Chapter 36: 36_A lover's rival

Relief flooded her heart as soon as she laid eyes on him.

“Amie!” someone cheerfully shouted.

Amethyst looked at the swinging kitchen doors to the right to see Frank hurrying out with an apron tied around his waist.

“This ‘ere’s Amie, everyone!” he announced, rushing over to fetch her from the doorway.

The room came alive with murmurs, everyone chattering and standing to get a better look at her.

“That’s her?” an old lady seated in an armchair said with a smile. “Why, she’s lovely!”

“Hello, dearie,” the old lady beside the first one greeted.

Flustered, Amie awkwardly waved. “H-hello…” At her first words, the room quietened. She gulped. “My name’s Amie o… or Amethyst.”

“Amethyst!” a few people repeated happily.

A cup was shoved into her hand and filled with wine, several hands appearing to shake hers. She recognized many of the men she’d already gotten used to, but there were so many unknown faces.

“Thank you for getting our medicine, doll!” a lady said, hugging her.

“Ah, i-it was nothing—”

“Why, she’s as fair as a phantom!” a man said.

Amie blinked. “Oh.”

“Now, Igor, that’s not nice.”

“Aye, she’s fair, but she’s lovely, i’n’t she?” someone threw out.

“Stunning,” another lady agreed.

“Thank you,” Amie muttered, searching aimlessly for the source of the compliment.

“Gal’s got no shoes on. Quick! Lohr, give her yours!”

“Now, why should I go barefoot?”

“She’s a guest, you crow.”

“No, it’s alright!” Amethyst quickly said.

Laughing, Frank protectively kept a hand around her shoulders, presenting her like a proud father.

Thoran was still seated, arms crossed over his chest as he watched her fight for her life.

At the head of the table, adjacent to Thoran was seated a woman. She stood up, clutching a dark woollen shawl around her shoulders as she curiously watched Amie.

With chuckles and playful banter, Frank nudged everyone aside to lead Amie through the crowd.

“Right, Kríah. Here she is.”

Amethyst was brought to a stop right before the woman and, anxiously, she looked up at her. She was beautiful with straight, black hair swaying down to her hips, framing a face of glowing, tanned skin. “Hello?”

In the cheerful buzz of the room, the woman was silent. She tilted her head and the action was insanely familiar to Amie.

The room quietened and they all looked on, making Amethyst tense with anxiety. Why wasn’t Thoran helping her out? Damn him.

Slowly, a smile curved the woman’s lips and her grey eyes crinkled at the corners. “Hello, my dear.”

Her voice had a kind softness to it that immediately put Amie’s fears to rest. In a moment, she was engulfed in a hug and covered in the woman’s shawl.

It was so incredibly warm and it had been so long since she had gotten such a hug that Amethyst simply melted in the woman’s arms, tightly hugging her back. The room erupted in cheerful conversations and clinking of glasses once more. Were they welcoming her? She blinked.

When she was finally released, she was mildly alarmed to feel her eyes prickle with tears but the woman was smiling.

“You can call me Kríah. That’s what everyone calls me.”

“Ah.” Amie nodded. “Okay. I apologize for my sudden arrival—”

“No.” Kríah shook her head, wisps of black hair swaying. “My sons have vouched for you. I trust them completely.”

Amie blinked with a soft, curious smile. “Ah, your sons. I see.” She frowned. “Who… who are your sons? Do I know them?”

Raising her brows in surprise, Kríah pointed her chin at the seat behind Amethyst. “Firstly, that one.”

Puzzled, Amie glanced back. She froze.

With cold concrete for a facial expression, Thoran stared glumly back at her.

Her eyes bulged out. “What?!”

Kríah laughed. “He didn’t tell you he has a mother? Just like him. My son prefers for people to think he was simply carved out of rock, one day, and came to be.”

Amie’s mouth still hung open, her eyes staring at Thoran. “You… have a mum?”

He said nothing but tilted his head, eyes narrowing as though to question her intelligence.

She then spotted a familiar cup of wine on the table before him and realized, with a start, that her hands were empty. Where had her wine gone?

“Amie!” someone shouted.

Sparkling clean like he’d been scrubbed a thousand times, Harald came barrelling through the house.

“Harald!”

With a cheer, he wrapped her in his arms to dance a quick waltz as he excitedly sang the wrong song for the dance. “You’re alive! Last I saw you, you were lain lifeless in a cart!”

“Oh, you’re dramatic,” she laughed, pulling shyly away as their dancing attracted too many amused stares.

