Iron Fire

XVII

Three months later...

Brenna now had plenty of time to recover from her wounds. She could now walk and run without limping or having to stop.

The snow has barely begun to melt, showing the first signs of spring upon them.

Brenna waltzed to Astrid and Björn's hut. She rapped on the door rather obnoxiously. She did not want to repeat the incident that happened a few weeks ago.

She would never get the images to leave her mind.

She heard Astrid's giggle and the door to the hut opened. Astrid stood there in her shift dress. Her large pregnant belly protruded from her beneath her nightgown.

"Björn, I am going for a walk with Brenna. We shall finish this later." She said as she ran up to the large behemoth on the bed.

She gave him a long kiss and stood. She pulled a sapphire blue dress on and slung her braided Auburn hair over her shoulder.

Brenna helped her friend put her bear skin boots on as she could barely do a thing with her pregnant belly.

"How far are you?" Brenna asked.

"I think close to four months." She said.

"You look much bigger than four months." She chastised.

"I think I may be having twins. I feel two pairs of feet kicking me all night long. I scarce get any sleep at all. I could just hit Björn for his loud and obnoxious snoring." She admits.

"It be the hormones. You are going to have plenty of mood swings."

"I cannot wait until my child or children get here. Björn and I have already picked names depending on what gender they are."

"That is good. You will have something to keep you busy."

"Yes."

Colborn advances towards Brenna. They had not spoken in months. Nor did Brenna care to say a word to him.

"Hallo, Brenna!" Colborn said eagerly to Brenna.

Astrid cleared her throat at the man.

"Astrid." Colborn sneered.

"Colborn." She snarled back.

"Astrid, could you give us a moment?" Colborn said as polietly as he could muster.

"Nei. I do not want the likes of you alone with my Brenna."

"Astrid, tis alright. You have enough stress with your pregnancy. I will be fine." Brenna said.

Astrid glared at Colborn as he grinned proudly.

Astrid waddled back towards her hut and Brenna turned her gaze towards Colborn.

Brenna sent him a cold glare.

"Brenna, I was thinking, perhaps we got off on the wrong foot. I would like to start again."

"Actions speak louder than words, Colborn. You know better of that than anyone." She narrowed her eyes at him.

Brenna began to walk away when he grabbed her wrist.

She turned to face him, fury in her eyes.

Colborn quickly realized his mistake and put his hands up in surrender.

"I do not wish to hurt thee, Brenna. I only wish to be your friend."

It pained Colborn to even utter the word, friend. He knew he would never be Brenna's friend. He wanted to be her everything.

"I do not associate with cowards who hit women." She snapped as she yanked her hand from his grasp.

"I am very sorry, Brenna. I never wanted to hurt you. I have a short temper. I am working on that."

"Even so, I do not trust you. Perhaps you should find another girl to harass."

She began to walk away. And he did not chase after her. He would bid his time. One way or another, he would have her. That, he vowed.

She rapped on the door to Torsten's hut. He opened the door shirtless and with sleep in his eyes.

Brenna's face heated up. She had never seen a half naked man before. The gnarled scars on his chest did not help. She turned her head away and she could hear him chuckle.

"Are you ready for the arching contest today?" She asked.

"I was born ready. Let me dress and I will meet you by the large willow at the edge of the woods."

"Good."

She turned and walked back towards the large willow. She checked her bows in her quiver and marked a circle on one of the large trees about twenty feet away.

She heard the snow crunching under his feet as he advanced towards her position.

He held a hand crafted bow over his shoulder.

"Are ye ready?"

"I am. I also asked Asmund to come to judge our aim."

Her father emerged from behind them and she smirked.

"Alright, ready your bows you two." Asmund said.

Brenna held the bow in position with her elbow to her side. She snatched an arrow from her quiver and set it into the string. Her eyes flicked to his for a moment.

He smirked.

"You first, Northman." She taunted.

"Gladly." He replied.

He set the arrow in place and let it go when he released his breath. It hit dead center of it's mark.

"Beat that, elska." He teased.

Brenna smiled and set her arrow in place. She lined the tip up with her mark and took a deep breath.

As she exhaled, she released the arrow. It cut through the air with a singing sound.

An odd sound echoed in the woods as the arrow hit Torsten's arrow. It split the wooden arrow straight down the middle. His arrow was splayed in two pieces as they bounced from the energy.

Brenna smirked at him as he stood there dumbfounded. He had never seen anyone split an arrow before. That was an art very few possessed.

"Round one goes to Brenna. Sorry nephew." Asmund said as he patted his nephew's back.

After Brenna retrieved her arrow, she began trudging back to the village.

Torsten caught up with her in seconds .

"Brenna, that was amazing. How did you do that?" He asked genuinely curious.

"It is a skill I learned from many days and nights hunting. One must be agile, witty and confident in their skills. After years of the men going on voyages, the women in our village have learned to do some incredible things." She boasted.

Torsten was speechless and quite honestly, a little nervous for the next round.