by A. E. Rayne
Berger nodded. ‘If you want to get out alive we do. What’s to stop this Gudrum taking the gold and killing us?’
‘How many men do you think they have?’ Reinar asked, inclined to agree with Berger.
Benn shrugged. ‘Not as many as Tarl Brava. He’s fought against Gudrum’s men many times in the last year or so. Gudrum was always trying to creep closer, picking off settlements, burning his way from The Murk to Orvala. He never had the men to mount a real attack, though. Until now.’ Benn shook his head, still in shock that Tarl Brava had been bested by a forest dweller.
‘And you don’t think he’s alive? Your lord?’
Benn didn’t know. ‘If he was, he’d be here. He’d be coming at Gudrum now. He wouldn’t sit back and wait. That’s not Lord Tarl.’
‘Well, maybe he will. Who knows?’ Berger shrugged. ‘Might make things easier if we got rid of Gudrum for him, don’t you think?’
Benn frowned, eyeing Berger, whose eyes were gleaming in the rain. ‘And then what will you do?’ he wondered suspiciously.
‘Go home,’ Reinar said simply. ‘I’m a Southern lord, and I need to get back to Ottby.’ He saw Benn’s doubts contorting his young face, and he patted his arm. ‘I swear it on Thenor. I don’t want Orvala. My family is in Ottby. I want to save my brother and go home.’
And despite any misgivings, Benn believed him. ‘Alright then, I’ll help you.’
Alys walked into the chamber, and Sigurd almost fell off the bed in surprise.
The guard lingered in the doorway until Alys turned to him, fixing her mind. ‘I think it’s best if you leave. And please, shut the door after you.’ She saw his initial hesitation and then a sudden glazed acceptance as he turned away, pulling the door closed.
Alys turned back to see Sigurd standing before her. She threw her arms around him, tears in her eyes. ‘Are you alright?’
‘Mmmm,’ he mumbled into her hair, unable to wrap his arms around her, though he very much wanted to. It had been a terrible time, and he was so relieved to see a friendly face.
‘Gudrum sent me to look at your arm,’ Alys said, pulling back, seeing the iron shackles around his wrists, the huge bandage on his arm.
Sigurd was concerned. ‘Why? Where’s Raf?’
‘The dreamer?’ Alys shrugged. ‘I haven’t seen her in a while.’ Then seeing images that revealed exactly why Sigurd looked so worried, she led him back to the bed. ‘I’ll see if I can find her, though, don’t worry.’
‘I don’t want her getting in trouble. Not because of me.’
‘There’s nothing but trouble here, I’m afraid, though I’ll see what I can do.’ Alys tried to get Sigurd to sit down. ‘I have to look at your arm. What happened to you? How did you end up here?’
‘I was looking for you.’
‘Oh.’ Alys felt terrible.
‘Are you alright?’ Sigurd pulled away. ‘What did your husband do to you? Is he here?’
Alys shuddered. ‘He is. Somewhere.’ And then she smiled. ‘Mirella, the dreamer, she’s my mother. She frightened Arnon away.’
Sigurd looked surprised.
‘And then when Gudrum attacked, I... well, he hasn’t bothered me since.’
Sigurd was pleased to hear it. ‘Reinar’s coming.’
‘I know.’
‘Can you help him? Like you did at Slussfall?’
‘I don’t know. There’s no Eddeth, is there? Not yet anyway.’
Sigurd lifted an eyebrow as Alys gently brought his arms onto her lap, unwrapping the bandage. ‘We were all together, until I went and fell on the trap.’ He shook his head, cursing his bad luck. ‘Then Gudrum captured me. He brought me here when he took Orvala.’
‘Well, I suppose everything happens for a reason, doesn’t it?’ Alys murmured, gasping at the sight of his wound. ‘That’s huge!’
But Sigurd wasn’t listening, he was thinking of Raf, certain that everything did happen for a reason, for if he hadn’t stumbled upon that trap, he would never have met the little dreamer. ‘We have to get out of here, Alys,’ he whispered into her ear. ‘When Reinar comes. All of us.’
She looked into his blue eyes, remembering Ottby, and she nodded. ‘Yes, we do.’
The rain blew at them, aided by an angry wind, and they shivered beneath its onslaught, no one speaking.
Eddeth found it impossible to remain quiet, though, and soon her rumbling belly had her wondering about supper. ‘Aldo! What do you think you can find with that spear of yours?’ she called, teeth chattering. ‘Or Ludo? Maybe you could go with him? Take your bow!’
