“Even with an impact-reddened cheek, he was alarmingly attractive. Tall and broad of shoulder, he appeared to be only a handful of years older than my twenty years. […] He wore no shirt, and water dripped off a naked torso corded with thick muscle, his sun-darkened skin marked with dozens of inky tattoos. A warrior, undoubtedly, and even without a weapon I suspected he was a significant threat.”

Freya’s description of Bjorn’s appearance sets the tone for a narrative in which the romance becomes the dominant plot development. Freya will come to admire Bjorn’s character and to love him as a complex person, but their deeper connection begins with attraction and physical desire. Bjorn’s appearance also characterizes him as a fierce warrior—strong enough to fight at Freya’s side.

“‘I will make it quick for the poor bastard’s sake, and then you’ll be free to pursue your every desire.’ ‘You will not!’ I gasped, despite Vragi’s untimely death being one of my most frequent daydreams. ‘I forbid it!’”

Freya knows that Bjorn is not serious about his offer to kill Vragi, but she explicitly forbids it even though she longs to be rid of her cruel husband. This scene establishes the ongoing conflict between duty versus desire, and Freya’s instinctive choice in this moment indicates that she feels compelled to put duty above personal desire.

“But I wanted to do more than just survive. I wanted my days to be more than time I needed to endure. I wanted to live them, to relish them. To find passion and excitement in them the way I had for that fleeting moment on the beach with a stranger.”

This passage reveals Freya’s complex and multifaceted motivations, revealing her desire to gain the freedom to live her life more fully. The quote also explains why she pretends to fight the forest trees with a branch and an improvised shield, and it reveals her reasons for reacting so strongly to her first encounter with Bjorn. Ultimately, it is clear that she sees the prospect of marrying