“I don’t think so. Brynja is fair-haired and Hildi is dark-haired.”
His mother tipped her head at him. “Think about that, fair-haired brother to two dark-haired people.”
Hagen rolled his eyes. “True, but they don’t look alike.”
His mother sent his father a lopsided smirk. Hellfire, but the two had a language he didn’t understand.
Hagen got up to pace again, grabbing an apple from a basket to chew on. “She is the one who used a dagger, hit both men, and she can use a spear too. She’s equally talented at both and now she’s trying archery.”
His father asked, “A spear? That is impressive.”
His mother said, “A common weapon for a lass in the land of the Norse.”
“And she’s good at it?” his father asked before taking his first sip of the broth that Murreal brought him, nodding his thanks to her.
Hagen said, “She is. She hit a target at twenty paces with a spear and an arrow.”
His father stared at his mother again. “You left out a possible reason, wife.”
“And what is that, husband?”
Hagen watched the two as they did that odd thing of communicating by staring at each other and not speaking.
His father’s gaze still locked on his mother’s, he said to Hagen, “You unsettle her.”
Hagen frowned, glancing from one parent to the other, his mother wearing a soft smile now. Fortunately, his sister Dynacame down the stairs, interrupting the three. “It’s the last one, Hagen. She likes you.”
“She does?” Was that what his father meant about unsettling her? Why didn’t he just say that?
Dyna paused on her trip to the kitchens. “Aye. She’s too stubborn to admit it, so she just denies you. That’s what happens when the heart becomes involved. It makes you do stupid things. Things that you have no explanation for. Why else would I have tripped Derric and put my boot on his chest when he was the only man to ever set my heart fluttering?”
“Is that what it was, Sela?” his father asked.
His mother, still locked on his father’s eyes, whispered, “You know exactly what it was, Connor Grant.”
Dyna headed toward the kitchens. “Get out now, Hagen. Run for your life. When they get like that, you don’t want to be witness to the worst of it.”
Hagen, confused, got up and followed his sister into the kitchens. Once they were on the other side of the door, he whispered, “Then what do I do?”
Dyna made three bowls of porridge, taking the kettle from the serving lass who had a bowl for his father and left. “Don’t listen to her. Be persistent. And use your head. She can’t hit two men with a spear at the same time, and she can’t stop them both with daggers. She needs help from someone. It may as well be you. You like her?” Dyna asked, waggling her brow at him.
“I’m not sure. I’d like to know her better, but she doesn’t live here, so how do I get to know her when she refuses everything I offer?”
“Ignore her and go anyway. Watch the boat. Go to MacQuarie land and see what Thane says about her. Has he noticed any strange boats? Ask Artan if he thinks you’d have a chance when she’s not around. Don’t give up if you are truly interested.”
Hagen turned around and headed out the door. “My thanks, Dyna.”
“Where are you going?”
He stopped at the door and smirked. “MacQuarie land. I’m after a Norsewoman.”
“Good. I’d like to learn how to throw a spear.”
Then he stepped out into the hall, surprised to see his parents had disappeared.
Chapter Seven
Brynja