Ollo shook and shuddered beside her, agreeing wholeheartedly. ‘I’ll get a f-f-fire going!’ he called, already spotting an amenable site ahead. ‘We should stop there!’ He tried to get Jonas’ attention, pointing at the trees, but Jonas didn’t turn around. He was hunched over beneath his hood, talking to Vik. ‘Shelter!’ Ollo cried again. ‘Those trees will give us some shelter!’
They could see the great wall bordering Orvala in the distance now, and as much as there was an urgency for warmth, food, and shelter, no one wanted to head into the city before thinking things through, especially after what had happened in Slussfall.
Eventually, Ollo gave up, shrinking back beneath his own hood.
‘Don’t worry,’ Eddeth promised him. ‘I see a great feast in your future!’
‘You do?’ Ollo turned to her with gleaming eyes, imagining himself sitting on a fur-lined bench, trencher piled high before him, glistening meat dripping with gravy. A big-breasted woman bent over to serve him ale before sitting beside him with a smile on her face and her hand in his lap.
Thunder boomed overhead, the rain turning to sleet, but Ollo kept smiling, following after Jonas and Vik.
Getting closer to Orvala.
Raf entered the hall with Mirella and the children, surprised by how much work had gone on while she’d been gone.
‘What do you think?’ Gudrum’s arms were spread wide as he spun around, looking to impress her. ‘Better than a tent in a forest?’
Raf didn’t mind a tent in a forest, but she nodded dutifully, eyes on Mirella, sensing how eager Gudrum was to leave every reminder of The Murk behind now. ‘Where’s the woman?’ she asked with a frown. ‘Solveigh?’
Gudrum ignored her, turning his attention to the doors, awaiting word from Ilmar about his guests. Then, realising that he had two dreamers before him, he laughed. ‘That orange-haired servant took her away, promising to tidy her up. I don’t want Reinar Vilander thinking my new wife is some sort of forest-dweller!’ His eyes were on Raf now, though he didn’t notice the hurt in them. ‘In the meantime, come, sit with me. And you, Mirella. Join me, tell me what’s coming. If you can still see?’ he smirked. ‘You didn’t alert Tarl Brava to the danger lurking on his borders, did you? Didn’t warn him about what waited for him in that ravine?’ He smiled at Raf, remembering her description of the ambush, though he wanted to speak to her again. The rest of his men would return soon, victorious, though uncertainty still nagged at him, and despite his many distractions, he was eager to see some proof of his enemy’s fate.
Mirella ignored him, and the feelings of shame his comments stirred.
Fury too.
She was not about to let Alari ruin her plans again, nor Gudrum, though she smiled sweetly at him, following him to the fire, where he motioned for the women to sit on stools.
He took a chair.
‘Tell me, what have you seen?’ He looked from one to the other.
‘Reinar Vilander is nearby, waiting,’ Mirella began.
‘Waiting? For what?’ Gudrum leaned forward, listening to Mirella, though his eyes were on Raf. ‘Waiting for what?’
Raf had seen Reinar Vilander too, and she nodded. ‘He wants to make sure he’ll be safe.’
Gudrum laughed. ‘In here?’
‘He has a chest of gold on a sled,’ Mirella added.
Gudrum’s eyes lit up. ‘Real gold?’
Mirella felt odd, having
recognised the familiar markings on the chest. ‘Yes, the Vettel gold.’ She looked down at her hands, hearing the children arguing in the distance, the puppy barking. ‘He doesn’t care about the gold.’ She looked up. ‘He would give every coin in Alekka to get his brother back. They are deeply connected.’
‘So it won’t be hard to lure him in here, then? Not hard at all.’ Gudrum looked up as Alys emerged from the corridor. ‘How is my prisoner?’ he bellowed, causing more than one head to turn in his direction. ‘Sigurd? How is he?’
Raf was confused, staring at Alys as she approached.
‘His arm is healing well. You took good care of him,’ Alys said, smiling at Raf, who glowered jealously at her. ‘I see no infection, and apart from looking a little on the thin side, he seems well enough. Well enough for his brother not to be too concerned.’
