Brenna returned to the house to help with chores, and Søren, Leif, and I remained in the barn to discuss how we’d get our ship to the shore and convince a fourth man to join us.
We took our seats in the loft as usual, but the conversation rapidly turned to Brenna’s surprising revelation.
Leif glanced between Søren and me, making an airy declaration of his intent. “She seems to be under the mistaken impression that I require children and a homestead to be happy, and I’m certain that once I explain I need neither of those things, we’ll have things sorted between us soon enough.”
Søren said nothing, watching Leif with a patiently curious expression.
Heat rose in my chest. “I certainly would not require children of her, and she’s clearly far beyond being a farm wife. Plus, now that Signe is on the mend, she can take over the homestead duties well enough. She also seems to love being with the girls. I don’t think that’s an issue for her. I think Brenna would prefer a home that already has a family, rather than no family at all. She was simply saying she could not give a man a family; I already have one.”
Color raced to Leif’s face, his tone becoming sharp. “You’re making quite a few assumptions on her behalf, but have you actually asked Brenna what she wants?”
“I think what she wants was pretty clear with the way she kissed me,” I snorted.
Leif rose to his feet. “Lest you forget, she kissed me too!”
I glared at the smaller man from my seat, then rose to my full height to gaze down at him. “Is that what happened? I seem to remember you kissing her, and she pushed you away. At least that’s how it looked to me.”
Indignation colored his tone. “And what happened between you? Oh, that’s right, you kissed her. So it seems to me we’re on the same level, you and I.”
“Enough.” Søren’s voice was sharp, but low. “We are not here to battle over Brenna’s affections. Right now our concern is getting our ship to the shore, and finding a fourth man to join our team, so we can raid. Don’t lose sight of our goal: Displacing Skarde as the leader of our village raiding party is our primary, our only, concern. Whatever happens with Brenna is a distant second in my mind. As it should be in yours. We need to stop bickering among ourselves and remember that we are a team, if we are ever to get this plan off the ground.
“Now, I have a plan; an idea, perhaps. But in order for it to be successful, the both of you would need to give up your designs on Brenna for now. At least for this season.”
Horror dropped like a stone in my stomach. If I gave up my designs on Brenna, she might leave, or choose Leif, or any other viking. She could have whomever she wanted; I needed to lock in my advantage while I had it.
Leif and I started arguing our disagreement with this suggestion immediately, and Søren cut us off. “Enough! What is most important here: removing Skarde and making a name for ourselves, finally having a proper opportunity, or bedding a woman you barely know? You need to make a choice, and make it now. We can’t continue fighting amongst ourselves if we hope to have success as a team.”
“So how does Brenna play into your plan?” Leif’s sharp jaw worked, but he said nothing else, waiting for Søren to clue us in.
The older man glanced between us both, then looked meaningfully at the seats we’d abandoned. Søren hadn’t stood. He remained on his crate and waited for us to resume our positions. Once we did, he told us his plan.
As he laid out all the details, I could see the logic, the brilliance behind it, even though I didn’t like it. But he was right: in order for it to work, we all had to give up hopes of her becoming our wife. There would be no room for it in our circle. If we were to make it, we had to function as a team, a unit; a single family. There was no way bitter feelings or competition could divide us over a woman.
Even a woman such as Brenna.
And so we agreed on all of it, under one condition:
That Søren be the one to explain his plan to Brenna.
*
Søren
*
I claimed a few minutes alone with Brenna. Now, knowing her truth, the feeling between us was much improved. The dark cloud of secrets no longer surrounded her; her energy was lighter, relieved, to have her secrets out in the open.
There remained a small dusting of unsettled thoughts, but nothing that made me question whether or not I could trust her. Every person had a few things they kept to themselves, and Brenna was clearly no exception. I could hardly blame her for it.
It was impossible, once more walking alone with her, to forget the shocking amount of her flesh I’d seen. The image flashed in my head again, unbidden, and I felt myself harden despite my best intention of treating her as a warrior instead of an object of lust.
The truth was, there was no woman I could recall desiring as much as I now desired Brenna. She stood before us, skin bared and wings spread, powerful and glorious and enticingly luscious, and my desire flared into an inferno in my gut that I hadn’t quite put out yet.
Once more, I ripped my mind from that image and focused on the matter at hand.