“Move,” a deep voice said.

Harald was instantly removed, swept aside by a single hand.

“Gee, how polite,” he grumbled, pressed into the crowd as Gunnar stepped past.

“Amie,” he greeted.

“Hello, Gunnar.”

Without another word, he went straight to Kríah, collapsing on her shoulder.

The sight was as surprising as it was heart-warming and Amie looked on in curiosity.

With a chuckle, Kríah patted Gunnar’s back. “Well, that one…” She pointed her chin at a silent Thoran. “Is my first one, and this one’s my second.”

“Ah, I see.” Amie smiled. Of course! Frank had mentioned that Gunn and Thoran were step-brothers. “Gunnar’s a commendable man, I can see why. He’s got such a lovely mother.”

Kríah bowed her head with a smile, thanking her as Gunnar straightened with a groan.

“I’m exhausted.” He looked at Amie. “Are you okay? You were completely unconscious last night.”

She nodded. “Yes, I’m okay now, thank you. Thoran must’ve…” Trailing off, she glanced back at him. His seat was empty. “Thoran must’ve… taken care of me.” Where had he gone? Unease crept into her chest. He hadn’t even said a word to her, the cold-hearted brute.

“Oh, you have no idea,” Kríah said, nodding at Gunnar as he excused himself. “He wouldn’t let any of us come near the cart he’d brought you in. We didn’t get a peek at your face till you walked in that door.”

“That’s why I thought you were dead,” Harald said, yawning.

She smiled up at him. “You’re looking very squeaky clean, Harry.” Long gone was the scrawny lad with the mud stains on his cheek.

He scoffed. “That’s cause my nan nearly scrubbed the skin off me bones.”

“Getting washed by your nan? Sounds like baby activity.”

He gasped, highly offended. “I told you, I’m no baby!”

She laughed at his outrage, highly satisfied.

“Sit here,” someone said.

Amethyst turned around to see a chair brought to her by a stocky man. “Oh, thank you, Bjorn.”

“No trouble, miss. Good to see you up on your feet.”

She nodded, smiling gratefully as she sat beside Thoran’s empty seat.

Kríah took her seat once more and Harald squeezed in with a stool, his knobby knees flanking the corner leg of the table.

“Where did Thoran go?” Amie dared to ask.

Kríah smiled kindly. “Home, probably. He hasn’t slept a wink since you three arrived, he’s gone to rest.”

“Ah…” She nodded, the curiosity to know where he lived already growing. “The place I woke up in…?”

“That’s Riona’s place,” Harald offered. “She rode off with Gunnar at dawn to check on the cave, so Thoran put you in her house.”

Clueless as to who he was talking about, she could only nod. “I see.”

The warmth of the house grew and Amethyst got to realize that, not only did everyone know everyone else, but all of them were as close as immediate family members. Someone kindly brought her a pair of fur slippers and a thick cloak to wear, making sure she was warm.

Frank came out of the kitchen a few times to check on her, hurrying back when a plump, rosy-cheeked woman in there accused him of slacking.

“That’s Heidi,” Harald had explained. “She’s Frank’s rival, they’re always trying to outcook each other.”

Soon, the giant dining table was covered in a variety of dishes, a blend of delicious aromas filling the air.

The door opened and a beautiful woman wearing a black, ropey battle outfit walked in.

“Rye!” someone cheered, holding up a goblet of wine.

“Ay!” the woman cheered back, raising a giant dead bird by its feet.

Amie’s eyes went wide at the sight of the dead bird. What was that, a turkey?!

“Here, Amie,” Frank said, setting several plates and bowls before her. “Eat up.”

“Well done, Frankie,” Harald said, plunging his spoon into Amie’s soup bowl. “Just to my taste.”

With a choked sound of shock, Frank glared at him. “Harald! Yer out to piss me off, aren’t you?!"

“What’s wrong with me taking a bite or two, you stingy blob?!”

“You little—”

Harald squawked, grabbed by the ear and dragged off his stool. Amethyst wasn’t watching, she was too busy looking at the woman called Rye. She looked strong, as did most of the men and women in the room.

But there was something different about Rye. Amethyst didn’t know what it was, but clearly it was strong enough to hold her attention.

She reappeared from the kitchen without the bird, sauntering through the crowd and leaving a trail of laughter with every comment she made. Her charm was obvious, she was adored by their people. With a whisper from another girl, her gaze went across the room and landed on Amie.