Page 26 of The Shipwreck
“Frost Giants,” he corrected.She wasn’t a very good liar.“And the story of Audhumia is true.”
She crossed her arms and smirked at him.“Really?Dwarves?”
He frowned.“How doyouthink the sky stays up?”
She shook her head as she propped her sword in the corner.
Though she tried to make light of it, Brandr couldn’t let go of the feeling that there was more than a morsel of truth to her story.
Avril had had ample opportunity to kill him, even the chance to turn him over to someone else to kill.And yet she hadn’t.She’d had mercy on him—feeding him, sheltering him, tending to his broken arm—when anyone else would have let him suffer.Though he was her enemy, she’d treated him with respect, wisdom, fairness, and honor.She seemed to have been raised as he had—with the qualities necessary to inspire followers and command warriors.It wasn’t hard to imagine she was that woman who’d fought for the jeweled sword, that her four brothers were Kimbery’s evil uncles, and that they’d taken advantage of her misfortune to seize her inheritance from her.
He and Avril must both be cursed by the gods then.He’d lost his family, his men, and his ship.She’d lost her innocence, her birthright, and her land.They were kindred souls.Against his better judgment, he found he wanted to know more about this intrepid woman.
“So in that…story…you told your daughter,” he asked as she stirred the banked embers on the hearth to life with a stick, “where is this Rivenloch?”
She shrugged.“It’s an imaginary place.”
“Your daughter doesn’t seem to think so.”
She arched a slim brow at him.“My daughter thinks she’s a selkie, her sheep talks to her, and you’re her father.”
She had a point.“But youareteaching her to fight with a sword.”
“Aye, so she can protect herself from…” She gave him a fleeting glance, and he was sure she intended to say “Vikings.”Instead she substituted, “Attackers.”
He nodded.“Where did you learn to fight?”
“All Pictish women know how to fight,” she said proudly.“Don’t Viking women know how to fight?”
“There’s no need.They have Viking men to protect them.”
“Indeed?”She gave him a cursory perusal, as if she were sizing up a horse.“And who protects them from the Viking men?”
He scowled when he realized she was serious.
Avril had felt the Northman’s iron grip on her wrist.She’d seen his bulging muscles.He had the shoulders of an ox and was at least a head taller than anyone she knew.What was to keep a man like him from taking what he wanted from a woman?
“The law protects them,” he replied at last, as if it were obvious.
“The law,” she scoffed.“You mean the law thatmenmake and enforce?”
“Menandwomen.”
She lifted a skeptical brow.
He frowned.“Is it not so here?Do you not have analthing?”
“Althing?”
“A meeting of all the villagers.”She waited for him to continue.“A meeting where the rules are made.”At her silence, he added, “By everyone.”
“Allthe villagers?”she asked doubtfully.
“Anyone who wishes to attend.”
“Menandwomen?”
“Of course.”
