The Valkyrie's Viking by Tanya Nellestein

Author:Tanya Nellestein [Nellestein, Tanya]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780645016406
Publisher: words&wine publishing

20

Faces swarmed around her. Tarben, Ubbe, Aric, her father... the Seer. She looked for Vali but he wasn't there. She tried to speak with those around her, to reason with them. They would pull back, refusing to hear her. Their voices echoed over the top of each other, hurting her ears with their booming assault. No one was talking to her, only about her. Fear and frustration warred within her. The sights and sounds were suffocating. She couldn't get air into her lungs.

"What of your destiny, Valkyrie?" Einar's words sounded inside her head.

She turned, trying to find the voice. The Seer was far away, only his voice was close. Too close.

"I want..." she tried to speak but she had no breath.

"It doesn't matter what she wants."

Who said that?

"Her fate has been determined by the gods," said Einar.

"She is my daughter to command."

Father?

"You command her. Her husband commands her. But her path is fated."

Her head ached. She needed oxygen.

"What of your destiny, Valkyrie?"

"My dest..." she tried to force the words. "I want..."

The Seer banged his staff into the earth. The noise was deafening, banishing everything else.

"Your destiny?"

She straightened. Her thoughts started to fall into order.

"Brenna!" Another voice broke through. Her body shook.

"Brenna, wake up!"

Her eyelids fluttered, still heavy with tormented visions. As consciousness returned, a weight sat on her chest. Her eyes flew open and she sprang forward. She inhaled and oxygen raced into her lungs in time with her racing heart. Dirty, white canvas pressed in around her and she waited for the faces to appear.

"Brenna?" The voice was softer now. Hands rubbed her shoulders.

Her breathing echoed in her head.

"Brenna?"

She turned to the voice. Vali.

The adrenaline leached from her, leaving her nauseous and shaking. She leaned her head against his shoulder.

"You're okay," he whispered against her hair. "It was just a dream."

She nodded, letting him take her into his arms. It was true that she'd defied Ubbe in coming here, and she cared naught. Ubbe had shown a darker side of himself that had cast a pall over everything she thought she wanted. Was this the fate the gods had in store for her, to be with a man who did not honour his word?

The man whose bed she was sharing brought her comfort. It was a comfort she needed tonight. But what of tomorrow, and the day after? Her thoughts bounced from one scenario to another.

She could not stomach the thought of another loveless marriage. Would Ubbe renege on everything he'd promised her? It was possible he needed her and her strategic mind. She'd never known him to have strong beliefs regarding the future of Birca. He'd always done as he was bid by Tarben. Mayhap he'd played his cards close to his chest in order to protect his interests. Should Ubbe's actions dissuade her from her destiny?

Brenna let Vali pull her down into the warmth of his furs. He stroked her forehead, soothing her troubled thoughts and lulling her into a dreamless sleep.

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