Fault (Book 1 of the Vikings Series)

Chapter 30

Elin

The next few days are some of the weirdest I can remember. Not because of Kori and Welch. Don’t get me wrong, they’re still playing whatever strange game they play but because of what Thorgar had told us at the feast. I was one of the first to visit the seer who dubbed me a shield maiden. Other than that, I was given nothing of worth from the seer. Some people get really strange over the whole thing, Vern being one of them. All I’ve found is that he’ll be a captain of one of the three ships, and even that I had to ask Kori about. He doesn’t bother lying that there isn’t something he’s worried about, but he doesn’t give me any hint to what that is. Even Max is less talkative, shrinking into his own little world rather than annoy the rest of us.
“We fight, we live, we die, we enter Valhalla,” Kori tells me over a pathetic lunch of berries.
“If that were true then why would anyone care about what the seer has to say?” I protest, flicking a blueberry across the table. It lands in one of the empty food chests we’d been working to load onto the longboats.
“People care about the gods, Elin. Just let it go. I mean, what harm does it do?” Kori stuffs a handful of blueberries into her mouth.
“And you don’t?”
She shrugs. “Fifteen years ago my parents died doing what they thought was right. If the gods cared about me, they wouldn’t have put me through that. So why should I care about them?”
I lean against the tabletop.
“How did your parents die?” I ask, tired of avoiding this question.
Kori’s eyes narrow and she stands. “You don’t get to ask that question.”
“What happened to them?” I press.
“Elin, stop.” Kori starts to leave the room and I jump to my feet to follow her.
“I can’t talk about this with you!” Kori tries to escape but I stay by her side.
“Why? What did I do?” I question.
Kori stops and stares me down.
“Do you really want to know?” She asks evenly.
I nod my head.
“When Tarben and Singrid decided to leave Antrapar, they didn’t go alone. There were five ships that were leaving and my parents were leading one of them. They were supposed to be the last to leave the harbor but Thorgar found out and waited until they were out of the harbor to fill the ship with flaming arrows. My brothers and I only survived because someone put us in one of the small boats before it went down. I spent years trying to find out why Thorgar had found out. Singrid had left a note for him to find after we had left. Because of her, my parents are dead.”
Kori stares at me, daring me to respond. I don't know what to say.
"Kori, I'm," I stammer, not knowing how to finish the phrase.
"You don't have to say anything, Elin. You lost your parents just as much as I have. Max might forget about what your mother did. Maverick might forgive you but I can't do either of those."
Kori leaves me standing outside the meal hall, wrestling with the truth of Singrid's past. How far does it stretch? My mother burned Limerick. She lied to me. She got her own siblings killed out of spite for Thorgar. How the heck am I supposed to live with that? How can I even start to make that up to my cousins?
I walk down to the village alone that afternoon, sword tied around my waist and shield in hand. The walk seems to become faster and faster the closer to Raid time brings us. Finally, we would be out on the seas without Thorgar breathing down our necks. Just one last meeting. I coax myself into climbing the stairs up to the great hall. The twins and Kori are already waiting at the front of the room at one of the tables. Max glances up at me from his perch on the table top.
“Aye, the princess arrives,” Max announces. I sit down on the bench next to Maverick, leaning my shield against the wood between us. He rolls it towards him and spins it in a circle silently. Kori leans against the table in the front of the room where Thorgar and Eesa usually sit. Her arms are crossed and she refuses to look at me.
Footsteps echo down the hall as a scout runs up to us.
“Where’s the chief?” He questions.
“Why?” Max asks.
“One of the ships. It’s gone! Four warriors are dead.”

I run down the main road towards the harbor with my cousins. A small group of people surrounds something by the southern watch tower.
Maverick pushes his way through and we follow. Two guards lay at our feet, both with single arrows in their necks.
“Who did this?!” Maverick yells.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Kori asks, seeming unconcerned. “They killed them to get away on the ship.”
“Find out who isn’t here. Now!” Maverick yells and the crowd of people scurry away.
Welch comes running up to us. His face sinks when he sees the bodies. My friend takes a deep breath.
“I know who did this.”
“Thank Odin we have you constantly counting people. At least you’re good for something,” Kori sneers. Maverick pushes past her.
“Who?”
Welch looks at his feet.
“Vern and Briar are gone.”
“What?” I gasp.
“They said they were going hunting last night. Never came back. And this,” he points at the arrow, “This has Vern written all over it,” Welch explains.
“He wouldn’t do this,” I shake my head.
“Find him,” Kori says. “Then we’ll believe it.”
I look everywhere for either of my friends. The longer I search, the more I realize that Welch was telling the truth. They’re gone. When I return to the harbor, the two ships are almost ready to cast off. I walk past Thorgar and Eesa with my head down. Welch takes my shield when I climb onto one of the ships. Kori stands up by the helm, wrapping a rope around her forearm. I stand along the railing of the ship a few feet away.
“You alright?” Kori asks, throwing the rope down to the lower deck.
“What?” I ask.
“I’m only going to ask once. Don’t bother lying.”
I take a deep breath.
“I don’t know. Maybe. I just want to be on Raid. Away from this place. Away from everything.”
Max and Maverick walk down the docks and give Thorgar a small bow. The twins climb aboard the second ship and the ropes are released from the docks.
I climb up into the sails as we row away from the docks. The salty air does little to lift my spirits. No matter how hard I try, I can’t help but shake Vern from my thoughts. Why the heck would he leave without telling me anything?
I rub my hands together, trying to warm them. Down below, Welch stands at the helm and Kori watches the rowers like some kind of warden. We trail slightly behind the flagship for most of the day and fall back further during the night. The lanterns cast shimmering beams of yellow light over the dark water.
“Hey!” Someone calls from below. I climb down the mast and drop down to the deck. It’s quiet. Most people are already below deck for the night.
“Shorty,” Welch motions me up to the helm. I stand beside him, the wind tossing my hair around in the wind.
“We’re stopping tomorrow night, right?” I ask.
“Hopefully. I hate sleeping on boats.”
I laugh, surprised that anything can be funny right now.
“I just want to fight,” I roll my shoulders.
Welch leans against the wooden wheel.
“You know, Vern would kill me if I let anything happen to you.”
“I don’t need protecting.”
“And you’ll kill me if I try to keep you safe.”
“Congrats, you lose either way,” I mutter.
“Thrall,” Kori walks towards us, staring at me. “You should sleep.”
“I won’t be able to sleep for weeks. Not after what Vern did.”
Kori scoffs. “You have first watch in the morning. I suggest getting over it.”
“Ha, I’d like to see you just ‘get over it’ if Welch killed four people just to steal a boat.”
Kori rolls her eyes. “Unlikely. As in, he would probably shoot himself with the arrow trying to load it.”
“Hey!” Welch protests. “I’m right here.”
Kori ignores him. “Go to sleep,” she demands.