The sun retreated and blanketed the cave mouth in shadow. The rain clouds closed the day earlier than usual, being thick enough to stifle the last light of the sun. He sipped from his bowl a final time, and crawled back to the drier reaches of his cave. The smell of his waste was heavier here, but it was an even trade to be out of the damp at the front.
He stretched atop the tattered furs and closed his eyes, listening to the random tap of dripping water.
“Ulfrik.” A voice whispered sharply at the grate. Ulfrik’s eyes fluttered open, his hand reaching for the knife. If death was near, he wanted to hold a weapon. The person repeated his name again. It was a man’s voice.
Sitting up, he twisted toward the cave mouth. All was black but for a shaft of gray light broken into squares by the grate. A shadowed man hunched at one corner, his hand resting against the grate as if trying to feel Ulfrik’s presence.
“It’s Lini. Are you alive? I’ve got food and water here.”
Ulfrik scrabbled toward Lini so suddenly that he jumped back with a small gasp of surprise. His normally wild hair was matted with sweat and stuck to his freckled face. “You’ve got food? Water? You’re a true hero.”
Lini unslung three bags and two skins, handing them through the grate. “This is from all of us. I can’t be long, else I get caught here.”
The weight of the packs filled Ulfrik with joy. Savory scents brought water to his mouth. Even if Eldrid had poisoned the food, he would take it over starvation. “I don’t know who provided all of this, but I’m grateful. More than you’ll know.”
“Oh, I’m sure I have an idea. I went hungry for weeks after my parents died. I never had a steady meal until I … well, never mind.”
Ulfrik searched the packs, his black and muddy hands soiling the carefully packed food. He withdrew them, not wanting to foul something so precious. “Until Audhild gave you steady meals and your freedom. She’s a wonderful woman right up to when she betrays you. What’s in here?”
Lini passed through the skins. “Two of ale and one of water. Everything else should keep for you. Salted fish and meats, pickled eggs, goat cheese, and dried seaweed.”
“A feast for a high king,” Ulfrik said, then laughed. He unplugged the horn stopper on the ale skin and let the bitter fluid rush down his throat. If any ran over, he forced it back into his mouth with a finger. “That will give me strength again.”
“Good to hear. I’ve been sent to make sure you survived. Audhild won’t abide mention of your name, and Gudrod and his thugs keep people away from here. Eldrid has barred herself in her home.”
“So you want to make sure the gods remain happy and you came to feed the caged rat. That’s it?”
“Um, well, I came with a favor to ask.”
Ulfrik sat back and laughed. “What? Maybe you want me to craft another battle plan for you? Is Valagnar back?”
“No. It’s just, well, the curse you made. You must undo it.”
Ulfrik blinked. “What curse?”
“The day you were … um, taken here. You cursed the village to death. Already two people have died of fever and Thorkel Hairy-Ears had a litter of lambs all stillborn. Other folks have taken ill, at least three more. Little Norna Sigurdsdottir is stuck in fevered sleep.”
Lini glanced over his shoulder, while the fingers of both hands laced into the grate. Ulfrik considered his words, not remembering what he had said in the fit of raw anger. Gudrod had mentioned a curse as well, so the people had heard something. Whatever he had done, he was glad for it. He took another drink from the ale skin, letting Lini hang on his response.
“Well,” Ulfrik said, wiping his mouth with the back of his arm. “You were all content to let me die here until just today. Since I’m as good as dead, why should I care to lift a curse on your heads?”
“No, we had no choice!” Lini pressed against the bars. “You were caught by four witnesses.”
Ulfrik struck against the grate with both fists, sending Lini falling back into the mud. “If you really believe I raped Audhild, then you deserve the fate your weak mind has earned. You are all half-wit sheep. You think Eldrid possesses real magic? What has she ever done but repeat what her sister demands she say? And you believe it! You betrayed me for a thin lie. I who saved all from death and slavery traded for the fears of two women! I should have joined with Valagnar and crushed you all for the worms you are. At least when I die I’ll have the satisfaction of knowing the gods granted my revenge.”
