Page 40 of Hungry Like a Wolf
What was it?
“Thor.”
She gasped and turned around.
Ravn stood there, hands on his hips, feet apart, the shadows of the room dancing on his face and dark beard. “That is Thor’s image and a place for sacrifices to be made to him.”
She turned again to the skeleton. It looked like a rat. “You make sacrifices, here, in your home, to your gods?” The idea seemed particularly savage.
“Of course. Don’t you?”
“No.” She removed her cloak, the room suddenly warm.
He took it and hung it on a hook to her right. “We make many sacrifices, especially at the great festival of Uppsalla,” he said. “Every nine years, we make the pilgrimage there, on foot, and beside the ancient sacred tree Yggdrasil, nine sacrifices are made of animal and man.”
“‘Man’?” Her eyes widened. “You kill men as sacrifices?”
“It is a great honor.” He walked to the water, setting another log on the flames beneath it. “To be chosen.”
“It sounds terrible.”
“Orm would agree with you.”
“I don’t understand.”
He turned. “Orm was chosen as one of the human sacrifices, but he refused.” Ravn’s face tightened. “It brought great shame to my father, who never forgave him.”
“But surely…” She held her hands out, palms up, the idea incomprehensible. “Surely, it was up to him. Orm’s decision whether or not to die.”
Ravn shrugged. “It was his decision to bring dishonor.”
“But, Ravn.” She stepped up to him. “Life is God’s precious gift to us, all of the gods’ gift to us. Surely, they don’t want us to die? Surely, they want us to live good lives in the service of others.”
“It is how we think differently. My gods await me to sup with them in Valhalla, to feast afresh each day on the most succulent meats and delicious fruit. It is an eternity I look forward to.”
“We really do think differently.” She turned, her hands clasped in prayer. What if they decided to sacrifice her to their big, stone god?
“Maybe one day you will understand,” he said, coming up behind her. Close, the way he had on the ship when they’d seen the delfins.
“I’m not sure Iwantto understand. Why would you want to be without your brother? I care for mine and wish him well.”
“You have met him. Orm.”
“Aye, and I can’t say I like him, but it’s a special bond between brothers, isn’t it?” She paused and closed her eyes. “Unless he has always been jealous of you and Haakon.”
“‘Jealous’?”
She turned and smiled up at his confused expression. “You are not like other brothers. You are not only twins, you are both powerful kings. You are both…”
“What?” He lowered his head a little.
Words tumbled around her mind. Brave. Handsome. Strong. Determined. But did she want to say them aloud and let Ravn known her thoughts on him?
“Tell me what you think of me?” he said quietly. “I want to know.”
“Why?” She swallowed and tried to tear her attention from his lips, which only reminded her of her first kiss.
“Because I am not a mind reader,” he said. “I wish to know your opinion of me now that you are safely arrived in Drangar.”
