“Then you will come with me,” Saga said to the healer. “Vigdis, stay with Lady Elspeth. I will return once I see to Freydis.”
Saga and Freydis left the chamber. Magnus sat on the bed and took Elspeth’s hand in his. The warmth was soothing and comforting.
“Can you describe what you feel?”
“Everything is spinning,” she said and tried to sit up, but curled onto her side when that didn’t help. “It became worse when the woman entered the hall. I can feel her somehow.”
“What do you mean, you can feel her?”
“It is hard to explain. I can feel her inside my head. As though we share the same thoughts.”
Elspeth must be losing her mind. There was no way such a thing was possible. These episodes she’d been having, were they the start of some new aspect of her gift? She was always careful about how she thought about the odd things that happened to her. But this was different. She was convinced the woman, the healer, had a direct effect on her symptoms and she needed to find out why.
She tried to sit up again and this time the spinning settled more.
“Where do you think you are going?” Magnus said as he placed his hand on her shoulder.
“I need to speak with that woman. She must know why I feel this way. She is the cause of it.”
“Why do you not wait until you are well again,” Vigdis said. “Once you eat and drink something, you may regain your strength and then you can speak with Freydis.”
“I don’t want any food or drink. I can tell you I felt her in my head and I need to know why.”
“Let me go speak to her,” Magnus said. “Freydis is the most giving person I have ever known. If she is in your head, there is a good reason for it. She would certainly not be trying to harm you.”
“I do not think she is trying to harm me, but I know she felt it too.”
How could she explain this to either of them? There was only one person who could understand what she was trying to explain and she was with the shield maiden. Nay, she was not overwhelmed, nor exhausted, nor ill. For the first time in her life, she knew with every part of her existence there was a reason for every sight, every episode, every inclination.
While she firmly believed Magnus wanted to protect her, keeping her from learning some much-needed truth was not helpful. Elspeth stood up and placed her hands on her hips.
“Do you both plan to keep me in this chamber or will you help me find the healer?”
She watched as Vigdis and Magnus looked at each other. The latter shrugged.
“We will help you,” Vigdis said. “But you will stay here with me and Magnus will go find Freydis. But I will tell you now, I understand this is important to you and I agree, there’s some connection between you both, but if Saga thinks Freydis is at risk in any way, she will keep her from you.”
Elspeth didn’t doubt it. She didn’t want harm to come to either of them. She wanted answers and she was hell bent on getting them.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Magnus left the chamber reluctantly. He didn’t want to be anywhere but by Elspeth’s side. The episodes were frightening enough, but this talk of being inside someone else’s head was another level of concern. Was the stress of her affliction muddling her brain? He didn’t know and prayed to Odin that Freydis might have some answers.
He didn’t have to go far to find Saga and Freydis. They were arguing in one of the chambers just down the hall.
“I need to see her!” Freydis said as she placed her hands on her hips.
“Not if you’re putting yourself at risk you’re not.”
“I am not at risk. She is not harming me and I am not harming her.”
“I certainly hope not,” Magnus said from the doorway. “Because I will not let you come within ten feet of her if she drops like that again.”
“Magnus, thank Freya. You must tell me everything you know about her.”
“She is MacAlpin’s sister. She is beautiful, smells like cloves, and has episodes that make her faint. Oh, and her brothers think she might have the sight. She said she has always known things before they are about to happen.
“She stowed away on her brother’s galley about a month ago and he brought her to Olaf of Dublin to sell her sight abilities to him. Apparently it didn’t work. After that, he tried to convince Gunnar to arrange a marriage for her.”
