The thought struck Hæra with the force of a tidal wave. At Madeleine’s words, she was tossed back into the horrible night Calder, Beathag, and Asgall had attempted to kill her. She’d curled up into a ball, awaiting her fate, when across the miles, Sister Madeleine had called out to her.

“Guide me now,” Sister Madeleine had pleaded. “Protect me. I’ll return to you, I swear it.”

In that moment, Hæra had vowed to live—for Madeleine’s sake. Running toward Madeleine had saved her life. And now her woman was saying the same thing?

Stricken, Hæra looked at Madeleine, feeling as tossed about as she had in the witch’s whirlpool. Everything she’d just been thinking was incorrect. Madeleine was no coward who’d fled a hard life. She’d had to do that—to get here. To reach Hæra after all those years.

Me, Hæra thought again. You were running toward me. You left your life, your family, for me.

And you don’t even know it.

The witch would have to wait. In a moment, Hæra’s despair had vanished, replaced by confusion and wonder.

“What about you?” Madeleine asked, dragging her back into the present. “Were you running away, or toward? It only seems fair to ask.”

“I didn’t run,” Hæra heard herself say. “I swam.” Oh, that had sounded so silly she could kick herself. With a horse’s hoof, no less.

Madeleine raised her eyebrows. In amusement? This was almost as bad as when she’d found Hæra trapped under the dock. “Jonathan said you nearly drowned on the night you came to him. Said you had some silly idea about swimming in the North Sea for good luck.”

That was the same story Jonathan had told everyone after Hæra’s arrival. Of course it made her sound like a nitwit.

“Ah…er…yes.” Hæra looked at the beautiful woman with green eyes and delicious blood who had forsaken everything to chase what Hæra had shown her. However, Madeleine was mistaken in what that was. She was chasing life, not death, and she wouldn’t understand that Hæra offered both.

Madeleine waited, as if for Hæra to elaborate. When no such elaboration was forthcoming, she exhaled through her nose. “Anyway, I wanted to set things straight. It’s my greatest weakness—my pride. I won’t have it said by anyone that I’m a coward or a weakling. Even if Christ’s teachings tell me not to care about that.”

Hæra frowned. She’d read all of Madeleine’s Bible and she didn’t remember that Jesus fellow saying such a thing specifically. Well, Madeleine would know better than she did. In the meantime, some truth was called for. “I see you are neither thing.”

“Thanks,” Madeleine said dryly. “Now, am I wasting my time if I ask for an apology?”