The hall had mostly emptied save for the two couples and a few servants.
“You’re not attending the bridal walk?”Gaitha asked Brynn and Cenric.
Cenric took several long moments to respond.“That would be…strange.All things considered.”
“I suppose so,” Gaitha conceded.“We were going to, but this one is too drunk to walk.”She jabbed her forefinger to her husband.
“Drunk?That would be bad manners,” Edric shot back.
Gaitha snorted at that.“And we all know you have impeccable manners.”
“Olfirth serves good mead.”Cenric glanced to Brynn’s half-empty cup.
That he did.The golden drink had almost allowed Brynn to relax—almost.
But surrounded by all this light and laughter and happiness, Brynn was reminded of how much she had to lose.She was happy for the first time since her childhood.In her experience, happiness never lasted for long.
“Is everything alright, Brynn?”Gaitha frowned down from her perch on Edric’s thighs.
“I’m just tired,” Brynn answered, offering a slight smile.She stroked Guin’s fur.The little dog seemed to sense Brynn’s unease and smeared her tongue once over Brynn’s face.
Cenric rubbed Brynn’s back.“It will be fine.I swear it, Brynn.”Cenric was certain that Ovrek just wanted to make sure they stayed on friendly terms.He believed the best of his old mentor.
Brynn desperately hoped he was right, but a sinking sense of foreboding told her that he was wrong.
2
Cenric
Cenric’slifewasperfect.
He was alderman of Ombra like his father and grandfather before him.He had thanes and warriors who were loyal to him and had proven their loyalty in blood.His flocks and herds were flourishing, his fields were planted, and his longstanding rivalry with Olfirth was at last resolved.
Cenric had a beautiful, powerful wife who made him feel he could do anything.Since Brynn, all Ombra had begun to flourish.His estate ran smoother, and his people were healthier.Conflicts that had once seemed unavoidable had been mediated away.
Riding back to his longhouse with Brynn at his side, Cenric felt he could have fought any enemy, scaled any mountain.Their marriage had been unexpected, a falling of the sticks in the right places, but proof that destiny could be kind.
Their group rode into sight of the longhouse in late afternoon, as the sun was sinking toward the mountains.
As their horses crested the hill overlooking their home, all appeared as it should.The bleating of lambs echoed from the fields.Smoke curled lazily from the chimneys of houses and people milled here and there about their business.
“Cenric,” Brynn gasped, the alarm in her voice breaking the peace of the moment.
“What’s wrong?”
“Ships.”Brynn pointed.
Guin perched on the front of Brynn’s saddle, head cocked in the same direction.She sniffed at the air, her entire body rigid.She must be picking up Brynn’s tension.
Cenric squinted and sure enough, there were two ships pulled ashore along the riverbank.Two ships that had not been there before and couldn’t belong to any of his people.
“Valdari?”That was always Brynn’s first assumption.She still saw his mother’s people as enemies, not that he blamed her.
Cenric shook his head.“I can’t tell from this distance.”
Brynn glanced at Cenric.“I was promised a remote and isolated land, husband.”
“It’s not a raid.”Edric stood in the stirrups of his own horse, craning his neck to see.“The alarms haven’t been raised.”The small thane sounded almost disappointed.
