Iron Seas 03 - Riveted

thoughtful. “Källa spoke the truth the night before she left.”
    During their argument? “No.”
    “Not when she called me a stupid hag. But when she spoke ofthe likelihood that Hannasvik would be found. Oh, Annika, your face hides nothing. Do you agree with her?”
    She couldn’t deny it. “Yes.”
    Camille sighed. “After two months in this village, seeing how many men have come, I agree with it, too.”
    “And I’ve always thought the same, though it’s taken longer than I expected.” Valdís slapped two frozen cod onto the wooden table and hefted a cleaver. “Tell us, Fridasdottor, what sort of man is her son?”
    “A good man.” Annika couldn’t have said it so quickly of other people. “When I met him, he rescued me from danger in one of the ports, at some risk to himself. We got along well—though we did argue after I learned he was searching for Hannasvik, and he threatened to expose us all if I didn’t tell him where it was—but he apologized for his threat, and I don’t think he would have carried it through. And I don’t think he would hurt anyone, if he could help it.”
    “Annika.” Lisbet regarded her with a look of wonder. “You like him very much, don’t you?”
    “Yes. But I don’t know if he holds the same beliefs as many others in the New World, about women taking each other as lovers.”
    Lisbet frowned. “Is it truly so bad?”
    “Yes.” Valdís hacked off a fish tail, tossed it to a large orange cat stretching its way from her bed and into the hearth room. “They’ll hold you down and try to cure you of it.”
    “Forgive me, Aunt, but that was many years ago.”
    “No,” Annika said. “I’ve seen two men hanged for it. I’ve heard of others sent to insanitariums. A man who is suspected might be beaten bloody by a crowd, and I’ve seen men come to blows, simply because one suggested that the other lay with a man. It’s the worst sort of insult.”
    “You only speak of men,” Camille said.
    “Because no one speaks of the women. I only hear faint rumorand speculation—and most of that, too, is couched in insult, such as when they talk of the women who live together in England.” She sighed. “Perhaps it is not so bad there, but it’s difficult to find out. Simply by asking, I open myself to rumor and risk.”
    “The Englishwomen thought nothing of it until Hanna told them they should be wary of exposing themselves,” Valdís reminded them. “They’d never learned any differently under the Horde—and it has only been ten years since the tower came down. There must be many others who think the same.”
    “Yes, but there are also many Brits from Manhattan City who are returning to England. We can’t know what influence the New Worlders will have—whether they will be told not to expose themselves, too.”
    A second tail flew across the room. “We cannot know until we confront it, Annika.”
    “I hope to have a little more time before we must,” Camille said, then looked to Annika. “What does Inga’s son know?”
    “He has guessed some of it—that we are a village only of women, that we have spread the stories of the trolls and witches. I’ve tried to tell him nothing, but he’s clever, and has gleaned what he knows from our conversations.”
    “If he’s clever, why hasn’t he guessed the rest?” Valdís frowned at her. “What does he expect a community of women will do—live alone for a hundred years?”
    “I suppose that he hasn’t guessed because no one speaks of such things, and so he doesn’t assume it of us.” She flicked the frozen tail back to the cat when he batted it toward her boot. He pounced. “But it cannot be long until he realizes the truth.”
    “He needs to know before he meets Hildegard.”
    “Yes.” Annika couldn’t bear the thought of Hildegard’s newfound happiness with her mother marred by cruelty or thoughtlessness. She hoped David would be neither. But for her family, shewould take the risk to find out whether he recoiled or was disgusted. “I will talk with him of it, and see his response.”
    And try not to think about how much his response might hurt her .
    Camille took Annika’s hands between hers, regarding her with a worried expression. “You’ve taken so much upon yourself. It’s been four years now. If you can’t find Källa, you ought to come home.”
    Behind her mother, Lisbet bit her lip and looked away. Annika could easily imagine Hildegard’s face, too, if she returned without