I knew I was taking a tremendous risk; Søren was the leader of the trio. It had been apparent to me since I’d fought Björn into the mud that first night.
But if we were going to work together, they needed to trust me completely. Which meant Søren needed to give up control and trust me, so the others would follow. Otherwise, he’d continue to second-guess me, hold meetings with the other two without me, and decide whether I needed to know something instead of allowing me to make that decision.
That wouldn’t work for me.
Søren’s jaw flexed repeatedly as he clenched his teeth, staring at me without a single blink of those predatory green eyes.
I knew the decision he was weighing: tell me no, and risk me refusing to help them at all, or completely give up control of the plan he had crafted, the team he had built, and trust me, a virtual stranger, to do a better job than he could do himself. I knew Søren’s instincts were good, but I wasn’t operating on instinct—I actually knew where we’d find the treasures we sought. I could see his pride, his belief in himself, warring with the idea of relinquishing control to me.
I held his gaze for a long, silent moment while he considered, refusing to drop my gaze or back down.
His bright green eyes narrowed, and Søren crossed his arms over his chest. “I propose a test.”
“A test?” I released a disbelieving laugh. “That sounds to me as if you’re wanting a free sample of my knowledge, without offering me anything in return.”
“Not exactly. Our village has a tradition: Before we depart on the summer raids, we hold a competition to see which will be the lead ship. Until now we’ve never had a second ship, so Skarde’s ship has automatically been declared the winner. We hold the event for ceremony only. A sort of festival, really.
“We need to get our ship to the harbor tonight in order to compete in the games tomorrow. If we win, we will be lead ship, which means we can force Skarde to give up some of his crew, flesh out our team, and have a much better chance of success. Otherwise he holds their allegiance and we will have just the four of us.”
“I’ve already agreed to help you with the ship.”
“Yes, that’s not the test I’m proposing. I think you should lead the team for the trial tomorrow. If you win and beat Skarde, you will be the captain for the summer raids. If you fail, we are stuck with our four-person team, and you will take orders from me. I will tell you only what I want you to know, and you will give me all the information I need to lead our team to honor and recognition by the Jarl.”
This was an interesting proposition. While there was an implied challenge, an assumption that I would fail, I also knew I had participated in, and led, more raids in my many lifetimes than Søren ever would in his single, brief life. It had been awhile, but I still knew the ins and outs of a viking drakkar—it would be like riding a bike, certainly.
I leveled my gaze at Søren. “I need your word that no one on this team will try to sabotage me, since I will depend on all of your performance to be successful.”
Now it was Søren’s turn to laugh. “It is in all of our best interests to win this; believe me, Björn, Leif, and I want nothing more than to beat Skarde in this trial, and every raid thereafter. We need the extra men to row and weigh down the ship in order to cross deeper water. It would be extremely foolish of us to throw this competition just to keep you from becoming the captain.”
I thought for another moment, but it was certainly the best offer I would receive. Reaching toward Søren, I offered him my hand. “I accept your offer. If I win this challenge against Skarde, I am lead for the team. If I lose, you remain the lead and I will still contribute my knowledge to ensure we secure the spot before the Jarl.”
Søren accepted my handshake, and we shared a conspiratorial grin that verged on challenging.
When we turned and began the walk toward the homestead, I asked, “Are you going to tell me what this competition comprises?”
He just shook his head, still grinning. “No, I don’t think that’s important. If you are as experienced a viking as you say, it shouldn’t be a problem for you.”
Okay, there was definitely a challenge implied in that statement. With nothing more to go on, I decided to dredge up all the memories I had of viking warfare and get ready to move the ship in preparation for tomorrow.
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