Page 119 of The Daughter of the Scarred Elf

“Herja has commitment issues.” He shrugged.

“Maybe I should check up on her to make sure she’s okay.”

“Sure, but if you plan on talking to him, that won’t work.”

“What do you mean?”

Ivar tapped his ears. “Haakon’s deaf, so even if he notices you talking, he’ll just ignore you.”

That seemed like an important tidbit of information that would’ve been useful to know. But Kolfinna didn’t plan on conversing with the man anyway; she just wanted to make sure Herja was okay and he wasn’t bothering her, so she headed in the direction Ivar had pointed to.

Finding them didn’t take too long. Herja stood out like a sore thumb with her blazing red hair, and the man beside her had his own type of presence that seemed to demand the attention of anyone nearby. Haakon Lykke was taller that Kolfinna had expected—taller than Herja, who was already pretty tall. Black locks of hair fell over his forehead and brushed his shoulders messily, and he had vibrant green eyes that were even more apparent with his thick lashes. With a full mouth, angular jaw, and expressive eyebrows, Haakon was a hell of a lot handsomer than Herja made him out to be.

Herja stood in front of him with her arms crossed over her armored chest. Her long, red locks swayed with the wind over her shoulders. She was talking to Haakon, who appeared expressionless, and kept glancing away from her, as if losing interest.

“—you at least try tolisten?” Herja tapped his chest to get his attention and he turned back to her. She moved her hands quickly to form signs. “Well, I don’t mean actually listen, but I’m trying to talk to you, you piece of?—”

Again, Haakon turned away, his gaze roaming over the bodies and the fort.

Herja shook her head and dropped her hands. “You know what, forget this?—”

Kolfinna approached them tentatively. “Herja?”

Herja turned to her, and Haakon followed that movement a second later, his vibrant-green eyes landing on Kolfinna. Relief washed over Herja’s face. “You’re alive!”

“So are you.” Even though they had gotten off on the wrong foot, Kolfinna was surprised at how relieved she was to see the red-haired woman. It wasn’t like they were buddy-buddies all of a sudden, but maybe in a few months they could be. “I’m assuming this is Haakon?”

Herja waved an angry hand in his direction, her expression sour. “It is.”

Haakon stared at Kolfinna’s half-white hair and then at her eyes. A flash of confusion flickered over his face, but it was quickly masked by indifference.

“Is everything okay?” Kolfinna asked, looking between Herja and the tall man.

“Yes.” Herja scowled at Haakon and then snatched Kolfinna’s hands. “How are you? You look bloodied up. Did you get a chance to see the physicians?”

“Err, yes,” Kolfinna lied. She couldn’t tell her that most of her wounds were partially healed and that going to the physician would only stir up suspicions. “And you?” Herja didn’t appear too injured. There were splatters of blood on her pants and crusted on her armor, but she otherwise appeared healthy andunharmed. “Any broken bones? We lost track of each other during the battle, so I was worried about you.”

Herja blinked in surprise before a grin stretched up her lips. “I’m not that easy to kill.”

“And …” Kolfinna noticed that Haakon was staring off in the distance again, so she took that moment to quickly add, “What’s going on with you and him? And he can’t … hear us, can he?”

“Long story, but he’s an asshole,” Herja whispered. “But I’m okay, if that’s what you mean. And to answer your question—no, he can’t hear us, but he can read our lips, so you might want to be careful about that if you want to keep something from him. But seeing as he refuses to look at me, I don’t think that’ll be a problem.” Annoyance leaked in her tone and she glanced at him again. “He’s ignoring me, which is sort of what I wanted, but it pisses me off regardless. I’ll be fine, though.”

“Okay then.” Kolfinna pointed at the physician’s tent. “I think I’ll be helping Inkeri with the wounded, so I’ll catch you later, okay?”

Now that everyone she cared about was safe, she could relax and think of what to do next. The half-elf commander wasn’t in this battle, and now that she had seen first-hand how powerful his army was, it was about time she tried to come up with a strategy on how to fight them more effectively. Orsomethinghelpful.

28

“Kolfinna.”

She had just been about to enter the physician’s tent when Joran appeared from behind her. His dark gold hair was messy and stained with dirt and grime. He didn’t even try smiling when she saw her. Kolfinna gave him a guarded look.

“What is it?” She glanced back at the flap of the tent and then at the soldiers outside the tent. Blár still wasn’t here yet, which could only mean that he was helping the others or got caught up with something else.

“The lieutenant wants to see us.”

A shiver rippled down her skin and her spine straightened. “Why?”

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