Raye’s memory flashed back to the night they’d prayed for a son on the altar, when Kalfr had suggested that perhaps next time, the rest of the band could offer their help, too. And when she shot an alarmed glance toward him, he and Gaelfr both chuckled, and Gaelfr gave a reassuring pat against her. “Do not fret,sæta,” he said firmly. “We should never set Skirvir loose upon you thus. You are a precious gift from the goddess, and you must be handled with utmost care, and kept safe at all costs.”
It thrilled through Raye with surprising strength, perhaps just because Gaelfr so rarely said anything like this. And did he really think she was aprecious gift? And that she needed to be handled with care, and kept safe? Or was he just saying this for Kalfr, even now?
But Gaelfr leaned in to kiss Raye’s forehead, while Kalfr smiled and nodded, stroking his hand reassuringly to her back. And as they headed to bed together, Raye again shoved the doubt away, and focused on the joy, the peace, the hope.
When she awoke the next morning, it was to a spike of genuine fear — they were down to two short days, now, before Sybil appeared on their doorstep with two hundred men. ButRaye again fought to shove it aside, to focus on their drills and preparations, on her weaving, on the band, on Svein. It turned out that Gaelfr had decided to schedule a full-band brawling match, to celebrate the band’s dedication to their training, and Grum had gotten into the spirit too, and had begun preparing a hearty slab of marinated venison to roast out in the garden, along with a variety of tubers and mushrooms.
It also turned out that a group of orcs from the mountain had decided to come and help for the afternoon, bringing not only multiple sacks and barrels of food with them, but also their mates and sons. And Raye exclaimed with genuine pleasure at the sight of multiple women she recognized from the mountain — Rosa the librarian, Daisy the artist, Gwyn the midwife, and a smiling Stella, Silfast’s mate, now with a plump, adorable orc toddler peeking from behind her skirts.
“Look at you, Raye!” Stella exclaimed, as she gave her a quick embrace. “It’s so good to see you again, and looking so well, too! I hope you’ve been settling in here? And your mates have been taking good care of you?”
Raye gratefully smiled and nodded, while Rosa gave an assessing look up and down her body. “Yes, they certainly have,” she said approvingly. “They’re very good at that when they want to be, aren’t they? Kitty even sent you some new dresses, knowing what they’d be up to, and we’ve brought you more food and supplies, too!”
Beside Rosa, Gwyn wryly smiled and handed Raye a sack — and inside it, there were packets of seeds, bunches of fresh herbs, and several small plants, their roots wrapped in burlap. “A housewarming gift, for your garden,” Gwyn said. “Some of my favourites for women’s health, and I’ve heard the amaranth is good for dyeing yarn, too.”
Raye blinked down at it all with genuine astonishment, her eyes suddenly stinging with tears. “This is — so generous of you all,” she choked. “Thank you.”
Gwyn smiled and waved it away, while Stella glanced sideways toward where Kalfr and Gaelfr were both broadly grinning as they greeted their guests, Gaelfr with an intrigued-looking Svein perched on his hip. “No, thankyou, sister,” Stella said, with feeling. “Goddess, I can’t remember the last time I saw Kalfr look so well, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him smile like that! I’m so glad you and thisbyrgihave done him so much good.”
She smiled mistily toward where her huge captain mate Silfast was now hauling Kalfr into a painful-looking hug, and Raye smiled at the sight, too. While beside them, Rosa had somehow produced a large notebook, and several sharpened pencils. “Now, you’ll give us the full introductory tour, won’t you?” she demanded toward Raye. “I’ve wanted to see one of thesebyrgisfor so long, and I need to learn everything!”
Raye readily agreed, and gave the women a comprehensive tour of the garden, the training-grounds, and then thebyrgiitself, while their children raced and played around them. Both Gwyn and Stella exclaimed over the garden, and Daisy marvelled at Raye’s looms, and shyly asked for a weaving demonstration. While Rosa pelted Raye with a constant stream of curious questions, and jotted the answers in her notebook.
Kalfr and Gaelfr had been showing the orcs around, too, and come mid-afternoon, they herded everyone out to the training-grounds for Gaelfr’s planned brawling match. Gaelfr was clearly delighted by the prospect of so many new participants, and once he’d called out the rules of the match, the ring soon erupted into a mass of chaos and noise, with a dozen huge orcs all shouting and charging for each other at once, swinging their huge wooden weapons through the air.
It was far more brutal than any of the training Raye had witnessed so far, and soon Egil was sporting a bloody gash in his forehead, and Skirvir’s leg had begun spurting again, too. But to Raye’s relief, Kalfr had arranged for Rurik to be standing by, and with Fengr’s help, Rurik flagged down any orcs who appeared to be wounded, and checked them over before sending them back in again.
And the best part, Raye soon discovered, was getting to see Kalfr and Gaelfr fight together. She’d seen them spar against each other several times now, but she’d never before witnessed them on the same side like this. Gaelfr was a huge, stubborn wall of defense with his axe, knocking away their foes with a steady stream of vicious wheeling swings, while Kalfr danced and ducked around him, avoiding his axe without even looking, and lashing out at their foes with breathtaking speed and grace.
Raye’s heartbeat raced faster as she watched, and soon she was hollering and cheering along with Svein beside her, praising Kalfr and Gaelfr’s every victory — against Egil, then Othan, then a series of four visiting Bautul from the mountain. Eyolf and Iyolf ended up giving Kalfr and Gaelfr some difficulty, as they had a similar fighting style, their identical curved swords almost blending into one — but in the end, they couldn’t overcome the sheer power of Gaelfr’s axe, and finally it was Eyolf who called defeat, dragging a growling Iyolf away. Skirvir presented a significant challenge too, and if not for his wounded leg, his gigantic axe might have taken out Gaelfr, at least — but a firm kick from Kalfr to Skirvir’s bad leg sent him toppling entirely, even as Kalfr called out a laughing apology, and waved Rurik over to see him.
