Emer's Quest (Manannan Trilogy) by Michele McGrath Page B

seafaring. Tanni was teaching Hari how to foretell the weather, how to find out where the boat was heading by using the stars or the signs of underwater shoals. She would have liked to join them, for she was curious about such things, but, if she passed close to them, Hari frowned and gestured her away impatiently.
    A few nights later, as Kolla had described, the dancers in the sky, the nordrljos, appeared. Great veils of green and white light sparkled in the darkness, changing colour even as Emer watched. She hung onto the gunwale, trying to keep her balance while she looked up, totally entranced by the spectacle.
    “They’re beautiful, aren’t they?” A voice said softly beside her, an unexpected voice. She glanced behind her. The strange light rippled over Hari’s rapt face and he seemed to be speaking to himself more than her. “In them we see the true wonder of God.”
    “Yes, they’re beautiful,” Emer replied. “I have never seen anything like them before.”
    “They only appear in the far north. There is nothing like them anywhere else. When I first saw them, I was afraid, but Fadir told me the spirits would not harm me and I should just watch while they danced for me. I was very little then. Fadir had taken Modir and me on one of his journeys. They held my hands and we stood on the prow, watching. It is the earliest memory I have and I have never forgotten.”
    Emer said nothing but slipped her own hand into his. He stiffened at her touch and she thought for a moment that he would fling her hand away but he did not. Slowly his fingers curled round hers ; a tiny warmth in the piercing cold. They stood like this together until the dancers went away. Then gently he withdrew his hand and walked away in the darkness.
    Unlike Hari, Rolf hardly left her alone. He was nearby, talking, helping her with her tasks, making her laugh. Emer would have been totally entranced by him, if she had not seen him glance constantly at his brother whenever he was with her. Sadly, she realised that Rolf was more interested in annoying Hari than in flirting with her. Atli had been right and she began to pity Brina. There was no way to avoid Rolf and he did make the long hours shorter. So she sat with him and listened to his tales and laughed in the right places. They talked about his journeys, for he had constantly travelled since he was a young boy. Some of them seemed too fabulous to believe, but she pretended that she did. One day she asked him about Brina.
    “I found her in Iraland, her and her sister, a few summers ago,” he replied. “They were girls then and pretty enough so I bought them both. Gisli paid me a good price for Dairinn. He eventually wed her, more fool him, though she’s given him a brace of fine sons. They say she rules him. If I were him, I’d take a stick to her bum. I should never have kept Brina. She warms my bed, but she never stops talking and asking me for things. Time for her to be with another man.”
    Emer chilled when she heard his words and worse was to come. He moved closer to her and put his arm around her shoulder, holding her tightly.
    “Now you, on the other hand,” he whispered, “you have more to offer a man than just a pretty face. You’re interesting and you have this special gift which Fadir craves and which he tells me will increase our fortune…”
    Emer twisted around so she could see into his face. “Do you crave it, too?”
    He smiled. “Let ’s say that it is not the ability that intrigues me but the person who has it.”
    He pulled her head towards him and kissed her. For a moment, Emer started to respond. She had imagined Rolf kissing her when she first came to Skuy . She wondered how his lips would taste. Now she knew and it was not the delight she thought it would be. He clamped her face to his and forced his tongue into her mouth. Emer choked. Suddenly her temper boiled up and she bit the tip of his tongue. Rolf slammed her away from him, so she fell full length on