Page 164 of Whisper of Nightmares

Kelda’s eyes fill with betrayal.

It’s clear to Euphemia that this was not something Otho had told her. Dagfinn looks as if he thinks the same.

Kelda stares down at the parchment again. “All because we might have owed the Walsham heirs some coin?”

Dagfinn shrugs. “I guess he was worried it might turn into something more.”

But the longer Kelda looks upon the parchment, the more her brow furrows.

She looks up at Asvald, then to Dagfinn. “Did you read this?”

He snorts as if to say he’s kind of been otherwise indisposed.

Kelda holds the deed out and reads, “The surviving heirs of the Walsham family, George Walsham IV and Maryam Walsham—” With wide eyes, Kelda glances at the two of them again. “You don’t think⁠—”

“Maryam? As in our Maryam?” Dagfinn asks.

Asvald shrugs. “That was her brother’s name, wasn’t it?”

“Aye,” Kelda says, reading the deed again. “You know what this means?”

Solemnly, Dagfinn’s head bobs.

Euphemia can see his mind working.

Finally, when he speaks, his voice is as dark as night. “It means our family not only committed one crime against hers, but several. And now it is time we set things right.”

Dagfinn throws the furs over the side of the bed as he starts to stand.

Kelda and Euphemia jump.

“What are you doing?” Kelda asks. “You should rest.”

“I’ve rested long enough.”

Dagfinn swings one leg over the bed, angling to face Euphemia. She offers him the crook of her elbow and helps him stand. Even on wobbling legs, he still towers over her. Still smells of fire and cedar and sea. Still is exactly as he was in her dreams.

Kelda folds her arms as he hobbles by her. “And what do you plan to do?”

Euphemia already knows his answer.

“I plan to fix everything, to give Kelda what she is owed, and to end Percival’s threat to us once and for all.” He pauses in the doorway just long enough to glance over his shoulder to where Asvald and Kelda stand frozen and speechless. “Come. There is much to prepare.”

Chapter 33

Husband & Wife

Dagfinn sends Asvald to retrieve Maryam, while he, Kelda, and Euphemia head into the great hall to prepare. Both for the conversation with Maryam, but also for the town assembly that is only one day away now.

When Asvald returns a couple hours later with Maryam, she welcomes Dagfinn back to his health, and then notices the strange feeling in the air.

“What’s this about then?” she asks.

Together, Kelda and Dagfinn tell her everything as they know it to be true.

When Dagfinn directs her attention to the place in the deed where her family name is listed, the creases around her eyes deepen.

“Do you not remember any of this?” he asks with gentle caution.