Page 40 of A Light So Blinding
“I’m serious,” she said, leaning into the words. “I don’t want to ride you like you’re a horse. What if I walked with you?”
“You remember how many miles I said we had to traverse?”
“Of course I do.”
“You think we can do that with you walking?”
He... had a point. She didn’t like the point, but it was correct nonetheless. Grumbling, she walked toward him. “And you’re sure I won’t fall right through this?”
He had already slung it across his chest with multiple straps that looked sturdy enough. The back was cushioned by what looked like rolled up blankets.
Bjorn nodded and then helped her in. It was impressive that he could pick her up one handed like that. His massive hand gripped her thigh with a surprising strength that made her feel suddenly flushed and a little speechless.
No. She refused. She wasn’t going to focus on how strong his hands were, or how capable he was as he hefted her easily onto his back. This time, it wasn’t quite so much an uncomfortable harness as it was last time. This was more like a swing. She was cushioned well, and nothing felt like it was digging into her thighs.
“All right,” she said. “I suppose this will do.”
And then they were off.
The world became a blur as he ran, and Astrid realized that he’d planned more than she’d thought. Slung around his hips were other sacks, each of them secured so they wouldn’t bouncewhile he ran. These she could only imagine were filled with supplies.
She was proven right a few hours into his running as he reached into one and pulled out a skein of water. He took a sip and then handed it back to her.
“We aren’t going to stop to drink?” she asked, nearly yelling the words so he could hear her.
Bjorn shook his head, only slightly out of breath as he responded, “Not until we have to! I plan to put as much distance between us and the castle as we can first.”
They didn’t talk again for some time. She would have liked to marvel at the world that blurred past them, but really it was hard to see any of it. Pressed against his back, she was lulled into a sense of security. She thought she might have even slept for a little while.
She blinked, and suddenly the light had faded from the world. They had paused, apparently, as he looked up at a sheer cliff before them. His hands were on his hips, only the finest sheen of sweat coating his lean body. She had assumed he would be far more out of breath than this, but he didn’t seem to have exerted himself at all. She looked worse after running up three flights of stairs.
He eyed the mountain before reaching up and hauling himself onto it. He climbed as if he had been born to do this. Like there wasn’t an ounce of fear in his heart in the slightest, but as the ground suddenly dipped away from them. She had never been more terrified in her life.
Astrid wasn’t even sure she could talk without screaming. She clung to him harder, almost climbing out of the sling around his back as she tried to get away from what was a drop to her death.
At one point, he hung from a single arm to reach back and pat her side. “I’ve climbed my whole life, bright one. I will not let you fall.”
Bright one?
It was almost enough to distract her from the fact that the next time he reached for a new handhold, it crumbled in his grip. They swung wildly from a single arm that had just been holding them, and she saw her entire life flash before her eyes.
She’d tried her best to be a good person, but losing her sister had been a major mistake. She’d helped people. She’d given them a chance in a kingdom where people weren’t given chances. At least, not regularly. But now she was about to plummet to her very early demise, without ever seeing the one person who had meant something to her.
But then he got it under control. Even though she was still staring at the ground that was so far away from them, at least she knew he wasn’t going to lose his grip.
Again.
“Sorry,” he muttered under his breath as he reached for what she hoped was a better handhold. At least this one didn’t turn to dust.
Bjorn kept climbing. Higher and higher until she swore it was hard for her to breathe. She turned her gaze away from where they had stumbled, and her breath caught. The view from up here was impossible to describe. She’d never been so high in her life. She could see the castle, and all the human lands that had been her home for years. But she could also see beyond that. Toward other kingdoms that were dotted about the landscape like she rode on the shoulder of a giant.
Night fell across the kingdom. The castle was illuminated by thousands of candles, like sparkling stars in the distance that mirrored the ones above their heads.
“Are you going to stop and rest?” she asked.
“Not until I’m tired.”
So they kept going.