Lini wept, though consumed in shadow the errant light of sunset sparkled in the tears streaking his cheeks. “Not everyone believed, but what could we do? Gudrod had you locked away before anyone could say otherwise.”
“I don’t remember any protests at my so-called trial. You betrayed me, Lini. I’m half-dead already because you were too weak to speak the truth. You think you’ve got freedom? Ha! You traded one bond for another, and how much worse it is now. You’re trapped in this land of black rock and bird shit. You couldn’t leave even if you wanted to. You and everyone else are still slaves, and by your own hands.”
His words echoed and Lini nervously checked for signs of anyone approaching, then he climbed out of the mud. He stared at the water-filled holes as if seeing them for the first time. “You’ve been digging?”
“You want to know about my curse?” Ulfrik focused instead on the curse. He did not believe that the gods acted on his command, but to hear that they had answered his calls for justice renewed him as vigorously as a feast of roasted meats and fine mead. The curse, which he did not believe qualified in the sense of dark magic, provided him leverage. First he had to embellish it.
“Yes, how can we end it before more die? Please, you see we’re willing to risk Audhild and Gudrod by coming here with food. You must help us.”
“For every day I spend behind these bars my curse grows in power. So feed me all you will, but more will die if I remain imprisoned. Kill me here, and my spirit will never be free. Within the year all will die and be dragged down to Nifelheim with me. I promise you this.”
Ulfrik did not know if he overstepped the limits of his newly assigned magic powers, but his threats did not seem unreasonable. If the gods were listening, he hoped they drew inspiration from his hate. Lini sat with his mouth open.
“How are we going to get you out of here?”
“Stand up to Audhild and her new hero, Gudrod. Have no fear of Eldrid. Can you be cursed to death yet again? Besides, she is a liar to rival her sister.”
“But Gudrod has gathered the youngest and strongest men to his side. Many would stand for you, but Gudrod’s men frighten them.”
“A curse of another kind plagues you, one I cannot help. Fear will rule you and unmake all you have achieved here. How much longer before Gudrod demands taxes and service? You will have to resist him sooner or later.”
“But we don’t want to fight. We fled Frankia to escape the wars there.”
“Yet you brought swords with you when you fled. Here’s wisdom. Where a sword is there is also violence and death. You don’t want to fight? Throw your weapons into the sea. Just don’t weep when other men treat you as their own cattle.”
Lini put his hands on his head as if Ulfrik had shouted in his ears. Again he checked over his shoulder then glanced at the sky. “I have to leave now. What should I tell the others?”
Reaching through the grate, Ulfrik grasped Lini’s shirt. He pulled him close so that he could see Lini’s pupils widen in fear. “The only way to lift the curse is to free me. Gather whoever has any guts left and bring tools to open this grate. Do not waste another day wondering what to do. You already knew the answer, but have been too cowardly to accept it. Find your balls and free me.”
He watched Lini scamper away, hunching down as he disappeared over the crest of black rock and patchy grass. Sipping from the ale skin again, he held the delicious drink in his mouth to savor it a moment. He set aside the skin and pulled out the knife from the back of his waistband. He weighed it in
his palm.
“Not long now before I bury you in Audhild’s black heart.”
Chapter 44
Ulfrik leaned on the iron grate, hanging both his arms through it. The cold iron pressed against his face as he squinted into the glare of the morning. Clouds formed a sooty blanket over the sun, which shined as a vague patch of brightness. The air smelled of rain and ocean. Two specks of gulls dueled in the air, each wheeling around and finding no advantage. Perhaps it was an omen. He did not care what the gods showed him now. Only one path remained open to him, and he felt the weight of it hidden at his back.
