He looked up, clearly startled by her question. "I didn't think it important."
"You lie. Your entire journey is about seeking vengeance against your brother, is it not?
A curt nod was her only response. With a sigh of exasperation, she continued.
"So once you knew I was his intended bride, you should have told me."
"And risk you running away?"
She hesitated. "You know I wasn't going anywhere, not with Kata wounded."
He said nothing, but the blue-green gaze, now almost dark as the dusky sky, focused intently on her.
"If you'd been truthful with me, I might have been willing to help you."
His eyebrows shot up. In disbelief? "Would you?"
"I didn't want to marry him, you knew that. I could have been your ally. Instead, now I'm only–"
"Mine."
A lump filled her throat. Why was it that every time he said that, those delightful fluttery feelings in her belly grew stronger?
"I will not be treated as little more a possession. You are no better than my father, selling me off to the man who can give him a strong political alliance!"
"Hersir likely would have used the alliance to attack your clan, eventually."
That silenced her argument. "What?"
"I've been banished for almost three years, so I don't have firsthand knowledge, but I've heard things in my travels."
Her anger at her father had been replaced by worry for his safety. "I demand you tell me."
He smiled, the arch of his eyebrow warning he might make her pay for her attitude later on. At the moment she didn't care, even as wisps of heat seeped through her veins at the idea.
"You are not in any position to make demands. But I will share what I know."
When he hesitated, Thora balled her hands into fists to keep from approaching and shaking him. Her impatience, heavy and thick, threatened to suffocate her.
"Hersir was a master at casting blame on others. The clan had made an alliance with another nearby, in an effort to resist the increasing invasion of those led by Konall, the Jarl of Skapska."
Thora gasped. Many had heard the legends of Konall, who was rumored to have fought giants to claim his lands and title.
"What happened?"
"Hersir betrayed the other clan to Konall. The jarl and his men swept into the village like a flood and left nothing and no one in their wake."
Only the crackling of the fire broke the sudden silence. Thora's thoughts grew into a tangled, chaotic mess. When he looked up from the flames, his eyes dark as the pines in the forest, the breath whooshed from her lungs. He spoke the truth, of that she had no doubt. The sting of his betrayal still remained sore, however, and she vowed to make him pay for that.
"Konall will be at The Thing." It wasn't a question, but Ari nodded in confirmation anyway.
"How many witnesses will you bring?"
"Enough. Those who were betrayed after they helped Hersir betray others. They were lucky to have escaped with their lives and families."
The thought of her father giving her to a man capable of such evil turned Thora's stomach. Surely Kori didn't know of these deeds. But would not knowing make him foolish? Unless something else had happened that she didn't know about.
"Ari, are you sure that is what happened?"
