Entwined by Quartz

Chapter 1

Maili stared at the most breathtaking sight she'd ever seen. The clear pool spilled out of the mouth of a pitch-black cave. Quartz crystals covered the bottom. They spread up the cave entrance. Maili did not have time to admire nature's beauty. She pulled herself back to reality. Maili's hands shook; her heart quickened. She had minutes, if she was lucky, and the monsters would be upon her. She was to be the leader's wife. Marriage to a Dane meant imprisonment. Her only choice was to surrender or take her chances in the cave.

With unsteady hands, she drew her knife from its sheath. Maili cut strips of stag-hide from her cloak. She stepped out of her clothes and tied them into a bundle. She wrapped her hands and feet in the strips for protection from the sharp crystals. Maili stepped into the frigid pool and started wading. She heard the thunder of hooves as the monsters approached. She pushed off hard from the poolside, gliding quickly to the center. Maili swam into the cave entrance, immediately feeling an invisible force flow through her body. Her head spun, blurring the glistening quartz. She bobbed in place, waiting for her senses to return. Then she positioned herself along the cave wall and watched the men. They had her. She did not make it out of sight before they rounded the turn.

Tryggr knew the girl feared him. She fought and ran. Yet Tryggr saw red-hot anger in her eyes. He did not blame her. Most warriors trembled in his presence. His patience wore thin. Now his men watched as he chased after a girl. It was as clear as the water before him: this pool was sacred. It was marked by quartz. Tryggr knew the crystals were believed to be magnifiers of whatever they touched. Some legends said the crystals carried a power beyond human understanding.

Regardless of what his senses were telling him, Tryggr waded in. He crossed the pool effortlessly. Entering the cave, he felt a jolt of lightheadedness. Consciousness left him, and he started to sink.

From the wall of the cave, Maili watched Tryggr sink. He was drifting to the bottom of the pool as she fought with herself. Let him drown, and her problems were solved, but could she live with herself knowing she did not intervene as a life was lost?

Maili dove as he hit bottom. Underwater, eyes open wide, she saw red spreading through the water around him. Quartz had cut a gash in his side. Wrapping him tight in her arms, she kicked off the bottom. Crystals pierced through the stag-hide, cutting into her foot. Maili's blood clouded the clear water with his. At the surface, she moved out of the cave and into view of Tryggr's men. Struggling under his weight, she was choking and sputtering water. It was taking all of Maili's strength to keep them above water; swimming would be impossible. Were the men going to help or watch them meet their deaths together?

They were saved from the water and tossed onto horses. Maili was draped across a warrior's lap. The man would have been more considerate with a sack of grain. The butt of a knife handle ground into her ribs, and the rhythm of her breathing was disrupted with every movement the horse made. They rode hard back to Maili's home. Still unconscious, Tryggr slumped over the horse. Maili saved him from the water, but it looked as if she still might be freed of him. He'd lost a lot of blood; the wound was deep, and his face was pale.