“You made the right decision,” Eira said. “I thought it would be satisfying to make Taft pay for what he did, but you are right. Shedding more blood will not make it better. Taft now has a hard life to live.”
“I am glad you feel that way,” Halvar said. “It is not just me that this affects; it is Torsten and Einar and Erik and the others from our village as well.”
“Torsten and Einar and Canute were with you, were they not?”
“They were. And in the end, they also agreed with my decision. We are at peace with it.”
As Halvar sat down to eat the meal she’d prepared, Eira was thoughtful. She’d always believed revenge would feel good, but in some strange way, it felt better to break the cycle of bloodshed and violence. Perhaps forgiveness was the best way of all.
Tara awoke with a start. What had she just heard? Was Inger awake? Or Brendan? Who was moving about the longhouse?
Suddenly, a warm body slid into bed beside her and encircled her with his arm.
“Erik!” she exclaimed. “I did not expect you to come home at this hour!”
“The sun was still up so I came home instead of stopping,” Erik said. “I have missed you so much, my love. I could not wait until the morning to be with you again.”
She nestled her head into the curve of his neck. “I have missed you also,” she said. “I was not expecting you for several days yet. Tell me about your journey.”
“Things have changed,” Erik said. “There are other traders on my route and I did not make as much money.”
“That is worrisome,” Tara said.
“At first, I was worried,” Erik replied. “But then I met a trader who had returned from foreign lands. He was selling the fine cloth that my customers like to buy. I bought some that came from Dubh Linn and it reminded me of the work you do, my love. It is very good.”
He felt her sag against him and the sorrow in her heart seemed to flow into his. He was certain that she missed her homeland, even though she was determinedly optimistic and never mentioned it. It confirmed that he was making the right decision.
“After I talked to the trader, I started to think about the future. I do not know if the work that I am doing now will be profitable if more traders start to use the same routes.”
“Can you stop them?”
“I cannot stop them. We are free to trade in this land anywhere we wish.”
“Can you take other routes?”
“I could, and there might be some that would be profitable. But it would take a long time to discover the ones that are and the ones that are not. And they are all far away from here, which would mean that I would see a lot less of you than I do now. It is not something I wish for.”
She was silent for a moment. “What are you going to do?” she asked.
He took a deep breath. “I am going to take you home.”
CHAPTER 13
Tara stood up in the longship, straining her eyes to catch the first glimpse of land. The wind was in their favor and the weather had been mild. The ship skimmed across the water, every breath of wind taking her closer to home. Erik sat behind her and the few belongings they had brought with them were stowed in the cargo area. It was an arduous journey to cross the ocean, but Tara had hardly noticed. Each heartbeat drew her closer to her homeland.
“Look! There it is!” she shouted, pointing to the first sliver of land as it appeared on the horizon.
Erik grinned at her excitement, although it was with mixed feelings that he’d said goodbye to everything familiar in his life to embark on this new adventure. He would miss the land of his birth but perhaps in time, he would return. That remained to be seen. Tara was almost falling overboard in her excitement and he grabbed hold of her tunic, just to be safe.
Soon, the ship pulled into the harbor at Dubh Linn. Tara was overwhelmed by the emotions of the moment. She clambered from the boat and fell to the ground, tears pouring down her cheeks as she caressed the soil. She couldn’t believe that she had returned to the land of her birth and her heart could not contain the joy, the exhilaration, and the sorrow for what she had lost. She only hoped that her family would still be alive and well in their little village and that the finngail had not stolen anyone else.
Erik came to stand beside her as she knelt on the ground, weeping. He said nothing, only touched her shoulders with a comforting hand as the memories of what she had endured since she last stood on the shores of this land poured from her eyes. She wept for her mother, who without doubt believed she would never see her daughter again. Tears rolled down her cheeks for those she had met along the way who were not as fortunate as she. And she wept for herself, for the loss of her humanity, for the time that she had learned that her worth was only the value of a little silver, and for the huge chunk of her soul that the knowledge had torn from her being.
Erik knew none of these things. He couldn’t possibly know of the agony and despair that she had endured, of the paralyzing terror that consumed her every waking moment as her fate was held in the hands of cruel men. He had no idea of the crushing grief that had accompanied her last glimpse of her homeland,
