Chapter Seventy-three

Enid felt those eyes on her as they walked back to the longhouse, saw them all staring at Ivar and heard them tutting under their breaths, and she hated it. Surely they could see that he'd only wanted to protect Frigga, surely they couldn't blame him for that no matter who he had struck. Gro came running when the group pushed open the double doors to the longhouse, ushering them in and grabbing Erik's arm. She had the slaves close the door behind them so quickly and then she darted then to hold onto Enid.

"Sweet, Enid…" Gro whispered. "Don't worry, you'll be safe here."

"Me?" Enid asked.

"We're not staying," Erik said, holding Frigga out to Ivar so he could take her, and this time the girl didn't cry, she only turned and leaned away from the others, staring and watching them from the nape of Ivar's neck.

Erik wrapped his arm around Enid's shoulders, pulling her towards him so sharply Enid almost lost her footing. "We'll be going now, unless you have a problem with that, Ivar?" he said, and Ivar stared at him, his eyes never leaving Erik's or even blinking for a long while, and then he shrugged.

"Why would I have a problem with it?" he asked.

"Good," Erik said, turning and pulling Enid towards the door.

"Erik!" Gro shouted, holding onto his arm and standing between him and the door. "Erik…" she said, this time her voice soft and low. "Think about it. You heard The Seer's prophecy and the people saw you standing against him. You're weak right now and if you take her with you, you'll only get weaker."

"He's not a Seer, Gro," Erik spoke through gritted teeth.

"It doesn't matter!" Gro hissed, pulling on his arm, her face scrunching up in a tight wince. "What you know or what you think you know doesn't matter, Erik. The people think he is and they'll think you've turned your back on the gods if you take this Christian woman back with you now. I'm sorry, Enid," she said, her eyes flicking to stare at her. "But you're Ivar's problem. Please, don't drag my son into this. Stay here, Knut and I will protect you, maybe we can even say you've changed your beliefs to our gods."

"Good night, Gro," Erik said, pushing open the door.

"Erik, please!" Gro cried, and Enid stared at her, watching the tears run down Gro's cheeks as Erik pulled her through the door, gripping her wrist and dragging her through the streets when Enid tried to fight against him.

"Erik, wait," Enid gasped, but it wasn't long before he'd pushed her through his door, kicking it shut with his boot, the wall shivering with the sound of the thud.

"I've had enough of this Seer," he growled, kicking the stool out of his way as he threw himself onto a chair. "Well make yourself at home!" he said, his arms opening wide, his eyes dark and sharp. "Don't act like it's your first time here."

"I should go," Enid said, her voice soft, her hand clutching at her dress. "Gro's right. You don't have to-,"

"Enough," Erik sighed, waving his hand in the air before he rubbed it against his face and when he spoke again, his voice was soft and quiet. "We'll figure this out. I just need time to think and… you're safer here than the longhouse. Who knows who's hiding in there…"

"What do you mean?" Enid whispered, and Erik stared at her, his eyebrows furrowing into a slight crease, those eyes growing softer as he sighed, and then he kicked at a chair, nudging it towards her and jerking his head towards it.

"This has nothing to do with you, Enid," he said. "I bet someone paid The Seer to say those things to get to Ivar and me… But that means there's definitely a spy here and we're probably getting close," he added, staring out, his eyes going distant and hazy, dark shadows flickering across his face as the flames crackled. "People are going to treat you differently now…" he whispered. "They think you're the snake."

Enid stared at him a long time, not sure what to say, not sure why she didn't feel as frightened as she should be. "Maybe I am," she said, and he laughed, a laugh that was short, a laugh that was curt and came out of his nose.

"There is a snake here," he said, the corners of his lips twitching like he was holding something back. "And I'm going to find it. And when I do, I'll take my sword and cut off its head, even if it's you."