In the end, Kalfr and Gaelfr ended up alone in the ring with Joarr and the huge captain Silfast, who had turned out to be a brutal and utterly fearless fighter, too. Together, he and Joarr had taken out the impressive team of Olarr and Aulis, butSilfast then immediately turned on Joarr himself. And though Joarr put up a spectacular fight, kicking and flipping away from Silfast’s axe-swings with astonishing ease, it was clear he was also putting on a show, especially for the shrieking laughing children — and finally Silfast’s axe clipped his shoulder and sent him flying into a nearby bush, where he soon popped up grinning and tossing berries into his mouth, much to the children’s glee.
Silfast didn’t waste a breath before spinning and charging for Gaelfr next, striking their wooden axes together with a deafeningcrack. And though Gaelfr held his ground, Silfast kicked straight for Kalfr, too, shoving him out from beneath Gaelfr’s cover, and almost into Silfast’s axe. Forcing Kalfr to scramble back to Gaelfr again, and Raye could feel their focus rising as they circled Silfast together, their bodies moving almost as a single unit. Gaelfr was clearly working to draw Silfast’s attention, giving Kalfr opportunities to strike, but Silfast obviously knew to expect this, and kept fighting both of them at once, trying to force them apart.
Raye’s throat was sore with hollering now, because Gaelfr was drenched in sweat, his movements slower and heavier than before, and Kalfr was gasping for air too, pressing his back to Gaelfr’s heaving chest. Until they exchanged a brief glance, Kalfr’s hand squeezing at Gaelfr’s thigh — and Gaelfr’s axe flew sideways, drawing Silfast’s eye as it wheeled through the air, while Kalfr and Gaelfr both hurled themselves at Silfast at once, tackling him to the ground in a flurry of grunts and kicks and curses. And when the movement settled again, Gaelfr had Silfast in a tight headlock, and a panting, wryly smiling Kalfr had his wooden sword shoved tight to Silfast’s throat.
The ring erupted in shouts and stomps and cheers, with everyone rushing forward at once — and Raye threw herself into Kalfr’s waiting arms together with Svein, not caring if he wascovered with sweat and mud all over. “You were spectacular!” she exclaimed, breathless and grinning. “Both of you. How the hell did you learn to do that?”
Kalfr shrugged and smiled sheepishly at Gaelfr, who had thrown his arms around them all, too. “Plenty of practice, I ken,” Kalfr replied, between breaths. “And anástvinurwho is one of the greatest Bautul warriors in the realm, ach, Gael?”
Gaelfr beamed back toward him, hooking his arm roughly around his neck. “Do not forget your own skill and cleverness,ástin mín.And the depth of our shared bond, also.”
Beside them, Silfast nodded as he grunted and rose to his feet, with Stella now tucked beneath his huge arm. “We are all out of fettle when it comes to fightingástvinir, I ken,” he said. “This was a good showing, brothers.”
This led to more rounds of stomping and cheering, especially when Eyolf and Iyolf brought out a barrel of ale, and begun handing out mugs. And soon the air was full of voices and laughter, and the succulent scents of Grum’s supper wafting from the nearby garden, too.
It was a lovely way to spend an evening, chatting and laughing with their guests, watching the children run and play together, and dancing to Othan’s cheerful drumbeat, now deepened by the addition of Magni, a genial drummer from the mountain. And of course, Grum’s meal of slow-roasted venison and tubers was wonderful, and one of the best things Raye had ever eaten in her life.
By the end of it, they were all smiling and exhausted, and Raye ended up taking a half-asleep Svein to bed while Kalfr and Gaelfr said farewell to their guests. And when Raye headed back upstairs, a yawning Egil told her that Kalfr and Gaelfr were still outside, so she slipped out the front door, and into the cool night air.
It was a beautiful evening, with an almost-full moon in the darkening sky above them, and Kalfr and Gaelfr were indeed still outside, both still facing west, toward where their guests who’d preferred to travel above ground had gone. However, no one else was now in sight, and Kalfr and Gaelfr were just talking together, something easy and companionable about how they’d never imagined Silfast and Joarr being friends, enough for Joarr to throw over a whole match for Silfast like that.
Gaelfr had his arm around Kalfr’s shoulder, chuckling as Kalfr’s head tipped back into a laugh — and for an instant, the sight stuttered around Raye, overlapping with the memory of that long-ago night in her garden. How she’d overheard Kalfr and Gaelfr together in the moonlight, just like this, and how she’d rushed out and hollered at them, and thrown them out of her life forever.
But tonight, she only felt warmth, and indulgence, and a strange, startling fondness, even as Gaelfr’s head lowered into Kalfr’s throat, his breath inhaling deep. And Kalfr welcomed it, tilting his head away, silently inviting Gaelfr to come closer. An offer that Gaelfr instantly accepted, nuzzling his face deeper into Kalfr’s skin, into the tendrils of messy black curls escaping his braid, while his hand slipped down to the front of Kalfr’s trousers, gripping with familiar ease.
Even now, Raye couldn’t deny a brief, bittersweet flicker of jealousy, watching her handsome mate’s eyes fluttering closed, his tall body arching into hisástvinur’stouch. And he let out a low moan too, ragged and hungry, and Raye knew that moan, knew that look on his face, knew how much he wanted this, how much he needed it…
