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“What are you giving him?” Greta asked as Hume helped Lath drink from a brew he had made.
“A brew made from henbane seeds,” Hume said.
“That will kill him,” Greta argued.
Lath turned frightened eyes on Tavia.
“Worry not, Hume knows what he is doing,” she said. “Given in an appropriate amount it will keep you from feeling the pain and let you rest more easily.”
“You know this for sure?” Greta questioned.
“Aye, I am certain,” Tavia said, recalling how it had helped her.
When everything was set, Lath groggy, barely able to speak, they finally began.
“I am going to tell you a story, Lath, as I stitch you. It is a story about a young lass who suffered as much as you do now. Listen well so when all is done you will know what awaits you. But I will have your word and the word of all here that this story is never repeated to anyone.”
Lath nodded and mumbled, “My word.”
Hertha and Hume said the same as unnecessary as it was for they were familiar with the story she was about to tell.
Tavia turned her head to Greta.
“My word, my lady,” Greta said with a nod.
Tavia began the tale, speaking for several minutes before digging the needle into the torn flesh. “Snow had recently fallen and the gray clouds that day promised more. The forest was quiet, animals remaining in their shelters knowing a storm was brewing, a storm that would bring far more pain than anyone imagined.”
* * *
Bhric paced outside, after spending hours sitting on the ground.
“You punish yourself waiting out here in this lightly falling snow,” Sven said, joining him.
Bhric laughed. “I have sat, slept, and battled in far worse snow.”
“You forgot coupled,” Sven said with a laugh. “You forget I caught you that day with that woman in a snowdrift.”
“We were both cold,” Bhric said with a smile recalling the pleasant liaison.
“You warmed up fast enough, melting that snow beneath and around you, perhaps she would have made you a good wife.”
Bhric winced. “Ilka availed herself of as many men as she could. She would never be a faithful wife.”
“And this one can be?” Ingrid asked, joining her husband and brother.
“Mother believes so or she would have never arranged the marriage,” Bhric said, defending the union he had intended to nullify.
“I am baffled by Mother’s choice,” Ingrid admitted.
“Your mother is wise,” Sven said. “She knows what she does.”
“She can be stubborn,” Ingrid argued, snuggling into the crook of her husband’s arm to be yanked tight against him.
Sven grinned. “A trait her daughter inherited.” He laughed at the jab of his wife’s elbow to his side.
“It is done,” Bhric said, “and I will make the best of it.”
“Still, she is a strange one,” Ingrid said. “Quiet and demure one minute, challenging and demanding the next. Do you know she kept Hertha from Greta earlier today and that she and Marta sparred?”
