“Stew is nearly there. I hope you’re hungry.” Grim gives her another smile that warms her soul like a cup of honey tea.
She hopes Sigvid will not murder this poor man when she runs away from him.
“Why are you here?” She wonders aloud.
Why would anyone have followed the Beast, of all people, out of the Arena? Especially when he killed him. Or, well, tried to kill him.
“The Beast is currently my only friend.” Grim stirs the cast iron pot suspended over the smoldering fire. “We had each other’s back in that Arena. I trust he will deliver the scum who destroyed my life. I daresay I’m in a begrudging life debt to him.” He chuckles.
Avina twirls a curl. After the war, she was sure she knew everything about the Lord Commander of the Salt Province. However, Sigvid, the man, proved infinitely more complicated.
Why rescue a would-be enemy from the clutches of the Arena?While in one strike, he tortures a man to death for threatening her life. Yet, cages her as a prize to showcase once they reach Toftlund?
Sigvid is like all the rest in his view of women as a means of conquest.
He might be worse.
Grim hands her a bowl of stew that smells divine. Avina slurps a bite and melts into the bowl of root vegetables and hare meat. She slurps it down quickly until her stomach cramps. She needs all the fuel she can get.
“Do you mind if I urinate?” She asks the question far too energetically than she has been rehearsing. The words tumble out more bluntly than they should. But she counts on the fact that this morally upstanding, genial man will never demean her by questioning her motive.
“Do you need me to stand watch?”
Gods, bless this man. “No, thank you for everything.” She emphasizes the last word.
Once in the shrouded cover of the pine forest, she trudges forward until her bare feet pound against the needled undergrowth.
She has a few moments before Grim will investigate her whereabouts. By then, she needs to be long gone or hidden away.If Sigvid should discover her absence, he will likely lead the return mission himself. And, after what happened to Finn, she dares not think of how he might respond to Queen Avina if she escapes his clutches.
Dammit, what is his obsession with me? What is his motive other than to humiliate me? What will become of my kingdom and Nellie if he continues to keep me captive?
A shiver slides up her spine, imagining Sigvid catching her arm and whirling her around to confront his piercing eyes that seem to dive straight into her soul.
Will he take her body forcibly in the snow? Will he turn his axes on her for disobedience? Will he fulfill his promise to take her in front of his Drengr? A strangling sensation around her throat increases until she retches bile upon the ground.
The anxiety gripping her does nothing to alleviate the burning in her lungs from the icy winter air in the Salt Province. Suddenly, her planto escape seems absurd. Without proper boots, she will not be able to travel long.
Avina groans, clutching her churning stomach and cursing herself for having thought her fear would not overtake every aspect of her body as she attempts to flee.
Sharp pine needles press into her knees and palms as her stomach convulses, and she vomits on the cold ground. When her gut is devoid of the beautiful meal Grim served, she shakily stands to her feet and shuffles along.
The nearly identical pines expand in all directions, and the ever-present fear of Sigvid’s retribution addles her usual level-headed brain beyond belief. Swiveling over her shoulder reveals a form barreling in her direction.
Grim.
She dives into the brush, lowering a widely splayed broken branch over her figure. The crunch of footsteps has her heart pounding, not helped by her heavy breathing. Through the pine needles, she can see Grim stomping around. His hand continues to rake through his dense spiral locks as he searches.
“Avina? Avina?” His deep, frantic voice tugs at her heartstrings.
He genuinely seems worried for my safety.
Finally, his shoulders slump in defeat, and he returns toward the encampment. She moves from her hideout and continues through the woods only after the silence drones on for thirty counts.
She continues through the forest when she arrives at a stretch of blinding white that expands on both sides as far as the eye can see. She walks along the edge, testing her weight against the ice.
Birds fluttering through the trees tug her focus back to the woods.
Something is coming near her fast.