The voices traveled far ahead of the group. He had expected them sooner and his arms were already tingling numb as he waited. As the heads of the group came into view, he smiled. Audhild was first among them, her hair unbound and fluttering in the breeze. He had prepared for her to repulse him, but Ulfrik instead stood straighter as their eyes met across the distance. She moved with easy authority, though undoubtedly her appearance at the cave signified her defeat. The diffuse light lent a gentleness to her features, and the reality of her no longer matched the wickedly leering demon of Ulfrik’s imagination. She stopped out of arm’s reach, head tilted back and brow raised. The white scar through her eyebrow was prominent against her golden skin. She stood with arms akimbo.
“You don’t look half as bad as Lini described.” Her voice was hard but Ulfrik heard the hint of a tremor.
“You look wholly like the liar and betrayer you were at our last meeting.” He withdrew his hands, nodding to Lini who arrived behind her with two other men, one carrying a spear more like it was an adder to be held at length rather than a weapon to wield. The food Lini had provided him had lasted the four days since their meeting, and he still had a portion prepared for his escape. He had stopped digging and just ate and rested. Today he felt better than he had in many months.
Audhild shifted in the uneasy silence, her eyes searching the holes under the grate. “They said you were trying to dig out. I knew the rocks would block you.”
“I’m sure you knew. Audhild is always right, isn’t she? She doesn’t make mistakes.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, her mouth bending in a frown. Lini stepped in for her. “We’re going to let you out today. Remember your promise?”
Ulfrik shifted his eyes from Lini, scowling. He stuck his chin at Audhild. “Is that so? I walk out and am free to be my own man?”
“You will be let out as long as you lift the curse you placed on my people. They are dying, Ulfrik. Norna Sigurdsdottir drew her final breath last night. They say it’s because you are being held like an animal in a cage.”
“What do you think?” Ulfrik smiled then withdrew his hands through the grate. “I’m covered in lice. My beard and hair is one tangled mess. I smell like shit and sleep by puddles of my own piss. I saved your people and you all spit in my face. I rejoice at the news of your deaths. You deserve no less.”
Lini and the others with him winced at his outburst, but Audhild wrinkled her nose at the description. “But you are an animal. You raped me, and who knows how many other women are in danger from your uncontrolled lust.”
Ulfrik slammed the grate in anger. “Spare me that lie. We both know the truth. I know a good deal of truth about you. Eldrid visited me. Seems she has a guilty heart and some bitter disappointment. I know how she lost her eyes and where you got that scar. I know that anyone who gets between you and her is ruined. You have deceived not only me but all of these people. Why the gods have not struck you down yet is a mystery to me.”
He expected Audhild to fly into a rage. Even Lini stepped back from her. Yet she folded her arms and squinted at him. Her jaw ground as she considered him in stony silence. Ulfrik bored his eyes into hers, unwilling to flinch. She was remarkably strong at holding her own, but he had stared down more fearsome enemies in his life. At last she abated and turned aside.
“As we were saying before, you are to be freed under certain conditions. The people have convinced me that your curse is real. If you will release us from it, then you will be allowed to rejoin us. Even though I still think you are a threat.”
“How exceedingly gracious of you.” Ulfrik gave her a mock bow, feeling the knife at his back pull tight as he did. “But we have a disagreement. I will not lift my curse while I am imprisoned. In fact, I cannot even if I wanted to. It was the condition I set with the gods. For every day I am captive the curse gains power.”
Audhild sighed and shrugged. “Then you will be let out first.”
“And allowed to leave this horrible place.”
“Never. You will be allowed to move into your former home and you will be guarded.”
“You can’t guard me forever. Just end this pointless joke. Eldrid told me about her dream. I know—”
“Shut up!” Audhild’s hands were balled into fists. “Do not speak about what you do not understand. Eldrid told you nothing.”
Her face had turned purple and her eyes bulged like a frog’s. Veins on her neck stood out, and if Ulfrik had not thought she looked mad before, he was now disabused of the notion. He held up a hand for peace, while his other hand felt for the knife at his back.
He did not need her blessings to flee. Once the grate was unbolted, she had only one purpose remaining: to serve as a hostage. He would hand her over to Valagnar as payment for his own guarantee of safety. All he had to do was agree with her and see the grate removed.
