Then something unthinkable happened.
‘Astra!’ screamed Brenna and ice-cold dread pooled immediately in Skadi’s guts as she glanced sideways and saw the small figure of Astra clutching her ceremonial silver dagger in one hand and her mother’s shield in the other. She was racing towards them,no… Agnar.Her little girl was running straight towards her enemy!
Time slowed.
The soft slap of young, bare feet on stone echoed around Skadi’s horrified mind, causing her heart to beat loudly in time to the horrible rhythm—she would remember that moment forever. Her entire world running towards certain death.
There was an anguished and terrified scream and it was only afterwards that Skadi realised it had been her own.
Skadi burst forward, desperate to intercept, but despite using all of her strength, her sprint seemed unbearably sluggish. Astra continued to charge towards a man who was easily three times her size.
Agnar turned towards Astra, his eyes widening with astonishment as her child flew towards him. His sword arm reared back, preparing to slash forward, and Skadi’s world tilted. She couldn’t bear it, but neither could she look away… And then, her child raised her shield and stabbed forward with her pitifully small dagger, her wide eyes stormy with blind fear and incredibly foolish courage.
Agnar lunged, but not with his sword. Instead, his free hand plucked Astra’s wrist and twisted the blade up and away from him. With a surprised yelp her daughter dropped her only weapon and it clattered to the floor. Astra tried to hit him with her shield, but he simply raised her off the ground and shook her as if she were a doll. The shield fell to join the blade, spinning noisily, until it finally stopped and dropped flat on its rim with a clatter.
From the corner of her eye, she could see Brenna being wrestled to the floor by the red-haired warrior. The other men in the room were watching their weak attempt at defence with grim satisfaction, but thankfully no one stepped forward to join the fray.
The bang of the ram continued to echo throughout the hall, but the sound only depressed her, because it proved they were still alone.
All is lost…
Skadi fell to her knees, all strength leaving her body in a painful rush. The ancestral sword of Thrudheim dropped from her hand and banged on the stone floor in defeat. Her voice was a broken screech as she begged, ‘I will do anything you want! Please, don’t hurt her!’
Agnar’s gaze tilted away from the struggling child he held aloft like a leg of lamb to Skadi on the floor. His face was as cold and inscrutable as before, but he must have known he held victory in his hand, because he nodded in agreement. ‘Then, become my Queen, Skadi. Swear to marry me, make me your King and I will never hurt her… You have my word.’
Astra began to cry, although Skadi suspected it was more from fear and frustration than from actual pain, because she twisted like a hare in a trap.
Skadi nodded, answering quickly, unable to bear it a moment longer and desperate to have her daughter returned to her. ‘I swear it!’
There was a moment where he just stared at her, as if he were waiting for something else, and panic erupted from her in a desperate cry. ‘You have my word! I will marry you! You will be King of Thrudheim. But, please, Agnar! She’s just a child! Please, let her go!’
Agnar’s eyes narrowed on her and her heart stuttered in panic, because there was a storm of hatred raging within them and she was terrified he would change his mind. ‘I was also a child,’ he said, ‘when you denied me my birthright and left me bleeding on the floor.’
Horror churned like bile in her stomach and she glanced at Astra, her bare feet kicking out aimlessly. Agnar hadn’t been much older when she’d denied his claim and he’d been badly hurt because of it. It hadn’t been right, but she refused to lower her head, despite the guilt clawing at her throat. Weakly she answered, ‘I thought…it was for the best.’
‘For you!’ he growled with disgust. ‘You were eager to be bedded by Heimdall, you cannot deny it.’
Skadi shook her head, refuting his words, even as hot shame crawled up her neck. ‘I did it for Thrudheim.’
Her answer didn’t seem to appease him and he hissed out a curse. She was about to beg his forgiveness—or say anything to make him release Astra—when he finally gave a grunt of acknowledgement and said, ‘So be it.’
Slowly, and with surprising gentleness, he lowered Astra back to her feet and, when he let her go, Astra ran to her. Skadi burst forward, meeting her halfway and sweeping her crying daughter into her arms. She clutched her fragile body close and tried to reassure herself that all was well by patting her back and whispering soothing words.
She glanced over her head towards Brenna who was still struggling under the redheaded warrior’s grip.
‘Let her go,’ said Agnar firmly and with a bad-tempered hiss Brenna staggered out of the warrior’s hold and then hurried over to Skadi. The three of them banded together in a tight embrace. Clinging to each other in a tangled web of limbs.
‘Your men are still pounding at the door… Come, let us share with them our good news!’ Agnar snapped, striding towards her and offering his hand, although his next word belied any pretence of kindness. ‘Now!’
Skadi slowly pushed Astra behind her towards Brenna, still hoping that an intervention by the gods might save them.
‘And get the Gothi!’ snapped Agnar at his men and they all jumped, looking like little boys caught sleeping on their watch.
‘The Gothi lives in the town,’ she interrupted, her mind already searching for another delay.
‘I brought my own,’ said Agnar dismissively, already shouting orders to his men and hurrying them out into the hall. The bang of the door continued to echo and Skadi was disappointed to see a short time later that Agnar had barricaded them into the hall, even using a hay cart from outside to reinforce the doors from the inside.
Agnar clambered up the rickety defences of tables, benches, and the hay cart, to be as high and as close to the doors as possible. ‘I have your Queen!’ he yelled and there was silence followed by murmurs beyond the doors. ‘She has agreed to marry me and make me your King!’
