FROST- Jotun Chronicles #1

The Camp

More rebels crowded up behind him, apparently all eager to shake my hand and slap my back and tell me what a great job I’d done. It was confusing and overwhelming, and I just sort of nodded and smiled at everyone, not sure what to say.

Erik laughed, calling down from his horse, “come on men, they’ve had an exhausting day. Let’s show them how we live!”

More cheers, and I was startled when Erik reached down and grabbed me around the waist, pulling me up, apparently effortlessly, into the saddle in front of him. I shot a look over my shoulder as the horse began to move through the trees. Loki was still on the ground, arms crossed over his chest, ignoring the fact that rebels were passing him on either side. He was glaring at Erik’s back. I had to hold back a snort of amusement when one of the women, a huge, strong looking blonde with her hair done in braids, leaned over and hoisted Loki up onto her saddle with her.  She shot a coy look at him, or…at the back of his head to be more precise. Loki, for his part, looked terrified.

Charlotte squeaked when she was picked up, but the dismay quickly turned to delight, and as her horse drew even with mine she gave me a little wave, “Isn’t this exciting?”

I rolled my eyes at her. Trust Charlotte to treat it like a ride in the country. Personally I had never ridden a horse, and I hated it right away. It was lumpy and bumpy and hurt my backside. If Erik hadn’t been right behind me, with his arms on either side of my waist, I’d probably have toppled off the thing by now.

“Sorry we took so long to get to you,” Erik’s voice was low in my ear, making me jump in the saddle, “I tracked your progress from the palace to the woods, but then I had to run and give my men the signal.”

I turned my head so he could hear me properly, “Hey, we’re not complaining. Thanks for the rescue. How long have you been leading a rebel force?” The thought that came after that was: And why didn’t you tell me?

Erik seemed to guess the question without me actually saying it, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I had to be sure you were solidly against the Queen. I couldn’t risk giving my men away until I knew for sure that you were trustworthy. I was going to tell you, that night…” he trailed off, but I knew what he meant. The night we were supposed to go on the walk together, the night he had found Loki in my room.

For a moment there was silence, and I found myself annoyed at how much I was being jostled around. I was trying to think of something to say and the stupid horse was distracting me, “Loki’s okay,” I said, trying to make my voice firm, “he isn’t trying to hurt me.”

Erik’s voice was grim, “We don’t know that yet. We have to be sure.”

My fingers tightened on the horse's main, “What do you mean you have to be sure? What are you going to do?”

“Nothing,” Erik said, and he sounded sort of hurt, “we’ll just ask him questions. We’re not like the Queen, Megan. We’d never torture or kill anyone just because we wanted information or because we didn’t like someone. That’s exactly why I created the rebellion in the first place. To stop those things from happening,” his voice became stronger, he was obviously passionate about his cause, “I was lying when I told her we just wanted to be left alone. That’s not our goal. Our goal is to stop her. To put an end to her reign. We have to stop this stupid war she’s so determined to have. She’s going to destroy herself, and everyone else with her. There are more joining us from the palace every day!”

He fell silent, and we both rode without talking for quite some time. My brain was busy trying to process all of this. What now? Did I stay with the rebels now? Did I ally myself with them and try to bring the Queen down?  It was a good cause, there was no arguing that. But did I have the ability to go into battle against her and her men? I glanced down at my katana. Erik had tied the sheath to the side of the horse, probably fearing that I’d accidently poke his eye out if he let me hold it. Could I kill people if I had to? Swallowing hard, I turned to look straight ahead again. Don’t think about it.