Blood and Loyalty by Abigail Riherd

Author:Abigail Riherd [Riherd, Abigail]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Abigail Riherd
Published: 2017-12-14T22:00:00+00:00

Kree...Kree..Kree…

The saw made a sound like a hungry seabird and Finn found the noise could fill up his whole head until there was nothing left. He and his partner pulling in turn, the steady, even rhythm making a steady, even cry as sawdust piled around their feet and wafted into their nostrils. They made no move to wipe it away. Their red eyes watered and they kept pulling, kept feeding the hungry saw.

Kree...Kree...Kree…

It had been this way at Helga’s farm, tilling up earth for her to use or for her amusement, he still wasn’t sure which. The wet dirt coated his arms and the sun burned his neck and he could almost imagine himself back home before his life had been upended. Every stab into the ground with a spade was a lunge with his sword. The ache in his muscles was from training green boys. The flashing gold from the corner of his eye was a blade, not a girl. Not the Girl. Not—

Kree...Kree...Kree…

Anyway, Helga’s was too close and there was only so much dirt to dig, and Finn found himself agreeing readily to a favor for someone down the road. A little distance, a little work, and no flashing gold: that’s what he needed. Work hard enough and anything can become a memory. But repairing fences was too easy. The end of the task loomed in the future and the wait between pounding posts meant thoughts were free to wander. It was too close. His eyes kept drifting back up the hill and he would find himself thinking without meaning to that if the barn were to move just a little to the left he would see a wide window and silhouetted there would be—

Kree...Kree...Kree...

A little further, that would do the trick. He just needed to keep working. He was up before dawn and was home long after dusk. The pile of blankets breathing slow and steady beneath the window wasn’t a complication at all but the wind. He had barely enough time to splash fresh water from the washing bowl over his reddened skin before his eyelids were sinking. He would lower himself to the floor with a great sigh and be asleep within moments. Helga had done a lot of frowning and arm crossing at this. How would it look if those bastards spotted a husband on the floor while his wife slept alone only feet away? she cried. Finn would deal with that situation if it arose. He couldn’t--wouldn’t--climb into bed with his brother’s betrothed.

Only, he did. Both nights now. Disa had cried out in the grips of a nightmare and Finn had been there in a flash, his hands on her bare skin, whispering something, he couldn’t remember, and she’d quieted. Finn wasn’t even sure she knew. She didn’t seem to wake but she sensed he was there nonetheless. She would be shaking and heaving and the moment his skin touched hers she’d---

Kree...Kree...Kree...Kree...Kree…

“Steady.”

“Sorry,” he replied as he slowed his pull to match the man at the other end of the saw.

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