“All right, I am sorry. Being trapped alone in a cave for months has left me in an ill temper. You should understand that.”
Her bulging eyes did not subside and her face grew darker. Lini braved her displeasure and gestured the other men to begin work on removing the grate. She did not restrain them, but remained fixed on Ulfrik. He withdrew into the shadow, slipping the knife from its sheath and laying it flat against his forearm. The cold iron pressed into his flesh. Patches of rust had formed on it, lending a rough touch to it. Without proper oils and rags to clean it, the blade suffered, but its edge would still cut.
Lini had taken the spear from one of the workers and the two men used tongs and pry-bars to work out the bolts that had anchored the grate in place. Of all the people Ulfrik had drilled in weapons, Lini had been one of the few who learned his techniques. He wondered now if it would work against him. He rolled the hilt of Gudrod’s stolen knife in his palm as he waited, enjoying the press of the edge against his skin.
Rock crumbled and bolts clattered to the ground. First the grate slipped, then, as the last bolts were drawn, it collapsed into the earth with a thud. The two workers skipped backward to avoid the iron bars crushing their feet. When the grate did not topple, Ulfrik kicked it out so it slammed into the dirt, landing just before Audhild’s feet. A puff of air lifted the hem of her skirt, but she did not budge. Instead she glared at him. He was glad for her stillness. Taking her hostage would be easier. He stepped atop the grate as he strode out of the cave. Spinning the knife around in his grip, he held it close to his leg but ready to strike.
Lini lowered his spear to Ulfrik’s neck, stopping him atop the grate. “I don’t want to do this,” he said, the trembling of his hands vibrating through the spear to Ulfrik’s neck.
Ulfrik’s arm twitched to knock the spear aside but its blade drew a bead of blood from his neck. He relaxed his arm.
“Gudrod lost his knife,” Audhild said at last. “And I see it pressed to your leg. Surrender it.”
“Kill me and you’ll all remain cursed.” Ulfrik imagined closing the gap to Lini, knocking aside the spear and ramming the knife into his heart. Yet Lini, despite the sweat beading on his brow, only needed a moment’s resolution to strike. Even an inexperienced fighter could make the kill without the blade already fixed in position.
“Drop the knife,” Audhild repeated. “You’ve no need for it now.”
Despite being surrounded, he fantasized Audhild’s death along with Lini and the two workers behind him. The workers’ iron tongs alone could bash in his head,
never mind the cold iron at his neck. He sneered at Lini, then tossed the knife at Audhild’s feet. It clanked atop the grate, light winking off the blade as if bidding farewell.
“I regret teaching you how to use that spear,” he said to Lini. He pushed the shaft down and to the side. He thought of ripping it from Lini’s grasp. A spear was a poor weapon for taking a hostage and with Audhild armed too much was left to chance. He decided to wait for another opportunity.
Lini swallowed and stepped back, sweat rolling off his nose. “I’m sorry. I don’t want any more killing. Just lift your curse. Please.”
Audhild’s face remained bright scarlet as she studied the knife, turning it in her hand as if she had never before seen a blade. Ulfrik supposed she imagined what it would feel like rammed through her chest. He had been prepared to teach her.
Then a terrible screech tore everyone’s attention to the top of the crest.
Eldrid stood with her staff raised overhead in both hands. A new blindfold of red cloth covered her eyes and her hair flowed free about her shoulders. Flanking her were four men, and at their front stood Gudrod. His sword was drawn and it caught a gleam of furtive sunlight from the cloud-laden sky.
Audhild swept toward her sister, a mad growl of her own filling the air. She held Gudrod’s knife close to her side, her knuckles white around the grip.
“Halt!” A bowman emphasized Gudrod’s shouted order. He nocked an arrow to his bow, but did not draw. Audhild was heedless, and with a flick of Gudrod’s wrist the bowman drew and fired an arrow at Audhild’s feet. She skidded to a halt where the shaft broke on the ground.
The Storm God's Gift (Ulfrik Ormsson's Saga Book 5) Page 25
