Fossegrim

by Mary E. Twomey

  When we reached a well in a rural area, Jamie drew up a bucket of water for us. Now that Mace had a water source nearby, he could use his gift at will. He showered a trickle from his hands over Foss, washing away some of the sweat and streaking black lines of soot over his hard and bruised body. Water was tipped to his trembling lips, and as he guzzled it down, I could see the effort this cost him.

  Mace hosed himself down, and then shot out water at Jamie, who was not nearly as filthy. He was injured in various places, though. Jamie had a trickle of blood from his nose, a burn on his back and several score marks on his arms and legs. I wondered how he acquired them all if he was at a safe distance shooting arrows.

  I was taking a break sitting on the grass next to Foss’s outstretched form. He was a giant compared to me, but even in the shroud of darkness, I could see his utter devastation at losing everything he owned. I wanted to offer him some semblance of comfort, but I’d been in his boat, and I knew there was no solace to be had in such a situation.

  I did not realize how dirty I was until Mace trickled water down over my head. Rivulets of black and red streaked down my body and my nightgown. My beautiful gown was so stained and torn, it was beyond redemption.

  Mace knelt down at my side and did something so tender, it almost made me acknowledge the horror we’d just endured. Almost. His long fingers tangled in my hair and washed it, massaging my scalp with the greatest care. My coping skills were top-notch, so I shoved down any freaking out over the fire and scheduled my meltdown for another day five years from now when I had plenty of tissues, space and the hard leather of a therapist’s couch. For now, I let Mace take care of me as I would him, if I had his powers. Instead of spraying the water out at me like a shower, as he had for the others, he traced his fingers over my scalp and across my face.

  “How’d you get a bloody nose?” he asked with a look of grave concern.

  I touched my upper lip and found a trickle of red. “Huh. No idea. I don’t even feel it.” Henry Mancini licked my toes, and I loved him for not shying away from my smoke stink.

  “Well, I do,” Jamie said. He wrung out his shirt and shoved the tail of it in the waist of his pants so it hung down across the back of his legs. He pointed to the burn marks all up his arms and a strange divot on his naked chest. “These are all from you dragging Foss out of the house. Not the easiest thing to shoot arrows when I’m laplanded to you.”

  “Oh, sorry. I forgot about that. But in my defense, our bumps saved Foss’s life.”

  “Which is why I’m not upset,” Jamie allowed with a nod of his head to commend my actions. “But this one hurt.” He pointed to his chest. “Still stings a little. What is it?” He glanced to my bosom and gasped. “Lucy, the ring!”

  “What?” I looked down and let out a muffled yelp. Foss’s ring that was hanging on the leather strap around my neck still shined out at the world, despite the soot in the crevices of his engraved crest, but part of the gold was melted over my chest bone. “How do we get it off?” I worried, panicking a little when I pictured a chunk of my skin ripping off with it.

  “You really don’t feel it?” Jamie asked, itching the sting on his chest.

  “I don’t feel anything. The adrenaline’s still kicking in high gear. Get it off me!” I wanted to claw at it, but knew that was the wrong thing to do.

  Mace continued washing me, gently moving his hands over my arms and shoulders. “Let’s worry about that when we get on the boat.”

  Foss resurfaced from his funk next to me and shook his head, sitting up with great effort. “No. We need my ring to buy provisions for the trip back to Elvage. Lucy can go into town and buy what we need using my seal. Even if word’s spread that I’m dead, my accounts still have a large stipend left, and she’s the lady of the house.”

  The three men looked at each other to see who should tend to the task. Foss flexed his fingers to test their dexterity and sat up straighter to stretch his back. “Jamie can’t do it because the second he starts, he’ll feel the tear.”

  “Tear?” I gulped, looking down at my chest. True, the ring was not touching my breasts, thank goodness, but it was just an inch or two above my cleavage. I wasn’t huge into revealing clothes in my normal life when I got to choose what I wore, but it was nice to know the option was there. Depending on the size of the scar, those tank top days might be gone forever. Not a life-altering deal, but a significant bummer nonetheless.

