Chapter 8: Chapter 6

You're getting a long chapter because I couldn't find a place I was happy splitting this one without ruining the flow.

I'm also thinking of posting a pronunciation video for the Gaelic and Norse which will be available in my Facebook group and Instagram so make sure you're following me!

Do you think the killer is in the hall with everyone? Did you catch any clues in this chapter as to who it was? And what do you make of Ingrid's confession about the dress?

Glossary

Torc - most commonly a necklace made of twisted gold with an open front.

Bòidheach - beautiful (boy-och)

Na gabh dragh - don't worry (nah gav drag)

Chapter 6

I hated the dress. It pinched and tugged even with the thin underdress between it and my skin. Skin, the form I’d spent most my time in, and I resented it. Before coming here, I spent most of my time in fur. I could go a whole week roaming as a wolf before the call of the wild grew to an impulsive need, and returning to skin was required. Clothes were never a thought. Certainly nothing like this.

Long sleeves were tight to the wrist where they became a draping swathe of fabric swooping down in iridescent hues nearly reaching my knees, the wide cuffs trimmed in a glittering gold thread. The full skirts brushed against the floor, showing the original owner was an inch or so taller than me. Unlike my other dresses, the skirt was as restricting as the skin tight bodice that stuck like a second skin to every dip and curve.

All together, it weighed a tonne.

How did anyone manage to walk normally? Or sit? Or so much as breathe, I wondered as I ran my hand down the front. Not only was I slightly shorter than whoever this had been made for, my breasts were being pushed so much they near swelled over the neckline.

Casting another eye over the garment, I turned slowly from side to side, every movement accompanied by a soft swish.

It was torture to wear indeed.

But. . .

The colours shifted like sun on a raven’s wing, in hues of purple, blue and green, so much so that I couldn’t tell what colour the dress was meant to be. As I thought when I’d first seen it, it reminded me of the view of purple heather sprawling over hills of green and dark brown. It was ethereal as I moved the thick skirts around my legs with a growing grin, amazed at the fabric that felt as smooth as a blade of grass.

Gods, I’d even made an effort to brush my hair and braid it neatly away from my face so dark curls spilled down my back instead of hiding most my face as it usually did. The hazy reflection in the small table mirror was of a regal human woman, not a she-wolf. Tall and lean, hands folded in the practiced way Ingrid’s always were, her eyes held a glint I’d not seen before. Not that I’d seen my reflection many times to even recognise myself. Rippling rivers provided some distorted view but I’d never bothered to take the time to really look before.

The old me wouldn’t recognise this female anymore than I did. And I didn’t know how to feel about that.

My eyes flicked to the golden torc resting in a small bed of wool on table. It had been there when I’d arrived to get dressed, lying innocently next to a ripped piece of parchment with the runes spelling out Hati’s name etched on top.

The gift he spoke of.

Unlike any gift I’d gotten before. This was no bunch of wildflowers, offer of the last bite of meat, or a stag laid out at my feet, but gold.

Twisted and shaped into a perfect, nearly complete circle, until each end came to a rounded face with wolven features. In the old days, such jewellery was worn far and wide by the people of my island, wolf and human alike. Back in the days it was said we had a treaty between us, a friendship even. They were signs of status, a mere glimpse letting someone know whether you were rich or poor by the material and style of the torc worn. In the old days they’d been symbols favoured by warriors.

Turning it slowly in my hands, the twisted metal glinted in the white light spilling from the window. It was pretty. Too pretty. Too expensive. And definitely wasted on the likes of me. The status of wearing such an item was one I could yet not claim. Not publicly at least.

It did remind me of home though. My fingers curled tight around it as my heart gave a twinge. I couldn’t accept it. There was no way for me to repay this. I had no money to buy an equally extravagant gift, and no amount of hunting deer would be equivalent. . .

But just like the dress, I couldn’t resist.

I only put it on to see how it looked, I told myself as I slid it in place around my neck. Of course I couldn’t keep such a thing.

