I stood shivering in my tights and undershirt for a moment when I was done, wringing my fingers. Then I turned, sprinted toward the lake, and jumped, hitting the icy water like a sack of flour and sinking like a stone.

Before the pain in my skin and lungs had stilled, strong hands seized my upper arms and dragged me to the surface. The others whooped as I came up coughing.

“You did it!” said Torden. “That was not so bad, was it?”

“No,” I gasped, trying not to cough in his face.

“Still—” Torden shifted his hands from my forearms to my elbows, drawing me closer. “Maybe we will work next on diving instead of swordplay.” Though his expression was serious, his lips twitched.

Torden began to laugh, and then so did I—nervously, foolishly, each of us watching the other. I hoped it hid the shaking in my limbs. My heart thumped as his grip traveled to my waist.

Barely a week ago, I’d been wrapped up in someone else’s arms.

Too soon, too soon, too soon.

“So, are you just going to hold me here and not swim around?” I tried to sound nonchalant.

“I told you I would.” Torden pushed his hair off his forehead.

He had. He’d caught me, just as he’d said he would.

It was so small a thing. We were children playing in a pond, wasting time on a summer day.

But the strength of Torden’s arms around me made me feel, for the first time, that my plan—hoping he might save me and my father—might not be a leap destined to end in bruised skin and broken bones.

Suddenly, a stream of water hit me in the face—Anya had swum up to spit water at me through her teeth. I squealed and shrank against Torden’s shoulder, laughing and splashing at her.

“Come on.” Fredrik beckoned to Anya, and she swam back to her brother.

Torden maneuvered me behind himself. “Climb on.”

“What?”

“You have to push Anya into the lake,” he said, lifting me up easily when I didn’t do it myself.

“Okay, but why?” I tried not to wobble, thankful that a thick layer of wool lay between my unshaved knees and his palms.

“Don’t you want to play?” Anya, already steady on her brother’s shoulders, looked disappointed.

Torden looked straight up at me. The corner of his mouth curved, and my insides spun dizzily.

Too soon.

But—Jump, he’d said. Don’t be afraid.

I lunged at Anya, seizing her shoulders. She squealed and grabbed one of my arms. Hermódr, Skop, and Bragi gave supportive hoots and cheers, but our fight was over as soon as it had begun. Anya shoved me and I fell backward with a smack!, swallowing a gallon of lake water before Torden dragged me to the surface. I climbed back on his shoulders, spluttering but determined.