by A. E. Rayne
‘Axl does not seem happy these days,’ Osbert noted pointedly to Gisila. ‘Perhaps he does not approve of you marrying my father?’
‘Well, no, he is not too pleased,’ Gisila admitted nervously, worried by Axl’s mood and Osbert’s interest in it. She tried to keep her face calm and her tone light. ‘He misses Ranuf greatly. It’s hard to lose your father when you’re still a boy. He’s missed out on so much guidance these past few years. And now, with Jael gone, it’s even harder for him.’
‘He’s hardly a boy, Gisila,’ Lothar scoffed, turning his bulging belly towards her. ‘And of course, we all miss Ranuf, but Axl must accept that you deserve to find some happiness, to reclaim your rightful place as queen.’ He nibbled on a withered carrot from her untouched plate. ‘He must see how it benefits him to be stepson to the king? Surely he can be happy for you and put a smile on his surly face for once?’
Gisila wanted to push Lothar off her. His immense body kept rolling towards her, touching her, and the smell of him and the intent in his eyes made her want to recoil. She smiled blankly at him; there was nothing else she could do. ‘I will try and talk to him. Perhaps I’ll ask Aleksander to speak to him before he leaves,’ Gisila said, trying to look confident as she reached out her hand and reluctantly placed it on Lothar’s sleeve. He beamed from her touch and pressed himself even further into her, his hand slipping under the table to rest on her thigh.
Gisila swallowed sharply, trying to control her body’s urge to flinch. With Lothar on one side of her and Osbert on the other, she felt like a trapped animal, ready to be pounced on if she made one false move.
Watching from his table, Gant saw terror flare in Gisila’s eyes that she quickly tried to mask. He observed the intense way Osbert stared at Axl. He saw Lothar, oblivious to anything that did not directly involve him, trying to stick his hand up Gisila’s dress, and by the look on her face, it appeared as though he had succeeded. There was no Jael, and no Aleksander, who was packing to leave on his trip with Edela. He saw Ranuf’s face and felt the rebuke in it.
They had been closer than brothers. Ranuf’s family had felt like his own for so many years. Guilt weighed more heavily on his conscience with every passing week. He should have done more to help them.
Perhaps it wasn’t too late?
23
Jael couldn’t get their faces out of her mind. First, there was Fyn’s troubled one, then Thorgils’ broken-hearted one, and now Eydis’ terrified one. Her three friends on Oss, and each one of them traumatised by something she could do nothing about.
Then, of course, there was Evaine...
Ido and Vella rolled about in the snow at her feet, but Jael was too distracted to notice how happy they were to be let outside at last. It had snowed relentlessly for days, so heavily in fact, that most Osslanders had simply hibernated in their homes to wait it out. But this day had blown in without a hint of bad weather, and everyone was finally emerging outside again.
‘You’ll lose them in the snow if you’re not careful,’ Eadmund grinned as he came to stand beside Jael at the railings of the Pit. He looked happy and relaxed, warm too, in a thick, fur cloak.
No one was out training today. It would take a long time to clear the Pit. The snowfall had been the heaviest dump so far, and no one seemed inclined to tackle the task of clearing such a large area this early in the day.
Jael stared at him uncertainly, uneasy in his presence. Eadmund had never approached her like this before. Not in daylight. Not when he was near-sober. She fiddled anxiously with her cloak, wanting to leave.
‘You really should have a warmer cloak,’ he tried again, watching her squirm. ‘Something that’s more suited to Oss’ weather. That thing will never keep you warm here, not even in summer, I should think,’ he said with more confidence than he felt.
‘I know. I’ve been thinking about just wearing one of the furs from my bed instead,’ Jael said awkwardly.
‘Your bed?’ Eadmund raised an eyebrow, leaning casually over the rail, watching the puppies disappear into the deep snow.
‘Yes, my bed,’ she replied, lowering her voice. ‘I’m the only one who has slept in it, so yes, it’s my bed.’ She glanced at him and saw a glint of amusement in his eyes.
‘For now, maybe,’ Eadmund murmured, looking straight ahead.
That surprised her. He had been quite different lately, she thought, for the most part. She had not seen him drunk in some time. It unsettled her. Perhaps he knew about Evaine’s baby? But if that was the case, why wasn’t he with her?
