“Reindeer, Rasha. I saw reindeer.”
“I did too.” I watch as she switches places with Katrine and am forced to spin around Harald to get to the next set of women in our line. Keeping in time with the music makes it hard to continue a conversation, but that doesn’t stop Harald.
“I don’t need my future foretold to me by the gods,” he shouts, loud enough for all to hear, kicking his feet the same as us and turning around two younger women. “I know in my heart that Rasha is my future. And the King will bless our clan with riches beyond what we can imagine.”
“Harald is our future,” Bjorn says, spinning Katrine around his body. She plants a quick kiss on his cheek and resumes her place with another woman, touching their hands together, and so on. Katrine dancing with Bjorn is certainly not in her best interest. He looks at her like she’s his next meal.
Shaw is two men away from me, and the next two young women are thrilled to have a turn with him. As mad as I am that he lied to me, jealousy boils over in my blood as I watch one rosy cheeked woman drape herself around him in a twirl.
“Something terrible is going to happen before Yule is over. My runes foretold,” Katrine whispers in my ear when we meet.
“I don’t doubt that. Thank you for putting the gift from the women away,” I say, bringing our bodices together and back out.
“I’ll always support you. But please be careful.” She gives me a little push toward Shaw. His hands press against my dress, finding my ribs effortlessly, and time halts around us.
“I’m sorry,” Shaw says without pause.
“For touching those women?” The accusation falls from my mouth, and he chuckles in my ear.
“We are all dancing. Harald touched you hours ago in my forge, and I didn’t cut off his hands.” Shaw spins me around his body. Forthe first time tonight, I can see the embroidered lynx clearly stitched on his tunic. “I’m sorry I lied about the tomb.”
“You have to stop protecting me.” I find an ounce of anger through my desire.
“I’m not protecting you. If anything I will get you into trouble.”
“If trouble means living with you deep in the forest, I’ll take it.” Another gush of honesty makes him hold me close.
“Rasha.” His deep voice makes me forget why I am here in the first place.
“I am teasing. I need the bow, Shaw.” We push against each other in unison with the rest of the line.
“You don’t know what you’re asking. A mortal cannot claim her bow,” he whispers. I have no choice but to turn around him and walk up the line, back to my place in the front.
My chest heaves with information from the rune and Shaw, along with everything else I’ve discovered. Jorvik didn’t tell me that Harald plans to seize the reindeer herd because he knew I would have stayed to protect them. The women in all the clans look to me to guide them. And Harald expects me to marry him in a week.
“Rasha?” Harald asks, and I blink over at him.
“I need some fresh air.” I grab Joanna’s hand and drag her up the side of the Hall, searching for an exit. Ingrid and Enora take our places in the dance so the music doesn’t stop.
“Slow down. They are going to think we are in trouble,” she hisses behind me.
“We are,” I shoot back and push through a side door into the kitchens. Empty baking trays, coated in flour, sit in stacks on low tables. I walk to the window, throwing both sides open, letting snow and icy wind pour into the room.
“What happened?” Joanna asks, coming to my side, but it’s hard to look at her. Each breath comes tight and strained. I need to fill my lungs with air, but my chest constricts instead of letting me breathe. Maybe I haven’t recovered from the night out on the ice?
“Joanna, can I have a minute?” Shaw asks from the doorway, and she backs away. I grip the edge of the window, letting my fingers grow cold to feel something other than fear.
“It’s okay Joanna,” I tell my friend, and she takes out my bedroom key that I gave Katrine, passing it to me on her way back to the feast.
Resting against the window, I count to five until my lungs fill with cold air, and I release my first full breath. Shaw walks around the kitchen and gathers two cups from a shelf. Watching him yank the cork out of a leather flask, I focus on his hands as the amber liquid splashes into the cups. I count to five again, breathing in his scent, and welcome the familiar feeling as I listen to my heartbeat resume a normal rhythm.
“Can I apologize properly?” Shaw asks, holding out a cup. Calm settles around us, and I take the cup, cradling it, but not tasting the ale. Shaw drinks it down in one gulp. We all have our own ways of finding equilibrium.
“Why are you so desperate to keep the bow away from me?” I ask.
“Because the woman who finds and wields Skadi’s bow will be hunted, not just by Harald, but the King, the other clans, and who knows what else. Skadi herself was hunted,” he explains, sitting astride the bench. I can’t help but sit too.
“If you didn’t believe I was good enough to live up to the goddess, you could have said so. You didn’t have to lead me to believe it didn’t exist.” Leaving the cup on the table, I curl my hands in my lap, and Shaw fits his fingers around mine.
