Stavanger Bay and the earth with its starkness

The titan scoffed, almost coldly at the concept of the small witch doctor carrying his burdens. He had been loaded with them since he was a young child, and he doubted that she would be able to carry even an ounce of what was placed upon his shoulders. There were many things that the witch doctor did not know of him, but he was not prepared to share such things so openly and willingly with her. While he had a great deal of trust for the witch doctor, he did not see himself confiding in her the trials of his life and of his past. While many of those things had led him to that particular point, he could not open himself to share them. So instead, he scoffed at the idea of her carrying his burdens. It might have seemed an awful gesture to make to one so willing to do his bidding, but he was – in the end – a foul creature.
 
The girl went on to speak of her feelings for Szymon, and for a moment, the titan was caught off guard. He had always found a soft spot for the youngest Cairn, but he had never imagined his small brother finding love in his life. In fact, Skellige was not certain that he could even feel anything akin to love. So, he peered at the witch doctor with a cold expression on his dark features, wondering how Szymon felt about the citrine-eyed girl. They had spent a great deal of time together, that was certain, and the leviathan could understand how they would form a close bond with all that they had been preparing for. There was still a burning in his gut at the question that had fallen from her lips. She wanted to take the ink-ribbed boy as her mate.
 
Bristling slightly, the swarthy brute found himself growing agitated, and he did not wish to be so with the witch doctor. Forcing his heart to slow the race of its beat, he furrowed his brows and exhaled a breath that carried a heavy weight. “I am not pleased that you would deem it necessary to ask me this,” he growled quietly, “when the blessing of our lands is the only thing that should weigh heavily on your mind.” The yellow of his fangs snapped together at the end of his statement, and he shook his head twice before pulling the dark russet of his gaze away from her.
 
Those days were important and it was infuriating for the man to think that his witch doctor and brother had been whittling the time away with their sharing of emotions. Though he did not know the details of their feelings or when they had come to light, Skellige had found an awful taste in his mouth. The Cairn family was a selfish group of savages. Just as he found himself thoughtlessly obsessed with the sacred blessing that was to fall on their land, Szymon had found his own self-interest in his attraction to Doe.