It was heavier than expected, and cool against my skin. In fact, I swore I could feel a vibrating hum coming from it, almost like the touch of magic, but it stopped the second I heard Niamh’s laughter echo from behind the door. The door to my den was flung open before I could think to remove it, but my excitable sister stopped in her tracks when she saw me.

Her mouth fell open, dark brown eyes widening as they looked me up and down.

“Bòidheach.” She breathed, rushing forward to brush her fingers over the smooth fabric of my dress. “You look really pretty, Eabha.”

“Thank you.” I crouched down, albeit slowly, tugging at the rolled up sleeve of her green dress. Her hands and face had been scrubbed clean but her hair remained in unruly mahogany curls nearly hiding her face. “You look very pretty too.”

Her nose scrunched, her envious gaze lingering on the shimmering sleeve of my dress.

I chuckled. “When you’re tall enough, I’ll let you borrow it.”

“Really!” She grinned, too excited to spare me another thought as she raced back for the door to tell Anndra; or someone who would appreciate the news. But she stopped short in the doorway, and the sound of her gasp had me coming up behind her with a growl to ward off whoever had frightened her.

Her fingers curled around mine as she stared up at the bull of a Beta who appeared to do his best to give her a rare smile. His dark eyes appraised her for a second before he lifted his head to look at me, stating simply. “She looks much like you.”

“Thank you!” Niamh, chirped, carrying on skipping out the door with that compliment while I assessed whether it was even meant as such.

At the cock of my head, the Beta cracked a grin. “I find where there are similarities in looks, there’s often similarities in personality. However, if she manages to bring as much trouble as you have, that would indeed be an accomplishment.”

“Maybe I will convince Hati a new mate requires a new beta,” I replied teasingly.

He scoffed and stepped aside to allow me into the hallway. “You will find no other more suited to be Beta than me. My loyalty lies with the pack and the pack alone, I am unswayed by money, gods, politics or any of the rest of it.”

“You must be loyal to Hati,” I pointed out. “You disagree much but you follow his orders. Perhaps not unquestioningly. . .”

He gave me a strange look, and without a word, I knew he could say much the same about me. I questioned everything.

“As long as he keeps allowing me to question him, even if I end up put in my place after, he will have my loyalty. As long as he puts the pack first, and all else second.” There was something in his gaze that unsettled me, that fizzling resentment I swore I often saw. Fear too. I hated that most.

I already knew Caldar’s thoughts on the matter of Hati and I. He thought it a mistake to risk our peace with Gerlac, and the wider council, and to take a risk on me; a politically untested female from a pack of nomads who had only recently found out about Gods and Monsters. In fact, I was certain Caldar had probably voiced as much to Hati, but he couldn’t or wouldn’t say as much to me. Because the damn male respected me whether he liked it or not.

“You think I won’t put the pack first?”

Averting his gaze, which was as much out of character for him as the way he cleared his throat was, he ignored me entirely. “I came to escort you and your family to the hall. Our Alpha wants you as close to the front as you can get without things becoming too. . .obvious.”

“I see. Yes, I would hate for anything to appear too obvious.” I shook my head in confusion, adding more quietly. “You are acting colder than usual. You called me Alpha Female last night. You submitted to me. Is that what this is about?”

A flinch.

The last thing the grumpy male needed was teasing, but I couldn’t help but let out a soft croon. “Caldar, na gabh dragh, I think no less of you for submitting. You honoured me in doing so.”

He grunted in answer but his shoulders did relax somewhat as he wrapped his knuckles on my parent’s door where I could hear them trying to wrangle the pups together.

Mother swinging the door open saved him from my interrogation about why exactly he felt regret about submitting to me. She smiled brightly on seeing him, bowing her head as he did in greeting. “Beta. It is nice to see you.”

“Laoghaire.” He made sure to keep space between them when my father appeared at her shoulder. “I’m here to escort you all to the hall. Hati wishes for you to stand where your new position requires.”

His words were carefully chosen when the rest of my family had yet to hear of my soon-to-be position in the pack. My parents understood though, even standing a little taller as they realised my rise in the pack would take them with me.

