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The village was in chaos. Sigrid kept her face neutral as people rushed around her in a panic. Some of them ran away from the fire in fear, while others ran to it to try and put it out. The fire had been easy to start. She had skulked around the grain store and set a fire burning, which quickly took hold and turned into a blaze. Nobody had seen her move, and she didn’t much care if they had, as she was going to be leaving soon anyway. It wasn’t as though the villagers were going to starve either, but if they didn’t stop the blaze, it would spread and take hold of all the village. Smoke started to drift through the village, creating a thick mist that would help obscure her path. There were those who were scared and prayed to the gods, and she silently mocked them for their folly.

At first, she moved along with a group towards the grain, pretending that she was going to help, but then she darted away and instead made her way to the prison cells. The guard was looking anxiously at the source of the fire, craning his neck to see what was happening. As she approached, Sigrid put on a panicked expression and gripped his arms.

“You have to go and help them! There are people trapped!” Sigrid screamed. The guard looked back at the cell. “I’ll watch the prisoners. They need you to save them!” she urged. The guard pressed his lips together and then moved away, not wanting to pass up the opportunity for glory or to show Ivar how brave he was. Sigrid’s panicked face shifted into a smirk as she walked to the cell. This time, the guard hadn’t given her the keys; however, she used some small iron tools to open the cage and gestured for Erik to come with her. He was already standing up, but he didn’t move. Instead, he looked at the other prisoners.

“What about them?” he said.

Sigrid gave him an exasperated sigh. “What of them? I don’t need them. I need you,” she said, not impressed by the few other prisoners who shared the cell with Erik. They looked glum and solemn, as though they had already given up on any chance to escape.

“I’m not leaving without them,” Erik said steadfastly.

Sigrid rolled her eyes. “Then you will not leave.”

She went to close the door, but Erik stepped forward in a long stride and held it open with his hand. Their eyes met, and she saw anger flare inside his. Then he tore his gaze away and looked at the other prisoners. “I’ll come back for you,” he said.

Sigrid closed the door behind him and locked it again. “This way,” she growled, walking away from the village towards the shore.

Erik followed her but craned his neck back as they left to look at the thick smoke that poured over the village. They could hear the shouts of “Fire!” and the cries of panic, and through the smoke, they could just about see silhouettes of people running about, trying to save whatever they could.

“I wasn’t expecting such a dramatic exit,” he said. “Are you sure setting a fire was necessary?”

“You wanted to leave, didn’t you?” Sigrid asked bluntly, annoyed with his inane questions. What did it matter how they escaped?

“I’m just worried about the village, that’s all. It’s not going to burn down completely, is it?”

“No, it’s not. I wouldn’t do that to them, although perhaps you should be worried about your own life rather than others.”

“Perhaps I should, but I’ve never been very good at that,” Erik said.

The man was maddening. He never said what she expected, and she wasn’t quite sure how to respond to him.

“Will they discover that you started the fire?” Erik asked.

“They won’t, although Ivar will not be happy when he realizes that I have gone. He might suspect that I had something to do with it, but it won’t change the way he feels about me. He would have been angry anyway.”

“Do you think he’ll come after you?”

“I do not know. He won’t know where I’ve gone.”

“And where are we going?” Erik asked.

Sigrid kept her lips pressed tightly together. Even though she had brought Erik along on this quest, she wasn’t yet ready to trust him completely. She walked briskly through a patch of forest, pushing through thick branches and ignoring the scratches of sharp branches. Erik muttered behind her, for he was annoyed that she was not forthcoming with anything.

“You should be thanking me for freeing you from your cage. If you’d like, I can take you back there. It would not be difficult. I could pretend that you escaped of your own accord and that I left to track you down and bring you back. I’m sure Ivar would be pleased,” she said.

Erik frowned. “I didn’t think you wanted to please him. Besides, for all you know, I could run away and never see you again. You took a great risk in freeing me.”

Sigrid’s cheeks burned. “You said you are a man of your word. I am trusting that you are right.”

“I am.”

“Then I do not think you will run away until we have completed our mission.”

Erik remained silent for some moments after this. Sigrid resisted the urge to look over her shoulder. She knew that nobody had seen them leave the village and that the others were too busy putting out the fire. It had been a plan executed to perfection, and Ivar would have no idea where she had gone to. Hopefully, he would just believe that she had fled to somewhere deep in the forest and leave things be, but he might suspect that something was amiss when he realized the prisoner had been freed, and no doubt the guard would tell him that Sigrid had been near the cages of the prisoners. But Ivar would learn this all too late. She smiled with pride that she had been able to triumph over him, even though the victory was small.

She spared a thought for the people she was leaving behind, though, although not all of them were fond thoughts. But if she could succeed and get rid of Ivar, then it was all going to be worth it. They could finally be free of his influence, and the world would be better off for his absence.