She couldn’t breathe and for a moment the thought of jumping and that ice-cold water seemed better, seemed warmer than anything else that was about to happen now, but then he threw her to the floor and she caught sight of that axe, sharp and polished, and she thought of nothing else.

She was still there, still frozen with her eyes fixed on that shining metal when she felt something thick and heavy fall on her, something that made her teeth finally stop banging together, and she sighed, turning and running her fingers through that wonderful fur and burying her face underneath it. That was when her hands brushed up against the hard leather of his vest and her head bolted out into the cold air. He was sitting there, beside her, his eyes closed and his head resting against the wall behind him, almost like he was trying to sleep.

“No,” she said, pulling the fur off of him, and his eyes flicked open, studying her for a moment before he pulled the fur back. He was so strong, so strong it hurt to try to fight him, so strong it hurt her fingers as she pulled on that fur. “No,” she said again.

It was one thing that he would force her, one thing that she would have no say in the matter, but she wouldn't willingly share a bed with him, not when she was supposed to marry Cormac.

This time he didn't even look as he yanked the fur back, turning on his side so it was pinned underneath him and she would have to come even closer. For a while she laid there, half of her still out in the cold air and she thought that she could manage, but it wasn't long before she was trembling, before her teeth banging together and she was diving for that fur and that warmth.

The whole night she felt that back against hers, so big and warm, almost pleasant and by the morning she felt something shift, something sharp and pointed in her heart that softened, that gave way to something weightless and bright. She saw the others, those women still tied to the mast, all pale and gaunt. They hadn't been fed, they hadn't been cut loose and kept warm now that it was colder and the air was thick and grey with a biting mist.

One of those giants spoke, kicking at the knee of that woman who had sat beside Enid, but the woman didn't move, she didn't even open her eyes or wince as his boot nudged her again. Another giant answered the man before they cut her loose and she slumped to the floor and crumbled without making a sound. They gathered her up, lifting her over the side of the boat and only then did Enid understand what they meant to do.

“Wait,” Enid said. “Wait, what are you doing?” she asked, and before she knew it, she was pulling at their arms, fighting to get to that woman and bring her back. “She’s a Christian. You can’t just throw her in the water,” she shook her head and the men stared at her, their eyes big and wide, their faces slack and dull, and then one of them laughed, then they said something to each other and threw the woman over. “No!” Enid shouted, leaning over the side, but the woman was gone, no mark in the ocean to show where she sank, no blessings or prayers said over her grave to welcome her into Heaven.

Enid watched the waves, the side of the boat digging into her ribs, her heart slowly sinking inside her. Would they do that to her if she died too? She almost asked, she almost shook her head and cried, feeling her eyes grow heavy and her mouth go dry, but then she felt that hand grabbing her arm and pulling her back into the boat.

“No,” she said, pulling against it. “No, leave me alone.”

For a moment he only stared at her, those sky-blue eyes dull and dim, not even seeming to care that she was fighting and struggling, but then she saw something snap, a sharpness spring to his face as his forehead furrowed into a deep crease and that hand gripped her even tighter, those eyes going cold and fierce as he jerked her towards him.

“No, wait!” she gasped, feeling her heart racing. “Wait, I just want to pray for her!” she shook her head, but he didn't understand, he only pulled at her harder, so hard she felt her hand go numb, so hard she had to stifle a yelp.

She gritted her teeth, turning to face the side of the boat they had thrown the woman over, quickly tapping on her forehead and her shoulders, desperately trying to remember the words the priests would say to ask for the Lord’s forgiveness.

“Father, please watch over your daughters,” was all she could say in the end and she almost felt worse than she had before, knowing that it wasn't enough, but then she heard one voice around the mast that said, “Amen.”

And soon there were more and each woman was praying or speaking in whatever voice they could muster to help the soul of the one they had lost. The men watched them, their eyes big and bright, not a sound made between them until the women were finished, but then they all laughed, smacking their knees and stomping their boots and one of them said something, his eyes never leaving her face, a wide grin on his lips, but it soon turned into a scowl as he repeated himself.

“I don’t understand,” Enid whispered, and he growled, getting to his feet and making to kick at one of the women, but then there was a whistle, a loud cry and a shout from one of the men at the front of the boat.

She saw them then, dark shapes and smudges appearing out of that murky mist around them, at first nothing more than some large, wooden posts in the water and then something bigger, long piers and buildings and then suddenly a village.

Enid stared, her eyes wide and bright, a strange burning in the pit of her stomach. It was another village, so different yet so similar to the one she had just left, to the only place she had ever known. Another village… and the boat was twisting and turning and making to dock in this new world.