My mother placed a hand on her hips. “Is your brother bothering you again?”
“Yes!”
Leif blinked. “What? No. Not anymore.”
“Because I’m laying down,” Frida called out.
“No, she calmed me down and we were talking about something else,” Leif said. “Astrid, why are you acting like this?”
I grabbed my herb basket. “I need to go out and get a few things to make sure we have enough for the birth. If the tonic Frida took is working, I think she should get up and walk around outside for a bit.”
My mother cocked her head and then looked at my brother. “What did you do?”
Leif held up his hands. “Astrid, the hel?”
I opened the front door. My mother repeated herself to my brother, but he ignored her and tried to get my attention, going as far as attempting to follow. I quickened my pace and he didn’t exit the threshold of the house.
My mother’s voice carried, and she’d gone to questioning Frida what was going on. I knew she’d tell. She had heard it all, and there weren’t any secrets with this family, as they were all too eager to gossip to each other. But that didn’t matter to me.
I just needed to be alone.
The gloomy sky above reflected perfectly with the raging emotions within me. In the past, I would have prayed for help to ease them. But these days, I didn’t pray much. It felt… weird now that I’d been so connected to them. And it wasn’t like any of them could help me. Or even want to help me with this. What did they care about some mortal’s insignificant issues?
Runavík disappeared behind me, and I found the patch of flora I needed. I picked and dug, soft earth coating my hands. This usually calmed me, but not today. My emotions still twisted and tormented me.
He was kind to me. He listened to me. He went out of his way to make me smile and laugh, and make me a part of things no other mortal could dream of experiencing. And yet, I couldn’t be convinced it meant anything.
Warmth trickled down my cheek. I gasped and furiously rubbed away the tears. Stop it, Astrid! Stop it! It wasn’t worth it. I just needed to let it go and accept how things were. I’d pissed off some god somewhere when I was a child, and this was my punishment.
Water splashed on my arm. I ignored it.
Another splatter. Still, I ignored it.
A light pitter-patter echoed through the forest. I realized a little too late that I shouldn’t have ignored my surroundings.
Rain splashed down from the canopy above. I gasped and snatched my basket, jumping to my feet. The water fell harder, and I dashed for the safety of a tree.
I pressed my back against the trunk and held my basket close to my chest. Dampness surrounded me as the rain fell harder, seeping quickly into my clothes and clinging to my skin. The tree protected me from most of the water falling from the sky, but not all of it. I’d be soaked by the time this stopped, if it did any time soon. I suspected it wouldn’t, and it’d have to run through it to get back home. But for now, I’d remain here with my thoughts—my pain.
A calloused finger brushed my cheek, breaking the streak my tears created. I gasped and jumped back. My hand instinctively went to my axe, except it wasn’t there since I’d stormed out of the house in a snit.
Týr took a startled step back. I relaxed. “Don’t scare me like that.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I…” He frowned. “Why are you crying?”
I turned away from him and rubbed my face to rid myself of the tears. No one ever saw me like this. I was usually more careful. “I got into a fight with Leif. Don’t worry about it.”
And now I was lying to him. But really, he didn’t need my problems. Especially with the unusual look he had about him.
Normally, when Týr came for a visit, he had a smile on his face. But today… He didn’t quite frown, but he definitely wasn’t happy. It was like something was weighing on him. And if that were the case, he didn’t need to deal with my insignificant mortal problems. Especially since it has to do with my dumb heart’s feelings toward him.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Týr asked.
“No.” The lie tasted foul, but I couldn’t tell him. “Why are you here?”
“I was looking for you.”
“Why?” The word was out of my mouth before I could stop it.