Unfortunately, it didn’t look like things had settled any between my mother and father as she avoided his touch to step into the hall with us. And the tension wasn’t missed by Caldar. His eyes sharpened as he watched them both, but the pups didn’t provide him long enough to wonder at the cause.

Father only just managed to snatch the back of Anndra’s tunic before he could throw himself down the stairs, and my with Niamh chasing after him. Seumas was running between legs in a ball of fur before Oighrig reached down to pick him up, fur receding to skin the moment she held propped on her hip.

Caldar took the lead when we were finally organised enough to go. He was probably more than pleased to escape me. I waited back to walk with Fionnlagh, but his gaze was locked on his mother as she murmured something to herself beneath her breath.

“She’s not feeling much herself again today.” Concern tightened his voice, but his lips pulled up to a smile when his mother glanced back for him at the top of the stairs.

“I’ll keep an eye on her.” Slipping past my cousin, I took her hand and placed it on my arm. “Would you like help down, Aunt? Some of the steps are a little icy.”

She accepted easily enough, and though I was loathe to rush her, I could hear everyone else already waiting at the bottom. She seemed aware enough of her surroundings, and didn’t stumble. There was just a distant look in her eyes, her expression drawn and the bags around her eyes a little darker than normal.

“Death isn’t final,” she suddenly said, but I wasn’t sure she was talking to me until glowing blue eyes lifted and she gave me a sad smile. “The dead can still see and hear. They can still be of help to us. One like you need only ask.”

Stricken, I let her hand slip from my arm and she made the rest of the way herself as if she hadn’t spoken a single word. Fionnlagh paused beside me.

Did Oighrig’s gifts tell her I was different? Had she always known?

“Eabha, what’s going on? What did she mean by that?” Fionnlagh demanded.

Shaking myself free of my thoughts, I glanced over at my cousin, only to have to raise my eyes a few inches higher to meet his gaze. When had he grown so much? He would surpass me by inches before long. . .

“You know she doesn’t mean what she says,” I excused, lifting a foot to step down only for him to grab my arm and growl.

And it wasn’t the growl of a pup any longer. The sound vibrated with real depth and prickled over my skin. It was impressive, but it did little to sway me like it might those amongst his own age. I smiled at him, much to his announce, and Fionnlagh rolled his eyes, fighting to keep his voice down.

“I’m not stupid. I know something is going on with you and the Alpha, and something else too. You’re keeping secrets from me and I don’t like it. Don’t think I haven’t notice Uncle Tabhin has barely spoken to me in days.” He swallowed hard, clenching his jaw to hide the tremble of his lip. “I’m old enough to know whatever it is. I’m old enough to decide what I think about it. I’m not a pup. If there’s trouble, I want to help. You’ve never kept me out like this before.”

As much as I knew Fionnlagh and I were going to be late, I knew this wasn’t something I could just brush off. Real emotion weighed down his shoulders as his eyes roved over my face in search of answers. But was it the right time to tell him?

Ushering him into a darkened corner of the hall behind the stairs, I held my breath and listened for a few seconds to make sure we were alone. The distant sound of footsteps and the fizz of candles was all there was to be heard.

Gripping his arm in mine, I affirmed, “I know you’re not a pup anymore, Fionnlagh. Believe me, it’s very clear to me now that you’re growing into yourself. . .” I locked my lips, my mouth suddenly dry and sticky. “Yes. I’m keeping things. Things that might make you look at me differently, things that might frighten you, things beyond whatever you’re imagining. . .but I will tell you it all.”

He frowned, and I hated to see the fear grow. “But you will not tell me now.”

“As much as I wish to, I can’t. I am bound by pack law. Alpha Hati wishes no one to know yet, but tonight he may reveal some of it to the whole pack, so if you want some answers, we have to go now.”

Once more he refused to budge, dragging me back and lowering his head to sniff at my neck. My teeth snapped near his ear and he jumped back, but he’d already figured it out. He smirked.

“Are you going to be Alpha Female, cousin?”

Cuffing his shoulder, I took pleasure in putting him back in his place. He whined and tilted his head to give me his neck, rubbing the spot I’d caught as if it had done more than sting.

