“Inge.” A warm voice floated up to me and I crawled to the edge of my cot to peer through the cracks of the loft.
The Tala came through the door and everyone stood. Inge took the Tala’s hands into her own and squeezed them. But that worry was still there, hanging over her. It made her look heavy on her feet.
“I have good news.” The Tala stepped over the threshold and into the house. “Runa’s father has accepted Iri’s request to marry her.” She gripped Iri’s arm and smiled.
Relief pushed its way over his face and he looked up to meet Inge’s eyes.
“You’re worthy of it, Iri.” Inge smiled.
The Tala nodded. “The two of you will make a very good match.”
The sweetness in Iri’s eyes reached inside me and touched the raw pain of losing him again. The urge to cry swelled behind my tongue.
“Thank you.” He nodded.
“You’ll need to get everything in order, of course. We’ll make the preparations as soon as you like.”
The Tala smiled again and I studied her. She seemed genuinely happy and the others looked at her with a fondness. A trust. But all I could think of when I looked at the Tala was the way she’d watched me in the forest. The way she walked away from me, leaving me to die.
She sat at the table, folding her hands in her lap, and her manner changed a little, the room going silent with it. “We do need to talk about what happened last night.” Her eyes went to Fiske, who stood on the other side of the fire. “Do you have anything you’d like to say?”
Fiske didn’t seem nervous like Inge was. He stood straight, looking the Tala in the eye. “I went to speak with Thorpe last night after I returned from the hunt and learned that he’d tried to kill my dyr.”
“You spoke with him?”
Fiske’s face bore no expression. Beside him, Iri looked into the fire, his hand twitching at his belt.
She tilted her head to one side. “Thorpe abused your property and he had no right to take what belongs to you. He brought the consequences upon himself.”
That was the Aska way too. When you broke the law, you paid for it. There were no judges or rule keepers. Only the Talas attempt to keep the peace in a village. When someone wronged you, you dealt with it yourself. If you didn’t, you were a target for others looking to take advantage.
Fiske nodded. “Thank you.”
“Thank you,” Inge echoed quietly.
“However, I would like to advise you, Fiske. You’ve chosen to take on your first dyr. And you didn’t take just any dyr. You took an Aska. May I ask why?”
Fiske jerked his chin, stretching his shoulder. “My mother needed help with the house.”
“What is it?” Inge looked concerned.
The Tala watched Fiske for a long moment. “I had a dream about her. I’m unsure of what it means, but I feel that Thora has her eye on this Aska.”
Iri’s jaw clenched.
“You seem very upset by Thorpe’s treatment of her.”
“I need her to work. If Thorpe had killed her, he would have had to pay me for her, just like he would for killing a sheep or a horse.”
The pit in my stomach grew, widening until it was something I could fall into. Something that could make me disappear.
The Tala looked up to Inge. “I would suggest trading her to another village after the thaw. Somewhere they won’t know what she is. She draws too much attention as an Aska to be useful. And I will also remind you that you’re expected to choose a wife, as Iri has. I hoped it would be this winter, but it looks as if that’s not going to happen.”
Fiske hesitated before shaking his head. “No.”
“Alright. Next winter. Agreed?”
“Yes,” Fiske and Inge answered together.
“I’m very glad to hear that.” She stood, smoothing out her skirt. “Inge, I’d be happy to help find you another dyr. I know you need the help.”
“Thank you.” Inge hugged her, her chin resting on the Tala’s shoulder.
They walked to the door arm in arm and I sank back into the cot, burying myself again.
I closed my eyes and welcomed the dark.
TWENTY-FIVE
I sat beside Inge in the meadow, digging up bulbs of fennel in silence. The sun was high and heatless, reflecting off the frozen ground. I pushed the spade into it, prying the earth up and raking through it with my hands.
The skin around my wrist was raw again, the bruise on my face sore when I moved my mouth.
Inge picked up a bulb and dusted it off with her fingers. “I’m sorry about what happened.”
I sat back on my knees, taking it from her and setting it into the basket beside me. It wasn’t her fault, but I wanted to be angry at her anyway. I’d had my chance to get to the river and now it was gone.
She watched me, setting her hands into her lap. “I think we should talk.” She picked at the dirt beneath her fingernails. “About Iri.” She looked up to meet my eyes. “I know who you are, Eelyn.”
I recoiled, my mind pulling thoughts so quickly I could hardly follow them. I searched the meadow around us instinctively, looking for a threat. But we were alone.
She didn’t move, watching me. “I haven’t told anyone.”
The beat of my heart knocked in my chest. I tried to read her. Tried to decide what she was planning to do about it. How much she knew. “How?”
“When Fiske brought you home, I knew there was more to it than what he told me. When you mentioned your family and your age I had my suspicions. I thought you might be the sister he told us about. But I wasn’t sure.” She pulled in a long breath and let it out.
I stood, walking out a ways until I had a good view of the meadow. If she’d planned to trap me, this would be a good place. I had nowhere to hide. “He told you about me?”
“He did, but he didn’t have to. You look just like him.”
“Did he tell you I was his fighting mate?” My eyes were still on the tree line.
A sad smile lifted on her lips. “No, he didn’t.”
I faced her. She sat with her skirt spread around her in the grass. I swallowed hard. “I lost him in the fight. I turned around and he was just … gone. I was looking for him.” I sucked in a breath. “And I saw him just as he went over the edge. I couldn’t reach him.” I sank back down beside her. “What are you going to do?”
“I thought that if I let you escape, the danger would be gone. But I was wrong. It took years for this village to trust Iri. If the Riki knew that he and Fiske are lying about who you are or that they are trying to help you, they would kill them. I won’t tell the Tala or anyone else. After the thaw, you’ll run away. You’ll go back to the Aska and we won’t come after you.” She went back to digging and the pain surfaced on her face. The fear.
“He’s not leaving. He won’t come back with me,” I said.
“I know.”
“I—” I bit back the strangled sound in my voice.
“What?” She sat up.
“Thank you—for what you did for Iri.”
When I looked at her again, her eyes were filled with tears. “You’re welcome.”
“Mama!”
Halvard ran toward us from across the meadow and Inge stood quickly, taking her skirt into her hands. “Halvard?”
“It’s Gyda!” He jumped up and down, waving her to him.
She smiled widely. “It’s time.” She held a hand out to me.
I looked at it, the soft, slender line of her fingers, splayed out and waiting. She looked down at me, the smile still broad on her face.
I lifted my hand and almost pulled it back before I let her take it. She pulled me up beside her, brushing the grass off my pants like a mother would do to a child.
“Let’s go.” She lifted the basket onto her arm and started toward the trees.
The length of her dress parted the tall dry grass as she walked, her arm swinging at her side as she ran after Halvard. Her long dark hair fell down her back in one intricate braid.
It didn’t matter how much I didn’t want to see it or how hard I tried to remember what I’d always been taught. Inge was a mother. And whatever the difference in blood, she loved Iri as if there were none.
*