She found Neve curled in the same bed as Cameron, both of them asleep, his face bathed in sweat from a fever broken and hers pale as the pillows they shared.\u00a0 Thordin glanced up from the book in his lap and offered up the ghost of a smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis fever broke about half an hour ago,\u201d Thordin said quietly as he closed the book and stood up.\u00a0 \u201cAfter I took over for Phelan.\u00a0 He said you\u2019d be along before too long, so I thought that I would just wait.\u201d\u00a0 He pulled the chair away from the bed so she\u2019d have more room to work and lit another lamp so she had more light.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll go get some cold water.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks,\u201d Jacqueline said as she began to check Cameron\u2019s forehead and cheeks for additional signs of his fever breaking.\u00a0 She\u2019d have to check his wound soon, but that meant waking Neve.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll let her sleep a little while longer before I wake her.<\/i>\u00a0 Cameron\u2019s face seemed cooler, even through the sweat, and his sleep seemed easier.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019ll be sensitive to the light when he wakes up,\u201d Thordin said as he returned with a small basin and a few rags.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s how it seems to go with these things.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d\u00a0 Jacqueline asked as she dipped one of the rags into the water and wrung it out.\u00a0 She sponged Cameron\u2019s face and neck gently, though her eyes were on Thordin.\u00a0 \u201cHow do you know any of them?\u201d\u00a0 Who are you?<\/i><\/p>\n
She\u2019d never had time to ask.\u00a0 She wasn\u2019t sure anyone had.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 He\u2019s on our side, but someday it might\u2014and I want to know.<\/i><\/p>\n
Lord help me, I want to know.\u00a0 I\u2019m tired of being the sheltered one left in the dark. \u00a0I can handle this.\u00a0 I\u2019ve <\/i>been handling this.\u00a0 It\u2019s time I start asking the questions that need asking and quit waiting for the others to ask the questions for me.<\/i><\/p>\n
After a moment\u2019s hesitation, Thordin smiled.\u00a0 \u201cDoes it matter?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot yet, but it might,\u201d Jacqueline said quietly.\u00a0 \u201cI know how you got here, but\u2026who are you?\u00a0 Who are you, really?\u00a0 You\u2019re not\u2026you\u2019re not friends with Cameron\u2014not like you are with Neve and Phelan.\u00a0 You know them<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n
After a moment\u2019s hesitation, Thordin smiled wryly and drew up the chair next to the bed, holding the bowl for her.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve ridden out on a hunt with Neve\u2019s brothers and Phelan in the past.\u00a0 That was a very long time ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you\u2019re like them.\u00a0 From someplace beyond imagining.\u201d\u00a0 Jacqueline stared at him for a long moment, the rag cool and wet in her hand, her fingers tightening.\u00a0 He had a strong jaw, high cheekbones.\u00a0 His eyes were bright and deep blue, even if they were deep-set in his face.\u00a0 A faint blonde stubble peppered his jaw, interspersed with darker, pale brown hairs.\u00a0 Like a Norwegian or Swedish hockey player or something.\u00a0 That\u2019s what he reminds me of.\u00a0 Like the men you see walking into the locker room in a suit and then walking out again in their jerseys and pads ready to throw each other into some boards.<\/i>\u00a0 Her throat tightened.\u00a0 Thordin.\u00a0 That\u2014oh sweet Jesus.<\/i>\u00a0 \u201cThordin.\u00a0 You\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce upon a time,\u201d he said softly with a rueful smile.\u00a0 \u201cNot anymore.\u00a0 That life is lost to me now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExile?\u201d she asked, her voice a bare whisper.<\/p>\n
He shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cDeath.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGods can\u2019t die,\u201d she said, though the words tasted like ash on her tongue, as if she somehow knew better.<\/p>\n
Thordin gave her a sad smile.\u00a0 \u201cYou know that we can.\u201d<\/p>\n
She swallowed hard and nodded.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re right.\u00a0 I do.\u201d\u00a0 She tore her eyes away and resumed tending to Cameron.\u00a0 \u201cHow did it happen?\u201d<\/p>\n
