"What do you think of this place as a new home, Dana?"
She shrugged her shoulders and sat on the floor again. "I won't miss your father's temper. Otherwise, it's all the same for me. My home is far away from here, Lady Halla."
"How foolish of me, sorry." Dana smiled, and Halla continued. "If Toki is the man I hope he is, maybe one day you can return home. My father kept you as my slave, but I think of you like a sister."
Dana's hugged her knees and looked away. Halla sat on the floor across from her, leaning against a bench coated in dust. Halla wondered at the dust. Does no one ever visit here? Will this lonely house become a prison? She pushed the answers down into her mind. She didn't want to guess.
She heard footfalls approaching and a shadow crossed the open door. She didn't stir, but Dana scrambled to her feet and faced the entrance. Toki's dark shape filled the doorway. He paused, curly hair and cape stirring in a summer breeze. His hands were working the belt that held his sword. When it came free, he entered and absently dropped the weapon into a corner.
"You are awake. You must be hungry now."
Halla nodded slowly. The engaging and intelligent conversations of days past had become three and four word sentences since she arrived. She sensed Toki struggle to keep a pleasant face.
"When you are ready, I will take you to the hall. My sister's cooking is famous."
"So you've said about twenty times in two days." Halla stood, and Toki extended his hand to assist. He still smiled, and she felt her face grow warm. "I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that. I'm being terrible."
"It is a difficult time for both of us." Toki stepped back from her once she had her feet.
"To be honest, I don't want to go to the hall. Could you bring something back to me?"
He stared at her, his lips tightening as he did. "It's time you came to the hall with me. You will be here a long while yet, so there's no shame in going to the hall."
Halla trembled and feared she might cry again. Toki had been more patient than she had expected, but he must have a limit. She dreaded to find it, and learn what he would do to her. An image of her mother sprawled out and cradling her face as her father leaned over her popped into Halla's mind.
"I am a hostage, am I not? That means Ulfrik must hate me."
Toki laughed, placing both hands on his hips. "He does not hate you. What he must tell the people and his true heart are two different matters. He will welcome you and treat you well."
"How can you know his heart?"
"We have faced death together, many times. We are brothers, Ulfrik and me, not of blood but of the sword. We know each other's minds."
"Then did he know you would seek me after vowing to the gods you would not?" Halla asked intending to deflate his confidence. But she saw her words had struck deeper. Toki's face clouded and he turned away, walking farther into house. He unpinned his cloak and threw it on his bed, then sat on a bench. Dana stepped back, trying to disappear and not knowing where to look. Halla dismissed her with a nod. Once Dana had exited, Halla sat beside Toki and placed her hand on his knee.
"I have made a mess of things, for you and me. For everyone on this island. I was foolish to think my father would not act as he has."
Toki smiled and covered her hand with his, warm and rough on her skin. "Neither of us planned things well. I am not so good at planning, and hoped you'd be stronger at it than me. Forethought is better than afterthought, they say. I will learn that lesson one day."
They both laughed, and Toki squeezed her hand tighter. He met her eyes, his expression becoming earnest. "But we followed our hearts. Can that be wrong between a man and woman? I will make you glad for your choice."
Halla tensed at the weight of his words. She had fled to him seeking escape from Vermund. As rash as it seemed now, she did not expect to marry Toki, not immediately. But then what had she been thinking? She pulled her hand from Toki, and touched her head. She had made so many mistakes, and hoped to avoid making more. Yet she did not know what was right.
"I'm sure I will be glad, Toki. But nothing is settled. My father is at war with your lord, and so you are sworn to battle against him. Does that mean you would kill him? Would you kill my father?"
His eyes grew wide, and Halla seized on that idea. She needed to create space for herself, to avoid being rushed into marriage with a man she did not honestly know.
"If I had to defend my lord, my sister and nephew, then I would." Halla heard the iron in his voice. He gave her a hard look, then studied the floor at his feet.
"And if you had to defend yourself?"
"I would do what I must," he snapped, twisting on the bench to snarl at her. "This is an odd situation, and I understand. But what would you have me do? Allow myself to be gutted? Beg the gods it will never happen, and that your father will come to his senses and accept payment for my life."
The tears finally began to run again as Toki glared at her. She wished she were back home, even with her father and Vermund. She longed for her mother, badly enough that her sorrow broke through. She had prodded Toki, at last finding his limits. Thinking of him killing her own father filled her with horror. He was a miserable man, but she didn't want her father dead.
Toki blew out a long breath and rose from his bench. Halla watched him stand through tear clouded eyes. If he disowned her, then she would truly be alone in this land. The panic began to build, and she found herself blurting out her thoughts. "I want to go home to my mother."
Toki had fetched his cloak from the bed, but froze at her words. Then he spoke and threw his cloak across his shoulders. "That would be unwise. You are under my protection here."
"So I am your hostage!" She stood now, her heart racing and a stream of worries flooding her mind. "I thought I meant more to you than that?"
Toki fixed his cloak pin, and smiled at her. "I will let you decide whether you are a hostage or otherwise." Without another glance he pushed past her and paused at the door. "I will bring you back something after I eat. I trust you will remain here if you won't come with me?"
Halla didn't answer. She sniffled instead, lost for anything to say. Toki grabbed his sword out of the dark corner where he had dropped it.
"If you plant to visit your mother, men watch this home and watch the shores. Stay inside if you won't consider being my guest." He ducked out of the door. Halla watched the shadow grow smaller until he had gone.
She collapsed to the bench and began to sob, wishing she could undo the past two days.
The last of Ulfrik's men locked into place in the battle line. Ulfrik paced before them, mail flashing in the afternoon sun. He tucked his helmet underarm so he could peer into the eyes of each man as he passed. Nye Grenner's green standard with black elk antlers cracked and snapped overhead. On this pleasant afternoon full of wind and high clouds, where seals barked merrily on the rocks and the air was redolent of the sea, war would visit Nye Grenner.
Smoke from the beacon on the cliffs overlooking the northern entrance to the fjord struggled against the wind, but had given its warning nonetheless. He judged Hardar's ships to appear within the hour of the smoke appearing. He planned to richly reward the two boys manning the beacon fires. Their sharp eyes had proved as valuable as any weapon. From his vantage on the hill, he spied the first sails on the glistening water. He watched with his men, his mouth silently moving as he counted the sails.
Ulfrik called his army to attention. He held them in momentary silence, reviewing them and judging their will. Satisfied he saw no weakness, he planted himself before them and thundered out his speech.