Page 100 of Storm of Desire
"The manacle's magic is will-based," the dwarf said, with a smirk. "So if your barbaric Norseman here cannot remove it, then it's got naught to do with trickery. It's because he truly does not wish to do so. Not deep in his heart, where the magiclies."
"Iwantto remove it," Haakongrowled.
"Do you? You said she was your wife. You said you were trying to win her back." Dúrnir slapped both palms on the table and leaned forward. "I think someone's not being entirely honest withhimself."
Haakon straightened, taken aback. "I...."
"You cannot break the bracelet," Dúrnir said. "I cannot remove it. The only way you're getting it off her is if you truly wish her to be free of it, deep in yourheart."
* * *
They didn't speak allthe way back to thehorses.
Haakon paid the young boy for minding them, then led her down the narrow track to the beach. Smooth oval pebbles gave way to black sand, and the seas were particularly choppy this afternoon. Though the sun was out, it barely warmed her skin. The wind was toocold.
Árdís kept trying to work out what to say. She'd been so certain she'd walk out of thesvartálfar'shouse and be able to take to the skies. She hadn't even considereddefeat.
Or was it truly a loss, afterall?
Árdís realized she was toying with the bracelet. This would have been goodbye, if they'd succeeded. And she didn't want to say goodbye. Nottruly.
Haakon kicked at a pebble, wending both hands through the back of his hair and clasping them there. The movement pulled the drape of his coat tight, and it rode up, revealing his shirt underneath. Sleipnir nosed at his lax reins, but stoodobediently.
"I didn't know," Haakon finally said. "I swear I had no idea I was sabotagingyou."
She stared out at the sea, strands of her hair whipping across her face. "I believeyou."
His startled gaze cut tohers.
Árdís reached up, her fingertips grazing his cheek and the rough stubble that lined his jaw. "It's all right,Haakon."
"No, it's damned well not." The muscle in his jaw flexed, and he cupped her hand there, closing his eyes briefly as he turned into the touch. His voice roughened. "I'm endangering you by keeping you trapped in this form. You could have been safely in your brother's lands by now. You would have nothing to fear. Your mother couldn't drag youback."
It was what she'd set out to do at the start of this escape, but there was one thing missing in thisscenario.
Her heart skipped a beat. A part of her held no regret. "And you'd begone."
Something dark moved in hiseyes.
"I thought that was what you wanted." His voiceroughened.
The pad of her thumb brushed, just lightly, against the soft stubble on his cheek. Longing filled her. She opened her mouth to speak. To tell him how she felt. Doubt brewed in her heart, an uneasy storm that stole the words from herlips.
I love you. I will always loveyou.
But she would be the death ofhim.
"Damn you," he whispered. "What do youwant?"
"What do youmean?"
"What do you want in life? Us? Me? If you could have anything in your life, without repercussions, what would itbe?"
Nobody had ever asked her that before. "I don't want to beselfish—"
"You're not being selfish." Haakon captured her face between his hands, his arctic blue eyes seeming to see right through her. "It isn't wrong to take what you desire out of life,Árja."
She licked her lips, hearing her mother spit the word again and again. "I...."
