Raging Sea Read Online Free Page B

helped her to her feet. “I’ve never seen a boat pitch that far without capsizing completely. It seemed to pause for a moment, neither leaning nor righting itself. Strange that.”
    â€œNor I,” she said, tugging the laces and freeing her sodden cloak. “A sudden wind?” Ran glanced at the man who’d sailed for more years than she’d lived. The winds could be unpredictable any time on the sea, but during this transition from winter to spring, even more so.
    â€œNay, calm.” Bjorn waved to one of the other men. “Get blankets.”
    She should be shivering. She should be shuddering from the temperature of the seas at this time of year and yet, the water that her clothing and hair held remained warm. Just as it had beneath the surface. Ran allowed Askell to wrap a thick woolen shawl around her shoulders.
    â€œYou should go and change out of those garments. I do not wish to explain your sickening or worse to your father, Ran,” Bjorn ordered in a soft voice. From the expression in his gaze, this had scared him.
    It scared her.
    More though, it confused her. She rarely lost her balance when sailing. And Ran did not suffer when moving onto land after being on a boat or ship—each step was sure and steady. So, falling into the water as she had puzzled her.
    No matter what or how, she did not wish her father to be concerned and question her suitability for the tasks that lay ahead of her. Their bargain had been bitterly fought and she would not give it up now.
    â€œA rogue swell,” she whispered before facing Bjorn. “A rogue swell caught the boat. I am well,” she said. “There is nothing to tell my father.” Bjorn’s weathered face told her nothing. “All of us have ended up in the water. ’Tis the way of it amongst those who spend their lives on the sea.”
    Ran met his gray gaze and waited for his decision. Her father sought an excuse to forbid her from sailing on his ships, and this would be enough. He wanted her married and settled, whether in Orkney or one of the many ports where his business interests lay. She wanted the freedom of the sea.
    â€œYou look no worse for it, lass,” he finally said, glancing away. “But if anything else . . .”
    She reached out and hugged Bjorn, kissing his leathery cheek before he could say more. “We are nearly home. All will be well, I swear it,” she said.
    â€œGo now,” he stepped back and nodded. “You are soaked through to the skin. Change your garments.”
    Knowing how much it took the man to agree not to reveal this to her father, she nodded and left him there without another word. As she went below deck, Ran glanced back to find Bjorn staring at her. Had he heard the voices? Had he seen the way she’d been thrown back into the air? Or had he noticed the warmth in her wet clothing?
    She would not ask him for it was pure folly to think that there could be voices in the water. Or to think that she breathed under its surface. Or think the water somehow saved her. Ran was not prone to visions or hearing things that were not there, so she could not explain it all. Better to let it lie rather than bring up matters she could not answer.
    As she undressed and dried off, Ran noticed the new mark on her arm. Had she hit it as she’d fallen over the railing? Or mayhap as Bjorn and the others pulled her up? It was red like a bruise but, as she examined it, it changed. It moved. It almost looked as though there was something moving under her skin. And then the burning began, sending little bursts of pain through her skin.
    Tearing off a strip from her still-wet shift, Ran wrapped it around her forearm, covering this injury. The coolness of the bandage soothed it as she’d hoped it would. One little bruise or scrape was nothing compared to what could have happened to her, so she continued dressing and returned to the deck above to watch the rest of the