I nodded, remembering the one I’d seen in his locker. “Can you—don’t be offended—can you actually fight with that thing? It looked heavy, but its handle was so short.”

“Only wide enough for one hand.” Torden flexed his fingers thoughtfully. “We buy most of our weapons from the dvergar. They are master craftsmen, and do not usually make such mistakes. But I like it that way.”

Aleksei winked at me. “Since only he can manage it, none of us ever borrows it.”

“Which I cannot say for most of my possessions. I still want to know what you did with my helmet.” Torden glared at his brother. Aleksei tore up a fistful of grass and blew it into my hair in reply. I flapped at him, annoyed.

“I don’t think I could fight with a sword or a hammer. I’d rather fight enemies at a distance.” I paused, suddenly a little ashamed. “Being so sensitive is a luxury, I know.”

I could afford to be delicate about fighting. War would almost certainly never come to my doorstep in Potomac as it had to theirs.

Threats to our safety were subtler.

Torden passed a warm hand over my arm. The gesture seemed instinctive, a reflex. “A luxury for which I am grateful, on your behalf. I—do not be offended—would have you far, far from your enemies.” His eyes drifted, thoughtful. “I will fight, if I have to. But if I have to break another’s body, I deserve at least to feel his suffering in my own arm. I think the powerful would love less the fruits of violence if they had to deal it out by hand.”

I stared at him mutely.

Was this really the boy whose siblings teased and scoffed when he protested he didn’t pick fights? Would I ever learn what seeds he sowed that bloomed in bruises on his cheeks? His reputation was so at odds with what I saw that I doubted whether that other boy even existed.

“Lunchtime!” Anya called, rescuing us, as she always did. But I hardly had the energy to eat the food she passed around. Our conversation grew quiet as, one by one, we joined Fredrik in sleep.

I felt every second of the past two days when I woke up in the grass. I lay still, muscles miserably stiff. If I don’t move, maybe no one else will wake up.

But then I heard them.

“Do you think she likes it here?” Torden asked. I froze.

“How should I know?” asked Aleksei. “Do you like her?”

I strained my ears over the wind and the rustling trees, but Torden gave no answer. My heart stilled, disappointed.