Fate is cruel to those without a voice.
I was born Solveig, but my family called me Dark Raven because I was different and they considered me cursed, treating me as a servant. When the new Jarl found out they’d kept raiding spoils, he banished them from our settlement. They had planned on sneaking off in the spring, but everything changed and Jarl Calder brought me into his house. I gave him my heart and thought he returned my feelings, but he had other ideas. Again I found I was a servant and Calder was to marry a Jarl’s daughter to unite the two powerful families. Galdi, another servant, said his new bride would make my life torture and I would have to find a way to leave.
The opportunity came when the Jarl was negotiating with the Picts for new lands. Galdi said the king would like me because I was dark and different and she suggested he give me as the extra piece of silver to sweeten the deal. And so I was to sail off, my heart broken, to a new land with people I knew nothing of. But fate can turn the sea into a road and once you take a step, you won’t know where it ends unless you keep going. $2.99 on Kindle.