Winter Solstice Winter - Book I in the Viking Blood Saga

Unni ran toward Ailia as soon as she entered the longhouse. “That deceitful young girl! She’s going to get it from me!” she blurted. “Did you know about this?” She turned to Nora, who had also just returned from searching for Ailia.

  “No, my lady.” Nora was able to maintain her composure. No one was going to ruffle her feathers. “This is completely unlike her. There is a perfectly suitable explanation for all of this,” she said.

  “Suitable? There would be no suitable explanation in all the nine realms of Yggdrasil that would suffice! We must do something quickly before we lose them forever. Who knows what Lucia will do to keep Soren away from Ailia? They may never return again.” Unni sighed as she paced around the hearth.

  “Ailia said she had a vision. We may want to take heed in that,” Silya interrupted. “Did you see in which direction they were heading?”

  “No, just that they were packing and getting ready. Lucia had convinced him to leave and he had agreed.” Ailia had also seen them embracing and kissing, but she was too devastated, too embarrassed, to share that information in front of everyone. Now, she started second-guessing herself. She had thought Soren felt something for her too, and she had sensed the strong connection between him and her. Maybe I have just been fooling myself.

  “I will ride after them. Most likely, they are heading to Trollsoe as they planned,” Silya figured.

  “They could have headed in any direction,” Nora pitched in. “If Lucia truly does not want Soren to be reunited with Ailia, she could have changed their travel plans. She is a smart girl, but this surprises me. I am shocked to say the least. She is young and seemingly innocent that girl, but she does have a stubborn head on her shoulders, especially lately.”

  “Only three main roads lead out of Bergendal: the northern, the southern and the western. We should send someone in each direction,” Brander said.

  “I’m almost certain that they are heading to Trollsoe,” Ailia said.

  Silya answered, “I agree, but to be on the safe side, we should send one rider in each direction. I will take the southern route toward Trollsoe. I am used to traveling alone and it will be faster for me that way.”

  “I will come with you,” Ailia said.

  “No,” Brander said firmly. “You must stay here. It will be safest for you.”

  Ailia’s heart fell. “I’m not in need of protection!” she said, her voice shaking and angry. The last thing she wanted to do was sit here and wait for her fate to unfold.

  Nora interjected. “Yes, Ailia, you are in need of protection from every source you can get. The first time you were killed by the hands of Eiess was when Soren was away. She drowned you in the fjord along with all your friends. The second time she captured you was also after Soren had left for a short trip. He had carefully planned everything out, so you would be safe, but Eiess’ powers had grown stronger than before and she had trained her Surtorians to track you down. They found you despite all your efforts and drowned you again. And today, Eiess is even stronger than before and we must all be at our guard at all times. When Soren finds out that you, and not Lucia, are his Spiritus Amor, we will need to increase the level of protection surrounding you tenfold. If you fail, Ailia, none of us will be safe and we will all suffer under the rule of Eiess. We cannot afford to let that happen, would not you agree?”

  Ailia closed her eyes for a moment. “All right.”

  “I will head west,” Brander said. “Toward Asker. I will ask Ivar to head north toward Hammerburg. He’s familiar with the territory.”

  “Great, we have a plan. Now let us go before more time is wasted,” Silya said.

  “May you all be safe in your travels,” Ailia said. “And thank you for your courage and willingness to support me. May we together conquer the destroyer.”

  26

  Betrayal