‘Excellent! Excellent! Everything’s coming together just as I planned. If only we could do something about the weather gods. That Ulfinnur is having some fun out there, isn’t he? Ice and snow and rain and sleet as far as the eye can see! Though that won’t trouble us, will it? Tucked up inside this warm hall!’ He stood, wanting ale, eyes on a moody Raf. ‘Who knew how much a man could miss walls!’ And heading for a table, he helped himself to a cup of ale. ‘Walls and floors and pillows and tables! Ha! The comforts of being a lord are endless. And soon I’ll have enough gold to buy everything I desire!’ His eyes lit up at the thought of summer and ships and sailing to Stornas. ‘Gold! And the scalp of another lord. Soon there’ll be none left. No lords. Just me, the Lord of the North!’ He winked at Mirella, throwing back his ale, quickly pouring another.
Mirella smiled, watching him, welcoming his confidence.
‘We can’t stop!’ Tarl insisted, heaving in a cold breath, rain freezing his face, though he hadn’t felt his face all day, so it barely troubled him.
Ulrick nodded his agreement. ‘We can ride through the night, but steadily, my lord. It will be dangerous.’
Tarl agreed. The rain and sleet were making everything more treacherous.
The absence of his dreamer’s voice had carved great holes in his confidence, and he swung back and forth between being certain that Mirella had betrayed him and desperately worried that she was dead.
He barely thought of Solveigh, though he hoped that she was alive, still carrying his unborn son. If Gudrum commanded Orvala, he’d likely taken Solveigh for himself, as he would have taken his hall and his bed and his chair and his ale. Rage built quickly, and Tarl screamed into the night, frightening his horse, who stumbled but righted himself quickly, ploughing on through the trees.
Tarl had ridden this road with great frequency over the years. The road itself had become a well-worn groove, dug out between rows of gnarled yew trees, so despite the snowfall, it was easy enough to see where he was.
And if Tarl and his men rode through the night?
They would be west of Orvala come morning.
Reinar made camp following Benn’s advice, leading his army into the trees, out of sight of the men on the wall. He posted warriors on each flank, sending scouts out to judge the contours of Gudrum’s fortress. Reinar’s only experience in Orvala had been as a boy, and he was struggling to remember much about it. He hadn’t seen it through the eyes of a lord or a warrior, but as a curious child, looking to try new things. He thought of Bjarni and Elin, hoping they would make it back to Ottby before everything froze.
Then, scratching his head, he tried to focus on what lay before him, which was the rough outline of Orvala Benn had drawn in a cleared patch of earth.
‘The city is long, not deep. It’s very flat, open through the harbour. There’s no protection there. Never needed to be. Everyone feared the Bravas.’ Benn took a bite of the hare Bolli had cooked, chewing with his mouth open. ‘It’s fronted by docks. There’s lots of whaling, so there’s plenty of sheds along here.’ He moved the stick around, making marks. ‘Piers too. Six of them. All frozen in now, I’d say, though we haven’t been in the city for a few weeks, what with my mother...’ His voice faded, and he swallowed, losing focus.
‘So if we have to escape, our only chance will be to come back the way we came?’ Berger wondered.
Benn nodded. ‘There are other ways in and out, though I doubt you’ll want to head west to The Murk. If you don’t know what you’re doing, winter will kill you in there. Quickly too.’
Bolli looked amazed. ‘You’re saying there’s somewhere colder than this?’
Benn laughed. ‘Winter’s barely sneezed at us yet. You wait.’
Bolli didn’t want to, and nor did Reinar.
‘But you won’t need to escape, will you?’ Benn suggested. ‘Not if you kill Gudrum?’
Reinar didn’t want the distraction of Gudrum and Orvala, but he needed to keep Benn on side. ‘That’s the hope.’
‘Then we need a proper plan,’ Berger grumbled. ‘One for if Gudrum kills you, and one for if he doesn’t.’ And lifting a sharp eyebrow at Bolli, he watched as Reinar nodded.
‘Yes, we do.’
Their meal was hardly the feast Eddeth had promised him, and Ollo glowered at her as he ripped scant pieces of meat off the tiny bones of the squirrel Aldo had found. ‘Are you sure you’re a dreamer, Eddeth? Or perhaps you just don’t know what a real feast looks like?’
Eddeth barely heard his complaints, eating greedily, boots almost touching the flames. It was a delight to feel gentle hints of warmth, though she was certain that she would need to dive into the fire itself to stop shivering. Spending a night in the sea in the dark had frozen her to the core, though that steam house had helped. And closing her eyes, she was almost lost in those warm clouds again, feeling the heaviness of her body, the glorious, slumberous weight of peace as it loosened her aching limbs...
‘Eddeth?’ Ollo nudged her, sensing that she’d stopped eating. ‘You going to finish that?’
