“Then where is his head?”
“We captured a man we believed was Jute’s killer.”
“And then you let him get away. Ja.” Faðir tossed up his hands. “I have heard this too.”
“Ivor was here.” She should have known that as Jute’s trusted friend—the very man Faðir had chosen to send along with her—Ivor would run at once to him. She had made a strategic mistake by delaying with Garik and not going to Faðir at once.
“It does not matter that the prisoner got away. Ivor himself told me he was not the man.”
“So, it did not occur to you to use him to bargain?”
“That did occur to me, ja. I tried to bargain. The Scots would not talk to me.”
“So you let him escape.” Faðir cocked a sharp eye at her. “On purpose?”
Hulda sighed. “The crew would have killed him. The wrong man. There would have been no satisfaction in it.”
“Ivor says the crew did not mean to kill him—merely make him suffer.”
“They had already done that.”
“You are soft,” Faðir declared.
“Is that also what Ivor says?”
“It is.”
“And you will take his word without even speaking to me?”
“I am speaking to you now.”
“But your mind was made up already when I walked in here.” Anger made Hulda add, “I no longer trust Ivor.”
“I do.”
“He undermined my authority throughout the voyage. He did not accept my orders.”
“Perhaps with good reason.”
“There is no reason for a leader to be disobeyed.” She did not mean to shout it, but it came out that way.
Faðir did not appreciate her raising her voice at him. Hulda knew that very well. Her frustration cried out on its own.
More calmly, she said, “The leader deserves respect.”
“Even as I deserve respect from you? Not to have you come in here bellowing at me—”
“I am not bellowing.”
“—and interrupting me.” Faðir shook his head gravely. “It seems I have made a dire mistake. Ivor warned me before you left. I listened to my heart.”
So that was it. Ivor thought he would advance to leader when Faðir planned his next voyage. So he had set out to destroy her.
“Now my ship is damaged by storm and I have gained naught in vengeance for my son’s death.”
Hulda dropped her head. “This is true.”
“You have failed to avenge your brother.”
