Raye gulped for breath, and desperately fought through the disbelief, the rising, all-consuming rage. “And you just now happened to realize this? As soon as you woke up this morning?”
But damn it, she already knew Gaelfr’s answer, could see it in that set to his mouth, the spasm in his jaw. “This was settled lasteve,” he said. “As soon as I came back here, and scented those men on your doorstep.”
What? So Gaelfr had just decided this yesterday, without any warning or discussion whatsoever? And then, last night, he…
“And why didn’t you bother to mention this last night?” Raye demanded. “Because you wanted —”
Her voice snapped off, her eyes darting toward Svein, who was casting uncertain glances between them, while also haphazardly piling Mr. Snuggles and the Orc Mountain book onto one of Gaelfr’s makeshift sacks. “I wanted to grant you comfort and ease, last eve,” Gaelfr said tightly, without looking at her. “And one last night of peace together, in your home.”
Raye whipped her head back and forth, and clamped down the almost overpowering urge to scream. “And that was alsoyourdecision to make?” she hissed. “Without evenpretendingto consult me?”
Gaelfr kept packing, though his shoulders looked stiffer than before. “I swore to keep you safe, woman,” he replied, curt. “And yesterday, I failed in this. So ach, I then wished to soothe you, and tend you, and calm you, until you were at peace again. This is what I have vowed to do!”
Raye’s mouth opened again, but nothing came out, because… Gaelfr had thought he’dfailed, by leaving them yesterday? He’d felt guilty, perhaps? And was that why he’d been so kind, so solicitous, once he’d returned? Cooking supper together, sparring with Svein,tendingher in bed…
Raye’s eyes closed, because of course it had meant nothing. Of course she knew that, she couldn’t trust him…
“You won’t make us stay here, will you, Mama?” cut in Svein’s small voice. “With the bad men who want to kill us?”
Gods damn it. Raye dragged in a deep breath, forced her blinking eyes to focus on Svein’s wan, worried face. She was doing this for Svein. She needed to keep Svein safe.
And no, it wasn’t safe here. Not with those awful men still watching them, waiting for other orcs to show up. And if Kalfr really was on his way, what then? Would the men attack him? Kill him, while Svein watched?
“Where would we go, then?” Raye made herself ask Gaelfr, through gritted teeth. “And how will we find Kalfr to meet him? Unless you’ve already heard from him somehow, and didn’t bother mentioning that, either?”
Gaelfr shot her an unreadable sidelong look, and kept packing. “I have heard naught from Kalfr, but I will scent him, once we are closer,” he replied. “And we will go west. To Orc Mountain.”
West. To Orc Mountain. ToOrc Mountain?!
Raye’s fury surged again, together with a dizzying horror, staggering her on her feet. “You’re taking us toOrc Mountain?” she yelped. “You’re takingSveinthere? No, Gaelfr.No. I won’t. Iwon’t!”
It came out shrill and panicked, and Raye’s hands fluttered to her mouth, her heart thundering in her ears. No. Gaelfr couldn’t steal Svein away, trap him in that dark impenetrable Orc Mountain, where she would never get him back. It was everything she’d fought against all this time, years of scrimping and starving and misery, fighting to keep her little family together, to keep Sveinsafe—
“Youpromised, Gaelfr,” Raye gasped, blinking at him through blurry, stinging eyes. “You promised you’d keep us safe. You swore to the goddess!”
There was an instant’s empty silence, Gaelfr’s face hazy and still as he gazed back at her. And then he strode toward her, closing the space between them in three quick steps, and Raye flinched at the feel of his hand on her back. Spreading against her, stroking up and down, as if he was… caressing her. Reassuring her.
“Do not fear, woman,” he said. “I will not force you or Svein into Orc Mountain, if you do not wish it. We will find another safe place to stay nearby, instead.”
Raye hauled in a breath, and frantically searched Gaelfr’s too-close face. He looked sober, stubborn, as if he truly meant that, but… Orc Mountain,Orc Mountain, she needed to keep Sveinsafe, and —
“But I must yet visit the mountain myself, if naught else,” Gaelfr continued, as his hand kept stroking, steady and warm. “For it is there that we will find help, and learn how to best face the threat of these men.”
But it wasn’t helping, it wasn’t, and Raye kept searching his face. “But you — you’releaving, Gaelfr,” she croaked. “You can’t do any of this, because you’re leaving us, forever! As soon as Kalfr comes, you said! So now, that could be —today!”
It rang through the room, afraid and accusing and… hurt. And no, Raye didn’t care if Gaelfr left, she didn’t… but she couldn’t make herself say it. Not even after everything he’d done last night, everything he’d already done today. She should hate him, she should want him to go away forever.
But then another thought struck her, stronger than the rest. Maybe Gaelfr still hated her, too. Maybe he really was only gritting his teeth and doing his sworn duty by the goddess, in Kalfr’s stead. Maybe he just wanted to be rid of her, and free of this entire mess, as soon as possible, forever.
But Gaelfr still stood close beside her, his hand stroking her back, and now Svein’s familiar body eased into Raye’s other side, his hand patting her shoulder. “Don’t worry, Mama,” he said, with an encouraging smile. “Papa Gaelfr won’t leave us yet. Not until he’s sure we’ll be safe from the bad men. Because he swore it to the goddess. Right, Papa?”
Raye followed Svein’s hopeful gaze up toward Gaelfr, who was blinking back toward Svein’s face, his broad shoulders risingand falling. As if he might still refuse, he might hand them off to Kalfr as quickly as possible, and never look back…
“Ach, my son,” he replied, as his hand slightly spasmed on Raye’s back. “I will not leave you until I am sure you both are safe.”
Oh. And Raye should not have sagged into Gaelfr’s side like that. Should not have turned head toward his shoulder, breathing in his rich musky scent…
“That will take a few more days, at least, won’t it?” she asked, hoarse, toward the floor. “Even after we find Kalfr?”
