Free Islands in the Fog by Jerry Autieri Page B

statement, knowing how Runa would react. She did not disappoint.
    "You were too heavy-handed during the festival. Your friendly competition, as you called it, started a larger fight. Now we've got an enemy to the north." She folded her arms, looking away. Ulfrik glanced after her and saw Gunnar emerge from the dog pile, his smile shining bright through the dirt on his face.
    "The festival was over a month ago. I admit, I had fun showing off to him. Can't he let it go? I never insulted him the way he did me, and I'm fine."
    "Well, you'll have to ask him. Seems he's sending his fishermen to start trouble. So you'll meet with him, then?" Ulfrik nodded, but stood from his bench.
    "Gods, woman! Can I have peace? I will handle matters with Hardar. Before you say it, I will do all I can to renew good relations with him. If he'll be sensible enough to listen to me."
    "You must not be hasty with him, Ulfrik. I think he wants a fight."
    "He had no trouble attacking me without a reason five years ago. So the man needs no reason. Stop telling me what I know to do. I will arrange for travel tomorrow." Ulfrik had shouted, and he now felt foolish as Gerdie and Snorri both pretended not to hear. Runa gave a lame shrug and turned back to her loom.
    Ulfrik stood like a man left ashore after his ship had launched. He realized his pulse had quickened and shook his head to clear his mood. "Where has Toki been? I haven't seen him in days."
    "Wasn't he doing something for you? Teaching boys about sailing or something?" Runa sat at her stool, her two companions working in silence and seeming to ignore the conversation. She gestured to one of the girls for a basket.
    "Teaching boys about sailing? I never asked him to do that. He said he was ... Snorri!"
    Snorri was upending a wood bowl to his mouth. He peered at Ulfrik over the rim as he slurped down his soup.
    "Did you ask Toki to teach boys about sailing?" Snorri extended his bowl to Gerdie for a refill, then shook his head. "Have you not seen Toki, either? I thought I was just lucky."
    "Not at all. He told me he had repairs to make on Raven's Talon. "
    Now Runa dropped her basket and regarded Ulfrik. He stared back at her, and saw the thoughts moving behind his wife's eyes. He chewed his lower lip, knowing that Toki had lied but not knowing why. Ulfrik suspected Runa had guessed. "What's he up to?"
    "I don't know, but," she paused and touched her chin, "he has been strange since the festival, whenever he has been present. I am certain he's found a woman. But he hasn't told me so, or anyone else it seems."
    Ulfrik folded his arms and made the connections Runa did not. "If he's keeping it secret, it's because I wouldn't approve. And if I won't approve, it's because the match is either below him or with someone he knows I would forbid."
    Runa covered her mouth when she realized what Ulfrik was saying. "Hardar's daughter?"
    "It's either her or a slave from a neighboring land. And few slaves came to the festival. Hardar is the only jarl with an eligible daughter that I would be unhappy about."
    Snorri and Gerdie joined Ulfrik at the high table. The two girls with Runa blushed deeply and she waved them away with an apologetic smile. As they shoved their items into their baskets, everyone waited quietly. Only the laughter and screaming of the boys interrupted the silence. Once the girls had left, Ulfrik punched his fist into his left hand.
    "Of all the damn people to pick! If it's true, then he's dancing with Loki." Ulfrik spun back to his bench and dumped himself on it. He pinched the bridge of his nose. His mind's eye filled with an image of Hardar's rage contorted face as he relived their wrestling match.
    "Well, it's not ideal," Runa offered. "She did seem like a sweet girl, I mean, at least what I saw of her."
    "They all seem sweet at that age," Snorri said. "But I suspected she was hunting for a man. She made eyes at a lot of the younger men. And those eyes probably caught a lot of men too. Only