Norrin placed a bowl filled with sweet porridge in Thori’s lap. The dish was topped off with fresh berries and nuts, something suitable to serve a chieftain, not a thrall.
“Eat,” Norrin said when Thori failed to react.
Willing his hands not to tremble, Thori scooped up a spoonful of porridge. It took him more effort than he’d like to admit.
“Where do you come from, girl? You weren’t born a thrall, am I right?”
Andora flinched under Norrin’s gaze.Hel, she seemed to be more afraid of him than of Sveinn, as if she sensed he possessed more power than the wretched raider. Thori could sense it too.
“I’m from Njarðby.”
“Njarðby,” Norrin repeated thoughtfully, spreading honey onto a piece of flatbread. “A village on the mainland, a day’s journey south-east of Nóatún if yourliðrows swiftly.”
Thori had never heard of the place, and judging by Andora’s surprise, she hadn’t expected Norrin to know about it either.
“A dozen farmsteads by the fjord and a little fishing village. When did Sveinn’s raiding party come?”
“Three months ago, at the new moon.” Andora shuddered. “They fought likedraugr. As if they were corpses risen from their graves beneath the sea.”
Norrin frowned.
“Are you saying his warriors weren’t alive?”
Andora fidgeted.
“I’m not sure… It was dark and chaotic, but—”
“I see.” Norrin’s voice was deep and friendly. “I want you and your friends from the village to tell me about the raid in more detail, but not today.”
Why was Norrin so interested in the raid? And why didn’t he ask Sveinn himself about it?
“Sure, my lord,” Andora murmured. “Someday.”
She sounded so dejected, so sad. Thori wanted to help her, but for the first time in his life, he found himself in a position of having nothing to offer. Placing the spoon back into the bowl, he reached for Norrin’s sleeve. Maybe he could convince him to do something for Andora.
“Good.” Norrin looked pointedly at Thori’s hand. “Is the food not to your liking?”
“Huh?”
“Didn’t I tell you to eat?”
He pushed the bread he’d prepared into Thori’s hand.
“Andora, I want you to go to Skalmöld. You’ll assist her. We’re going to break camp soon.”
The girl blinked in confusion.
“She’ll get into trouble if you put her to work for you without talking to Sveinn first,” Thori hissed.
“Why would I ask Sveinn what I should and shouldn’t ask my thrall to do?”
“Yours?”
Norrin snatched the piece of bread from Thori’s hand, bringing it to his lips instead. Damn, he was impatient. Thori took a hesitant bite, and a smug glint flashed in Norrin’s eyes as he watched him chew.
“I did not only buy you. Don’t you remember?”
Thori tried to stay focused on their conversation instead of the sweet taste on his tongue and the brush of Norrin’s fingers against his lips. He vaguely remembered Norrin talking about buying thralls from Sveinn, though he had no desire to revisit that memory. The undignified way he had knelt between Norrin’s thighs—
