Dream of Me/Believe in Me

“It was Wolf's idea? He started this?”
    “He's only thinking of your well-being. You got so upset when that thief was lashed and he's—”
    “The prisoners are going to be whipped?”
    Dragon closed his eyes for a moment, summoning patience. He clearly wasn't experienced in dealing with recalcitrant women. Indeed, Cymbra had to wonder if he'd ever encountered one before in his whole life.
    “They … killed people.”
    Devastation. Burning rubble. Bodies thrown about, some in pieces. Women spread-eagle on the ground, raped, killed. Children—
    Cymbra reeled. The vision came without warning, so vivid that she could have sworn she smelled it. For a horrible moment, she feared she would vomit.
    When the world righted, Dragon was holding her and cursing vividly. “Dammit, that's why you have to leave! Whatever
that
is. Wolf doesn't know, I sure as hell don't, and I'm not even sure you do. We have to get you away from here.”
    “She has the gift,” Brita said quietly. She stood with her hands tightly clasped, staring at Cymbra. “I suspected it a while ago and now I'm certain. The great healers are like that, my ma always said. They can feel the suffering of others but they have to be able to protect themselves lest they be destroyed by it.”
    Dragon looked down into Cymbra's eyes, his own face grim. “Is this true? Can you feel what other people are feeling?”
    “S-sometimes.” She stepped away from him and forced herself to stand very steadily. The sudden exposure of her most deeply held secret was shock enough but the realization that others had sensed something different about her was an even greater surprise. She thought she had concealed the truth so well. What else had she been wrong about?
    Fighting to hide her sudden panic, she said, “That'swhy Hawk sent me to Holyhood. At first, he wouldn't allow anyone there who wasn't strong and healthy and if there was an accident, the person was taken away immediately.”
    “He expected you to live like that for the rest of your life?” Dragon asked, astonished.
    “I'm not sure what he expected. He was just trying to protect me. But I got better. I learned, as Brita said, to protect myself.”
    “You couldn't just now,” her brother-in-law reminded her. “You saw something.”
    She flinched at the memory but stood firm. “It's true that I haven't been doing as well lately, but I can't just run away whenever something bad happens.”
    “You wouldn't be run—” Ulfrich said.
    “Be sensible—” Brother Joseph entreated.
    “Please, my lady—” Brita added.
    Dragon shrugged. “This is all very interesting but the jarl says you are to go pick flowers, so pick flowers you shall. You can sort this out with him later if he's of a mind. In the meanwhile, we've tarried long enough.”
    He took her arm, clearly intending to drag her if he had to, only to find that she slipped between his fingers like quicksilver.
    “Cymbra!”
    She heard him but she didn't stop. Holding her skirts up, her long hair flying behind her, the Norse Wolf's Saxon bride raced to the timbered hall.
    H E SAT IN STATE, IN THE LARGE, HIGH-BACKED CHAIR behind the high table. His tunic was gray trimmed with gold. Gold bands glinted on his arms. He wore a gold torque around his neck, the ends joined in a wolf's head emblazoned with eyes of bloodred rubies.
    He radiated power and authority. And no mercy whatsoever.
    Cymbra stopped just beyond the large double doors. She stood, heart pounding, unsure of what to do now that she had done it.
    She had disobeyed him—again.
    But she could not be so weak, so craven as to be unable to face the reality of their lives. He was jarl, he carried great responsibilities. She was his wife, it was her duty to stand beside him and help him in any way she could. Not run away and hide.
    Still, she could not bring herself to walk farther into the hall thronged with grim-faced men and only a handful of women. There were no children at all even though they normally went everywhere and were part of everything. With a start, she realized they had already been gathered up and removed. As she was supposed to have been.
    So then the punishment would be very bad. All right, she could face that. The men had killed savagely. Wolf was right when he spoke of the need to maintain order lest chaos descend. In his own life, he had seen the terrible results when that happened. He had lost his parents, his home, almost everything save for his life and that of his