“Get a move on, or we will both be on Hati’s bad side.” I gave him a pointed look. “Worse, we’ll piss off Caldar.”

That sent him scurrying.

I watched him go with a chuckle, but I hated having to keep things from him. He wouldn’t settle for breadcrumbs of truth forever. In fact, after hearing what Hati had to say, I’d be surprised if he didn’t hunt me down immediately to get the rest of the story. Heaving a breath, I gathered up my skirts and followed after him, muttering and cursing at the weight of the dress that seemed determined to make me trip or sink to the ground.

By the time I arrived at the huge double doors to the hall, I was late. At least, that’s what I gathered when Caldar cut me look that cut as deep as claws. He must have let Fionnlagh inside, but he stood with his arms folded and didn’t move when I reached him.

“He isn’t speaking yet, I can hear the whole pack talking inside,” I said, trying to skip past him for the gap in the door but he sidestepped to block me. “Let me in. I’m sorry I’m late. You let Fionnlagh in.”

“Fionnlagh bothered to look apologetic.” He smirked at my huff, and finally moved to swing open the door wider.

He’d been playing with me.

Whatever had been on his mind earlier, something had settled it.

I thanked him as I entered, feeling him come in behind me and shut the doors again. A wall of heat and sound battered against me. Fires burned in braziers to keep the cold out, and hundreds of candles lined the walls to keep the dark at bay, but what amazed me was the pure number of wolves in the hall, their shifting bodies creating as much sound as their chatter.

Nobody noticed the arrival of stragglers.

Caldar gently took my elbow and began to guide me through the throng pressing in all around. His lack of care about elbowing members of the pack out of the way gained more than a few flashing eyes and snapping teeth, but everyone was too busy trying to figure out why they were here to bother with more than that. A few times, I caught Bruadar’s name in the air. Some of the pack must have known, for the smell of sickly grief hung heavy in the air, and every other wolf had a tear-stained face.

The head table that normally spanned the length of the room was gone, and in its place stood Hati. Alone on a slightly raised platform of wood, he appeared to be waiting on something, golden eyes scanning the room of whispering wolves.

Anndra called my name when he spotted me, and Hati’s gaze snapped immediately to me. I hoped the look I gave him back was appropriately apologetic for being late, but his expression told me nothing as he watched me join my family.

I gave my mother a sheepish smile, and she clasped my hand in hers.

“Eabha,” Caldar murmured, his dark eyes flicking around the room uneasily. “The door behind Hati, to his left, that’s where you’re to go if trouble kicks off.”

How comforting.

“Are you expecting trouble?”

“Tensions are running high. And they’ll only get worse if Hati finds that everyone in the pack is present and accounted for. . .”

Because that would mean the killer hadn’t fled, that they were still here, could be in the hall right now. And that might bring eyes my way.

Suddenly everyone looked like a threat. Grief stricken faces morphed into sly looks, and the murmur of the room took on an eerie tone as the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. That’s why Hati wanted everyone together, pups and old alike. Why he scanned the room again and again, checking every face.

The wolves running the border were the only ones not here, but they were wolves Hati trusted implicitly. He was trying to spot someone who stood out in some way.

A gasp rushed from the back of the crowd.

I barely heard the doors open, but could see it above the sea of bobbing heads. The crowd parted slowly and respectful silence descended, only the occasional murmur of condolences passing lips.

Caldar shifted his body to shield me when Brokkr and Cerri passed us, but the female who might have attacked me this morning was unrecognisable. She shuffled along only because of her mate’s arm around her waist, though Brokkr seemed to struggle just as much. Neither looked our way, pausing only to bow their heads to their Alpha before joining him on the dais.

I wasn’t the only one who averted their gaze as Hati placed a hand on each of their arms and pressed his cheek to theirs. He murmured something to them as well, but it was too low to catch. They took their place at his side, looking out at us all but I doubted Cerri really noticed we were there.

