Page 11 of Into the Isle

I clamped my jaw, freezing before continuing to walk while staring forward, not bothering to look at him. “You were there when those kids threw rocks at me? Watching?” I asked out the corner of my mouth. “And you did nothing?”

He shrugged easily. “Those boys had every right to hurt you. You’re unprotected. If you were my property, they’d never dare.”

The unmitigated gall of this man made my blood boil. It took everything inside me not to shove my spearhead into his soft belly and out the other side.

The Old Way certainly had its faults.

I stopped short again, facing him in the middle of the road as others streamed by. My eyes narrowed, searching his jittery orbs. “I’ll never be your property, Ivan. What we did was a mistake. You are a mistake.”

With that, I continued on, turning away from him.

He followed, keeping a short distance behind me.

Over my shoulder, I said, “Don’t follow or pester me any longer, man-boy. Unless you want to feel what Damon felt last night.” I raised my spear to give him a clue.

He stopped walking and laughed after me. “You can’t fight your way out of every problem, Ravinica!”

“Watch me.”

Inside my longhouse, I ate from a bowl of fish chowder. Fish was common here in Selby, because the sea was so close. My mother had a knack for flavoring the salmon, trout, and cod in different ways every time, so we didn’t get too bored of it.

I sat on the ground with a small table between my family. Across from me sat Damon, legs crossed, eyes downcast to avoid looking at me. To my right was Ma, and to my left sat my stepfather, Hallan.

My stepfather slurped his bowl and set it down, then glanced at me. “Your spirit is heavy, daughter. What ails you? Is it your bog-blood coming to life? Your moon cycle?”

I bit back a sharp response. I’d had enough debasing words thrown at me for one day. This was how my life went, and I knew I needed to get a thicker skin. Korvan was right. “No, stepfather,” I replied simply.

He flared his nostrils. “You’ll refer to me as Da or nothing in this house.”

“Very well, Nothing,” I answered back snidely, unable to hold back my bite a second time. Leave it to him to always find fault in whatever I—

Thwack!

Needles shot through my cheek as my head whipped to the side from his sudden slap over the table. My chowder spilled over the side of my bowl, slopping onto the ground.

Ma hissed. Damon chuckled.

“Insolent bitch, as always,” Hallan grunted, then flattened a hand over his tunic to compose himself. “You’re still under my roof, girl, and I won’t be ridiculed or disrespected, no matter how good of a fighter you think you are. Understand?”

I slowly nodded, burying my rage. “Yes . . . Da.”

I supposed I deserved his slap, given my snide attitude. I was in a dark mood. It hadn’t been his fault I’d opened my big mouth to ply my jest.

My mother didn’t see it that way. She stared daggers at her husband. Even though I wasn’t Hallan’s child, I was her child, and striking me in their home was an affront to her.

Lindi stood from the table, pulling her gown tighter against her round frame. “Come, Ravi,” she said. “Let us go to the shore. The mists will part soon.”

A rush of excitement ran through me.

It was almost time.

“Good,” Hallan muttered. “Since you refuse to wed, perhaps I can finally get the stink of you out from under my home, Ravinica.”

I ignored my stepfather’s barb and smiled at my mother. It hurt the right side of my face from the red handprint left by Hallan.

Ma walked around the table and I moved to follow her outside.

But not before my stepfather cleared his throat.

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