“Brenna, I asked you for the truth, and you gave it to me. Thank you.”
She nodded in acknowledgment, but said nothing. Her clear grey eyes remained on the steady slope ahead of us, silvery braid tossed over one shoulder.
“I have a question for you: is it possible for you to help us bring our ship down to the shore?”
She shrugged, nonchalant. “I don’t think it’d be a problem, particularly if we hooked it up to Björn’s oxen. I can help pull and steer, slow it if necessary. We’d have to do it in the black of night, so I wouldn’t be seen.”
I ran a hand over my chin, scratching at my beard as I thought it over. “I think that would work. If someone is out, you could duck inside and we’d just be the idiots moving something far too big with only two oxen. Would you be willing to do that for us?” It seemed to me, knowing the truth, the best approach when dealing with a celestial being was to ask politely.
“Yes, I will help you.”
“Thank you. Brenna, I have another proposition for you. Leif, Björn, and I discussed it and we agreed: assuming Signe feels she can manage the household, we’d like you to join our raiding party.”
Her eyes swept quickly to meet mine, surprised. “Truly?”
“Yes. You said you are a warrior. We’ve seen you in action. Your sword and armor certainly speak to the truth of it. You’d be an invaluable asset in battle, and we need a fourth member that we can trust. I will extend that trust to you. Given your history, I can’t imagine your plan is to hide out here, pushing a plow, and keeping your head down for however many years. You want to earn gold, and you want to leave. Am I correct?”
Her eyes darted to the ground, arms crossing over her chest. “I don’t have solid plans,” she hedged. “I can’t stay in one place for too long; my appearance never changes and eventually people notice. So yes, I need gold, and I will eventually need to leave.”
My heart sunk slightly, but at least she confirmed my suspicions.
Brenna stared into the distance for a moment as we walked in silence, then stopped and turned to me abruptly as if she’d suddenly made a decision.
“Søren, I know this is your plan, your team, your ship. But I’m going to tell you something I didn’t share in the barn. It wasn’t important to my story, and I didn’t want to distract everyone from the most important parts of what I had to say.
“However, I know you need more than just my word to work on, and since the request I’m going to make of you is a big one, I’m going to tell you why you should grant it.”
Brenna’s clear grey eyes held my gaze, penetrating, heavy with the gravity of what she was about to tell me. She wanted me to know she was serious.
“I have done this before; all of it.”
“I don’t understand, done what? Joined a raiding party?”
“No. I said Odin sent me here to punish me, and that part is true. But this isn’t the first time he’s done it. I’ve lived over a thousand years on Midgard, Søren. I’ve seen the world go through wars and famines and plagues and technology you couldn’t even fathom. I hid from Odin because I didn’t want to do his bidding anymore, and he eventually found me. He spun back time, as if the life—lives—I lived never happened, and dropped me here to start again, all over. I don’t know exactly where we are, but I suspect the village I was in last time is somewhere northeast of here. Do you understand what I’m saying? I’ve done all of this before, and I know what needs to be done, where we need to raid, to get more treasure than even the Jarl can imagine.”
There was no hint of duplicity in her eyes; they were as clear and steady as they’d been when she first revealed her wings. She was right; if she’d simply told me she knew where to go, I might have questioned her. But if she really had seen the future…
“I know you’ve shown me some incredible truths today, but I’m not sure I can wrap my head around traveling to the future on top of everything else. Can you take me? Show me?”
Brenna’s eyes rolled, and she released a frustrated sigh. “No, I didn’t travel to the future. I lived through centuries on this planet, and then Odin whisked me to Asgard and turned back time on Midgard, then sent me back. I have no control over it. It’s all Odin’s little plaything. But here is my point: I know where to go to gain treasures your Jarl will take notice of. We will force him to recognize us as the superior team, over Skarde, once we turn up with so many riches. We wouldn’t be haphazardly raiding along the shores of Europa. We can make targeted strikes to places I know hide incredible wealth. I know because I’ve been there, I’ve seen it. Do you understand?”
I tried to absorb the implications of her words. “So with your knowledge, we could easily outstrip Skarde’s performance, even with our smaller crew and ship?”
“Easily.”
“Excellent. So what is your request, in exchange for this valuable information?”
Brenna’s gaze didn’t waiver. “I want you to let me captain the ship and lead the team.”
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