  “I’ll do it,” Foss murmured just as Mace opened his mouth. “You get ready with cold water as soon as it comes off, elf boy,” he instructed.

  Mace watched my unhappiness with uncertainty. “I can get it off her.”

  Foss all but growled at my brother. “I’m stronger than everyone here. It’s my ring, and she’s my wife. My responsibility.” He grimaced. “Technically.”

  “Fine. Whatever. Please just get it off me,” I requested, head in hands. “Goodbye, string bikinis. Had I known I had so little time with you, I would’ve bought you by the barrel,” I muttered as I lay down on the grass. Foss hovered over me as much as he could in his battered state. I picked up his hand and moved it over my mouth. “In case I scream,” I explained before molding his fingers where they would muffle best. Jamie picked up Henry Mancini, who could sense my distress and had started whining.

  When Foss touched the ring, I started to feel the sting Jamie had been talking about. Jamie sat next to my supine body, bracing himself with his hand over his mouth to keep any locals from being alerted to our presence.

  Foss worked his finger into the loop, gave it a painful rock back and forth, moving my skin with it. With each jolt, I started to become more aware of my injuries that had been ignored due to my excellent ability to compartmentalize. Foss paused with determination in his eyes and met my anxious gaze with a solemn nod that told me to buck up.

  As long as I live, I will remember the feeling of gold being ripped off my skin. I screamed and writhed under Foss, who did his best to quiet my arching back and thrashing head. I shuddered against him, despite my best efforts to toughen up. Miracle of all miracles, he held me tight, and I could not detect a modicum of his usual loathing toward me. Instead he was tender, holding me as I fought my way through the pain and back to his messed up world. “Breathe, just breathe,” he urged me, kissing my shoulder as I screamed into his neck and bled on his chest.

  Mace was ready and hit the mark with a steady stream of cold water when Foss laid me back on the ground and collapsed next to me. Luckily some splashed onto my face, hopefully disguising the few tears that leaked out as the magnitude of my many injuries slammed into me over and over again.

  My arms were burned in several places. Something hot and heavy must have hit my side, because it hurt like crazy when I moved my hips. The small of my back felt like it was on fire still, and something was wrong with my nose. It wasn’t broken, but boy, did it hurt. Everything hurt.

  Mace cooled my burns and Jamie’s until I calmed down and my chest stopped bleeding. I sat up slowly, trying to regain some semblance of composure. Foss tangled his thick fingers in my hair, combing through the wet curls to offer a bit of sweetness to my bleak existence.

  “Don’t.” I batted at his hand and looked away.

  “What?” he asked, affronted.

  I shook my head, trying to keep the emotion out of my voice. “You’ll make me cry. I just can’t handle you being nice right now.”

  “Lucy,” Foss scolded me, drawing me back down next to him. He stroked my arm, consoling himself as much as he did me. “You’re okay.”

  “Sure, but you almost died!” Then as quick as the outburst came, I shoved it back down. “I don’t want to talk about it.” I took several deep breaths before standing, unwilling to look at the damage. It felt like I had a gaping hole fifteen feet wide on my sternum, and I just couldn’t deal with seeing it at the moment.

  “Let’s go,” I said, shaking some of the water off me. “We don’t want to keep everyone else waiting too long.”r />
  Despite my fragile state that threatened to crumble if I examined it too closely, Jamie and I helped Foss to his feet. He was walking a little better after the rest and wash. We trudged on through the night with Jamie keeping the two guys and himself invisible. I felt a little strange walking in front with Henry Mancini and talking with them as we went. I mean, if anyone saw us, I’m sure they would think I was insane. I was soaking wet with a battered body, a singed and torn dress, walking in the dead of night and rambling to myself. Yeah. I’m awesome.

  After some indeterminable amount of time, Jamie requested a break when we reached a small pond. “Mace, my chest is burning. Could you hit it with cold water again?” He turned to me. “Lucy, I know you’re in pain. You have to say something. It’s perfectly acceptable to speak up if your skin is burning.”

