Daughter of Fire and Ice Read Online Free PDF

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    ‘I don’t believe in your Viking destiny,’ interrupted the man angrily. ‘How can my sister have been destined to die? I was just a child when my family were captured. How can we have been destined for slavery? What would be the point of living?’
    I shook my head silently, unable to answer this. ‘Perhaps it’s all been leading to this moment,’ I said at last, my voice barely above a whisper.
    ‘Why do you care?’ the man asked, unexpectedly.
    I hesitated. How could I speak to him of the many times I had seen his face before? It would be throwing aside every rule of my world. Free women didn’t aid and abet slaves to escape, and they certainly didn’t accompany them.
    ‘You’ve spared me from a terrible fate,’ I said at last. ‘And I saw us. In the prow of Svanson’s ship. You were wearing his clothes and sword,’ I added.
    There was a silence that seemed to stretch on for ever.
    The man broke it at last.
    ‘You’re covered in blood,’ he said. ‘You have a cut on your forehead and it’s bled all over your face and hair.’
    He picked up Svanson’s flask, shook some liquid onto his hand and knelt down beside me. He rubbed a little of the spirit onto my face. It stung as it reached my cut, but his touch was gentle as he wiped away the worst of the blood.
    ‘That’ll do until we find some water,’ he said. He smiled at me, and I found myself smiling back. He took a deep draught of the liquor and shuddered, then passed it to me. I took a mouthful, and it burned my dry throat unpleasantly.
    The sound of footsteps approaching startled us both. We jumped to our feet, fear quickening our senses. I was painfully aware of Svanson’s body just a few feet away. We had lingered far too long. Now we would be caught red-handed. Literally. The slave pulled his knife out and moved in front of me, hiding me from view. It was an instinctive movement; an impulse to protect me.
    But the man who ran into view, staggering, and as bruised and blood-stained as we were, was my father, and he was alone. With a cry of joy and relief, I pushed past the slave and ran to him, flinging my arms around him. There were tears pouring down my face as I hugged him, and I could hear him muttering in my ear, ‘Oh thank the gods! Thora, you are safe!’
    Then his eyes alighted on Svanson’s dead body and he released me with a cry of shock. ‘What happened?’ he demanded, fear in his face.
    ‘Svanson was trying to kill this man,’ I said quickly. ‘He was defending himself.’
    My father was grey with pain and exhaustion and had a huge lump on the back of his head, his hair matted with blood where the club had struck him. I reached for my bag to tend him, but he waved me away.
    ‘For Odin’s sake, dispose of this body!’ he exclaimed. ‘We’ll be sentenced to death for murder. The army are approaching; I ran from them all the way here. We’re trapped on this path. It only leads down into the fjord.’
    ‘Trapped?’ echoed the slave.
    ‘No,’ I said. ‘Svanson’s ship is down there. We can flee by sea. Father, I’ve had a glimpse of the future. I’ve seen it.’
    ‘Steal Svanson’s ship?’ uttered my father, blankly.
    ‘The ship is the only escape.’ I spoke decisively, knowing I was right.
    Distantly, carried on the wind, the sound of many feet marching reached my ears. The others heard it too. My father wiped his hand down over his face. It was obvious that only his will was keeping him going.
    ‘Thora, I’ve failed you once already. For Odin’s sake, do as the sight told you,’ my father urged. ‘Your visions always lead you right.’ He put his arms around me and hugged me.
    ‘You’re not coming with us?’ I cried, horrified. I clung to my father’s arm and looked up at him imploringly.
    ‘No!’ said my father. ‘We can’t ride three. You’ll stand more chance without me.’ He saw my distress and clasped my hands. ‘Don’t fret, Thora,’ he begged me. ‘I know how to hide in