Finally, they reached the last town in Arik’s tour of the kingdom—his own city, Aalt. Even from a distance, Mira could smell burning wood and fish and incense all at once. Tufts of ashy smoke weaselled away from a thickly-packed sprawl of wooden roofs and mingled with the charcoal-tinted clouds floating above.

As the party entered the city, Mira felt a new sensation. The people of Aalt knew Arik was their king, and the sea of faces parted for him. There were more shades of skin colour than Mira had ever known existed—brown, black, red, white, and all the colours in between. Tall people, short people, clean faces and dirty faces, funny clothing, beautiful clothing—everyone looked up to the king and his party. Some people were even staring at her, moving out of the way of her horse’s hooves with respect. Mira would be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy their reverence. Some of them were easy to read, and so she knew that more than one person was thinking, who is this girl who travels with the king?

Soon the city drew her attention away from their curious stares. There were outlandish birds with feathers as colourful as flowers for sale—other animals too, ones that Mira could not begin to describe. She was especially fond of the horse that was maybe not a horse? It had mystifying streaks of black and white across its entire body. Perhaps it was a white horse, and someone had painted it?

There were more people than she ever imagined existed, all moving in different directions. Shouting, laughing, sitting, standing, running, carrying, selling, buying. The sound of their voices slammed together and mixed with the barking of dogs, the clucking of hens, and the hammering of steel. There was music as well, though, in the throng of it, Mira could not see from whence it came. Furs of every pattern and colour floated by on the shoulders of people Mira passed. Shiny metals caught her eye—intricate jewelry, beads, and ornaments. Mud splashed up, and soot spiralled. People and animals kicked up clouds of dust. There were rich fabrics dangling from ropes that were tied between the pointed rooftops. Mira did not know where to leave her eyes. She caught a glimpse of Rowan and Fyrrah and saw that they were just as bewildered as she was, turning their heads rapidly with wide eyes.

Seeing her awe, Fell gave Halvar to Arik for the hour and took Mira walking through the crowded streets.

“It was not always like this,” he said. “When Arik became king, this was only a small town. But he wanted a grand city, a place where all the world’s crafts and goods and coin could find a home. For three years, Arik did not raid with the other Norser—he travelled on his own ship to faraway cities and offered safe passage along one route. If the ships stayed on the path, there would be no trouble, and they would be richer, as their goods were rare in the North, and so people would pay more for them.”

Fell explained that he lived in the city for six years after Arik had found him. He took Mira to all the places he liked as a young man—the hearth he drank at most, the fishing boat he worked on. He was greeted by an old and happy man, who he introduced as Sune. Fell explained that Sune had been the one who taught him to fish, and because of this, he owed the man his livelihood and independence. Fell told Sune of Halvar as the two shared a skin of wine, laughing about things that happened many years back.

“This man is trouble,” Sune warned her as they stood to leave. “Always be wary of a man you cannot stay angry with!” A grin spread across Sune’s leathery face. “I’m jesting… mostly… I am happy he has found you.” The man’s eyes were surrounded by wrinkles and filled with warmth and kindness.

When they left, Fell gave Sune man a small jingling sack, which Mira assumed was filled with coin.

Fell took her to the place he got in his first true fight and then the place he first kissed a girl; both events happened when he was thirteen.

Mira liked hearing about him as a young man, but she did not like thinking of him kissing someone else.

He sensed his mistake and was quick to repair it. “I would like this to also be the place where the last woman I ever kiss—”

Mira did not let him finish. It was exactly what she needed to hear, and she pressed her lips to his as the people flowed around them.

They were given their own room in Arik’s home. It was a great grey-wood structure filled with artifacts that he’d collected on raids and trading visits. When she wandered through the home, Mira learned that there were dozens of styles of metalwork, of painting and embroidery. Some of the things Arik kept were frightening—sculptures of terrifying beasts with horns and teeth and red eyes and a statue of a bald warrior holding up a severed head that was dripping blood. There were also many instruments Mira had never seen before. Though no one knew how to play them, Arik said she could take them down and fiddle with them whenever she pleased. She spent many hours picking out instruments and attempting to discover how their sound was made. Some came easily to her, but others remained a great mystery.

She and Fell were even given their own serving girl who would clean and bring them meals.

“Be careful around her,” Fell warned. “She is here to spy on us.”

Mira did not like this, though Fell seemed completely unworried when he spoke about it. “Arik is king; he must spy on everyone. It is part of his work.”

“Can you tell Arik I do not want a serving girl?”

Fell laughed. “There is nothing for us to hide. Mostly Arik uses his spies for small things, like…. If there is a captain who does not take Arik’s advice, and his spies tell him you laugh at the same kind of jokes as this captain, he will sit you together at a meal, hoping you will charm him into taking Arik’s advice. It is things like this he uses his spies for. They make him feel powerful; we mustn’t take them away from him.”

Arik would invite them to drink with him every evening, and he and Fell would take turns telling her stories from their days raiding together. All of the tales involved them getting into trouble. Like the time they were deep in their cups, and they had a wager to see which one of them could stand naked in the snow the longest. Or the time that they were trapped in a town while raiding and fought ten men between the two of them. Arik lifted his tunic to show the great scar left from the sword wound he took in the fray. Fell had carried the man to their ship when the fight was over.

They often made wagers when in their cups. Who could drink the most strong wine in an evening? Mira thought they both lost that one, but they decided that Arik won because he was the most upright when they woke the following morning. They played a brutal game: Arik would hit Fell as hard as he could, and then Fell would hit Arik as hard as he could, and it would go on like this until one person fell to the ground. Fell won that game. Mira could see there was beauty in their friendship—Arik had no children and Fell had no father, and so, they gave to each other something precious that was lost.

“Why did you and Arik stop raiding together?” she asked Fell one night as they lay together in bed, his steady breathing hinting that he would soon find sleep.

Fell laughed. “Many reasons, but mostly because Arik wanted to be a king, and I wanted to be a man.”

“Will you go together this season?” she said.

“There will be no raiding this season.”

“What?” Mira frowned. “Why?”

“He has not told us,” Fell said. “We will meet at Byernen the full moon after the summer solstice, and he will tell us then.”

Mira remembered the town from their stop there, and her heart began to race. He’s planning something, she thought.

Instantly, Mira’s mind went to Isle. She knew that Norsern raiding men would not be happy to sit out the season; most of the wealth that came into any town came as a result of the spring raids. The only way they would agree to forgo the gain would be if Arik had offered them something greater. Though Mira had not even lived among the Norsern for a year, she knew deep in her bones that only a ballad-inducing war would be enough to tempt them away from riches.