"I fear you may break my fingers," he whispered, covering their joined hands with his other.
"I’m sorry, I just…"
"Don’t look if you don’t want to."
She shook her head, focused intently on her former mistress, still screaming and crying, begging for mercy. The executioner lifted his axe, moving it in a small circular motion several times. Then he raised it. After a moment’s pause, he brought it down, silencing Gunilla’s screams but sending the gathered villagers into a frenzy, shouting and shrieking with excitement. Blood spurted from Gunilla's neck, her head landing on the dirt. The executioner waited until the flow stopped before bending and picking up the severed head, holding it out to show the crowd, whose cheers grew ever more deafening.
Katrin couldn’t look away from the gruesome sight of Gunilla’s head, terror still etched in the dead woman's face, eyes staring straight ahead. Her vision dimmed, dots dancing before her eyes. Her stomach knotted painfully and she gave a moment’s thanks that she had had no appetite for food this morning. She closed her eyes and sucked in several deep breaths.
"Katrin, are you ill?"
She looked up to find her three brothers now standing before her, blocking her view of Gunilla. Seeing them filled her with a strength she’d only known when Hradi had been the one to keep her weakness at bay. What did it mean?
"I will be fine. It was … startling to see."
Henrik nodded in understanding. "It is over now, and we have you back. We will put the past painful years behind us. You must return home with us."
Katrin stifled a groan. She was sick of this discussion. Before she could tell her brothers what she intended, Hradi stood, shaking his head.
"She stays with me."
"Our sister has been kept from us for too long," said Artur. "We will take her with us."
"You will have to kill me first," Hradi said.
"We can do that," said Henrik, taking a step forward and reaching for his sword.
"Stop!" Katrin shouted. The uneasy flip of her stomach at Hradi's words left her momentarily distracted. He would fight to the death to keep her? Her heart swelled with a giddy excitement. But now was not the time to savor the thought. She stood and shook her head, her gaze moving among the four men.
"I am not going anywhere, at least not yet. I have spent so many years traveling and have no desire to set off on another journey, not with the cold weather coming. "
"But, Katrin…" started Henrik. She held up a hand to silence him.
"No, say nothing more. I have much to consider, and what I choose affects others beside me. The girls no longer have a protector and I cannot leave them alone here."
"You stay only for the girls?" Hradi asked.
Katrin’s heart tightened at the hint of hurt in his voice. "They are but one reason. You and I will speak alone later." She faced her brothers once more. "I am staying here for now."
"Then we stay with you," Artur declared.
"You will be our honored guests," Jarl Thorfinn said. "But let us celebrate our victory with a feast and give thanks to the gods."
Relieved that a potential deadly battle had been averted, Katrin lifted her chin and swept past them, following the jarl into the longhouse.
***
Hradi fell into step behind Katrin, hiding a smug smile when her brothers were forced to fall behind him into the hall. Once inside, he moved to stand beside her, catching her eye when she glanced his way.
"After the feast, we must speak."
Her tone made clear she had much to say. He ignored the pang of apprehension that she might prefer to return to her childhood home.
"Of course."
Her curious frown clearly proved his unconcerned attitude had succeeded. She said nothing more and allowed him to guide her to a seat beside him at the head table. His father took his usual place at the head, his sons on either side. The jarl motioned Katrin's brothers to take seats along the benches of the tables closest to the clan's leader, indicating their status as considered guests of the highest honor. Henrik seated himself on the other side of Katrin, fixing Hradi with a fierce glare. While he was happy for Katrin that she had been reunited with her family, he worried these men, clearly valiant warriors, would succeed in taking her away from him.
Part of him understood why. If he'd had a sister and spent years searching for her, he would want her to return home with him. But Katrin was not his sister, and he would do whatever it took to keep her forever. The idea that had arisen several times over the last day and night grew stronger than ever, but he must speak to his father and Kori first. That meant leaving Katrin alone with her brothers and their influence.
