Page 70 of Sky in the Deep
“They are too many for you and too many for us. But together, we may be able to win.”
“And then?” Espen crossed his arms over his broad chest.
“That’s for you to figure out with the Riki. I’m not a leader.”
“Then why did they send you?” My father’s fists rested before him on the table. “How do we know we can trust you?”
“You don’t.” I stepped forward, meeting my father’s eyes. “The same way they don’t know they can trust us. But we need each other. If we don’t come together, our people are finished. Our way of life is gone.”
They were quiet.
“I saw Hylli,” I added quietly. “We don’t have a choice.”
THIRTY-NINE
The men questionedFiske well into the night and it was a long time before they finished talking. I could see that he was uncomfortable giving them the answers they wanted, but he gave them anyway. They were things that compromised the Riki’s defense against the Aska. Things that couldn’t be unsaid.
“I’ll go.” My father was the first to agree.
But Espen looked uncertain. “We can’t send others with you, Aghi.”
“I’ll go with them.” Mýra’s eyes were pinned on me, from where she stood shoulder to shoulder with my father.
Fiske still stood apart from the rest of us, keeping his back to the cliff face. He wasn’t going to give anyone the chance to catch him off guard.
“You’ll speak for the Aska, then,” Espen agreed. “And we will meet in Aurvanger.”
I ran a hand through my hair, unsettled. For generations, we’d met in Aurvanger. The Riki and the Aska. But it was to draw each other’s blood. This time, it would be to save us all. I wondered if we could be warriors fighting alongside each other. If it would make us weaker or stronger.
When they dismissed us, my father led us through the sleeping camp to a place along the cliff wall that was separated by an outcropping of rock. Down the bank, the Aska leaders continued to argue in the torchlight. Their bent, exhausted whispers rose up over the sound of the water.
“You can sleep here.” My father handed Fiske one of the rolled woven mats he was carrying. “We leave at daybreak.”
He turned to leave and I followed him around the sharp section of rock that cut into the water. “I’m staying here.” I swallowed, trying to sound sure. Calm.
He turned on his heel, facing me. “What?”
“He can’t sleep alone out here. He’ll be dead by morning.”
His eyes moved over me slowly. Reading me. He, Iri, and Mýra were the only people who could do that.
“I’ve been travelling with him for days. He’s not a threat to me. And if he becomes one, I can take care of myself.”
He hesitated. “What is this,sváss?”
“We need him to get back to Fela. To meet with the Riki.” I sighed. “Trust me. Please.”
His hand reached out for me and I saw his eyes drop to the scars on my neck again before he pulled me into his arms. “Alright.”
The angry throb in my shoulder swelled as he tightenedhis hold. I leaned into his big frame, letting the familiar smell of him fill me. It made me think of the fighting season, hunkered down together in our tent every night in Aurvanger.
He handed me the other mat rolled beneath his arm. And then he walked into the dark, toward the huts, without looking back. He’d always trusted me completely. But I could feel that faith wavering, threatening to give way to suspicion. I came back around the outcropping and unrolled the mat on the sand. The silence that had fallen between Fiske and me since the night we stayed in Hylli was still there. Every glance and unspoken word echoed within it.
“You should go with him.”
I reached into the back of my belt and pulled his knife from where it was tucked under my tunic. I held it out to him.
He looked at it. “Am I going to need this?”