And waking herself up with a sneeze, Eddeth moved away from Ollo and his greedy eyes.
Vik laughed. ‘Are you ever not hungry, Ollo Narp?’
‘No. Man’s got to eat. Especially in the cold.’
That was true, and Vik took a piece of hot squirrel meat, eating as enthusiastically as Ollo. ‘We’ll be inside Orvala soon enough, so we’ll be able to buy something to eat. I’m sure they’ll have a market. Someone will likely be cooking something.’
‘If Jonas’ daughter doesn’t kill us first,’ Ollo sighed.
Ludo looked up, his attention shifting to Jonas, wanting the truth. ‘What will she do, Jonas? Do you really think she’d try to hurt us?’
Jonas froze, keeping his eyes on the flames.
The truth about Mirella had been hidden for so long. Locked away.
He hated bringing it into the light.
‘Yes.’
It was spoken through gritted teeth, but everyone heard him.
‘She has ideas about what should happen in Alekka, I know that. And when we get set on a path, it’s often impossible to turn away from it. Sometimes, we just dig it deeper until there’s no escape at all. Until it’s all we know, all we see. We no longer see reason. We lose our ability to listen to others, to make another choice.’ Jonas was almost talking to himself, seeing Alys’ face.
Fearing for her.
He swallowed, trying to make more sense. ‘Mirella is a dark dreamer. She won’t welcome our presence in the city. Somehow, Alys and the children have wound up there with her. Likely it’s no coincidence, no mistake, so she won’t welcome our interference in any plan she’s cooking up.’ He glanced at Eddeth. ‘You’ll need to try and protect us, Eddeth. Swords won’t work against Mirella. You must look for symbols.’
Eddeth was hanging on every word, not even blinking, Stina looking worried beside her. ‘Yes, I... I will try,’ she nodded, and standing, she glanced around, looking for her fur. ‘I will go for a walk!’
‘What?’ Ludo was concerned, standing quickly. ‘On your own?’ He shook his head. ‘I’ll go with you.’
T
he rain had stopped, though they could hear the rumblings of another storm in the distance, and Ludo didn’t want Eddeth getting lost in the dark if the weather was going to come down again.
‘No!’ she insisted loudly. ‘I must be alone to find answers. A way to help us! And you, Ludo Moller, have to let me. You don’t think I’ll get lost, do you?’
He did.
‘I won’t! And besides, now that I’m a dreamer, I’ll be able to find my way back to you.’
Vik stood too, not convinced. ‘Someone should go with you, Eddeth.’
Eddeth sighed. ‘I need to ask for help,’ she admitted. ‘I need to find Valera or Thenor. Do you think I know how to protect us from an experienced dreamer? I became a dreamer a few days ago. A few days!’ Panic trembled her already trembling limbs. ‘I need help! If I’m to help us, I need help, and you coming with me is no help!’
‘Alright,’ Vik agreed, wanting to calm her down. ‘Alright, but don’t get lost, Eddeth. Please.’
Eddeth was too nervous to notice his concern. And bending down, she scooped up her fur, wrapping it around her shoulders, pulling it over her head. ‘I won’t! No need to worry, I most certainly won’t!
46
‘No sign of your brother!’ Gudrum announced, pouring ale into Sigurd’s cup. He didn’t want to feel concerned, though he wondered what Reinar Vilander was up to. ‘Mirella tells me he’s desperate to get you back, though I don’t know what use that woman’s words are if she didn’t warn her lord about me?’
They sat at the festive-looking high table, Gudrum having brought Sigurd down from his chamber, wanting a good look at him.
Sigurd frowned, worrying about Gudrum’s plans for his brother. ‘No lord would stroll into an enemy’s fort without some care for his safety. He can’t. Reinar has his men to think about. He won’t show himself until he knows he can protect them. He’ll want some reassurance that I’m safe too.’
‘Then we’ll have to show him, won’t we?’ Gudrum said, looking Sigurd over, seeing what Alys had meant about him looking a little skinny. ‘Eat up, drink up, and then you’ll go to bed. Like a baby! I shall care for you like the sons my wife will give me!’ And turning away from Sigurd, Gudrum clasped Solveigh’s hand, kissing her cheek. She looked exquisite in a deep-red dress, her dark hair tressed up, revealing a long neck, draped in silver necklaces, and he shook his head, amazed once more to think that the Alekkan gods had blessed him with so much luck.
