Page 12 of Rune

Exhausted, I sank to my knees and broke down.

It was weak to cry over a boy, and I kept telling myself that, though it did nothing to slow the tears. The sooner I let myself cry, the sooner I could move on. I’d get these tears out and send the memories of him with them, letting everything flow away until there was nothing left inside me, then I’d throw myself solely into getting my shield. It would make me a stronger warrior.

Though perhaps a more heartless one.

I let myself cry for only a few minutes before I decided that was all he’d get from me. The tears stopped, and I watched the moonlight glide over the fjord in a silvery light, trying to stop thinking of him.

“You are stronger than this. Heartbreak won’t take you down,” I whispered. I steadied myself and dried my cheeks, finding my courage growing with each passing moment, though as my anger died down, the burn in my side raged harder. I checked the wound. “Bleeding to death though, that’ll do it.”

When I brought my hand to it, my fingers came back sticky and red. The wound would need to be cleaned. I turned my gaze west, back to myhome. I’d have to see my family there, and they’d all be celebrating Tova’s engagement.Faðirwould be pouring the wine.Móðirwould be stitching a dress already. And all my sisters would be at Tova’s feet, asking her questions and hanging onto every detail about how handsome she thought his eyes were when the firelight hit them. And Tova, she’d likely be holding the end of her braid for the last time, the thin one that rang along the side of her head. All Vikings in our clan wore braids like that, and we’d cut them off to give to our betrothed, who would weave the hair into their own.So you are never parted.She probably wore his hair already.

I sat back down. The wound wouldn’t kill me in one night. I’d sleep, and when I woke, I’d come up with a new plan for my future. I found a large pine tree with a break in the branches so I could hide under its protection and keep out of sight from any creatures who prowled the mountains at night.

I’d just settled my back against the sappy trunk when a shadow moved past. I flew to my feet. “You wouldn’t dare.” My voice was a grumble from low in my belly, and the figure hesitated at the sound. But he moved forward anyway.

From behind the pine branches, Trig’s full figure came into view, with his head hung low in shame. “Hear me out?”

“I did. I heard as you told my sister how happy you would be with her. That’s quite enough for me.” I stood, wincing as my side throbbed, and moved to go around him.

Trig stayed firmly.

“Let me by,” I growled.

“I need to explain.” His hand flicked like it might grab mine, but it didn’t. I pulled back. After seeing Tova’s hand in his, I never wanted him to touch me again. I checked his hair, but he hadn’t cut his braid yet. Itdidn’t bring me solace. “I talked toFaðirabout you,” Trig said. “I asked to marry you. But he didn’t agree with my choice.”

The silver hues of his eyes were brightened by the moon, and it made him look infuriatingly handsome. He wore his wolfskin shawl with his axe strung to his back, and had tied up his hair with twine at some point between seeing Tova and seeing me. I’d always told him I preferred it up.

Meanwhile, I was still in my sand and saltwater-stained tunic, now bloodstained as well, with flecks of my hair loose from the knots I’d wound to keep it away from my face as I battled Tova earlier.

I daresay I had the strength now to beat her in a fight. At least, I had the drive.

My leather pants were torn at the knees, my stomach growling with hunger, and I didn’t have to touch my skin to know my cheeks were marred with kohl from the tears.

It was pitifully unfair he showed up looking like that while I was a mess. I lifted my chin. “Why does it matter what yourfaðirthinks?” I asked. “It wasn’t his choice to make. You made it on your own.”

“If it were so simple, I’d have married you already. But I don’t get to pick based on my heart,” Trig said. He spoke dutifully. “I have to keep the clan strong.”

I winced. Was he trying to find as many ways to offend me in one night as he could?

“You don’t think I could make the clan strong?”

My words were sharp, and I hope they stung. A sliver of wind made it past his shoulders to hit my face, cooling the anger that heated it.

“Remember when the sheep went missing? Everyone else gave up looking after a few days but I traveled for weeks until I’d found them all and shepherded them home. Families didn’t freeze that winter becauseof me. When little Sigrid went underwater, I dove into the current after her and brought her back. When the Valley Clan attacked, I traveled miles to warn us, crawling when I had to. My body is weak, but I am not.”

Trig’s eyes squinted. “Tova brought the warning of the Valley Clan.”

My heart twisted. “I tore through the mountains for miles to get here before their warriors, and found Tova on the outskirts of the fjord. She brought the news for the last hundred meters, but got the credit because she rang the warning.” It hadn’t bothered me that she got the credit before, because the clan was saved. But it bothered me now.

He sighed, and ran a hand over his head. “I don’t know what to say, Rune.Faðirthinks this is the wisest decision.”

The truth was there, but he was too weak to say it. “Youthink this is the wisest decision.”

He stiffened. “I’d have to fight to keep the position with you as my wife, and you know that.”

“You’ll likely have to fight anyway! Every chieftain gets challenged at some point. Tova can’t save you from everything.” We were yelling at this point, and his chest puffed up.

His words sliced through the tension in the air. “Tova is the only way you’ll ever earn your shield.”

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