Chapter 37: 37__Silent challenge

Rye's brows rose and she immediately turned in Amethyst’s direction.

“Hey, there,” she said when she’d reached her.

“Hello.” Amethyst felt her senses tingle.

Riona smiled at Kríah. “The girl Steel brought in?”

Thoran’s mother nodded. “Amethyst.”

*“Aahh…”* Nodding, Riona looked back at Amie and stuck her hand out. “Riona. Everyone calls me Rye.”

Amethyst took her hand and shook it. “Lovely to meet you, Riona. Thanks for letting me sleep at your place.”

“Bah.” She waved it away. “No biggie. I was... really curious about you.” She smiled. Thoran had protected her ferociously last night, none of them had been allowed close. Rye had never seen him that way, it had made her curious about the girl. She was incredibly beautiful, delicate looking as though she’d never tilled a field or milked a cow in her life.

A little awkwardly, Amie lowered her gaze, pushing her food about with a spoon. Why was she intimidated? The girl was about the same size as her, they were probably physically compatible for battle.

“Well.” Riona clapped her hands. “I better go wash up and get some sleep. Gunn?”

“Probably doing the same,” Harald said. “He walked in just a little while before you.”

“And Steel? We haven’t spoken since he got back.”

Frank squirmed through, his bulk pushing people out of the way as he reached over to place a drink by Amie’s food. “Steel’s asleep. Took ‘im some food, he was dead asleep in his bed.”

“Oh…” Rye pouted and it didn’t look out of place despite her fierce warrior appearance. “I should check on him later. He must be exhausted from moving around for months, poor thing.”

She sighed and then left them, making her way through the dining hall. Amie watched her go with a very odd feeling growing in her chest. She could feel the familiarity Riona had with Thoran and, considering how pretty the woman was, she couldn’t help but wonder if there existed some relationship between her and Thoran.

Stuck on the thought, she stared dazedly into space. It really wasn’t any of her business, it wasn’t polite to ponder so deeply on people’s private matters. Still, she couldn’t shake off the thoughts. Why had Riona looked at her like that whilst mentioning Thoran? Had that been a silent challenge? Bah, what rubbish, Ameythyst was getting carried away.

“Amethyst, dear?”

Blinking, Amie turned. “Oh. Yes, Kríah?”

“You haven’t eaten much,” said Thoran’s mother. “You should finish your food, you need to eat to remain strong.”

“Aye,” agreed an older lady on the other side of the table. “It’ll do good to put some muscle on that frame, doll!”

A few more murmurs of agreement came her way and Amie politely agreed, turning her focus to the food before her.

It was completely delicious. If this was the product of Frank and Heidi’s rivalry, it was possible that others deliberately pit the two against each other only to get such delicious meals as a result.

Harald remained beside her whilst she ate, chattering away with anyone he could engage in conversation. Of course, most of his conversations were banter but, judging by how fondly people laughed at his jests, Amethyst could tell he was well-loved by the adults.

By the time she’d finished her food, the house was nearly empty, everyone gone back to their daily tasks after celebrating the men’s safe return to the village. The whole thing was incredibly heartwarming, nothing like what Amie had imagined Barbarians to be.

She casually told Kríah so and got a light laugh in return.

“I know what you mean,” said Kríah. “Other people have different myths and legends they believe when it comes to Barbs. The image of a hairy man wearing leather with a giant axe to bludgeon his victims to death always comes to mind.” She chuckled, shaking her head as she watched the remaining people in the hall talk and dance with one another. “We’re just a tribe like any other. Maybe thousands of years ago, our ancestors looked like that, but not anymore.”

Pursing her lips, Amie nodded. “I understand.” As Vamp Vikings, her kingdom were descendants of Vampires who had lived amongst humans and had become a part of the Viking nations. When their Vampire capabilities had been exposed however, they’d been pursued right out of the human territory and had settled in this realm with other non-human species.

