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7

Morning rose, and with it came the fresh sweet air and the gentle sun. Warriors groaned as they roused themselves after a night of feasting. The boar had been stripped clean, and the barrels of ale left empty. The horses were being prepared for a charge into the forests. They were gorging themselves on their feed and slaking their thirst. They were intelligent animals, and Hilda knew they must have known that something was afoot.

Before they left, Varrik and Stephen came out to address them. Hilda’s throat tightened at the sight of her father, for she was still so ashamed of what had happened.

“I want to wish you well,” Varrik said. He looked older than before. The pallor in his cheeks had faded, and his skin was sallow and strained. There were shadows under his eyes, which indicated that he wasn’t sleeping well. Hilda, in particular, noticed that he was making a point of not looking directly at her, and she was doing the same with him. After so many years of being so close, it was difficult to understand this schism that had existed between them. She could only hope that this distance between them would allow him the time he needed to grieve and to divorce her part in all this from the fact that Fiona was no longer with them. She could not blame him for resenting her, and she vowed to do whatever she could to make things as right as they could be.

“I’m proud of you all for going out there and finding the men who did this. The attack on our clan was unwarranted, unexpected, and completely unprovoked. My life has been filled with fighting, but when I came here and eventually married Fiona”—his voice cracked with emotion when he said this—“it was the beginning of peace. It was the first time I had ever known peace my entire life and the first time I put down roots. We built a home here together. We built a family, a community. Some of you still remember those days. They seem so far away sometimes, as if they’re just a dream. But they’re not. We have to protect the clan because if people think they can walk up to us and attack us, then others are going to believe the same, and I will not have this clan be thought of as weak.” His hand clenched into a fist as he said this, and his voice reached a higher pitch. It was rare to see him this animated.

“I would love to send all my able warriors out there to avenge my wife’s death. But I have to think of the future of the clan as well as the present, and I have to think about what my wife would want as well. Stephen is going to stay with me here because I cannot risk losing both my children. I have already lost so much…but may the gods be with you. Find the people who did this and make them realize that the worst mistake of their lives was when they decided to come to our home and attack us.”

Warriors applauded and cheered at Varrik’s inspirational speech, but Hilda’s heart was troubled. Her father hadn’t told her directly that her brother wouldn’t be joining her. It made her believe that he saw Stephen as the future of the clan while Hilda was expendable. It wasn’t a surprise that Stephen should be looked upon favorably, because of course, he had played no part in Fiona’s death, but it still hurt because secretly, Hilda had always seen herself as Varrik’s favorite. But now, as she saw her father and brother standing there, she felt distant from her family, as though she had been torn from them.

This was what she wanted, after all, she thought to herself, a grim sense entering her mind. She had wanted to be a warrior woman without any obligation to marry or be like the others. Now she was beginning to understand just what that entailed, and she wasn’t sure she liked it. She wasn’t sure she liked it at all.

While other warriors bid farewell to their loved ones, Hilda jumped on Blaze and kept her distance from her family. The sorrow sank like a stone within her, and she wondered if things would ever go back to the way they were. She supposed they never would, and she lamented that fact. But then she turned her thoughts to the future and this quest that was in front of them. It helped her to focus on anger rather than sorrow, on doing something rather than feeling as though everything was slipping away from her.

As they rode away, Angus trotted up beside her, wearing his customary smug smirk.

“Dinnae ye worry that Stephen is nae here. I’ll guard ye,” he said, winking.

Hilda rolled her eyes. “I’m always the one that haes tae guard him,” she said.

He leaned in. “Just remember what I said. Keep an eye on that one.” He nodded toward Maxwell, who was out of earshot.

Hilda wasn’t sure what had set Angus on such high alert against that man, but she nodded anyway. It helped to be suspicious of anything in the world, after all. If her guard was never lifted, then nobody could hurt her.

They trotted along a wide road. Maxwell was at the front, with Hilda and Angus just behind, and then the rest of the warriors from the village. Maxwell had sent his men out into the forest to scout ahead and protect the group from an ambush. It spoke to his belief in himself, and perhaps the trust he had for the warriors of the clan, that he did not mind turning his back to them or being alone among people he did not trust. Given the way he fought, Hilda knew why.

However, not everyone was as disposed to being in awe of this man dubbed Thor of the Highlands. She heard mutters behind them. Apparently, a few of them were disgruntled about the fact that Varrik had asked for this man’s help in the first place. Weren’t the men of the clan good enough? Thankfully, they were just mutterings, at least until they reached a fork in the road.

Maxwell pulled his horse to go to the left, but Angus called him back.

“We should gae this way,” he said, pointing to the right-hand fork.

Maxwell furrowed his brow and looked stern.

“Why dae ye sae that?” Maxwell asked.

