“Or I’ll fight them!” Svein told her, as a flare of brightness shone in his expressive black eyes. “I’ll beat them with my sword, Mama. Knock them away from you forever.”
He spoke with such innocent, eager certainty, as if he would ever survive close combat against trained adult men carrying steel weapons, and Raye attempted another smile, even as the fear flashed cold up her spine. “That’s very generous of you, love,” she croaked. “But it’s best not to risk it. The men are just too dangerous.”
Svein’s bottom lip jutted out, but after another look at Raye’s face, he sighed, and nodded. “Then Papa will come,” he said firmly. “Papa will save us.”
Papa will save us. It was another stabbing ache, striking deep in Raye’s heart, and her eyes welled up again, the sob quivering close in her throat. Because no, Kalfr wouldn’t come to save them, not like that. Raye had made sure of that herself, three years ago, when she’d made that damned empty threat about taking Svein across the sea. And what was becoming of her, that she so desperately wished she’d never said it — that, orthe threats to keep Kalfr from sending his letters, or showing his face.
Because if losing Svein was her fate anyway — a sharpened axe forever hanging over her neck like this — maybe she could have at least been able to enjoy everything before it. Maybe she could have come to terms with Kalfr, traded for food or firewood or protection, for a few extra years with her sweet, beautiful son. Maybe she could have asked Kalfr what to do about Svein’s endless appetite, about his impressive night vision, about his thick black curls — so much more stubborn than Raye’s own — that resisted every attempt at brushing or binding them.
And most important of all — Raye took a deep, shaky inhale against that familiar mass of black hair — Svein wanted a father. He’d always wanted a father. And though he’d never argued Raye’s terse explanations about Kalfr — that he cared about Svein, but it was best that they didn’t see each other anymore — Svein had been asking more and more questions lately, questions Raye couldn’t begin to answer. What kind of work did Papa do? Was Papa’s life in Orc Mountain just like in the book? Why did Papa never stay to visit, when he brought them treats? Did he not want to see them?
The questions were more cords around Raye’s neck, more deadly axes hovering over her undefended head. And more than once these past months — these pastyears— she’d been tempted to swallow her pride and her fear, and surrender. To write a letter to Kalfr, somehow. To rush for the door when he dropped those gifts in the night. To ask for his help, to beg for his advice, to confess that she’d taken on far too much, she couldn’t keep doing this alone…
And maybe, alone and cold in the darkest bitterest nights, she’d even thought about… apologizing. About saying,I had no right to bar you from your son’s life, especially once the war ended. I had no right to pre-emptively do to you what I knewyou would do to me. I didn’t know what it would mean. I didn’t understand the loss, the weight it would mean to carry it alone.
But then she would remember the risk. The danger. The terror of losing her beloved son to Orc Mountain, forever. The threat of forever losing the only family she had left.
And still, most vivid of all, were those visions of that night in the moonlight. Of Gaelfr, huge and cruel and uncompromising, touching Kalfr with such casual ease, biting into his scarred throat. Claiming such complete ownership over him — and over Raye and Svein, too.
You are mine, Kalfr of Clan Bautul. You, and your woman, and your sons.
And Kalfr had allowed it. He’dwantedit. He’d found pleasure in it, without Raye. He’d betrayed her in all the worst possible ways, with an enemy who wanted to destroy her.
No.No. Raye could never forgive Kalfr, or risk trusting him again. She had to stay strong, and protect her son, no matter what it took. No matter the cost.
And then — a bang. A fast, urgent thudding at the door.
“Grant me entry, woman,” came a voice, deep and new and terrible. “Now!”
2
Raye jolted to shocked, breathless stillness, as raw raging terror flooded through her chest.
She knew that voice. She’d only heard it once before, but she would never forget it, as long as she lived.
It was an orc.
It wasGaelfr.
“Grant me entry, woman,” came his voice, deep and demanding. “I scent you in there, and I know you hear me!”
Oh gods. Gaelfr was here. He’d finally come back. He’d come to steal Svein away from her, forever.
Raye’s gaze belatedly snapped to Svein’s face, to the fear in his wide eyes — and his nostrils were flaring, his heartbeat suddenly pattering against Raye’s hand on his back. Because damn it, he could smell it. He knew.
Too late, Raye flailed her hand toward the bedroom, toward the paltry safety of that tunnel, and Svein rapidly nodded, and lurched off her lap toward it. But then he hesitated in the doorway, his head twisting back so he could breathe in again, his brow deeply furrowing.
Go!Raye silently mouthed at him, with another desperate wave of her hand, and finally he went. Closing the bedroom door as quietly as he could, lowering the bar behind him with a distincttinkof metal, followed by the sound of the trapdoor opening, and closing. While the banging at the door rose again, hard enough to shudder the wood against the bars.
“You test my patience, woman,” came the next growl, even deeper and angrier than before. “If you do not grant me entry, I shall wield my axe against your door!”
Raye cringed all over, her frantic eyes darting up and down the thick oaken door. It was solid, and well fortified, with multiple bars and latches, but would it withstand an axe? And how would she ever afford to repair it, the cottage was already far too exposed and dangerous…
“No,” her voice croaked, before she could catch it. “Don’t.”
She could feel the intensity behind the door, the heavy focused attention upon her. “Then open it, woman,” snapped the voice, edged with harsh impatience. “Now.”
Now. Something lurched in Raye’s throat, and too late she realized it was another sob, one too loud to hide behind her hands. And gods curse her, she needed to hold it together, she needed to focus, to keep Svein safe. And this horrible orc had threatened her, he’d stolen her mate, he’d ruined herlife…
