Page 63 of The Girl the Sea Gave Back
He walked into the fog and I followed, the shape of houses surfacing to my left and right before Halvard stopped at a wood plank door that was windblown gray. He opened the door and disappeared inside, where the sound of voices was suddenly cut short.
Firelight spilled onto the ground before me and the smell of herbs rolled out into the night air. I stepped over the threshold carefully, looking around the large house. Two men worked over a pile of leathers at the table and Halvardpicked up an armor vest from a trunk, dropping it over his tunic.
It wasn’t until one of the men looked up that his hands stilled, his face half-lit by the fire. His attention went to the bow slung over my shoulder. “Who’s this?” His blue eyes traced over my marks before they found my face.
“Her name is Tova.”
“Are you…?” His stare was more curious than fearful.
“She’s Kyrr,” Halvard answered, working at the clasps of his vest.
The two men looked at one another before the fair-haired one smiled and I realized that he hadn’t told them about me. Or what I’d done. If he had, they would have had their swords drawn already.
A knock sounded at the door and I pressed myself to the wall as Halvard reached for the latch. “You want to help us? This is your chance.”
The door swung open again and a tall, broad man with an unruly black beard stood in the mist with a few others, waiting. “Ready?” But his face changed when he saw me, his eyes widening.
“She’s come from the Svell camp.” Halvard tipped his chin in my direction for me to follow and we fell into step with the bodies moving quietly in the dark. “Call them up, Latham.”
The black-bearded man signaled one of the others walking beside him and he disappeared before we came through the doors of the ritual house. The door slammed closedbehind us and the warmth of the altar fire wound itself around me, but I was still too cold to feel it.
They gathered around a table where a map was unrolled before them, their voices all bleeding together over the sound of the fire. I found a place in the shadowed corner, my numb hands clasped before me.
“Tova.” Halvard found me over the heads of the others and I stepped forward, swallowing hard. “How many Svell are camped in the eastern valley?” The others quieted as Halvard spoke and I froze as I felt the weight of their stares. They stepped to either side of the table, making room for me.
“Seven hundred and sixty,” I answered, repeating the number I’d heard Siv report to Vigdis.
“Here?” Halvard pointed to a place on the map, at the edge of the forest.
“Not that close to the water.” I set my hand on his and I felt him stiffen under my touch as I moved his finger north. “But they’ll come from the south.”
He pulled his hand from beneath mine before his fist clenched at his side.
The one he’d called Latham leaned into the table. “Forcing them to the bottomland will make it harder for them to push through.”
“It will make it harder for both of us,” Halvard answered.
I arched an eyebrow, watching every village leader look to Halvard as he spoke. As if he was one of them.
“Were you there when they attacked in Utan?” His attention returned to me.
I stiffened, not wanting to remember it. I wanted to erase that night from my mind the way everything else had been. I gave a single nod. “I was.”
“What did they do?”
“I…” I stammered, unsure of what to say. Unsure of what they’d think.
This is your chance.
Halvard’s words repeated in my mind.
“They stormed the village. Their warriors took down every Nadhir before they set it all on fire.”
I watched Halvard flinch against the words, though he concealed it well. “How did they set it on fire?”
“Pitch arrows,” I answered. I could still hear the whistle of them flying through the dark.
He looked back to the map, thinking.
