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Brenda stepped forward. She had been shocked to see Douglas being taken away, and she wasn’t about to let her family be spoken about like this. Besides, she had an idea of something she could offer to stop this fighting and end this war before it became a slaughter. If her instincts were correct, then it might save everyone, including Douglas.

“Let us not waste time with these pointless insults,” Brenda declared in her most confident voice, holding her head up high and showing off the sword that hung from her hip to show that she was not unarmed.

“And who might you be?” Gorm asked with a cocked eyebrow.

“My name is Brenda, daughter of Erik Hoffstad the first, defender of this island. You say you want to come to an agreement, then let us make an agreement.”

Her father and cousin looked shocked at her daring act of approaching Gorm, but neither of them interfered, and for this, she was grateful. Gorm opened his mouth and looked at her with intrigue. If he was any other man, then he might well have been handsome. He was tall and strong, a brute in many ways, but there was a cruelty to his eyes that he didn’t try to hide. His lips were sneering, and there was a sense of threat, akin to being around a feral wolf.

Since he didn’t say anything in response, she took this as an invitation to continue speaking.

“I can think of one thing you will get from this place, one thing you can only get from this place. My hand in marriage. I will travel back to Norway and marry you. You can boast that you have earned the hand of a Hoffstad bride. Let it be an alliance between our two people. Leave them in peace, and return Douglas to his land of birth.” Her voice wavered as she spoke, as she wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about the prospect of marrying Gorm, but she didn’t see any other way to avoid fighting, and she knew that Erik would never have asked this of her. She had to volunteer.

Gorm didn’t say anything at first. He walked toward her slowly, tapping his finger against his lip. He came up to her and gazed at her with scrutiny, examining her as if she was a horse he was about to purchase.

“Not the finest woman I’ve ever seen, but fair,” he murmured to himself.

She bristled at this but held her tongue.

“I would not be opposed to such a union, but I cannot give you everything you ask. I cannot allow Douglas to leave. Honor demands it. He made an agreement with me, and he has betrayed that agreement. He has always killed one of my most trusted men. To let him go without punishment would be an offense to the gods.”

“Don’t you think you’ve punished him enough?” Brenda shot back with a terse edge to her voice.

“No,” Gorm said simply. “I will spare your clan, but Douglas must die. I can see that for some reason, you have developed some fondness for the man. I will allow you to speak with him before I take his life. I’m sure it would please him to know that you will be safe as my wife.”

Gorm’s mouth twisted into a sharp smile, and Brenda’s stomach churned. Her gambit had not worked as intended, but she wasn’t about to let Douglas die. Without speaking to her father or cousin, she marched onto the boat behind Gorm to see Douglas before it was too late.