“But I am. Here’s more proof if you need it.” Ulfrik held up his left hand, revealing his missing finger. “You chopped it off right here. Sent me falling to my doom. Who am I?”
Throst shook his head and turned away, but Ulfrik gripped it between his hands and forced him still. “I am Ulfrik Ormsson. I never died, my old friend. I survived that fall and all the shit that came after it. And we’re here together again in the same place.”
“I saw your body.”
“You saw a dead slave with his face bashed in dressed in my clothes. I was found and taken away to heal in secret. I believe it’s because the gods wanted us to have this meeting today. Don’t you think?”
Throst shook his head again. “This is madness. You’ve been gone for years. No one remembers you and you have nothing. But wait, I see what you want. A ransom, of course. I’m jarl here now, and I’m worth something to the Franks. You’re hiding me here, and will set terms for my release. My sister will negotiate with you. Do you want gold?”
Ulfrik struck him with his backhand. “Gold? From you? You cost my son his hand, and cost my brother his life. You cost me everything. Gold can’t fix what you’ve done to me.”
They stared at each other. The sun was crawling into the eastern sky, and soon dead guards, missing traders, and broken doors would all be discovered and Ulfrik’s escape would be hampered. Time was running out.
“What do you want?” Throst’s voice was a whisper, trembling with fear. The haughty jarl was reduced now to a pig tied up for slaughter. His eyes glittered with tears and his mouth quivered. The bold, young man who had kidnapped his child and killed his brother now wore the fat, red-nosed face of an over-indulged laggard.
“I want to know what Hrolf took in trade for me.”
Throst frowned at him. “I don’t understand.”
“You may not have an alliance with him, but he certainly betrayed me to you. You were ready for me before I arrived. What did he want for giving me to you?”
The scared visage vanished and the haughty Throst of old returned. He regarded Ulfrik with hooded eyes, as if he were not bound hand and foot. “You think Hrolf betrayed you?” He began to laugh.
Ulfrik slapped him again. “Who else would? He feared my power grew too strong, so he gave me up to you.”
Laughing harder, Throst shook his head. In the distance horns began to blast.
“We’re out of time,” Finn said, placing his hand on Ulfrik’s shoulder. “That’s from Gunnolfsvik.”
“They’ll check the tower,” Throst said in a singsong voice. “You really have no luck in this place.”
Drawing his knife, be put the point beneath Throst’s left eye and gouged the flesh. “Who betrayed me or you lose the eye.”
“I don’t respond well to torture. I’ll just scream until my men arrive. Do you want to—”
Ulfrik sliced the skin beneath Throst’s eye and he screamed, more in shock than pain. Eldrid’s poison was still in him and he was likely numb. Beating the information from him would not work, and he had no more time.
“Who gave me up to you? It was not Hrolf?”
“No, look much closer to your hearth. Your wife is the reason you’re here. How’s that for a hard truth?”
“Liar!” He punched Throst’s face, but he only continued to laugh. The sun was rising and Finn shook Ulfrik’s shoulder when more horns sounded again.
He paused a moment as Throst chuckled. Whatever his motives, Throst was not going to provide the truth. If anything, Hrolf could still be the culprit and Throst was protecting that secret.
“What to do? She’s forgotten you by now, being dead all this time. I wonder who she’s sleeping with?” Throst babbled, delaying as the horns continued to sound.
“Forget this,” Ulfrik said. “It’s time for your judgment.”
Throst’s face fell and turned white. “What does that mean? You want to ransom me, of course.”
“You threw me from this tower, yet I lived. Today I give you the same chance. I won’t kill you, but let the gods decide.”
“No, I’m worth gold to you!” Finn grabbed Throst’s arm and looked to Ulfrik, who took up the other.
“Justice and revenge is all I seek. Now see the world as I did when I fell from this spot. If the gods love you as they did me, we’ll speak again at the bottom of the cliff. Otherwise, may worms eat your guts for all time, you dog-shit bastard.”
Throst screamed in protest as Ulfrik and Finn hefted him to the edge. “You can have everything. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”
“For me, my sons, and Toki, here is vengeance.”
They released Throst and he plummeted head first over the side. Ulfrik could not bear to watch but heard him thump against the cliff rocks before smashing through the trees. In a moment, his shrieks diminished and a final thud sounded.
Then all was quiet but for the horns in the distance.
Chapter 59
At the bottom of the tower they found Throst crumpled in a bloody heap. His neck had been broken and his head faced over his back. Dozens of other bones protruded from his shirt and pants. A broken branch impaled his side. Ulfrik spit on the corpse and Finn stared at it with sober dispassion. They left the body without a word, disappearing into the surrounding forest.
