He pulled her behind him, and cut down another man coming after him with one mighty swing of his sword. The men around him saw how many he’d taken down, and he would give them more pain, take more of their lives. A few in the distance stopped, looking unsure as they stared at their fallen comrades in arms.
“Come on, come after me. Try and take what’s mine,” Stian shouted and slammed his fist on his chest. Rage, adrenaline, and excitement coursed through him. A gust of wind picked up and moved Stian’s hair. He felt Agata breathing hard behind him, and he felt pride his woman had taken out a threat, but was pissed she hadn’t listened.
With the violence surrounding them, Stian focused on the man that was closest to him, the one that seemed like he had big balls and wanted to be the one to end this. He would soon taste the tip of his sword. He moved forward at the same time Stian lifted his sword and grinned.
“Stian,” Agata said in an urgent voice. He pushed her back a few feet, and the two men charged forward, their swords raised, and their voices ringing out loud and clear. Their swords clashed together in a ring of metal against metal.
“You actually thought to come here, take my woman and destroy me?” Stian said in a fierce voice. The other man and moved back a step. Stian swung out again, but the man was strong, determined. Stian grunted and growled out, wanting this man to lie lifeless beneath his feet like the other his men that thought they could take from him again.
“You should have been put to death when you were a child, not banished.” The other man swung his sword and grunted when Stian blocked the move.
They went at this for several moments. Blood and sweat dripped into Stian’s eyes, but he refused to stop, refused to back down. Stian thought of his life as a child, the abuse he went through, the fact no one in the village helped him, and thought to send him away because he’d had enough of the torment. They’d never given him a chance to explain why he’d done what he’d done, even if they’d already known.
With a mighty roar he sliced his blade through the other man’s throat and watched him fall to the ground. For several seconds he stared the man’s blood spew out of his throat and cover the ground. The other few men now retreated, accepting their defeat. He turned when he felt Agata touch his back. She had wide eyes, looked shocked, but she cupped his cheeks and leaned up and kissed him on the lips.
“I told you to leave,” he said against her mouth. Gore and death surrounded them, but having this woman beside him, pressed up against him, had warmth and hope filling him. He was pissed, angry that she didn’t listen to him, but pride filled him as well because his woman hadn’t buckled under the threat. She’d come out and fought beside him, and he loved her for it. Yes, Stian Dagmar actually felt love, and it felt pretty incredible.
****
Agata stood in front of the sea. The wind blew her hair around, and she held the satchel of herbs in her hand. She looked at the water, at the mountains surrounding them, then turned and looked at Stian who stood beside her. He had a cut on his cheek, deep, but not bleeding any longer. Blood covered them both, and she felt like death surrounded them, but she felt free.
“I’ve never killed anyone,” she said in English, knowing he probably wouldn’t understand all of that.
He grabbed her shoulders and turned her around to face him. “Death lasts with you, even after the fact.”
She’d only caught a portion of that, but understood him enough and nodded. “I know that, Stian.”
He pulled her into a hug, and she rested her head on his chest.
“I don’t want to leave, Stian,” Agata whispered.
Stian pulled her back and had this hard look on his face.
“Truly?”
She smiled and nodded. “Yeah.” Pulling back from him and staring at the sea, she tightened her hand on the satchel and took a deep breath. Opening the small bag, she scented the herbs right away. They were pungent, spicy, and reminded her that if she took them right now she could be back home.
A home that offers you nothing. At least in this life you can be someone, learn to care about someone so deeply it take your breath away and makes you want to fight for him. And without thinking, she dumped the contents into the sea, and watched as the water drank it up like a thirsty man.
“What was that?” he asked.
“My past,” she said without taking her eyes off of the sea. She turned and faced him, smiled, and knew this was where she belonged. “And now I have my future.”
Epilogue
Four years later
Stian looked at his female, his wife, the woman that had captured his heart so long ago. Things had certainly changed for the better in his life since he’d met Agata. They no longer lived in the small one room hut, but had a bigger place that was safe and had plenty of room for their children to grow and run in.