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Brenda crept closer. At first, she thought the form was some kind of dead creature from the sea, but she quickly recognized the limbs of a man. As soon as she did, she rushed forward and bent down beside him. He was a man of impressive stature. His clothes were ragged and soaked, clinging to his body. His lips were crusted, and his eyes were closed. His hair was matted together in thick wet strands, and it was impossible to tell his hair from the seaweed. She propped him up and searched the horizon for a ship, but she could see nothing. It was as though he had appeared from the depths of the sea himself. She had heard stories about underwater kingdoms before, but this didn’t look like the kind of being that could survive underwater.

“Help! Help!” she cried, waving her arms desperately to catch the attention of the fishermen. They saw her beckon and rushed along the beach toward her, kicking up sand. Meanwhile, Brenda tried to help the survivor. She pressed on his chest as she had been taught. Water sloshed out of his mouth in a heaving cough, but he didn’t regain consciousness.

She sat there with his head in her lap while she waited for the men to come to her and offer aid. She caressed his cheek, feeling his beard, which had been made soft by the water.

“Who are you? Where did you come from?” she whispered softly, but as yet, the man gave her no answer.

The fishermen approached and picked the man up, helping Brenda carry him back to the village. The man couldn’t support his own weight, so he was carried along with the fish. It was unceremonious, but it couldn’t be helped. Brenda couldn’t take her eyes off him. The way he had appeared out of nowhere was almost magical, and her mind was alive with the possibility of who he might have been or where he might have come from. The story he had to tell must have been a good one.

“Look! Look at what I found!” Brenda called as they returned to the village. Emmel was still in the middle of his assembly, and he scowled at the interruption. His scowl deepened when he realized that the villagers were more interested in this newcomer than what he had to say. They gathered around the strange man, and Brenda told them how she had found him on the shore, and she also declared that she was going to nurse him back to health. She asked the fishermen to carry the stranger to her hut, where she laid him on a bed. There was much chatter and speculation between the villagers about who this man was and what he was doing on their small island.

“Who dae ye think he is?” Lena asked. “Dae ye think he’s come here tae hurt us?”

Brenda almost laughed at the anxious nature of her sister. As far as Lena was concerned, there was always something lurking in the shadows or always someone waiting to cause them trouble.

“Why would you think that? It does not appear that he has a weapon, and he is in no condition to fight,” Brenda replied.

“Maybe he’s a god.” Lena peered closer at the man.

“Now that, I could believe,” Brenda said. The man was certainly handsome enough, and his muscles looked to be imbued with strength and power.

“What are ye gaeing tae dae with him?”

“I will wait for him to wake up and then see where he is from. Perhaps he will be grateful and offer us a reward for his rescue. He might know stories of strange lands or tales where treasure might be found.” Brenda’s eyes gleamed with possibility.

“Or he might just be some drunk who lost his bearings while swimming,” Connell said behind them. Brenda and Lena had been so intrigued by the survivor that they hadn’t realized he was standing there.

Brenda scowled. “Why do you always have to ruin things?”

“I’m just being pragmatic,” Connell said. “Nae everything is a fairytale. Sometimes bad things happen, and ye should nae build yer hopes up. Expect the worst, and then ye will always be surprised and happy.”

“I don’t want to go through life being miserable,” Brenda said, shaking her head. Sometimes Connell never made any sense to her. “If you’re not going to be helpful, then you might as well go. I’m sure your wife is missing you.”

“I want tae make sure ye are safe. We dinnae know anything about this man. He might be dangerous.”

“I can take care of myself. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve put you on your rump,” Brenda said. Connell stiffened with defensive energy and huffed before he left. Brenda had always had more martial prowess than her brother, and she often took the opportunity to remind him of that fact.

“Ye should nae tease him like that,” Lena said.

“He deserves it.”

“Nae all the time. Ye know he is sensitive about it. He’s always been afraid he’s never been strong enough tae be like Da.”

For a moment, Brenda felt a flicker of guilt. Connell was their half brother, although that had never been a factor in their relationship. He certainly wasn’t half annoying.

“He has his life. He should stop trying to interfere in mine.”

“He’s only trying tae help. He’s only trying tae dae what he thinks is best.”

“And he’s not listening to me, is he?” Brenda said. There was an edge to her voice. She opened her palms and stopped herself before she said something she might regret. “I don’t want to argue with you, Lena. Would you mind going to Connell and tell him that I didn’t mean what I said?” she asked.

Lena, who was always earnest with her emotions and had the patience of an ancient tree, nodded and left Brenda alone with the survivor. Brenda looked at the man and wondered if she should be afraid of him. Perhaps she had indeed been carried away by the romantic notion that he was some grand hero washing up on the shore with an epic tale. He might well be a villain or a criminal, and she decided that she was going to have to be prepared for both possibilities.

She waited and waited, watching the man’s chest rise and fall. It was a wonder he had survived at all, but the waters around the island were calm, and they had a tendency to bring warriors to safety. The same thing had happened to her father. He had been caught in a shipwreck when he and Ragnar first came to this land. While Ragnar made it to the mainland and established a Viking settlement there, Erik washed ashore and was found by a woman who took him in, who gave him a home and, eventually, a family too. Was there a chance that history was repeating itself?

It was a while later when the man awoke. He coughed and spluttered, and more water sloshed out of his mouth. He gasped and clutched his chest, and then he looked around with wide, wild eyes.