“No, but with several hundred pieces of silver, you could buy passage.” She closed his fingers around the coin and offered a slight smile. “There is always gambling among the men.”
“I do not remember how,” he admitted.
“Do not be foolish. You were the best of all the men at wagering. Dice especially.” How could he have forgotten it so soon? It was one of the reasons why the men had chosen him as the newjarl—because they respected his fighting and gambling skills.
“I have nothing to wager, except this coin,” he pointed out.
“But they do not know that.” The more she thought of it, the more she believed that this was his best choice. He could wager for silver and when he had enough, he could buy passage on a ship.
He grew pensive a moment. “The sort of wagering I am accustomed to is not the same as yours. We used cards not dice.”
She had no idea what he was talking about. “What are cards?”
His gaze met hers, as if trying to discern something. “Nothing. Just a game they play in East Anglia.”
“You could teach everyone this new game,” she suggested, “while you tell us of your travels.”
He shook his head. “I do not think it would work, Katarina. The pieces would be too difficult to make.”
“You could make them during the wintertime. What else is there to do?”
Arik acknowledged her remark with a mischievous smile. “I suppose there are a few games I could teach you.”
She choked, coughing as a distraction from the wild thoughts of bare flesh that entered her mind. Then he started to laugh. “Notthosekinds of games, Katarina.”
Her face flushed crimson. “I was not thinking of that at all.”
“Liar.”
His teasing tone made her wince, burying her face in her hands. “Go away and leave me alone, Thorgrim. I have had my fill of your teasing.” She rested her palm against an oak tree. Dappled sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting shadows over his face.
“Why did you come to the forest?” he asked. “What was it you needed out here?”
“I came to check my snares.” The change in conversation was a good means of diverting her attention. “If you want to wait here, I’ll go and look.”
But just as before, he ignored her and followed. She moved through the woods until she reached a small briar patch. Beneath it, she saw a hare struggling within the snare.
“Do you need help?”
She shook her head, quickly ending the animal’s pain. As she took her knife to clean it, she murmured a blessing, thanking the gods for the gift of his life. If she continued to have luck with her snares, she might preserve the meat for the winter ahead.
The thought should have reassured her, but instead, she could not push back the worry. Leif had done nothing to prepare for the forthcoming snows, and it made her anxious.
Katarina placed the carcass in her basket and then inspected four other snares. Only one had prey within it, and she gathered the second hare and cleaned it with the first.
“Will you prepare them for your supper tonight?” he asked.
“I will cook one and preserve the other,” she said. It seemed to be the best use of the meat. “We will have a good meal from these. Perhaps a stew, if I can find wild carrots and onions.” She led him down the pathway and stopped to kneel down, gathering the herbs she needed.
For a while, she worked in silence. But when she reached for a plant, a shadow crossed over her. Arik stood guard, and she knew he would not let anything happen to her. And yet, the dark memories trespassed, reminding her of the night she’d been attacked. The shadows of the wood seemed to close in on her, and her fear reawakened. Katarina felt it rising inside, ready to spill over. Her breathing quickened, and her heart raced faster.
“Leif will not like it, that you are guarding me. You should go.” She wanted Arik to leave so she could gather her senses and calm herself.
“I have done nothing to warrant his jealousy. And if you want to return, I will walk back with you. It’s safer.”
Katarina said nothing, but remained on her knees while the panic swelled inside.Breathe,she told herself. But she could do nothing to stop the terrors from returning. She had pushed them back for so many months and believed the nightmares were finally behind her. Instead, they had flared to life once more.
She pressed her hands against the soft earth, breathing in the primordial aroma of forest and moss. When Arik reached down and touched her shoulder, she flinched, letting out an instinctive gasp.