The puppies decided that Eadmund should be their new friend, so they raced towards him, pawing his legs, demanding his attention. He laughed and bent down to give them just that. ‘What are your names, then?’ he grinned, stroking their snow-covered, wriggling bodies, trying to avoid their frantic tongues.
‘Vella’s the grey, Ido’s black, although right now they both appear to be white,’ Jael laughed as the puppies fought over Eadmund’s affection.
‘It’s been years since I had a dog,’ he sighed wistfully.
He likes dogs, Jael noted, annoyed. ‘Well, perhaps it’s time you found yourself one then?’
‘Found myself one? I thought these were our dogs?’ Eadmund frowned. He stood up, closer to her than he’d anticipated, but he didn’t move away.
‘Our dogs?’ she snorted, to cover up her discomfort. He smelled almost pleasant, she noticed with surprise. ‘No. My bed. My dogs.’
‘Is that right? Your horses too?’
‘Well, one certainly is. As for the other... you’d have to talk to Thorgils about that. He’s the one who rides her. You don’t even know her name.’
‘True. But perhaps it’s time I did? Thorgils has his own horse. He doesn’t need mine.’
Jael was just about to offer a clever retort when she noticed Eadmund’s smile fade and his attention drift. She followed his gaze and watched it fall on Evaine, who was standing at the entrance to a street across the square, trying to catch his eye. He was immediately distracted and unsettled.
‘It seems that you have to go,’ Jael said briskly, consumed by a sharp burst of irritation. ‘Ido! Vella!’ She clicked her tongue for the puppies to follow her and thankfully, they did. She strode off quickly and didn’t look back.
Eadmund frowned after her, disappointed by the abrupt end to their promising conversation. He reluctantly turned his attention back to Evaine. He’d been doing his best to avoid her for days, even sleeping at Torstan’s. Eventually, he knew, he had to face her and put an end to things, before his father truly lost patience, but he’d had no appetite for it. He knew it would devastate her and the coward in him didn’t want to be responsible for that.
Shrugging his shoulders, Eadmund waded through the knee-deep snow towards Evaine. He turned to look behind himself, hoping to catch a last glimpse of Jael but she had already gone; that made him even more annoyed. ‘You really are trying to get yourself banished, aren’t you?’ he growled, grabbing Evaine’s arm and pulling her down the street, away from public view, back to his cottage.
Evaine looked crestfallen. She had watched him smiling with his wife, enjoying her company, but now he was utterly furious. At her. She felt the tears coming and couldn’t stop them rushing down her cold cheeks as she hurried along behind to him. ‘Eadmund, wait,’ she sobbed loudly. ‘Please!’
Sighing in irritation, he stopped and turned to her, still gripping her arm. Evaine shook him loose and ran quickly from the street to a pile of snow outside an unused hut, and bent over, retching.
Eadmund looked disturbed as he came up behind her. As she started vomiting through her sobs, he froze, realising with horror what this might mean. There was no one around. They were in a back alley, barely used, and he was grateful for that, at least. ‘Are you alright?’ he asked dully as she straightened up, wiping her mouth. She was a dishevelled, tear-stained mess and his anger started to cool; he couldn’t help but feel sorry for her in this state.
‘I’m preg
nant, Eadmund, so no, I’m not alright. I’m carrying your child!’
She hadn’t lowered her voice, and he rushed to cover her mouth with his hand, too shocked to breathe, not wanting her secret to escape, lest it be real. ‘Sssshhh,’ he implored. ‘We are not alone! Anyone could hear!’
She pushed his hand away. ‘There’s no one around,’ she whispered crossly.
And she was right, Eadmund saw, as he glanced down the street and back again, but he still felt uneasy. Grabbing Evaine’s hand, he hurried her along, hoping to get back to his cottage before she said, or did, another thing; his head pounding with the consequences of what this might mean for them both.
‘I wish you didn’t have to leave,’ Gisila sighed, gripping her mother’s hands, her face pinched with anxiety.
‘You will be fine,’ Edela assured her with a squeeze. ‘We’ll be back by spring, I’m certain. We won’t stay away any longer than we need to.’
