Iron Seas 03 - Riveted

someone in his camp had stumbled across more than trolls.
    Di Fiore pushed the hair from the boy’s flushed face. “Now, Olaf, come and meet the man who is going to help your father.”
    Olaf looked over at David. His dark eyes widened and he cringed back, hiding his round face against di Fiore’s chest.
    Di Fiore firmly turned the boy around. “No, Olaf. Those are only scars, and you mustn’t be frightened of them. Say, ‘I am very pleased to meet you, Mr. Kentewess.’”
    The boy obediently mumbled the words, his gaze fixed on his boots. Oh, but it was excruciating, standing through this. Beside her, David wore his weary smile. A flush darkened his jaw. He let go of her hand.
    Annika didn’t know whether to take it again, or whether to let him be. But she’d rather be wrong than make him suffer through this exercise alone. She threaded her fingers through his.
    He glanced down at her, and his smile changed, warmed.
    “And now say, ‘I am pleased to meet you, Miss Fridas—’”
    “Annika!”
    The shout came from across the clearing. Heart pounding, Annika looked up. Källa stood in front of a snow-covered roof, staring at her, holding a boy’s coat, her sword strapped across her back. Disbelief had widened her dark eyes. Her mouth hung open, but now it widened into a smile, then a whoop of laughter.
    “Do you see?” di Fiore said. “That is interesting.”
    On long legs, Källa crossed the snow at a run and engulfed Annika in a hug, lifting her off the ground, then swinging her around as di Fiore had done with the boy. She threw her head back as she laughed, her long braid winding into the basket of her fur-lined hood.
    “Oh, Annika.” Källa finally set her down, nearly squeezed the guts from her with another hug. “What are you doing here?”
    Uncertain how to answer that in front of di Fiore, she shook her head. “I would ask the same of you.”
    “For the same reason, I imagine. Paolo’s work is so amazing, isn’t it?”
    “Yes. Though I’m not sure what it is yet. I’ve only seen a giant whale.”
    “A whale?” Källa shook her head, laughing. “You have not changed a bit. Though I—” She broke off suddenly, turned and scooped up the boy. She faced Annika again, spoke formally in Norse. “My son, Olaf. Olaf, this is your aunt, Annika.”
    Some part of her had already put those pieces together—but Annika hadn’t wanted to, knowing who the father must be. But she forced that away. “We are well met, Olaf Källasdottor.”
    “Källasson,” her sister corrected with a grin. Her eyes narrowed slightly when Lorenzo said softly behind her, “Di Fiore.”
    Olaf hid his face in Källa’s neck. His mother’s smile returned.
    “He’s very shy. He’s much like you in many ways, Annika.”
    “How old is he?”
    “Two years.”
    And Lorenzo di Fiore was the father. This time, she couldn’t push that realization away. Annika stepped back, found David’s hand again, welcomed the warm support. She’d never felt so off-kilter. Källa looked to David, then to Annika’s face again.
    Källa’s feet shifted—preparing to attack, to defend. Her voice remained pleasant. “Are you with this man?”
    “Yes.”
    Di Fiore came to Källa’s side. “Mr. Kentewess is a vulcanologist with the Scientific Society of New Leiden. He’ll be assisting my father.”
    “Mr. Kentewess.” Källa nodded a greeting to him, then met Annika’s gaze again with a question in her eyes. “I can’t believe you stepped a foot away from home.”
    That was not what she meant. Källa knew that Annika had traveled all over Iceland in her troll. Her sister wondered how she’d come to be with David.
    “I left home, searching for you.”
    “What for?” Puzzlement creased her brow, then she looked up as the cargo lift rattled, began to rise. “You are not waiting for your things? Well, let us go inside, then. You can tell me there.”
    She started back across the clearing. Annika followed, holding David’s hand. His fingers tightened on hers. She glanced up, saw his concerned gaze on her.
    “All right?” he whispered.
    Annika lifted her shoulders. What should she feel? Happy that she’d found her sister, yes. But to find her here with Lorenzo? Everything was turned about. Did he keep Källa here under some threat? Annika hadn’t missed the wariness in her posture, the hint of temper when Lorenzo had given Olaf his name. But that was Källa the Shieldmaiden, always watchful, possessive—and easy