“Because it leads tae the mountains. I’ve been thinking about how they’re able tae come and gae as easily as they can. Surely they must be able tae hide in the mountains? There are plenty of caves and such they could make their homes. If we gae that way, we might be able tae find some tracks. It’s common for bandits tae live in the mountains, away from the villages and towns. Surely it makes sense?” Angus said.

There were nods of agreement around the other men. Maxwell rested on his horse.

“I hae looked in the mountains. Aye, it does make a good hiding place, but we could spend all our lives searching and never finding anyone. The thing about these bandits is that they know where tae strike, sae they hae tae keep a close watch on the villages. My instincts tell me they’ll be deep in the forest somewhere with their ears tae the ground, waiting for an opportunity tae strike.”

“I really dinnae think that’s the case. We hae as much chance of finding them in the forest as we dae in the mountains, and it’s far likelier they’re up there.” Angus pointed toward the mountains.

Maxwell’s gaze was unflinching, and his voice was dry. “I’ve spent years tracking these men, boy, and I’m nae about tae lose them when I can feel them in the air. If ye want tae spend yer days up in the mountains wandering around with no sense of where ye are gaeing, then be my guest. But if glory is what ye want, then ye will nae find it up there.”

Angus bristled at this comment. Hilda bit her lip when Maxwell had called him a boy.

“I may be younger than ye, but that doesnae make me a boy. While ye hae been wandering around the Highlands looking for these men, I hae been daeing something with my life. It’s no wonder ye are afraid tae tell stories because ye hae none,” he spat.

Maxwell curled his lip. His face was filled with wry amusement. “I hae more stories than ye could handle, and I’ve done things that would keep ye up at night. But I know these men. I know where they hide. They will nae be in the mountains. Like I said, if ye want tae gae in the mountains, then ye hae my blessing, but dinnae be surprised when ye find nothing.”

Maxwell turned to continue on his path, but Angus wasn’t done yet. He leaped off his horse and drew his sword.

“I am the clan’s representative, and I will nae hae ye speaking tae me like this!” Angus said in a high-pitched voice. His pale cheeks had turned crimson, and his dark eyes burned with anger.

Maxwell turned to face him and sighed, pitying Angus. He swung his long legs off his horse and stepped to the ground, drawing his sword. Hilda saw Angus gulp with fear, but to his credit, Angus did not flee or back down.

“Are ye sure ye want tae dae this, lad?” Maxwell asked.

“I told ye tae nae call me lad or boy or anything else. I’m a warrior—we all are—and we dinnae need tae take orders from a brute like ye. Ye are a man without a home, without any land. Ye are just a brute who kills for gold.”

“Sometimes I kill for pleasure tae,” Maxwell said through gritted teeth, and Hilda knew that Maxwell was never going to back down from this. The other men were riled up as well, shouting that Thor from the Highlands was a brute and that he was overstepping his authority. He was aggressive and fearsome, but that didn’t mean he deserved to be treated like this. More than that, it jeopardized the mission.

Hilda could tell that Angus was about to charge, and if he fell, then the other men might see fit to attack as well. While it would have been a sight to see Maxwell take on a cluster of men, she didn’t want to return with even more dead and wounded. She geed Blaze and got the horse to trot up and stand in between the two men. From this vantage point, she was a hair taller than Maxwell, just about.

She looked at the two men and spoke in a scolding tone. “What are the two of ye like? Are ye truly gaeing tae squabble when we hae a task tae complete? If ye want tae bicker then ye can gae home because I hae no need for ye. Angus, ye may hae named yerself as representative of the clan, but I’m Varrik’s daughter. Ye will listen tae me,” she said.

Angus looked humbled, and at her next words, he would be shocked.

“I want all of ye tae remember why we’re here. This is nae about glory. It’s nae about adventure. It’s about protecting the clan.” She turned to Angus. “I dae see the wisdom in what ye are saying. It’s likely that they might use the mountains tae hide from people, as I doubt we are the only village they hae attacked.” Angus looked smug when she said this, but that look was soon wiped off his face as Hilda sided with Maxwell. “But I think in this instance we should listen tae Maxwell’s wisdom. He haes been tracking them for longer than we hae.”

Angus spluttered and looked aghast, as though by siding with Maxwell she had betrayed him, but she didn’t care how he felt. All she wanted was to find the people who killed her mother, and she knew that following Maxwell’s instinct was the best way to go about doing that.

Hilda glared at the rest of the men and made sure that they were going to fall in line. They grumbled but started to move again. Hilda stared at Angus, arching her eyebrow. For a moment, she thought he was about to challenge her as much as he had challenged Maxwell, but he kept his thoughts to himself and merely mounted his horse once again. Hilda nodded to Maxwell, who continued on his way. With that settled, Hilda felt a little more confident about the mission. The last thing she needed was these men butting heads, and while she didn’t have a problem with Angus being suspicious of Maxwell, she didn’t think that was any reason to go to war with him.