  My fists had been clenched through the pain for some time. “I thought I’d let you whine about it this time. I’ve been the weakest link for too long. Kinda tired of it.”

  Jamie shook his head at me and faced Mace, who hit both of us at the same time with his cooling spray. My tension decreased by a million percent, easily. It’s amazing how uptight pain can make you.

  Jamie fingered his wound tenderly. “Huh. Is that… Oh, no.” He looked over at my chest and laughed. “Jens is not going to be happy when he sees that.”

  I narrowed my eyes, indignant. “Well, then he doesn’t have to look at my breasts if he doesn’t want to. It’s not like I scarred myself on purpose.”

  Jamie covered his mouth to stifle his smile. Then both he and Mace chuckled as they ogled my chest. They leaned close to get a good look in the dark, so I shoved them back to remind them I was still a woman. I covered myself with my hands and scowled. “Look, I know this is a boys’ club, but you’re being gross. And you’re my brother. Quit making jokes about my boobs.”

  Mace blushed through his amusement and waved his hands to excuse himself. “No, no. It’s not that, kära. I promise. Don’t you see it?”

  “No. I’m afraid to look. Is it bad?”

  Foss looked over at me and his mouth fell open. “Ho! I really don’t want another black eye right now.”

  Despite my unease, I glanced down at my chest. My nose crinkled in confusion as I tried to make out the shape. Squiggly lines and something that looked like a hammer were singed into my sternum. Then it hit me what the design was. Foss’s crest was burned onto my skin. Just above my breasts was an indication I’d been married and was now branded for life, even after I gave him back his ring when all this was over.

  I whimpered pathetically and wished for a t-shirt. Or a Band-Aid. Actually, if I’m wishing for things, I think I’d rather none of this ever happened. That I was back with my family, playing Tekken with Linus and being an obnoxious winner whenever luck graced me.

  I pointed at Jamie, who was still laughing. “Whatever. You’re branded, too.”

  Jamie shrugged. “Sure, but I’m a large man with hair to cover it over. It doesn’t look like anything on me but a little scar. Matches the rest of them. But you’re a dainty woman. It sticks out like a beacon. And that is an unfortunate spot, indeed.”

  I rolled my shoulders back and postured, wearing my mark with pride. “I’m going to choose to forgive you right now because you called me dainty. Let’s move, pervs.”

  I walked ahead of them and tried to ignore their quiet laughter as we stalked on through the night.

  Twenty-One.

  Due Credit

  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.”

  Twenty-Two.

  Adapt or Die

  Britta dressed the wound on my lower back so I could wear a proper dress, threw my blue gown from Elvage over my head and sent me on my way in a matter of twenty minutes. I still looked like I’d lost a fight with a pillowcase full of batteries, but it was an improvement nonetheless.

  The marketplace was visible from the docks, which gave me just enough tether to leave my laplanded buddy on the boat so he could rest.

  Jens was invisible as he walked behind me, whispering funny or crude things over my shoulder as we made our way to the marketplace. Commerce was just beginning to stir at the first sight of the sun on the horizon. He directed me to the different booths and told me what to order. Some of the things I could carry, but others had to be delivered. I paid probably too much extra to have them delivered immediately, waiting at the booth until I verified someone left with the goods to place in Foss’s ship with Alrik to sign for it, or however they did things like that here. I really missed the internet, and knew I could secure all these things with a few easy clicks.

  I bought too much food, a few dresses for me and Britta, and new clothes for the guys, all except Tor. They didn’t sell dwarf clothing anywhere I saw. He’d just have to love the new axe I had sent to the ship. I purchased an assortment of artillery that Jens instructed me on. Bows and arrow, knives of all sizes and shapes, and a few other weapons I hoped we would never have to use were sent to the ship. I ordered a case of Gar from a vendor I knew Foss liked, dozens of fur blankets, soap, a few hambones for Henry Mancini, and whatever else Jens requested over my shoulder.