Page 65 of Lord of Fire and Ice

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A shaft of sunlight broke through the smoke hole and stabbed Katla in the eye. It was rare that she slept past the cockcrow or missed hearing the clank of the bell around the ram’s neck as her flocks were being driven into the high pasture.

But this day she’d slept till midmorning, judging from the position of the sun. Somehow, she couldn’t bring herself to care. Katla extended her arms over her head in a leisurely stretch.

Then she jerked upright in a sudden motion.

Brandr wasn’t beside her.

She ran a palm over the linens. The indentation in the tick where he’d been was still warm. His scent lingered in the bedclothes. He hadn’t been gone long.

Katla rose and dressed quickly. She usually stirred at the slightest sound. She must have been sleeping like the dead for him to sneak out of bed, dress, and leave the chamber without her knowledge.

That’s what comes of being loved to exhaustion, she thought as she tugged on her stockings and wrapped the binding strips of cloth about her calves.

Loved.

They hadn’t used the word, but she felt it. In the deep relaxation of her long sleep, in every loose-jointed limb, she reveled in the afterglow of well-being that follows a bone-jarring coupling.

Each time. Her mind was a little fuzzy. She’d actually lost count.

Inga was working at the central meal fire when Katla emerged from her chamber.

“Pack a pot of meat and bread for us, would you please, Inga?” Katla said as she moved toward the open door.

Sunlight caught the bright red fabric on one of the looms propped in the entry, making the color even more vibrant. Or mayhap it only seemed so. The breeze blowing through the longhouse was fresher, the scent of sausages frying more spicy and pungent. Even the soft drape of her underdress swishing against her skin as she moved was tinged with pleasure. Katla could find no cause for complaint about anything this fine day.

“My husband and I will go for a long walk and break our fast in the woods.”

Inga’s face crumpled in confusion. “But Br—your…husband already broke his fast and ordered food packed for the journey. A keg of water also to be brought to the wharf, which Finn said he’d see about. I still need to—”

“What journey?”

“I…he did not…I assumed you knew.”

Oh gods, he was leaving. After last night. After everything.

Katla ran out of the longhouse and down the winding path to the wharf. Brandr was setting the rigging on the coracle and arranging bundles of cargo to distribute the weight evenly. Finn’s water keg rode in the center of the craft.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked when she reached the spot where the small vessel was tied up.

“What’s it look like?” Brandr shielded his eyes against the glare of sunlight to look up at her for a moment then resumed his work. “I’m preparing for a voyage.”

Her heart sank to the soles of her feet. Why had she let herself need him? He was still leaving.

He’d said he would, she reminded herself sternly. She shouldn’t have been surprised. She swallowed hard and steeled herself not to show her bleeding soul.

“Where are you bound?”

“Where are we bound, you mean?”

“We?” For a moment, her heart leaped up in gladness. He hadn’t intended on leaving her after all, but it didn’t mean she could go with him. “No. I’m not going anywhere. There’s too much for me to—”

“Don’t worry, sister.” Finn’s voice came from behind her. “You won’t be gone long.”

“That’s right. I won’t be gone long, because I won’t be going at all.” She fisted her hands at her waist. “Where is it I’m not going?”

“To Jondal,” Brandr said calmly as he accepted and stowed the bundles Finn had brought down for him.