Chapter 17: Sacred Oaths
Dead, all of them dead.
Siv's heart pounded violently.
She squeezed her horse's sides with all her might as the warhorse galloped across the icy plain, its hooves kicking up a cloud of white dust.
Behind her, the sounds of killing echoed in the night, the snarls of hunting dogs mingling with the screams of warriors.
Why? Why had it come to this?!
Just days ago, she had been sitting in a warm tent, listening to her father tell stories of the tribe's glory, her brothers laughing and playing, her mother gently arranging her hair.
She had thought her future would be like her father's, leading the tribe in conquests across the snow plains.
But that feast had destroyed everything.
Her father, Harold Frostmane, suddenly collapsed during the feast, his body convulsing as he let out agonized howls, dying before everyone's eyes.
In the days that followed, her mother, brothers, and sisters died one after another.
Some were executed, others died in unexplained "accidents."