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Thordin wince.\u00a0 \u201cYou don\u2019t actually want to know the answer to that question, do you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her gaze snapped back to his, her brows knitting.\u00a0 \u201cWhy wouldn\u2019t I?\u201d\u00a0 Anger welled up from somewhere deep inside.<\/p>\n
Why the hell does everyone try to shelter me?\u00a0 I can handle it.\u00a0 However it happened, I can handle it\u2014I\u2019ve got to.\u00a0 If I can\u2019t, how the hell am I going to survive this new world that we\u2019re living in?<\/i><\/p>\n
His expression turned to stone, eyes flinty.\u00a0 \u201cFollowers of Jehovah killed me, lass,\u201d he said, his voice quiet, raspy.\u00a0 \u201cA saint of your church.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jacqueline\u2019s stomach dropped straight through the floor. \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thordin closed his eyes and told her everything.<\/p>\n
He told her how he had been on a hunt and realized men were giving chase, how they\u2019d set their dogs on him even as far from where he hunted in the Black Forest, his tree was hacked down in front of three dozen villagers to whom he\u2019d sworn his protection.\u00a0 He told her how the men had shot him full of arrows once their dogs had dragged him down, how he\u2019d had belly slashed, his entrails spilled, his heart stabbed clean through.\u00a0 Tears leaked from beneath closed lids as he spoke, his hands shaking around the bowl.\u00a0 He told her of his dying thoughts\u2014not of anger, but of worry for the people whom he would no longer be able to watch over, to protect.\u00a0 He wondered at the men who could do what they did and yet purport to be men of mercy, men of peace\u2014men of Christ.<\/p>\n
Jacqueline could understand why he\u2019d wondered, since she was starting to share the same sick curiousity.\u00a0 Her throat closed up and she felt nauseous as she put her hands over his.\u00a0 \u201cThordin, I\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSave your apologies,\u201d he whispered, eyes blinking open.\u00a0 His voice was ragged, but remarkably steady.\u00a0 \u201cIt was not you who did this to me, and the followers of the Christus did do right by my people in the end, for better or worse.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was still wrong,\u201d she whispered, hands tightening.\u00a0 \u201cIt was still wrong<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why the truth has never been spoken,\u201d he said quietly.\u00a0 \u201cAnd that\u2019s why it should stay that way.\u201d\u00a0 He slowly lifted his hand, the rough flesh of his thumb brushing against her cheek.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you died like that,\u201d Jacqueline asked in a whisper, \u201cthen how are you here now?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMiracles happen,\u201d he said with a wry smile.\u00a0 \u201cThe gods\u2014and the powers that spawned them\u2014work in mysterious ways.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words sent shivers down her spine.\u00a0 She knew they were true.<\/p>\n
The certainty that those words were true scared her right down to her very core.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat power could be greater than all the gods and monsters out there?\u201d she breathed.<\/p>\n
A wry smile twisted Thordin\u2019s lips.\u00a0 \u201cPray we never find out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBelieve me, I will.\u201d\u00a0 Her hand covered his for a moment before she swallowed and looked away.<\/p>\n
\u201cI should let you get back to work,\u201d Thordin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have to go,\u201d Jacqueline said.<\/p>\n
He flushed a little as he stood and set the bowl down where he\u2019d been sitting.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m afraid that I do.\u00a0 Call if you need something.\u00a0 I\u2019ve a need to find Phelan.\u201d<\/p>\n
She watched him walk away, chewing on her lower lip.\u00a0 Another mystery, I guess.\u00a0 Maybe I shouldn\u2019t ask question after all.<\/i><\/p>\n
I just end up more curious in the end.<\/i><\/p>\n
With a sigh, she tried to push all thoughts of Thordin from her mind and got back to work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
She found Neve curled in the same bed as Cameron, both of them asleep, his face bathed in sweat from a fever broken and hers pale as the pillows they shared.\u00a0 Thordin glanced up from the book in his lap … Continue reading