‘But couldn’t you wait until spring to go?’ Axl frowned, looking almost as anxious as his mother. ‘It would make travelling much safer, especially for you, Grandmother.’
‘Well, no, not really,’ Aleksander said as he eased Edela up onto her horse. ‘When spring comes, we’ll be leaving for Hest, won’t we? I need to be here then. Lothar has been very clear about that. Besides, if your aunt is unwell, we don’t have time to wait.’
They had three horses, six saddle bags, and at least six days supply of food. It would take four days to get to Tuura, but Aleksander was not sure how slowly they would have to travel to accommodate Edela’s age and lack of experience. She hadn’t ridden much these past few years, and he worried at the toll the constant riding would take on her old body. The snow wouldn’t help much either. It was a fair day, but the winter cold would make a difficult travelling companion.
‘Perhaps we should come with you, then?’ Gisila suggested, her eyes brightening at the thought. ‘If Branwyn is very ill, I could help. I should be there for her.’
‘Mother, you don’t really want to go back there, do you?’ Axl asked, shuddering. ‘I certainly don’t.’
‘No, of course not,’ Gisila murmured, dropping her head; the memories, although 17-years-faded, were still raw enough to cause her to swallow hard. ‘But she’s my sister. I just hope she will be alright.’
‘So do I, which is why I’m going now,’ Edela smiled down at her daughter. ‘And I promise you, my dear, you will still be here when we return. I have seen your wedding, and I am there!’
Gisila’s shoulders slumped; she sighed hopelessly.
‘How about me? Will I still be here?’ Axl wondered, with a hint of his old smile.
Edela frowned. ‘You? You must watch yourself, my Axl. Ahhh yes, I know,’ she said as he frowned at her. ‘But you aren’t living by yourself, on some rock out at sea. Everyone is watching you, especially the people who matter. So, take care of your mother, and stay away from those stupid boys!’
Axl grumbled; all three faces were staring at him with the same stern expression, and he didn’t like it one bit.
Amma came rushing towards them, her breath streaming out in front of her in great, white clouds as she stopped by Edela’s horse. ‘Oh, I’m so glad you’re still here! I wanted to say goodbye, wish you safe travels.’ She reached up and took Edela’s hand. ‘I hope your daughter will be alright, and that the weather will be kind on your journey.’
‘You are a sweet girl, Amma,’ Edela smiled, squeezing her hand affectionately. ‘Perhaps you can help look after my other daughter there, while I’m gone. Make sure she doesn’t feel too lonely without her old mother around to keep her company.’ She glanced at Gisila’s lost face and felt a tug of guilt. Edela hated to leave when things were so hard, but she knew that going to Tuura was necessary for all their futures.
Both Aleksander and Edela had agreed that they must leave as soon as possible. It was her idea to suggest that she’d had a dream about her daughter, Branwyn, being ill. Nobody had questioned her story, nor her urgency to leave immediately.
‘Of course, yes, I will,’ Amma replied eagerly, slipping her arm through Gisila’s. ‘We can work on the wedding together!’
Everyone’s faces fell at that and Amma squirmed uncomfortably to see it. Her father’s unpopularity shouldn’t have surprised her – she was more than aware of his flaws – but he was still her father, and since her mother’s death, and her sister’s marriage, he was all she had; not counting Osbert, of course, which she never did. It upset her to see the strength of feeling against him, especially amongst her own family.
‘We should go before the morning runs away,’ Aleksander insisted into the awkward silence, sensing, but trying not to catch Amma’s eyes as they sought his own.
‘Yes, I’m already feeling ready for a rest!’ Edela laughed.
‘We haven’t ridden anywhere yet!’ Aleksander said with a frown as he mounted his new horse. She was a young, gentle mare, with a beautiful roan coat. He couldn’t bring himself to name her yet.
‘It was only a joke,’ Edela chuckled as she tapped her heels into the flanks of her dirty, white horse, Deya, who looked almost as old as she was. ‘Now, come along before the morning runs away!’
Aleksander tapped his own horse’s flanks and hurried to get in front of her, their pack horse trailing behind him. He turned to wave goodbye and accidentally met Amma’s eye. She smiled keenly at him, happy to have caught his attention at last but Aleksander looked away so abruptly that he didn’t notice her disappointment.
