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A sest of those quays as Snorri watched

“E froirl al-quay in shock, which had been precisely the threat that had scared the shout out of hi forwards and hung to an upright, little fingers clutching the icy ti for the dark waters a couple of feet below One slip and the fjord would s her, the cold stealing both breath and strength

Snorri dropped his gear and ran out along the long-quay, sure-footed, stepping where it would bear his weight and losing no ti-quay all his life

“Fool girl! You know you’re not to—” Fear made his voice harsh as he fell to his knees and scooped Eer “You could have fallen, Einmyria!” A child raised to the Undoreth should have ht to his chest, still careful not to crush her, his heart ha Emy had been a babe at her ainst Hoddof of Iron Tors At no point in that battle—not charging the shield wall, not ith Edric ver Magson’s blood, not pinned by stockade ti—had Snorri known fear such as that which seized hi over dark waters

Snorri held E?” Soft now, al

E her eyes—the say’s in the water”

“Peggy?” Snorri tried to recall a child of that naht, of course, butit ca any exasperation “Your doll? You’re out here looking for a peg doll you lost before the snows?”

Emy nodded, still close to tears “You find her! You find her, Papi”

“I don’t—She’s lost, Einmyria”

“You can find her You can”

“Soain and sohter’s eyes the exact moment that a child first understands there are limits on what her parents can do, rather than just limits on what they choose to do He knelt before her in a moment’s silence, somewhat less than he had been just seconds before, and Emy a half step closer to the woman she would one day become

“Co her “Back to yourthe planks, placing each foot with precision Carrying Emy up the slope, Snorri echoed with an old pain, the hurt of every parent separated frory water or by slow steps along divergent paths bound for the future

• • •

They caht

Snorri had often said that Freja saved his life She took froed his skill with axe and spear, setting in its place new passions He said she had given him purpose where all he had before was confusion that he hid, asmen do, behind an illusion of action Perhaps she saved his life again that night, so his sleep

What woke him, Snorri couldn’t say He lay in the dark and the warh to touch but not touching For longand the creak of ice re-for He had no concern over attack—the jarls had settled the worst of their squabbles, for the now In any case, only a fool would risk a raid with the season barely starting to turn

Snorri set a hand to the smoothness of Freja’s hip She muttered some sleepy rejection He pinched

“Bear?” she asked Sooat The best thing to do was to let it His father advised, “Never eat a white bear’s liver” As a boy, Snorri had asked ere they poisonous? “Yes,” his father had said, “but the main reason is that if you try to, the bear will be busy eating yours, and he has bigger teeth”

“Maybe” Not a bear Where his surety came from, Snorri didn’t know

He slid froripped him Clad only in skin, he took down his axe, Hel His father had given hie “This blade is the start of a journey,” his father had said “It has sent many men to Hel, and it will send her more souls before its time is done” With the axe in his hand Snorri felt clothed, the cold laying no finger upon hiht hack it off