out the door, glaring at me as one hand rises to cover her nose.
“Frida promises she didn’t, but I know she rushed me. You’re lucky she gave me such a good orgasm. I’ve killed people for less.”
I watch as she marches away, fully a soldier again.
“You are lucky, you know,” Frida murmurs. “She’s very powerful. You’d be dead if she ordered it.”
“I’m sorry to interrupt. I saw the man from the forest. I think he came to warn us. The Dróttning is coming here. We need to leave.”
“You’re wrong,” Frida insists, resting her hands on her hips. “Knut would have told me if she was coming.”
“I only know what he told me. I don’t think he’s lying.”
“I’ll check with Knut, but if you’re right, we need to go. Get the others. Tell them to be ready. I’ll have our mounts prepared if Knut thinks it’s possible.”
I glance down the hall and then back at Frida, a question in my eyes.
“Start there,” she relents with a sigh, pointing to a door. “He probably came in the first few minutes and is spending the rest of his time cuddling. She can help you gather the girls.”
“Good. We’ll pack and meet you at the stables.”
Frida’s afraid. Leaving at night will be dangerous.
But not as dangerous as staying if the Dróttning comes.
Chapter six
Sifa
You Can't Win
“Wecan’tleavetheway we came,” Frida says as she and Knut round the corner toward the stables. “We’ll never make it in the dark.”
“It’s safer than the road,” Knut insists. “If the Dróttning comes, you’ll cross paths. She’ll kill you.”
“How far do we have to go to be safe?” Frida’s eyeing the carriages, her mouth set in a tight line.
Knut pauses as he looks toward the little trail we’ll follow to escape. “In half a viku,” he says at last, “you’ll reach a turn with boulders on either side. It’s too far from the road and the house for the Dróttning to sense your presence. Wait there. I’ll send word when they arrive so you know you can leave at first light.”
“Yes, that’ll work.” Turning, Frida gestures at the girls. “Get in. Let’s go.” And then she turns to me. “Not you, at least not until that scent wears off. Knut has a horse for you.”
Thank the gods. I was dreading being trapped in a carriage again. I’d much rather be on a horse with a sword on my hip and knives ready to fling.
This horse, though, leaves much to be desired. She must be the worst mount in the stables, a nag Knut can lose without much concern. I wonder if she’ll have the strength to carry a rider. Her back droops nearly as much as her eyes.
She’s pissed about all of it. She doesn’t want a bit in her mouth. She definitely doesn’t want a rider. And she absolutely doesn’t want to leave her warm stall in the middle of the night.
It takes two men to saddle her. Both lose bits of flesh in the process. I would laugh if I wasn’t the one destined to suffer her spite. I wonder if I’ll be able to avoid her teeth as I try to get on her back. I’ll need to take a minute to get to know her first.
“What’s her name?” I ask Knut as he walks to my side. His nose wrinkles, but he doesn’t back off. I wonder what he wants from me.
“Hilde. It means ‘ready for battle’. She lived up to it for most of her life. She was the best of the war horses.”
“What treats does she like?”