As they skirted Gunnolfsvik, Finn asked how Ulfrik felt. It was a numb sensation, yet still satisfying. He had avenged himself and his family, paying back Throst for the years of pain he had brought them. The gods had watched Throst fall, and let him die in shame. It was a fitting end for the coward. Yet doubt still gnawed at Ulfrik. Despite all his grand deceptions, he had come no closer to learning who had betrayed him to Throst. Perhaps the gods would forever mask the truth from him. With Throst dead, he would never know and decided it did not matter. Now, only the future was important.
They located their belongings and wealth at the riverbank before the end of the day. Gunnolfsvik was now behind them as the sun set. Finn stretched and yawned.
“I need a good night’s sleep,” he said.
“I’m afraid we’ll be under the stars for a while yet. No great halls are in our near future. We’ll search for a place to make camp tonight. I saw a spot on the way here I think will serve.”
“Reminds me of scouting game with my father.”
Ulfrik had a witty retort prepared, but a thoughtful look clouded Finn’s normally sanguine face. Instead Ulfrik patted the young man’s shoulder and the two began to retrace their steps into the forest. After a dozen paces in silence, Finn spoke again.
“Where do we go now?”
“North.”
“Do you believe what Throst said? Hrolf is blameless?”
“What else can I believe? I want to find my family. There is nothing more important now than reuniting with them.”
Finn nodded. “I can’t wait to meet your sons and Snorri and Einar. I want to see Ravndal where you tricked the Franks. I’m looking forward to seeing every person and place from your stories.”
“As am I.” He looped his arm around Finn’s shoulder as they took their first turn north. Toward home.
Author’s Note
Iceland was first settled in 870 C.E., shortly after being discovered by a Norwegian named Naddodd. Naddodd had been aiming for the Faeroe Islands but missed his mark and thus discovered a new shoreline. A few other accidental discoveries occurred until another Norwegian, Floki, made a deliberate trip to settle and named the place Iceland. He eventually despaired of settling and returned to Norway with his companions. He did not have many good things to say about the land. Yet despite his complaints, he would eventually return to Iceland and live the rest of his life there. Others were not far behind him.
What followed is known as the age of settlement, which lasted until 930 C.E. During this sixty year period all the available land had been settled, with anything from fifteen to twenty thousand settlers calling Iceland their home. One of the more famous settlers was Aud the Deep-Minded. Aud was the s
econd daughter of the Norwegian Jarl Ketil Flatnose. She married Olaf the White, who was a son of a self-proclaimed “King of Dublin.” A series of catastrophes which included Olaf’s death in battle led Aud to build a ship hidden within a forest. Her reasons for this were never completely clear. She personally led this ship which was crewed by many slaves and prisoners whom she promised to grant freedom and property once landing safely in Iceland. Upon arrival she was true to her word, and claimed a large tract of land for herself in addition to what she granted to her followers. By now you will note where I borrowed from Aud the Deep-Minded’s tale for my own character of Audhild.
While Audhild’s story drew inspiration from a historical figure, Eldrid is entirely fictional. She is what was known as a seidkona, which can be loosely translated as a witch. Like the traditional namesake, powers ascribed to the seidkona include all sorts of black magic and prophecy. These seidkona were solitary and did not practice in covens as later European witch traditions would. Also, not every seidkona performed evil deeds but also knew healing magic and could use powers for good. These practitioners preferred to call themselves spa-kona, which separated them from their darker sisters.
Looking back to mainland Europe during this time, Frankia was entering a new period of unity that would prove troublesome for the Viking invaders. After the death of Charles the Fat, King Arnulf of East Frankia used problems in West Frankia to seize Lorraine for his own. His machinations finally resulted in King Odo of West Frankia recognizing the superiority of Arnulf in 888. This lasted until 893 when Arnulf decided to back Charles the Simple over Odo. The ensuing wars benefited Arnulf, who again grabbed more land for himself. During this time, the Vikings consolidated their grip around Rouen and the Seine River in West Frankia. They exploited the chaos but found Arnulf a difficult foe. After initial success, the Vikings were soundly beaten by Arnulf in 891 at the Battle of Leuven and Viking ability to make further progress in East Frankia was shattered.
By 895, Arnulf summoned both Odo and Charles to an audience in Worms, but Charles sent a representative rather than attend himself. Odo shrewdly attended in person and was careful to lavish gifts on Arnulf. This insult ended Arnulf’s support for Charles. Odo was once again in favor and awarded the West Frankia throne. This was the situation when Ulfrik last lived in Frankia. With the in-fighting finished in West Frankia, Odo could turn his attention to the pressure of Viking invaders and perhaps do something about their encroachments on Paris.
Now that Ulfrik has returned to Frankia, he will find a new landscape and the Franks better organized to resist. The establishment of Normandy is still over a decade away and much uncertainty remains in his future.
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The Storm God's Gift (Ulfrik Ormsson's Saga Book 5) Page 33
