If he clenched his teeth any harder, he suspected his jaw would crack.
“Did I say I was giving up? I’ll get your damn hole dug.”
One swift move and the blade of the dolabra dug into the ground. Maybe half an inch this time.
Orabilis cackled, obviously taking way too much pleasure from his performance of the task. “Rest for a moment, lad. I’ve brought you a drop of the good ale to wet yer throat.” She held out the small flask she carried, digging in the pouch at her waist after he took it from her. “And this.” She held out her hand.
“What’s this?” he asked, taking her offering, turning it over to inspect it.
A carving strung on some kind of twine, perhaps the most rustic version of a necklace he’d ever seen. The wooden animal pendant was easily half the size of his hand and the feet had been whittled down to sharp little points.
“A token. A goat formed from the wood of the rowan for luck and protection. To thank you for all you’ve done, both for me and for my Christy.”
“Well, thanks.” He hardly knew what to say. Just when he thought the worst of her, Orabilis surprised him. “I appreciate that.”
“Dinna go to blubbering now,” she cautioned. “And put the thing on. It’ll do no good lest it’s hanging round a neck.”
Chase slid the twine over his head, grinningat the old woman’s retreating back. Her ugly little ornament, and the intent behind it, made him smile.
As did the sound of horses approaching.
Ulfr and the men from Tordenet came into view, hauling the repaired wagon with its precious cargo of flour. Fine, strong men, at that. Strong enough to finish this little chore of his easily if they all divided the work.
Now, wasn’t that a stroke of good luck? Maybe Orabilis’s charm was already working.
“THEY’VE COME.”
They were the words Christiana had dreaded for the last two days and, from the look on Orabilis’s face, her old nurse was no happier about the prospect than she was.
“You could refuse to return with them.” Orabilis looked out the open door, her back to Christiana. “But you must decide now, before they come too close.”
“No.” She couldn’t stay here. That option hadn’t been shown to her on any of the future paths she’d seen. “Torquil would see to all our deaths if I chose such an action.”
The old woman snorted, turning to fix Christiana with a stare. “You ken he has no way to get in here if we dinna allow it.”
“And we’ve no way out. He’d remain outside the circle until his last breath, waiting for starvation to drive us into his arms. You ken that as well as I do.”
She would never risk the lives of those dearest to her. Besides, Skuld had already shown her there were bigger things waiting for her. She had a part to play in preventing Torquil from carrying out his despicable plans.
She also had a part to play in keeping Chase alive...if she could only figure out exactly what she needed to do in order to keep him safe.
“It’s him what puts worry in yer eyes as you gaze toward the future, is it no, little one?”
Orabilis knew her much too well for her to hide anything.
“I suppose it might be. The Visions have shown me he’s to play a part in my escaping Torquil’s hold. What I haven’t seen is what comes after that. I won’t go down that path if it leads to his destruction.”
Orabilis nodded, scratching her chin thoughtfully. “Do you love him?”
Christiana hadn’t expected that.
“How am I supposed to answer that? I canna say for sure what love looks like.”
Orabilis chuckled, sitting heavily down on a stool. “Oh, little one, love has many faces through its life. In its infancy it builds low in yer belly like a fire, and sends you crawling into a man’s bed to find a way to quench the need it’s wrought. At times, it brings you happiness in simply sharing the silence with one another. But at its best...” Orabilis lifted her spoon from the pot over the fire as if to demonstrate her point. “At its best, it becomes as the porridge,filling and nurturing and life-sustaining, with each of you more concerned with the needs of the other than with yer own needs.”
“I want that,” Christiana whispered, as much to herself as to Orabilis. “I want to see the way to find that.”
“And so you will have it, little one. You must remember, though, to trust yer heart as well as yer head.”