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She had to wait there until everyone had finished eating before she could leave. Her stomach griped, and as she left, she managed to swipe a few errant carrots that had been left over in bowls, but they would hardly have been enough to please a rabbit, let alone sate her hunger.

She strode out of the feasting hall with many emotions swirling around inside. She walked away from the house but heard Kari calling after her. Kari caught up and tugged at Sigrid’s arm, pulling her back.

“Sigrid, please, you don’t have to be angry like this. You don’t have to walk away,” Kari said.

“I don’t? Then what should I do? I’m clearly not wanted here, and nobody is willing to speak up in my defense. You sat there and watched him strike me,” Sigrid said in an accusing tone. Her cheek still stung from where Ivar had hit her. He hadn’t held anything back even though he considered her his daughter.

Kari looked crestfallen. “I am sorry, Sigrid, but you know what Father is like. I just…I could not bring myself to speak when I know it would do no good. If you wanted him to stop, then you could have apologized. You know what he wants to hear. Sometimes it is an easier thing to tell him what he wishes to hear rather than speak the truth in your heart.”

“You mean, tell him that he is my father?”

Kari nodded. “It would make your life easier. It doesn’t matter what you tell him. He’ll never know what you believe in your heart. Just say that he’s your father, and all this will go away.”

“Never,” Sigrid said through gritted teeth.

Kari sighed. “Then things are never going to change. Can you really hold on to this anger for your entire life? Is this the way you want things to be forever?”

“No. I don’t. I remember a time when we sat on the shore and promised each other that one day we were going to leave together, that we’d teach ourselves how to survive and then steal away on a ship and get as far away from here as possible.”

“We were just children,” Kari said with a laugh. Sigrid’s entire body tensed, and her eyes narrowed.

“A promise is a promise,” she growled. “But I suppose that has changed as well, given Ivar’s announcement.”

Kari blushed and looked away. “I was going to tell you, Sigrid, but I wasn’t sure how you would react.”

“I think you knew very well how I was going to react. So now you’re going to get married, no doubt to one of Ivar’s friends.”

“He has arranged a suitable marriage for me,” Kari said.

Sigrid scoffed.

“You could have this life as well, Sigrid, if you just wanted it. You can make things easier for yourself if you just wanted to try. You’re fighting something that you can’t defeat. I don’t want you to leave, Sigrid, and I hate the way you’re always getting yourself into trouble. Would it be so bad for you to act like Father wants?”

“Yes,” Sigrid said, and with that single word, she spun on her heels and marched away, leaving Kari behind. Part of her wanted Kari to follow her and try to bring her back, but another part knew it wasn’t going to make any difference. Kari and the other siblings didn’t want to fight, but Sigrid did. She could never accept this way of life because that meant forgetting her parents and forgiving Ivar for what he had done. But a long time ago, she had made a promise, and it had been too long without exacting it.