I’d only really interacted with Brokkr twice, and he’d seemed a jovial male with creases around his eyes from constant smiling. Now he stood pale skinned and stiff, bushy brows shadowing red-rimmed eyes, but with a determined set to his jaw. He did look at the crowd. With as much intensity as Hati had, he scoured the hall in search of something, and when his gaze swept over me, I resisted the urge to react. He dismissed me as if I was inconsequential and yet I wasn’t sure whether I preferred that to open scorn or accusation.

“I know many of you have heard the news already,” Hati began, the boom of his voice bouncing off the stone walls as he took and authoritative step forward. “For those who haven’t, I am gravely sorry to inform you of the death of one of our own; Bruadar, son of Brokkr and Cerri.”

Like a gust through trees, the news picked up and flowed back with fearful murmurs. Voices grew in strength and suddenly question were being thrown out as the crowd surged forward towards the platform. I turned the moment I felt myself being pushed, planting my feet firmly against the stone floor and growling to ward wolves off. Others along the front of the pack did the same, high ranked wolves ready to keep everyone in check.

The realisation struck me then. Caldar trusted me to step up. He believed I could hold the line as well as any of the warriors, or the rumours about me would make anyone too fearful to try. Whichever one it was, wolves stopped pushing, and I paced a few steps to create more room until I was happy nobody would be crushed. Others with pups were being just as nippy about making sure their space was respected.

Hati’s own rumbling growl silenced the rabble. “I know you have questions. Allow me to speak and you will have answers.” Fierce eyes blazed and calmed within seconds, and he allowed the pack to see his own grief as he deflated. “We have lost someone who was dearly loved, and the circumstances of this loss must not get the better of us. Bruadar was found outside the stable yard in the early hours of this morning with substantial injuries. Though we searched every inch, we found no clues to lead us to the perpetrator. I am sorry to say there’s a very real possibility the killer could be a member of the pack, but until we know more, of that we can’t be certain. What we are certain of is that it was no Blood Drinker.

“With this in mind, I would like to speak to everyone who saw Bruadar when he arrived back, anyone who heard anything, saw anything, or knows anything about why he might have been out there. There will also be new rules set in place to keep everyone safe until further notice. No one runs alone. No one. Not for any reason, unless I have said, and I am not likely to do so. Anyone not of age will remain in sight of the castle at all times. . .”

He listed rules for a while, but I became too aware of eyes flicking my way, though nobody dared speak while their Alpha did. The stench of grief in the room was overwhelming too. Sniffles and soft crying were the only sounds breaking through. My own eyes stung with tears as my mind forced the image of Bruadar lying in the snow into my mind, the bloodstain on the parchment. Had he made it? Had it been forced into his hand after he died? Was the print the only thing we had of whoever did this?

Fionnlagh shuffled his way to my side and I leaned against him as he slid his hand into mine and squeezed tight. But when he leaned in close and whispered, “I thought we were safe here,” my heart broke.

Terror shook his voice, and I found I couldn’t lie to him again as I searched his drawn expression. Nowhere is safe, I’d said that once. I didn’t want to say it again.

“I would have to be killed before anyone ever laid a hand on you,” I said, strengthened by the steel in my voice and the certainty I felt in that.

Mother hushed us sharply from my other side, jerking her head to where Brokkr was taking Hati’s place to address the pack.

It was hard to hear Brokkr speak of the grief he and his mate felt. He spoke of the things his male would never get to see; the mate he might have had, the pups he should have sired, the things he should have achieved. I couldn’t help but glance at my mother again, seeing the same echo of Brokkr’s expression in hers.

Was she thinking of Mànas?

She must have been. Because when Father reached out to tug her to his side, she didn’t pull away. She clung on.

Cerri didn’t fair much better hearing her mate speak. Her fingers fretted at the edge of her dark red dress, and she curled into herself as if in physical pain. She trembled where she stood so much that even Brokkr peered over his shoulder to check on her, but then Hati was at her side.

I was proud of him in that moment as he guided her off the platform to the far shadowed corner where he let her sob against his chest. Brokkr’s voice became a hum in the background as I watched his lips move by her ear, his hand rubbing up and down her back until she composed herself again.

