Total pages in book: 19
Estimated words: 17251 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 86(@200wpm)___ 69(@250wpm)___ 58(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 17251 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 86(@200wpm)___ 69(@250wpm)___ 58(@300wpm)
“They can try and find you,” Egil finally said. “But they won’t be able to.”
I looked back at him, my throat tightening, my mouth drying. He’d said those words with such conviction, such assurance.
“The cabin I’m taking you is in the middle of nowhere. No one knows about it. Not my family, not anyone in the village. It’s mine and was created for you and me, Greta.” He ate a chunk of the fish while staring at me. “You will be my wife, and we will start our life together. That was the goal. That is the goal.” He took another bite of fish and kept his focus trained right on me.
I felt my skin tighten at the very real admission coming from him.
“But your father refused to give me your hand in marriage. So, I took it upon myself to make that my reality.” He tossed the spine of the fish and bark plate away, bracing his elbows on his knees. “Because you’ve been mine for a long time, whether you accept it or not.” He grinned then, the full evil that came from him enough to suck the air from my lungs. “And I don’t need you to accept it, Greta. I just need you here.”
“You can’t just take me from my home, Egil.” Maybe if I tried reasoning with him, reaching out to the side of him that was softer, gentler … if that were even something he had, maybe he’d see the error of his ways. “I have a family. I have responsibilities.”
“Not anymore. Your sole responsibility and concern is me and how you’re going to please your new husband.”
I heard the dark promise in his words.
The silence stretched between us and as I stared at the fire I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream out, fight back, but knew in the end it would be fruitless.
Fighting back is all you have. Do it for your family. Do it for yourself. I looked at Egil again and felt my anger grow. Do it for the life you want with Calder, for the things left unsaid between the two of you.
I thought about Calder and wished I’d told him how I felt. I wished I’d taken that leap of faith and just been honest. Because, look at my situation now. Look at how my future was.
It drained the energy right out of me.
I didn’t know if I would get rescued, so I needed to do one thing.
Take my fate into my hands and rescue myself.
* * *
Calder
I crouched low and ran my fingers across the hoof marks in the mud. They were fresh, not even a day old. Although they could’ve been from any traveler, my gut told me it was Egil.
And my intuition was never wrong.
I stood, the winds picking up and blowing leaves along my feet. I swear I could smell the sweet scent of Greta in the air.
The coldness was creeping in fast, the promise of winter no longer a hint, but cold and sharp, like the blade of a sword in battle. With each moment, I felt my anger rise that she’d been taken. I felt the beast in me rise up at the very thought of harm coming to her.
I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop myself, control the violence when I saw Egil. He better pray to the gods that she was unharmed, that he hadn’t even touched a hair on her head.
I picked up my speed as I made my way through the forest, knowing these parts as well as if I’d lived here my whole life. That’s what happened when someone was a wanderer. They knew the land like it was their own.
I felt determination fill me.
I’d find Greta.
I’d kill Egil.
And then I’d make her mine.
Chapter Seven
Greta
The sound of the fire crackling kept me awake more than the feeling of Egil lying close to me. I wasn’t foolish enough to think he wasn’t at the ready with his weapons.
But even the fear of what he would do to me if he caught me escaping once more couldn’t override my need to be free, to try.
Because a life with Egil was far more frightening than the thought of death.
I slowly, quietly sat up. We’d been traveling for hours, what seemed like days, the time melding together. In this time, I’d thought about my family, how they would be worried about me, the lengths they’d go to bring me home safely.
I thought about Calder, wondered where he was right now, if he was tracking me. If he’d find me.
Maybe it was hopefulness that had me wanting him to come after me. Maybe it was dreaming that he even was.
He knew nothing of me aside from that very short interaction we’d had at the gathering. I was no one to him. Nothing to him. My family didn’t have a fortune, surely not one that would inspire a berserker to come find me.