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“You display a fundamental misunderstanding of how the Elska bond works. Ulf did not choose me. Our marks appeared and we chose each other. A female is not something to be claimed,” Astrid responded with an icy tone.
My eyes whipped back and forth between Astrid and Magna. I felt like I was on the Jerry Springer show or an overly dramatic episode of the Kardashians. Magna’s eyes narrowed and he turned to assess me and Agnarr as we stood to the right of Astrid, ready to be introduced.
“So you’re saying the Elska bond felt this weak, pale thing worthy of our new jarl?” He waved vaguely at me.
At this, Agnarr left my side and swiftly started moving through the crowd toward Magna. I brought my fist to my mouth, biting on my knuckle, afraid of what Agnarrr would do to Magna. But Skaard got there first. He approached his father with no hesitation, hauled back, and punched him squarely in the face. My jaw dropped to the ground. If it weren’t so serious, I would want popcorn. Magna stumbled back, caught by who I assumed was his youngest son, Ozur. He was shooting daggers at Skaard, who had since been joined by Iric, Agnarr, and several of the guards, including Vott. Magna’s nose was bleeding rapidly, but he shook off those who attempted to help him.
He looked at Skaard with disgust, “So, this is the side you choose?”
“This is the side of the future, I have no desire to live in the past.”
“And you’re willing tomatewith one of these humans?” he asked in disbelief.
“I doubt any of them will have me now that they’ve seen who my father is, but yes. I am.”
“Fine. Fine,” Magna spit, “We’re leaving. I hope you all have puny offspring that are killed off in the next tribal skirmish.”
With that, he and his small group of followers turned and left the celebration, with only Ozur giving Skaard the briefest of looks before following his father. There was a moment of stunned silence before the entire tribe erupted.
“Silence,” Astrid commanded.
It was at that moment I fully understood how she’d led Fýrifírar for so long without Ulf. She may be petite, for an orc, but at the sound of her voice, the entire tribe stepped in line.
“Now that we have unfortunately witnessed how orkin who disagree with our path forward will be dispensed with, it is time to introduce our new jarl and jarlin. ” She gestured toward Agnarr, who’d rejoined my side and me to move forward.
I did, hesitantly at first, but with Agnarr’s reassuring grip at my waist, I tried to put on my best ‘I can handle anything’ smile. If teaching through all of the crises of the 2000s taught me anything, it was to just keep smiling. It’s fine. It’s all fine. I was reminded of my first year of teaching where I thought I could teach September 11th. I cried the entire day and scared all of my students. Clearly an excellent teacher. Every year after that I took September 11thoff and went to Disneyland. This was how I felt at that moment, I had to either keep up the facade or I’d crumble. Agnarr and I stepped forward.
“Jarl Agnarr and Jarlin Piper will be the new leaders of our tribe in two cycles of the moon. They will be guided by me in all ways as we forge a path forward. With our new tribe members and the course we are going to take, having a human jarlin and an orkin jarl could not be more suitable for Fýrifírar,” Astrid announced to thunderous applause from human and orkin alike.
I stood there, bemused, trying to gain footing after all that happened, when Agnarr grabbed me by the waist and turned me to him. He kissed me thoroughly in front of the entire tribe, hands at my waist, melding us together. The cheers grew even louder as Astrid stepped back and the entire tribe rejoiced in our leadership and our pairing. There was a small part of my brain that was horrified at the attention, but the rest of me rejoiced at the acceptance and I slid my fingers up into Agnarr’s braid, pulling him to me, kissing him completely. When we parted I looked for any hesitation in Agnarr’s eyes but found only smug triumph. I grinned before turning to the crowd to find hands clapping and lewd hollering.
CHAPTER16
AGNARR
Astrid and I had planned for Piper and me to address the crowd, but cutting the speeches short seemed for the best after what happened with Magna. Piper had plastered on her fake smile, and I had no idea where her head was. It took all of my control not to race after Magna and beat him to a pulp. The insults he threw directly at Piper called for nothing less than bloodshed. I was surprised, but not upset, that Skaard got to him before I did. Though I wanted to get my hands on Magna, throttling an ousted elder before the entire tribe wouldn't be a good look for the new jarl. Skaard's willingness to tear apart his family for the sake of the tribe spoke volumes. We were lucky to have him on the council.
While Piper snaked through the crowd to check in with the human women, I went to Astrid. She'd sat at one of the tables with some of the other elders and was helping herself to a plate of food. Though she wouldn't crack in front of the tribe, I could tell she was tired. She was tired of all of this. I sat down beside her, nodding to the other elders in greeting.
"Well, that didn't go exactly as planned," I said lightly, bringing my drink to my lips.
"Hardly."
"Are you worried?"
"About Magna? No. He and the rest of his group will be lucky if they make it to the next tribe. They're all old and not suited for long travel. If they get attacked by anything or come across unfriendly orkin, they are done for."
"What about the tribe?"
"Look around you. Do you see a reason to worry?"
At this, I took a few minutes to assess the rest of the tribe. I immediately zeroed in on Piper. She was with several of the other women. I recognized Billie from her mane of wild curly hair, which I’d never seen in orkin. She was going to be a hot commodity based on her hair alone. The rest of the women I was still getting to know. They were sitting with Osif, of all people. They looked engaged in a very in-depth conversation, but no one appeared uncomfortable. I had a sneaking suspicion that Piper had secret plans with Osif, but whenever I asked him about it he told me all their conversations had been about the housing for the women. I eyed them shrewdly for a second longer, wondering if Osif was simply an excellent secret keeper, before looking around at the rest of the crowd.
Most of the human women were in twos or threes but talking animatedly to orkin, male and female alike. No one appeared uncomfortable. I was surprised to see Skaard seated with just one human woman, talking quietly. If I remembered correctly, her name was Zoey. She was one of the humans with a traumatic past. I assessed them carefully, but both seemed at ease. They weren't sitting close, but they were engaged in conversation. Looking at the tribe, the damper on the mood that Magna and his followers had cast upon our celebration had dissipated.
"See?" Astrid said, "It is all going to be fine."
I made a noncommittal noise before taking another sip of my drink. Even if everyone seemed happy now, I expected turbulence as the human women assimilated and the tribe tested Piper and me as their new leaders. Astrid had been the Jardin for almost two tiårs on her own and longer than that with Ulf. This would be a massive shift for Fýrifírar. I worried for Piper. Even with all the groundwork we were laying, I worried about what it would cost her to carry all the fears and concerns of the human women. I knew she didn't need to—she knew she didn't need to—but she was.