“But I want us to celebrate tonight,” Brokkr declared, the change in tone drawing my attention back to him. He marched forward to the edge of the platform and stomped his foot so hard the wood rattled. “My son was a hunter, his catch fed us throughout many harsh winters, so we will eat tonight and know some of us will partake of his last hunt. He was still learning my trade, he worked the forge for this very pack and when we fight, we will know some of us fight with weapons he crafted. Tonight we will celebrate who he was, we will speak of him fondly, we will remember his laughter, and his jokes, his loyalty to those he loved, and even those he didn’t.”

A few wolves managed a chuckle.

“We will sing the songs he loved, and tell the stories he fell asleep to as a pup, we will dance as he often did, drink all on offer, and when the moon rises to his greatest height, we will say our farewell!”

As his final words rang out, the atmosphere in the hall began to change. Lighten. Short bursts of howls and yips went around, echoing off in a chorus of sound. And not mournful sound either. Happy. The pack would remember the good, and celebrate just as Brokkr decreed. But there was a fierceness in his expression that promised something else as well; once the celebrations were over, he would find who had killed his male. He would have his justice. Perhaps that was why I could see the black smudge of Tiw’s rune on his neck.

Fionnlagh lifted his head to join in the celebrations, letting out a vibrant “hee-yooch”, a cry often heard at gatherings back home when dancing and music rang through the night. He easily let the sudden burst of excitement throughout the pack take him away. A whistle rang through the air, and already tables were being dragged out so wolves could sit, eat and drink.

Somehow I ended up with both my siblings hands shoved in mine as Mother pawned them off. “I need to help bring the food and drink in. Oighrig is going to help, you’ll watch the pups?” It wasn’t really a question though, and she chuckled as I pursed my lips. “I won’t be able to give you orders when you are ruling over a pack, a ghràidh. . .”

“That’s not true,” I replied, pressing my cheek to hers. “I will always do as you say, a mhàthair.”

She snorted at that, but turned and paused as she watched Oighrig carefully hand Seumas over to his uncle. My Father looked a little unsure with the small pup, and when he met my mother’s gaze, something seemed to pass between the two. He gave her a tentative smile as he rubbed his nephew’s back, and when it didn’t waver, I hoped she smiled back.

Before I could open my mouth to ask Fionnlagh for help, he sensed the impending restraint. His eyes widened and he used the tall female Vargr cutting between us to aid in his escape, disappearing into the crowd before I could even blink.

“Let him go.” Father chuckled. “I can handle the pups if you want to go speak to that male of yours.”

I cut him a look. “He is to be my mate, Father.”

“I know,” he sighed, nudging into me. “I would like to get to know him better. Perhaps your idea of a partial family hunt is not a bad one. Your mother deserves new furs, something of her own.”

Beaming, I kissed his cheek and nuzzled into him. I knew he’d come around. He rumbled another laugh and jerked his head towards the bustling hall. “Go. Enjoy yourself. Be young and free before you become the most powerful and sought-after female in the pack.”

What a thought.

Leaning down, I pulled my siblings in front of me and tapped their noses. “Stay with Father until Mother and Oighrig return. If you get under foot when food and drink is being carried in, you won’t be allowed to stay. Understand?”

Anndra nodded giddily, bouncing on the spot in a way that told me he really was trying to hold back from running off. Niamh however, seemed unconcerned. She shrugged and hoisted herself up onto ones of the benches, swinging her legs.

“I’m hungry,” she announced.

Good. That would keep her put.

Anndra was already halfway through crawling under the table, but that too should keep him occupied for a while.

Despite what Father had said, it wasn’t Hati I searched for as I shoved my way through the pack. It didn’t take me long to find them either. They’d found their way close to where they usually sat despite there no longer being a head table. I could have rolled my eyes. Of course Gerlac would still manage to create positions of rank.

At first, Ingrid and Linnea gave me welcoming, if strained smiles. They both showed signs of having been crying, but Ingrid had managed to conceal puffiness with dark paint around her eyes. Linnea had made no such attempt.

