Page 30 of Tears of the Wolf
Brynn was new at this, but she made her best effort. She rested a hand on his shoulder, though it felt bold, almost too bold. “I expect you’ll be working hard tonight.”
“And why’s that?”
Brynn was trying to be subtle, but maybe she had been too subtle. “Didn’t you promise to show me your bed?”
Cenric didn’t smile, but his expression turned mischievous. He stared up at her, drawing her close enough her legs knocked into his. “Well, now I’m going to be rowing as hard as I can, lady.”
Brynn’s chest fluttered. She was being seduced, she knew it, and she found it rather pleasant.
“With that promise, I could row this ship home by myself,” he said.
Brynn shook her head. “You’d just make it turn.”
“If we start sailing in circles,” Cenric winked at her, “you’ll know who’s to blame.”
It was an absolutely ridiculous thing to say, but laughter burst out of Brynn. She covered her mouth a moment later, surprised.
Across the deck, Esa shot her a furtive glance, eyes wide then the girl’s face softened and she smiled shyly at Brynn.
Brynn cleared her throat ducking her head. She didn’t remember the last time she’d laughed.
Cenric grinned at her. He didn’t seem to care that they were in plain sight of Esa and his men. He caught Brynn’s hand, leaving a kiss on the back of her knuckles. “Tonight, wife.”
His promise sent Brynn’s heart racing. Briefly, she thought to warn him that she wasn’t skilled or particularly good.
But Cenric’s mouth took hers in a fierce kiss, his tongue sweeping greedily into her mouth.
Kissing him was like dancing in a storm—exciting and terrifying all at once. It made her knees weak and her head spin and she wasn’t sure how he did it.
She realized now what he had been doing for two days. He was making her comfortable. Putting her at ease. He wasn’tsmashing through her walls, he was taking them down stone by stone.
They made good time, but Brynn noticed Cenric was quieter. He kept watching the horizon, peering ahead.
Brynn had the sense he was anxious but didn’t press him.
The mountains came into view by midmorning. They were hazy blue outlines, ghostly and faint.
Brynn watched them grow larger and larger as the time slipped by. Strange excitement welled in her chest, almost like when she had been a girl, and her sister helped her ride a pony for the first time.
As the shapes of the mountains grew, Brynn was sure she could stare at them forever. They were beautiful. Massive. Like monuments made by the gods.
Pine forests spread in all directions, broken by open glades and farmland. The ship reached the wide mouth of a river and turned down it.
Kalen and several of the other younger men lowered the sail, marked with a dark pawprint stitched on a blue field.
Another fishing village stood along the bank, no more than a ramshackle collection of huts. Brynn stood at the prow of the ship, staring at everything as it passed. She studied the people in their woolen caps, shawls, and coats. They didn’t appear impoverished, but true to what Cenric had said, Ombra was not a wealthy land.
They sailed up the river for the better part of an hour. Farmland dotted the river on either side, mostly wheat and barley as best Brynn could tell.
The leaves had begun to turn the color of flames—an inferno of yellow and red as far as the eye could see. Workers harvested the fields. Many stopped and appeared to balk in alarm at the sight of them, then cheered and waved at the sight of the sail.
The ship continued until they reached what appeared to be a village. The village had been built along the riverbank and docks had been constructed for the collection of boats and smaller ships bobbing in the water.
The homes were low, made of wattle and daub with thatched roofs and squat chimneys. Children ran barefoot along the river, shouting at the ship.
“What do you think, wife?” Cenric asked, coming up behind her. “You can see the longhouse up there.”
Brynn followed his pointing finger to a large, imposing structure at the top of the hill. A palisade had been constructed around the foot of it, looking newly built. The longhouse stretched at least a hundred paces from end to end, much larger than Brynn had expected.
