The Girl the Sea Gave Back(24)

I looked to Asmund and the same thoughts hung heavy on his face. Vigdis had never planned to make the offering of reparation. Just like Latham and Myra said.

“How many more do you think are coming?” I whispered, staying close to the ground.

Asmund shook his head, his eyes running over their camp. “There are twelve Svell villages. From what we’ve seen of their lands, I’d say in the end they’ll be at least over eight hundred strong.”

There were eleven Nādhir villages, but most of them weren’t as big as the Svell’s. Espen had guessed we’d be able to muster only six hundred from both our territories. It wouldn’t be enough.

“And there will be many more if the Kyrr are coming.” I spoke beneath my breath.

“What?” Kjeld’s eyes found me over Asmund’s head.

“There was a Kyrr with them in the glade.” As soon as I said it, the chill that had run over my skin when I saw the girl with the marks returned. The feeling of her dark eyes had been like the heat of a fire.

Kjeld glared at me. “No, there wasn’t.”

“She was Kyrr, Kjeld. I saw her.” I’d felt her, too.

“You think they’re joining with the Kyrr?” Asmund lifted himself up onto his elbows between us.

But Kjeld’s gaze narrowed. “The Kyrr aren’t with anyone. I’m the only one on the mainland and they would never ally with another clan.”

“She had the marks. I know what I saw.”

“What marks?” His voice rose. “Describe them.”

“They were like yours.”

“They weren’t like mine,” he said, gruffly, “no one’s are the same. Tell me exactly what you saw.”

I tried to remember, pulling the vision of her back to me from the glade. “I don’t know. There was a wing on her throat. The antlers of a stag on her arm, I think.”

He seemed to go suddenly still, leaning forward to listen. “What else?”

“A symbol I didn’t know.” I touched the center of my chest, below my neck. “Here.”

His brow furrowed. “What did it look like?”

“An eye. But it was—”

His lips parted and I watched one of his hands clutch at the soil beneath him before he pinched his eyes shut, the other raking over his face.

“What is it?” Asmund watched him.

“That’s not possible,” he muttered.

“What’s not possible?”

Asmund clicked his tongue and we looked down to see a line of Svell mounting their horses below. I slid back slowly over the wet grass, careful not to pull at the wound on my side, and the others followed. We walked silently through the trees and I watched Kjeld stare at the ground, the stream of frantic thoughts evident on his face. He walked ahead of us until we made it back to the river where Bard was waiting with the horses. But unlike when we’d left only an hour before, he was alone.

“They’re gone?” Asmund said, looking into the trees. His brother was the only raider who hadn’t left.

Bard nodded in answer. “Some went up the mountain, some to the northern valley.”

They would wait out the fight until it was safe to come back. And I understood why. Seeing the Svell’s numbers, I was surer than ever that our chances were next to nothing.

“I’ll get you to Hylli. Then I’m gone,” Asmund said.

I nodded. He’d said long ago that he’d never go home again. I couldn’t ask him to fight for it.

Kjeld’s eyes shifted nervously, his hands fumbling over his saddlebags.

“What is it?” I eyed him.

He hooked his fingers into the strap of his saddle, pulling it tighter. “I don’t know. Maybe nothing.”

“Kjeld,” Asmund pushed.

“I don’t know how she was with them, but the Kyrr aren’t allied with the Svell. I’m sure of it.” He pulled himself up onto his horse, the mutter of a prayer on his breath as he pulled at the copper disc on his wrist.

Other than a few stories, there wasn’t much anyone on the mainland knew about the Kyrr. Only that their people didn’t come down from the headlands because that was where their god dwelled. The legend said that Naer would never leave the frozen north, so neither would her people. Most of the Nādhir had never seen a single Kyrr in their lifetime, which made Kjeld’s presence unsettling to anyone who saw him. But now there were two of his kind on our shores.

“You haven’t been to the headlands in years.” Asmund watched him. “It’s possible they’ve joined with the Svell.”

“I know my people.” His voice rose, his gaze sharpening on Asmund.

“So, eight hundred Svell.” I turned to Asmund as Kjeld kicked his horse, moving up the bank.

He nodded. “They’ll want the villages. Probably settle their own people to expand their territory into the fjord.”

I’d suspected the same. The Svell were already stronger in number, but they would want the lands. The fjord was a strong, resourceful position and the clans that lived farther east and south wouldn’t be a threat for some time.

“They’ll go to Utan next.” Bard looked to Asmund.

“If Hylli has already called in their warriors, it’s defenseless.” I stared at the ground, imagining it. “You saw what they did in Ljós.”