The stereotype of being Vikings stuck, however, and was considered odd by the other non-humans. Amie couldn’t count the number of questions she’d had to answer in Zaire about her specie. It appeared that they found it odd that she didn’t walk around with a giant sword, her hair braided and some snow wolves to pull her about in a sleigh.

“Being a Barbarian is your identity,” she told Kríah. “But after all these years, it’s remained more of a culture, than an active practice.”

Thoran’s mother nodded firmly. “Exactly. That’s it. We live normal lives. Except, of course, for some of the men having to travel out for months collecting provisions.” A dark look entered her silver eyes, killing the bit of joy that had glimmered there. “But that… wasn’t by choice.”

A moment of silence stretched between them, interrupted only by Harald’s animated storytelling of the adventures they’d gone on and how many sea monsters he’d seen. From Kríah’s words, Amethyst remembered her intent to learn more about what had happened to the Barbarians to make them go back to their old ways. The sooner she learnt more about it, the sooner she would know just what her father had done and if there was no way to remedy it except with the ruining of her kingdom.

“Amie?”

She looked up. Frank was approaching from the kitchen. “Yes?”

“Done?”

“Yes. Thank you so much for the food, it was the best I’ve ever tasted.”

He gasped. *“Hah!”* Straightening, Frank put both hands on his hips and threw a scornful look back at the kitchen. “Hear that?! My food, the *best* she’s ever tasted!”

“Go on, you spiteful man!” Heidi snapped from inside the kitchen.

With a gleeful cackle, Frank returned his attention to Amie. “Thank you, Miss. Amie! I’ll make certain to meet yer standard!”

She nodded politely. “Thank you.”

“You’d want to freshen up now, aye?”

“Oh, yes.” She was dying for a hot bath.

“There’s a bag over there with stuff you need. A gal’s stuff, right. All brand new, made just for you.”

“Thank you so much.”

With a hum, he raised his head. “Where’s Rye? Amie’s needin’ a bath!”

“Oooh, Rye’s using her place right now,” Harald told him. “She’s gonna bath and then sleep like the dead.”

“Oh…” Dejectedly, Frank looked back at Amie. “Oh, dearie. Seems Riona’s not ‘ere. I’d offer you my quarters, but it’s hardly fit for a young gal.”

“Ah…” Awkwardly, Amie shrunk in her seat. She didn’t want to make any demands here, that would be rude. “I’ll wait then. When Riona wakes up, I’ll ask to use her bath.”

Harald snorted. “You’ll be waiting till kingdom comes if she falls asleep!”

“Aye, she sleeps like death itself,” someone murmured.

“Well, I have a large bathing pool here,” Kríah said. “Everything in my house is big to accommodate everyone, the ladies love bathing together upstairs.”

“Right, my nan and them are bathing together right now,” Harald added. “You could join them.”

“Aah…” Tensing, Amie tried to think of something to say. She didn’t want to be rude, but she didn’t think she could bath with a group of ladies she didn’t know. Especially grandmas who had no problem closely studying your body and making adorable comments about how similar your breasts were to theirs when they were young.

Frank saw her discomfort. “Well, what about Gunnar’s? Is it empty? Last time we got back, he passed out at Steel’s house for days.”

Harald scoffed. “Only because Steel had been badly injured, Gunn was suffering from separation fears.”

Kríah laughed. “Thoran had the devil’s own job trying to get his brother off him back then.”

“Aye,” said Frank with a chuckle. “Steel stays careful since then. He won’t risk an injury, just to avoid Gunnar’s fuss.”

Amie couldn’t help but smile at their conversation. She had never pegged Gunnar to be the cute kind of little brother who tagged along with his big brother. That was incredibly adorable.

“Okay,” Kríah said with a clap of her hands. “Check Gunnar’s place and then check Thoran’s. One of them has to be empty. If not, let me know and I’ll make a place available.”

Amie felt her entire mind gravitate towards the idea of going to Thoran's house. She shamelessly entertained the thought.

“Aye, Captain!” tooted Harald, standing up. “Come on, Amie! I’ll take you there.”