Free Raging Sea by Terri Brisbin Page B

the rest of the bargain—a marriage of her father’s choosing in exchange for two years of control of the shipping business in Orkney and a large share of the profits made—Ran, threw herself on the rope-strung bed and screamed into the pillows.
    She’d wanted some control over her life, unusual as that would be, and her father wanted to use her to make an alliance, so the agreement gave them both something they wanted. In two years she would still be of marriageable age and in the prime of her childbearing years, too. But she would have money of her own and her children would inherit her share of Svein’s business interests. It was practical. It was beneficial. At the time she’d agreed, a marriage of convenience and business was the only kind she would consider, especially so close to Soren’s betrayal.
    Now though, this new happening, this strange change, forced her to consider what to do. Did she pursue the cause of her new ability? Or ignore it and discover the reason for it when it revealed itself to her? An ability to control the seas would be an advantage of immeasurable opportunity for her father. If she could use her power to move ships as fast as she’d traveled, there would be immense profit.
    Somehow she knew that this power was about something much, much larger than profit. The voice said her destiny was to save humankind from some great evil. And she knew to the depth of her soul that it was true. The voice also said something evil was coming and that she must prepare. How could she do that? What was her part? Rolling to her back and staring at the ceiling above her, she realized that whatever was happening involved both Einar and Soren.
    Einar’s seemingly innocent and unconnected words now made sense to her. With his brief message of consolation he had also included words about a larger future and her place in something bigger than Orkney. She’d thought he meant a marriage to a man from across the sea in Scotland or in Norway or elsewhere, part of her father’s plan for an alliance that crossed boundaries. Now she thought Einar’s words were connected to this power.
    And Soren . . .
    His arrival in the marketplace was a surprise. His departure should not have been. But in those few moments before he’d walked away, he’d grabbed his arm in the same place she had held hers—the place where that peculiar mark now lay. If they shared the same mark, did he have the same power as she? Or was his different?
    Ran sat up and pushed her damp hair from her face. She held her arm up and examined the mark. It no longer burned or stung, but now it appeared alive. The two lines resembling waves undulated under her skin, the marks moving like the sea did.
    The only way to find out if Soren bore the same mark and how he was involved would be to see him again. On the morrow, she would visit Ingeborg and leave word for Soren that he could examine the letters his grandfather had sent to her. Then, when he came to get them, she would try to find out whether he bore the mark. And what Einar had told him. For she could not believe for a moment that his grandfather would not have shared such knowledge with Soren if he’d known it.
    Ran spent the rest of the day and evening in her chambers reading and reading again the missives from Einar. Now, his words seemed to carry a message she’d not seen before this change had taken place. Now, she looked at the words and phrases in a completely different way and wondered at their meaning.
    As she collected the letters into the box where she kept them, Ran was convinced of one thing—Einar Brandrson had known much more than anyone else about all of this.

Chapter 7
    I ngeborg greeted her warmly and invited her inside. It had been two years and yet she could detect no hint or trace of anger or disappointment in the way Soren’s aunt spoke to her. In little time, they sat close to the fire, sipping some hot