Axl did, though. ‘Come on, Cousin,’ he smiled kindly, putting one arm around her shoulder. ‘How about we go for a walk, and you can tell me all the reasons why Aleksander Lehr is the greatest man you’ve ever known, and how you’re going to convince your father to let you marry him as soon as possible.’
The sheer embarrassment on Amma’s burning face had him roaring with laughter.
Eadmund’s mind was clear of ale but thick with panic. How was he going to get out of this mess? How was Evaine? She was certainly going to be banished now, as was he. And it was all his fault.
He sat on the end of the bed, his head in his hands.
‘I wasn’t trying to get pregnant,’ Evaine sniffed next to him.
‘I know that,’ he mumbled, unconvinced.
‘It just happened.’
‘I know. It’s my fault, of course it is.’ Eadmund sat up, sighing heavily. ‘There’s no ale is there?’
‘No,’ she said sadly, holding his hand.
Eadmund wanted to rip it out of her grasp. He wanted to be reasonable and calm, but the more he gnawed on the situation, the more annoyed he felt.
‘So, what are we going to do then?’ Evaine wondered quietly.
Eadmund’s reaction had been nothing like she’d imagined when she’d rehearsed this moment, over and over every night, as she lay in her bed, dreaming of him. In those fantasies, he’d been so excited and happy at her news, convincing his father to grant him a divorce so that they could marry and raise their child together. Looking at his angry, distant face, she couldn’t see that happening now.
‘Do?’ he asked crossly. ‘Do? Well, nothing for now. You mustn’t tell anyone, Evaine. The moment my father hears of this is the moment he banishes you, and in all likelihood, I won’t be far behind. He will not take this well. At all.’
She’d never seen Eadmund so angry before, well never at her, at least. She didn’t know what to say that could make things any better. There was not even a single drop of affection in his eyes; nothing that wasn’t cold and hateful. ‘But Eirik wanted an heir, he wanted you to have a son. He wanted you to show him you could be king, and you have been doing that,’ she tried. ‘The only problem is your wife. If you divorce her, then we can marry, and our son will be your heir.’
Eadmund looked at her incredulously, shaking away her hand and standing up. He had just noticed how cold the room was and made to start a fire. ‘You don’t know my father at all, or what he wants,’ he said morosely,
grabbing his tinderbox. ‘He doesn’t want you, even if you gave me 10 healthy sons! He wants Jael to be the mother of my children. He wants the Furyck line, the Furyck name. He will not want this baby, for him or me. He will not let you stay here to have it. It would shame him.’
Evaine shook, with fear or cold, Eadmund couldn’t tell, but as the fire sparked into life, he came back to sit with her, his ire cooling, his head clearing. ‘You need to get married, to someone else.’
‘What?’ She looked horrified.
Eadmund turned towards her, his eyes alert, imploring. Reaching out, he grabbed her hands. ‘If we find someone to marry you immediately, then you could pass this child off as his. My father would never know. No one would, except you and I.’ He paused, looking at her sharply. ‘You haven’t told anyone else, have you?
‘Just my mother.’
‘Good, then keep this secret, and we can think of someone for you to marry. You are the most beautiful girl on Oss, Evaine. There will be many contenders.’
‘But Eadmund –’
‘I know, it’s not what you want, but it will keep you here, with me,’ he smiled, softening his face deliberately, hoping to convince her of this plan, which had suddenly given him hope. ‘If my father finds out, he will send you away, and I’ll never see you or the baby again.’
Evaine didn’t look pleased with his logic. Tears were threatening her eyes again, and her bottom lip was quivering. She placed her hands on her belly, which he realised, did have a slight curve he hadn’t noticed before.
‘I will think on it,’ she said so quietly, it was almost a whisper.
‘Good!’ Eadmund said desperately, feeling the small flicker of hope in that. He clung on, determined not to let go. Wrapping one arm around Evaine’s shaking body, he pulled her close. ‘Just take your time, and make sure that in the meantime, you don’t tell anyone. It’s the only chance we have.’
24
The crackle and spit of the fire echoed amongst the tall fir trees, and nearby, their three horses nuzzled through the snow, looking for something more to eat.