I wanted to offer them words of condolences for the loss of their friend, and the male Linnea wished to claim, but suddenly they both appeared to glance at what I was wearing and become quite stricken. Ingrid’s fingers whitened around the plain goblet she’d been holding daintily between her fingers, and while I knew I must have looked strange, I hadn’t expected this.

My fingers brushed over the torc around my neck. Maybe I did look quite different. Especially wearing a gift that must have cost more money than I could comprehend.

“Ingrid?” Linnea frowned, her eyes roving up and down my dress so comically fast that I worried I’d maybe worn it wrong. “That’s your dress, is it not?”

My mouth fell open.

Ingrid’s rosy cheeks went even redder as seaglass eyes dropped to the contents of her cup. She swirled the sweet-smelling wine inside, took a sip, then nodded. “Yes. The last gift my mother ever got me for Christmas. I had nothing plainer to offer when I heard there were new arrivals, but when I heard the female was near enough my height, this one came to mind.” She sniffed, trying to play it off with a wave of her delicate fingers. “Astrid all but demanded I offer something, and that one never fit me right anyway, so I was thinking of cutting it up. Better someone get use out of it.”

But she couldn’t lie to me. Not anymore. Not now I knew her. She’d offered it, perhaps partly so it could remain intact, but also so a female with nothing could have something she considered worthy. Because she did have plainer dresses, I’d seen them. When the few manual chores she partook in couldn’t be avoided, she dressed more like we all did; in a simple woollen dress, though she had broaches and necklaces that glittered with gems to make sure she couldn’t be called common.

Linnea too looked shocked at the admission, staring at Ingrid as if she’d never met her before. There was something else in those mud brown eyes, something that flashed brightly and disappeared the moment her head dropped low as it oft did.

“Thank you,” I said. “My sister may steal it from me when she is old enough.”

“And I’m sure you won’t mind one bit.” Ingrid smirked, adding with no malice, “You look like you want to tear it off, howl at the moon, and run away.”

Leaning over to snatch a mug of abandoned ale, I lifted it to her. “To howling at the moon.”

She laughed and took a sip of her drink as I did, and my gaze fell to Linnea who didn’t share in our moment. Brown eyes were wide and darting, her fingers clenched together in front of her while her head cocked towards every sound. It was fear more than any upset I saw in her expression, but I supposed that was understandable.

“I’m sorry for your loss. I know Bruadar was close with you both.”

Ingrid’s smile quickly fell and she glanced over her shoulder where wolves were paying their respects to Brokkr and Cerri. “It doesn’t quite feel real. I keep looking for him, even here, waiting to see his face.”

I squeezed her arm, only because I wasn’t sure we’d reached a point where she might accept a hug. She seemed to appreciate the touch anyway, but talk of Bruadar had only made Linnea that more skittish. She gnawed on her bottom lip like a pup with a bone until Ingrid tutted.

“You’ll bite them bloody.”

“I can’t help it. I keep seeing what he must have looked like when they found him.” Linnea shuddered and closed her eyes, her fingers brushing over her throat.

“Don’t think about such things. Have a drink and some food,” Ingrid urged gently. “I haven’t seen you eat all day.”

The female nodded but made no move to reach for either options.

My heart broke for her. For everyone. From the ruckus laughter, it seemed many of the stories being shared about Bruadar were ones of joy. I wished I had my own story to share of him, but I was content to listen, to get to know him better even though he was now gone. Bruadar had left his mark, and I hoped somehow he could see us all gathered for him, and hear the pride in voices as he was spoken about.

But between the smiles and laughs were looks of doubt cast at one another. Wary faces, and nervous movements. Warriors prowled the perimeter of the great hall, and the demeanour of their presence reminded us all that somewhere, maybe laughing and drinking as we were, was the very one who took Bruadar’s life.

Another unsettling thought lingered.

A gathering like this would be a good time for Sköll, or anyone, to strike us. Fortunately, I trusted that Hati too was aware of that and had things in place. Perhaps that was what Caldar meant when he spoke of trouble.