Unbroken Star by Washoe Alex

Author:Washoe, Alex
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Britt

There was a light snow falling the next morning and the sky looked like a delicate crystal about to break. I woke up early, in my little cabin upstairs from Tor’s tavern. The room was oddly shaped, with a bunk on the wall and a small stand for a wash basin. There was one shelf opposite the bed. No windows.

My knowledge of history comes mostly from Fellowship for Fanciful Metachronism gatherings and playing D&D, so I’m definitely not an expert. Except on the Old West, maybe. But my impression was that Viking ships didn’t have a lot of living space. If this really was the hull of an old ship, then Torhilde had re purposed the space considerably.

But I was grateful for the room. I even kind of liked it.

The tavern was still quiet. I could hear activity from the kitchen, which reminded me of Holly. How many times in my life did I wake up early and hear her already at work? Or sneak into her apartment, after we were grown up, scrounging for breakfast? I could smell bread baking and the savory scents of meat sizzling. My stomach growled.

Ölrún was setting up behind the bar, putting away clean dishes. The sleeveless shirt she wore showed off her strong arms, almost as powerful as Tor’s.

I’m not usually competitive when it comes to things like that. The gym was always full of stronger, tougher people. Back home I’d sparred with the likes of Teressa Gutierrez and Beth Brandt. But I couldn’t help thinking wryly I was the weakling in this establishment.

I found the gate of the small paddock out back standing open. My heart lurched as I ran inside the little stable. We’d made a bed of rags and old clothes in one corner, and it showed signs of being slept in. A lot of the hay had been eaten. But there was no sign of Roscoe.

Just as I was about to panic, a loud grunt from outside brought me running.

Roscoe stood just outside the fence, watching me with what — I swear — looked like amusement. When he was sure he had my attention, he reached out with his nimble lips and lifted the latch pin that hung by the fence post by the open door. He held it for just long enough to make his point, then dropped it with series of short, breathy snorts.

“Are you laughing at me?”

When I approached, he took a couple of steps back from the gate. Not like he was afraid of me, more like he was making a point.

“Oh yeah? I suppose you want to go for a ride or something? If I do that, will you come back in the paddock?”

His front lips drew up off his enormous buck teeth and his tail flicked.

“I’m going to hold you to that promise, dude. Stay there.”

I went back to the stable and found the saddle, hoping I remembered Kym’s patient instruction. It was heavy, and that reminded me of my thoughts about the gym, and how much I’d been neglecting workouts the past few months.

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