‘Will we be sleeping in the King’s chamber tonight?’ Astra asked.
Skadi nodded. ‘Yes, and every night until this threat leaves us.’
The King’s chamber was a huge room at the very back of the hall. It had its own latrine and treasure room either side of the huge, elaborately carved oak doors. They were already open, a woollen curtain shielding the chamber from draughts, the light of the small central fire kissing the edges of the fabric with a warm and welcoming glow.
Brenna pulled aside the curtain and Astra tiptoed in, as if her father were still alive and she hadn’t been granted permission to enter. Skadi pulled the doors shut with a thud, but didn’t bother to bar them as she would need to creep out later to take her watch. Brenna began to tend to the fire while Skadi joined Astra, who was already removing her mittens and cloak.
‘Well done, sweetling,’ said Skadi, helping her out of her clothes. Brenna then came to wash Astra’s face and hands in a bowl of warm water she’d prepared. Skadi brushed out her pale-blonde hair, while Astra rubbed her teeth clean with a strip of linen.
After she was done, Astra clambered into the large bed in her shift. ‘The stones are still warm,’ she declared cheerfully, wiggling her legs further down the bed and then pulling up the blankets and furs to her chin.
‘Good,’ Skadi said, allowing Brenna to help her with the removal of her armour. There was a lot to take off: her helm with its ornamental crown, the heavy chainmail byrnie, the thick quilted tunic beneath, as well as the leather guards, boots and trousers. It took some time before she was down to nothing more than the short linen shirt. It reached to her mid-thigh and was perfect beneath her armour and quilted tunic. Brenna helped brush out her hair. Skadi then washed her face and rubbed her teeth, while Brenna righted the room.
‘Thank you, Brenna,’ she said, before climbing into bed and turning towards Astra. ‘Are you not going to complain about my cold feet?’ she teased.
Astra hesitated before whispering with a worried expression, ‘I am sorry, Moma…about the flame. Did I ruin it…the sacrifice…?’ Tears began to gather in her blue eyes. ‘Have I put us in danger?’
‘No,’ Skadi said firmly, stroking her daughter’s cheek and then gathering her daughter close and kissing the top of her head. ‘You did very well, you kept the holy flame burning. I just helped Rán catch it… Burning an offering to the goddess of the sea is always difficult—she does not like flame, remember. I am proud of you, sweetling. You did very well.’
Astra took her hand and patted it gently. ‘Does it hurt?’
Surprised, Skadi looked down at the red patches on her skin, remembering belatedly what had caused them. ‘They are not bad burns, just a splash of oil.’
Brenna stopped what she was doing and came over to the bed with the medicine chest. ‘Shall I put some salve on them, Your Highness?’
Skadi shook her head, but thought better of it when she saw the concern in her daughter’s eyes. ‘Just a little, to take away the redness. Brenna, can you take a seat by the door? I will need you to wake and dress me when Oddmund comes for the second watch… Then I want you to rest beside Astra for the rest of the night…’ She gave her a meaningful look and Brenna nodded with understanding.
They were taking it in turns to guard the Princess. Brenna had been her servant and friend since they were children, there was no one she trusted more to look after her child.
She kissed the snowy top of Astra’s head before settling down to sleep herself. Exhausted by the days of preparation and training, despite her fears, it didn’t take her long to drift off.
* * *
‘Your Highness!’Brenna’s terrified scream woke her with a jerk.
Sitting up, while simultaneously comforting the startled Astra, Skadi watched Brenna as she flew into the chamber and slammed the door behind her, desperately struggling to pull down the bar across the door. ‘Agnar’s attacked! The eastern wall was breached! They came from the mountain side! They’re fighting at the doors!’
Several things ran through Skadi’s mind in a single blink.
If Agnar was here and he’d come from the east, it meant his ships had landed on the other side of the island. The sneaky trickster had climbed over a mountain to attack them from behind—a feat she would have thought impossible until tonight. The majority of her men were placed at the front of the settlement. On the port and gate turrets, it would take them time to turn and reach the hall.
Shouts and screams of pain came from beyond the bedchamber doors and she knew that Agnar had already breached the Great Hall.
Skadi leapt from the bed and ran to help Brenna. But before she even made it halfway across the chamber, the door was kicked open, throwing Brenna several feet away. She screamed as she hit the ground and skidded a couple more feet to land beside her.
Skadi grabbed her sword and shield, then strode towards their attackers with a roar.
The first man trying to enter was forced back into the hall and received a slash to the gut for his trouble. The second stumbled over the falling body of his companion and she was able to slice his arm. He howled in pain, but then came back with a fiery rage, battering her shield with heavy blows of his axe.
Get them out!her mind screamed and, with a grit of her teeth, she angled her body to better brace against the rain of his attack.
More men were coming down the hallway. A red-haired warrior was battling two of her guards. She took a step forward, pushing her shield forward with all of her might, and her attacker grunted and faltered. Surprise widened his eyes and then narrowed with anger. His gaze lowered to her bare feet and a cruel smile revealed rotten teeth.
The crunch of his boot as it slammed into her foot made her yelp with pain and she stumbled back. She cursed and tried to recover her position, but the man with the rotten teeth surged forward through the door and the red-haired warrior followed closely behind. They then both stopped, hesitating as if unsure of what to do next, now that they had broken in.
Glancing behind her, Skadi was relieved to see that Brenna had had the wisdom to pull a large sea chest out. She was now crouched behind its open lid with Astra, fumbling to string a bow and arrow.
It was a good defensive position, but Skadi knew she wasn’t trained with the weapon and was unlikely to hit anything with it. She imagined she was using it more as a deterrent than anything else. Which was proven correct when she raised it awkwardly towards the red-haired warrior who was trying to approach her from the side.
