Page 86 of Feast

She darted forward, placing her body in between Rolf and Thusar.

“Rolf, stop it!” she cried. “Don’t fight them!”

“Get out of the way. I’m going to tear these rotted bastards to shreds.”

The crazed look in Rolf’s eye showed that he meant it, and Ika could sense the other ukkur responding with equal aggression. They were growling in warning. Some of the frightened humans had moved away, and other ukkur were forming a ring of onlookers in expectation of a big fight.

Ika needed to de-escalate this situation, and fast.

“Rolf, you’ve got it all wrong,” she shouted. “Thusar and his pack didn’t try to steal me. They saved my life.”

That was bending the truth a little, but right now the situation required that.

“Saved you?” Rolf said, relaxing slightly.

“Yes. They saved me from the nith. Rolf, please don’t fight them. They are good, honorable ukkur, and they just want the same thing that you do. They want to protect me and keep me safe.”

“It’s true,” Thusar said from behind. “Ika’s protection and happiness is our greatest concern. We just want to keep Ika safe.”

“Ee-kah…safe,” Slaine added helpfully.

Rolf relaxed a little more. His eyes darted from Thusar to Gunnar to Muk and finally to brutal-looking Slaine. He still seemed only half-convinced, but that was an improvement at least.

Ika kept her body positioned between Rolf and Thusar. She could feel hundreds, maybe even thousands of eyes on her now—the other ukkur watching the scene play and the humans, who probably had no clue what was going on, poor frightened things that they were.

Ika took a deep breath and went on.

“Rolf, if you are going to get angry at anyone, please be angry at me.”

The tears were streaming down her cheeks now. She had reached that point of no return where it was impossible to hold the water back, and there was no point even trying. She wasn’t even ashamed that everyone could see her eyes leaking now. All that mattered was saying what needed to be said.

“I’m so sorry, Rolf. All of this is my fault. I sneaked out of the den the other night to spy on these four ukkur because I was curious. I disobeyed you, and because of that, I endangered myself. And even worse, I endangered you. For that I’m truly sorry. But please, please don’t fight with these ukkur. I…I care for them, Rolf. I want to be with them. And I want you to be friends with them to.”

Ika dropped her head and cried, letting the tears run down her chin and drop into the snow at her feet.

All the fight went out of Rolf then, and he seemed almost to deflate. He trudged forward and lifted Ika’s chin with his bound hands.

“Ika, you are wrong. It is I who must apologize to you.”

She sniffed and looked up at him through tear-blurred eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“I have been selfish, Ika. I kept you hidden away in that den of ours because I wanted so badly to protect you. But I never thought about how it would affect you. I never stopped to consider your feelings, and my selfishness almost drove you away. For that, Ika, I am sorry.”

Rolf paused, gathering his thoughts. His hands dipped to Ika’s chest where the metal ring hung from her necklace. He lifted it, studying it carefully, and to Ika it seemed that Rolf’s gray eyes were not looking at her but were staring far off into the past.

“There are things I never told you about yourself, Ika. Things about the night I found you. Things that I still don’t understand…”

He glanced around at the humans. Some of them were naked and shivering. Others had already been clothed in furs for warmth.

“…But I think perhaps someone here can finally provide some answers.”

Thusar stepped closer now. He placed one arm gently around Ika’s back. The other hand, he rested on Rolf’s shoulder in a gesture of reconciliation.

“Rolf, we intend to join with these ukkur and go with them back to the southern lands. Will you come with us?”

Rolf looked to Ika.