The dock we landed our small rowboat on when we’d crossed over from Nøkken to Fossegrim was a far distance away from the massive ships used for fishing and trading. Foss owned one enormous pirate-like ship for fishing and several yacht-sized wooden boats for trading overseas. Foss directed us to one of the pirate ships he’d instructed the others to rendezvous at, heaving a sigh of relief when he saw it had not left without us.
It was still dark, but dawn was on the way, so we hurried to the vessel, flagging down Uncle Rick, who looked simultaneously relieved and shocked at my appearance as he lowered the plank for us. “Sweetheart, what happened to you? Come in, come in. Jens!” he called over his shoulder.
The whole loving someone after they’ve been through the ringer and look like crap thing is something to be admired. Despite my bedraggled state, Jens ran toward me, reaching out his hands and lowering me from the plank down into the boat. I sunk into his embrace and felt myself breathe for the first time in a week and a half. The comfort of his sugary scent and his warm and strong grip on me melted the front I’d been holding myself together with. I burst into embarrassing tears under the last moments of light from their giant red moon, leaving Uncle Rick and Tor to help the others into the ship. Once again, my body stung all over when there was enough support for me to actually feel my injuries again. Jens kissed my face over and over, wiping my tears and holding me upright. When his hand brushed the small of my back, I bit my tongue as Jamie cried out. “Jens! Watch your hands,” he barked after greeting Britta. “She’s freshly burned everywhere, so maybe just hold her hand or something.”
Jens jumped back from me. “I’m sorry, Loos! What happened? What took you guys so long? We were supposed to meet here days ago! We were this close to coming after you.”
Foss was lowered to the floor of the gently rocking ship. He held his side, chest heaving as he spoke. “Olaf. It was Olaf. He must’ve had a tail on me. He sent his men after me, beat me up and took me home. He set my property on fire and left me to burn in it.” He coughed and winced, holding his ribs. “We barely got out alive.”
Questions and exclamations flooded out at Foss, who was not totally up for answering everything. He held up his hand to stave off the inquisition. “My servants survived and escaped, but my home is gone. Everything was burned.” He glanced at me, clearly embarrassed. “Lucy pulled me out of the house before it burned down. She saved my life. Twice, now.”
I really had nothing to say to that. When everyone looked at me, I shrugged. “Whatever. Let’s get on with whatever the next part of the plan is.”
Foss shook his head. “No, Lucy. You saved my life, so this is me paying you back.”
“Huh? By what, telling them what happened?”
Foss wrinkled his nose in confusion. “By giving you your due credit.”
I can’t really explain it, but for some reason, that disgusted me. I walked over to him and towered over his sprawled out body, hands on my hips. “Is that all your life’s worth? Pride? You don’t know me at all if you think that makes us square. Normally I wouldn’t care, but you were terrible to me in the beginning. No. We’re not square until you pay me what you think your entire life is worth.”
Foss was taken aback. He blinked up at me, mouth open at my sudden gall. “But I don’t have anything to give you. I’ll be declared dead soon.”
I waved my hand to show him he was on the wrong trail, yet again. I made a buzzer sound that I’m pretty sure just confused him more. “Wrong again. I don’t want your money. We’ll be even when you pay me back for every mean thing you’ve ever said to me and Britta, and you give me back what you think your life is worth. You owe me. You owe me a new personality from you and more than you’re currently capable of giving.”
Britta’s eyes were wide when I spoke on her behalf. You’re welcome, sista.
“I don’t understand what you want from me. Thank you for saving my life. After everything I put you through, I’m surprised you didn’t let me burn.”
I softened. “That’s maybe the first sensible thing you’ve said. I’ll let you know when you’ve paid off your debt to me.” I almost called him a rat, but Martin Luther King would have been more gracious. “Now let’s do whatever we need to ripcord out of here. Those men were no joke.”
Tor was the first to snap back to the present. “Ya heard tha queen. Get Foss down below tha deck so he’s not seen. It won’t do ta have Olaf’s men after our ship. Best let him think he finished tha job.”
Foss shook his head. “We need provisions. This ship isn’t stocked for long journeys. Lucy, you have to take my ring into town and buy what we need.”
“I’ll go with her,” Jens volunteered. He looked down at me and gripped my hand. “Not out of my sight, Mox.”
“Everyone else, down below,” Tor ordered. “Except Alrik. Ya’ve got a face people trust, so ya stay above and make sure no one tries ta light us on fire.”