Free Raging Sea by Terri Brisbin Page A

sea.
    Why me? To what purpose is this happening?
    Without a moment’s hesitation, the voices answered her. But it was not a collection of voices, but one, a woman’s voice.
    You are and have always been waterblood, carrying the power of the seas and rivers within you, Ran. Your purpose is to save humanity from the great evil who is coming.
    Shocked by both the words and meaning, she shook her head in confusion. She was simply a woman, one woman, not some type of shield maiden or heroine from the old sagas still told here on the islands. A great evil? They were under the control and protection of the Norse king and his earl. They were safe.
    The great evil sends her minions even now, Ran Waterblood. Prepare to meet your destiny.
    Ran shivered then, in deep shudders that racked her body as something within her raced into every bone and muscle through her blood and into her heart. The water was within her, as was the power about which the voices, and voice, had spoken. But what her destiny was or who this great evil was, she knew not.
    She yearned for Einar more than ever in that moment. She needed someone to confide in about these wondrous but frightening changes and events. Her father had not returned yet, though she knew Svein Ragnarson had no patience for things that did not involve shipping goods, sailing or making a profit.
    Matters of faith or other facets of life meant little to him. Even his children were important to him only for what they could bring to his collection of power and wealth. His long-dead wife had been acquired as an asset to his business interests. Part of his disinterest in his children had played to Ran’s benefit, for once she was too old for a nursemaid and had reached the end of her education, Ran had been left on her own much of the time.
    Ran could do as she wanted. See whom she wished to see. Fall in love without rules.
    That thought forced her feet to move. Ran made her way to the back door of the house and opened it quietly. Her bare feet made no sounds as she walked to her chamber. Her father’s house was staffed by only a small number of servants until he returned. So she did not worry overmuch about being discovered as she was.
    â€œAnother encounter with the sea, Ran?”
    Ran turned and faced Dalla, the woman who kept house here and oversaw the other servants. She also was her father’s bedmate when he was here.
    â€œDalla, I did not see you as I passed.” Ran continued walking, hoping the woman would let the matter lie. Had Bjorn spoken to her in spite of his agreement not to speak about what had happened? If Dalla knew something, her father would know it within minutes of his arrival. “Pardon my rudeness.”
    â€œIs the water not too cold to swim in it now, Ran? You could catch your death and become ill.”
    How did the woman manage to convey both concern and hope for a bad end in one utterance? Dalla had that talent. Ran stood up straighter and offered her best glare to the woman who was no more than a servant and a whore.
    â€œI do not answer to you, Dalla. Do not mistake your place.”
    â€œAh, but you will answer to your father. Will you not?” Dalla walked closer and returned her glare with a haughty one. “’Tis you who should not mistake my place here, Svein’s
dóttir
. You will be married off soon and leave forever while I will remain in your father’s favor in a way you will never be.”
    Ran slapped the woman’s face for such an insult, watching as the servant was shocked by the action. No one put Dalla in her place, not even Ran’s father, so the woman carried on as though she were mistress of this house. She was not and never would be, for her father would never honor Dalla with marriage.
    Yet, the insult and the reminder of the other part of her bargain with her father stung. Without another word to or glance at Dalla, Ran made her way to her chamber and slammed the door shut. Now reminded of