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“Could you tell how far out they were?” The king frowned. “How much time we might have to prepare?”

“I got the sense the winds were in their favor,” I reported, knowing full well what that meant for us Helvig seers. How swiftly the gods could move us over the seas, no matter how treacherous the waters. “I would not be surprised to see them within the next few days.”

“That fast?” the king exclaimed, his frown only deepening. “Surely not.”

“I agree with Tove.” Knud’s tone was as serious as the look he gave King Magnus, making clear what he felt was coming. “’Twould be wise to spend every waking moment preparing for a possible confrontation on land, sea, or possibly a castle siege. ’Twill be up to you.”

“You sense ’twill be that bad?” Magnus looked back and forth between Knud and me, his brow deeply furrowed.

“I think ’tis best to assume it might be.” I counseled him to do what I would in his position. “Were it my fortress, I would hope for the best and prepare for the worst.”

“Ja,” Knud agreed. “’Twould be wise.”

“Or find a way to sink their ships before they get too close,” Magnus muttered, dreaded words indeed. He narrowed his eyes at the sea as if King Alexander’s fleet were already on the horizon. “As it sounds like the Scottish king means to lay waste anyway.”

“’Twould be unwise,” Knud said, forever my hero. “If you kill the King of Scotland before he reaches shore, ’twill be a declaration of war against the whole of Scotland, and many more ships will follow in his wake.”

“Not just that,” I reminded, “but you would, in effect, be acting at the behest of the King of Norway, representing the Kingdom of Norway.” Praying he listened, I shook my head. “And I cannot see your liege being pleased with what will undoubtedly become a full-fledged war betwixt Norway and Scotland.”

“Tove is right,” Knud said. “And whilst ’tis the last thing you want to hear, if this were my kingdom, I would err on the side of caution and opt for a castle siege until you better understand King Alexander’s motives.” He shook his head, too. “’Tis not worth the monumental carnage otherwise because ’twill be monumental, King Magnus.”

Magnus considered our words for several long moments before thanking us for our advice and heading inside, claiming he would have to think about it. Meanwhile, we sought out Helga, only to find her at the forge in the blacksmith’s workshop where we had suspected she might be, having offered her services while here.

She grinned at us and rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t sure I would see you two today, given ’tis already past noon.”

“You might not have,” I admitted, filling her in on what we saw. “Though King Magnus still contemplates how he wishes to handle this, I would see our people’s weaponry sharpened and ready for a potential battle.”

While most generally saw to their own weapons, Helga could accomplish more with the tools at her disposal.

“Of course.” Her amusement faded, and she looked at me with sympathy, knowing I dreaded facing off with my sister. “Hopefully, ’twill not come to confrontation, and they won’t be needed.”

“Hopefully,” I agreed before Knud, and I made our way down to the shore to check on our ships, only to find Freya there, gazing out at the sea from the end of one of the docks. She had braided back her crimson hair like mine, and her white bear cloak billowed in the wind.

“I will begin seeing to the ships.” Knud gave my hand a little squeeze of encouragement. “Go spend time with Freya.”

After squeezing his hand in return, I joined her, arriving at her side and noting the tear that had slipped down her cheek.

“You know then,” I said softly, resting a comforting hand on her shoulder. Like me, Freya wasn’t one to show her emotions to others, but between being so far away from her husband and daughter and now this, I could well understand her angst.

“I do,” she said softly, her voice wobbly with emotion. “I cannot see this going well. Though I didn’t meet King Alexander for obvious reasons when my husband was at Mackay Castle last year, I did meet Astrid’s husband, Declan Mackay. His loathing of us Norse was profound, as was his king’s.” She shook her head. “Whilst Astrid claims his outlook has changed, and King Alexander is more merciful than she anticipated, I don’t think his viewpoint on King Magnus has altered any.”

“Nor I.” Sighing, I glanced in the castle’s direction. “Our best hope right now lies in convincing King Magnus to allow a castle siege so that diplomacy has a chance.”

“He’d better,” she said, surprising me with how vehement she sounded. “Otherwise, I truly don’t know if I can do it, Tove. I do not know if I’m willing to cut down Astrid, for a cause I don’t believe in.” Her jaw tightened, and she shook her head again. “I struggled with the idea before, but now…’tis just too much to ask.”

“I agree, ’tis a lot to ask of any sister, but we are beholden to the King of Norway above all else, and King Magnus has his backing,” I reminded, growing tenser by the moment at the unexpected defiance in Freya’s eyes. “Not supporting King Magnus in his time of need would be traitorous. Not only would you suffer, but the whole of your Dahl tribe, including your husband and daughter would suffer as well.”

The idea that she might not support him, and I could very well lose both sisters, made me sick to my stomach.

“And I know that,” Freya ground out, closing her eyes, trying to gather herself. “Yet I do not know if I would be able to live with myself afterward.”

Granted, the idea of facing off with Astrid in battle was alarming—if it even came to that—Freya’s reaction seemed more pronounced than it had been up to this point.

“Honestly, I’m surprised you’re not more upset, too,” she went on, frowning at me. “I can only assume ’tis because you have not become a mother yet.”

Meeting her frown, I shook my head. “What does that have to do with any of this?”

I soon found out, and alarmingly enough, I couldn’t agree with Freya more.