There were other memories: a ride, during which he had talked a lot and the others had listened in silence, and before that the Whaleback, and those lads with no fathers…His hand encountered something soft and warm, and he became aware of a slight weight lying against his body. He raised his head; looked down. His breath caught in his throat. She had fallen asleep there, sitting on a stool by his pallet. Her dark hair fanned shawl-like across him, her head rested on his chest, one small hand pillowed her cheek, and the other lay on the blanket close to his own. Now he scarcely dared move at all, lest he wake her. For it seemed to Eyvind this was another of those moments of enchantment, time out of time, when the world held its breath. All the same, his fingers crept to stroke her hair, to touch her cheek, where the marks of bitter weeping showed red and swollen on the fair skin. There were dark smudges beneath her eyes, and a little sigh in her outward breath. To take away that sorrow, he would give much. He would give his whole life, if that were allowed.

“Eyvi?” Nessa whispered, not opening her eyes.

His hand stilled. Perhaps she had not, after all, been asleep. “You’ve been crying,” was all he seemed to be able to say.

She sat up, wincing as she straightened her cramped limbs. “I must have fallen asleep.”

He frowned. “You should have been resting properly. I’m surprised Rona didn’t administer a dose to you as well.”

Nessa’s lips curved. “She did try. I wanted to be here when you woke up. I was worried about you, Eyvi.”

He stared at her in amazement. With the weight of her responsibilities, her fears, and her exhaustion, she was worried about him?

“Don’t be so surprised,” Nessa said, looking down at her hands as if suddenly abashed. “You disappeared, after all. And you were so badly injured. Some people were saying you had run away, the same as before. I knew where you had gone, of course. Once they thought to ask me, it was not so hard for them to find you.”

“You knew? How?”

She glanced at him under her lashes, eyes bright. “I–I know I hurt you…what I said…that wasn’t fair, and I’m sorry—but I’ve been so worried, and sad, and then when I saw you…I was trying so hard not to cry in front of them all, and…” She put her hands up over her face.