Fault (Book 1 of the Vikings Series)

Chapter 2

The dancing and chants don’t stop until almost dawn when Singrid pulls my brother and I home. I sit up in the loft and swing my feet over the edge. Gunnar sits at the table, sipping a cup of steaming tea. I watch Singrid move around downstairs, not really having much else to do. Eventually, I slide a hand in my pocket and finger both of the rings. It’s sweet, if nothing else, that Vern would give me his ring. According to Tarben, it would be the perfect match. A fact that he exhausts. With him and Östen leading the village, “It just seems natural,” as he says. “Just about as natural as Saga and Gunnar being together,” I would scoff. I think Saga would rather jump off the bluff then even entertain the thought. That is, if they didn’t kill each other first. I, on the other hand, find it far better to stay distant from everyone. Perhaps, Saga is my closest friend but even she I don’t share my feelings with. Not my true feelings. The feelings that stay so far down in my thoughts that I rarely reveal to myself. Maybe feelings for Vern but honestly, I have no idea, nor do I wish to know.
The door creaks open downstairs and Tarben walks in, distracting me from my thoughts.
“Well, that was probably the longest festival since my first Raid,” he announces. Tarben takes off his long bearskin cloak and lays it on the table.
“So, what’d you two think of your first festival?” Tarben asks, glancing from Gunnar to me.
“I’d always wondered why it was so talked about. Now I know,” I shrug. Gunnar doen't look up from his steaming drink.
“Get any rings?” Singrid asks me, an eyebrow raised.
I laugh nervously. “Me? You think I got anyone’s ring?”
“Not a surprise,” Tarben mutters. He slaps a hand on Gunnar’s back. “Who’d you give yours to?”
Gunnar’s face pales and he stares down into his lap. Slowly, he holds up the long chain and reveals the object.
“You kept it?!” Tarben exclaims.
“I don’t know who to give it to,” Gunnar sounds miserable. Tarben puts his hands on my brother’s shoulders.
“It’s bad luck to have it on Raid. You know the tales. The woman you give it to will protect you from home. Taking it is leaving yourself for the wolves. Don’t be bringing it on my boat,” he instructs.
“Yes, sir,” Gunnar responds.
The rest of the night is relatively quiet. We all make our way to bed and the lanterns are snuffed out. Finally, I’m able to pull the rings from my pocket. I can’t see them in the darkness but it’s probably best they stay hidden. A floor board creaks in the loft. I stuff the rings under my blankets just as Gunnar’s face comes close enough to be seen in the darkness.
“What are you doing?” I whisper. He puts a finger over his mouth and makes a quiet shushing noise. Slowly, he raises his hand and holds out his golden ring. I look at him with a confused expression.
“You want me to have your ring?” I ask.
“Shut up! I don’t want the whole village to know,” he whispers. “You heard Father, I need to leave it with someone in Havredal.”
Gunnar drops it onto the bed beside my head.
“Just don’t lose it, ok?” he snides.
I grin.
“I’ll try not to drop it down the well while you’re gone,” I wink.
As soon as my eyes peak open the next morning, I throw the blankets off and peer down to the lower floor where Tarben and Singrid are nowhere to be found.
I get dressed quickly and pull my long leather vest over the green tunic I had worn to sleep.
"Wake up, Gunnar!" I shout. He sits up instantly.
"Why? What's wrong?" My brother says groggily, rubbing his eyes.
"What's wrong," I scoff, already scurrying down the ladder. "It's the day of Raid! And by the looks of it, we're already late," I shout up to him. There's a thud above me as, I assume, he jumps out of bed. I lace up my boots and race out the door just as Gunnar starts down to the ground. Outside is a flurry of activity as people carry things to the boats and finish bringing in food from the farms. I jog down to the harbor and find Singrid in the frenzy. She's busy talking to someone. Östen suddenly rushes up and coaxes the man away from Singrid, turning his attention elsewhere. I feel a bit guilty seeing Östen, still carrying the man’s ring in my pocket. Maybe I should tell him. Already though, he's far down the dock. Singrid turns to me.
"Elin! Thank gods you're awake. Can you go look for Saga and the rest of your friends? No one's seen them all morning and the boats are set to leave within the hour."
I nod and her attention shifts to helping load a large crate of dried corn into the nearest longboat.  
Oh great, I think to myself. What did Saga get herself into this time? Gunnar walks onto the dock and I grab his arm. He agrees to help me and we start scouring the village. Nothing. No one's seen Saga, Vern, Briar, or Welch anywhere. I expand my search area and rush up the stairs of the watch tower. Relief hits me like a rush of cold water as I see both Vern and Welch sleeping by the window. I kick Vern in the shin and he yelps in pain.
"What the heck?" He yells.
"What were you guys thinking?! The night before Raid! Where are Saga and Briar?!
Welch finally wakes up with all my yelling.
"Don't get mad at us, your highness. We're the good ones," Welch mutters, still half asleep.
“Where are Briar and Saga?"
"I don't know," Vern says.
"You'd think they were engaged the way they were acting. I told Briar not to give her the ring," Welch mumbles. His calm act starts to bug me.
"Can you people please check into reality? It's Raid. The boats are leaving!!" I shout.
“For Odin’s sake Elin, since when did you become Gunnar?" Welch says, irritated. I'm about to explode at this point if they don't tell me where the rest of our friends are.
Vern stands up.
"She's right, we need to find Briar," he sides with me.
Vern is the first out of the watch tower, followed by me and then Welch. We split up, Vern heads out to the farms, Welch takes the village and I head out into the valley.
I wander through the forest, glancing along the shrubs and in the trees. Eventually, I hit the end of the valley and start climbing up the hillside. Once I reach the top, I have a brilliant view of this valley and the next. The harbor shines brightly in the sun. The village of Havredal is still alive with energy and I vaguely see a figure wandering through the farms. Still no sign of Saga and Briar. I sigh and start down the opposite hillside. When I reach the bottom, I'm almost positive that it's been an hour since I'd talked with Singrid. Meaning unless Briar wanted to be left, he needed to get back to the harbor right now.
I start running now, mainly for the sake of my task to find them. A flicker of color catches my eyes. Bright red. There, sleeping soundly by the brook is Saga. A few feet away, Briar is nestled into the underbrush.
"Wake up!!" I scream. Saga barely stirs. Fine, make me be the bad guy. I kneel down by the brook and scoop water into my hand. I splash it on Briar's face and he shoots up.
"Whoever did that better be a fast runner or they're gonna pay!" He yells, turning on me.
"Actually, you're going to be too busy trying not to miss the boats," I say casually. Realization fills his eyes and he gasps. I shake Saga awake and we all start running back in the direction of Havredal. Once we reach the peak, the first of the ships has already left and the second is sailing out of the harbor. Briar takes off, faster than either of us can keep up. When we catch up, he's already at the docks on his knees. The ships are already gone. We're too late.