Chapter 15Kallan rounded her bottom lip into a prominent pout as she followed Rune back to the Great Hall where servants bustled about, too alarmed to sleep. Adrenaline kept the stomp in her foot sharp as she marched up the steps behind Rune. Alert and confrontational, her thoughts raced between worry for Astrid and anger for Ottar that left her unable to collapse with exhaustion. They walked past the lone, closed door and down the hall lit with candles.
Kallan stared at her blackened hands, cracked and bleeding from the wood splinters. She rubbed a split thumb over her wet fingertips. Black soot blotched and smeared the white of her soaked chemise. The click of a door alerted her as Rune led her into her bower and closed the door quietly behind them.
Kallan, too exhausted to fight, stoo
