“By the Earth Mother,” Merewin groaned behind him. She fell into his back.
Hauk wrapped his arm around, pulling her before him, shielding her body from the increasing rain and wind.
“Are we still headed east?” he said near her ear above the shouts of his men as they put their remaining strength into their oars. Every one of them must pull hard to control the ship in the tossing sea. Hauk didn’t worry about them. He’d trained most of them himself. He did worry about the woman in his arms. She stared out at the angry gray air and dark waves.
“Aye, east, but adjust slightly to the left.” Hauk unlashed the tiller and moved it slightly left.
Merewin fell against him as the ship rocked hard.
She turned her face up, and his stomach seized. Fear, raw and unspoken, reflected in her eyes. Hauk pulled her closer, shielding her in his one good arm while the other steadied the tiller. He had never before feared the ocean. He respected it, honored it, but he saw it as a challenge, something to make him stronger or take him to Vahalla. Either way, it did not matter.
True, if he died, Dalla would mourn, but she would live with his sister. Perhaps she would be better without him anyway. But the fear in Merewin’s gaze snapped something inside him, something that made his stomach turn. He was suddenly vulnerable. Her life was his responsibility and she was delicate, fragile and very much afraid.
He leaned down toward her ear, trying not to slam his head into hers as the sea pitched and heaved beneath them. “Can you swim, Merewin?” He felt her stiffen. Perhaps he should have just waited to see, but he had to know in case.
She pulled her head up and nodded quickly. “I’ve never swam in the ocean, but I know how to swim in a river or pond.”
“Just in case, I needed to know.” He tried to dispel the growing panic on her face. “But we should be there soon. We’ve rowed all night. We may not be able to see it, but Denmark lies somewhere close.”
She nodded again and ducked against his chest to shield her face from the pelting rain.
Gamal fought his way across the slippery deck to them. “Perhaps we should give Odin a sacrifice, appease the gods with our treasure?”
Hauk looked to Gamal. His sister’s mate wasn’t afraid, being seasoned as well, but he had a baby on the way, his first, and he wanted to reach land.
“Feel free to offer your treasure to the sea,” Hauk yelled against the wind. “I am holding onto mine.”
Gamal laughed and caught himself from falling into Hauk and Merewin.
Hauk watched through the gray light as several men dumped gold goblets and spoons over the side of the ship and continued to row.
The rain pelted down like small rocks. Hauk strapped Merewin to him and tied himself to the base of the tiller. To be swept over in this fury was certain death.
Gamal took Hauk’s rotation so Hauk could continue to steer with Merewin strapped to his side. His stitched arm throbbed after the grueling night, but he ignored it. He felt the warm spreading of blood under his soaked tunic.
Merewin would complain that she had to sew it again, but it couldn’t be helped.
Odin was furious, and the mens’ offerings hadn’t appeased him, instead the ocean seemed infuriated.
Bjalki came to stand near Hauk. “Perhaps Odin needs a blood sacrifice to release our lives from this storm.”
Hauk stared at him. “And you are volunteering, Bjalki.”
Bjalki frowned and glanced at Merewin braced where she stood against Hauk.
Hauk’s stare filled with cold, calm promise, promise that Bjalki would die in the sea before he allowed anyone to throw Merewin to the jaws of the ocean.
Bjalki stared back. Was the mathkr accepting the challenge?
Blood pumped through Hauk, warming him. He would relish this.
“Land,” Gamal yelled from the bow of the ship. “Land ahead.”
Hauk continued to stare at Bjalki until the warrior turned to look out toward Gamal. Then Hauk turned. Land, a gray strip coming at them in the shifting fog and washing rain. Trees spiked up tall along the rocky coast. A torch burned bright under a covered rock outcropping. A beacon. He squeezed Merewin. Not only had she found land, she had found Denmark.
Merewin looked up at him. He smiled, water dripping from his hair and face. A drop dripped from the tip of his nose onto her forehead. She blinked. “We’ve found Denmark.”
Hope lit her eyes and she tried to turn in his arms, but the lashings held her to him.
“It looks like you won’t have to swim today.” He loosened the straps to allow her to turn into the wind and rain as the men pushed hard to reach the shore.
They landed slightly north near Esbjerg. Horses were provided for some of the men, some doubling up on the larger geldings. It was at least an hour’s ride south to Ribe. Hauk would stay near with half the crew to row the dragonship south to port once the storm blew out. The others chose to ride through the storm to Ribe where Ragnar waited.
“I will take the healer to the king,” Svein called from his horse.
Hauk watched the man’s gaze briefly run over Merewin. She still seemed weak and fragile where she stood near him. She didn’t move, her eyes trained on the ground. Hair lay plastered against her head, hanging in long wet tendrils. A tremor of cold shook her shoulders every few seconds.
“Nay,” Hauk said and pulled her against the warmth of his body. “She needs to rest and get dry and warm.”
“I can keep her warm against me,” Svein urged, making Hauk wonder at the young warrior’s intent. The man was a friend of Gamal’s, but he had spent several hours talking with Merewin during the trip. Perhaps he was foolish enough to think he could take Hauk’s treasure.
“I care for what is mine,” Hauk said.
Svein gave a curt nod, his look lingering on Merewin for a second before he turned his mount.
Hauk paid a merchant several Northumbrian gold pieces for the use of an empty cottage on the edge of the small town. Hauk picked up Merewin’s sodden body and jogged with her and a torch through the muddy streets. He ducked into a small shack leaving the rest of the warriors to find shelter in the great hall. Merewin needed privacy and quiet.
Hauk laid her on the floor, wrapped her in blankets and started a fire with his torch. He touched her cheek. “Merewin, we need to get you dry.” She nodded, though her eyes remained closed, dark lashes against the paleness of her skin. The movement caused him to breathe again though he hadn’t realized that he’d been holding it.
Her lips moved. She licked them. “I need to,” she stopped, “I need to have privacy, to relieve myself.”
Hauk leaned back on his heels as she opened her eyes and pushed up into a sitting position. She frowned slightly. “Ye may be able to relieve yerself over the side of a dragonship, but I cannot, will not.” She tried to stand, the weight of her wet clothes making her sway. “I still feel like I’m swaying on that blasted boat.”
Hauk’s frown relaxed. “You can use the woods outside, don’t try to escape,” he added as she walked slowly to the door. Rain slanted in, wetting the dry floor. She looked back at him as if he was insane.
“I’m freezing, hungry, and exhausted, and in a strange land. I think ye can rest easy that I’ll return to yer fire,” she said with a toss of her limp hand at the flames.
Smart woman, Hauk thought and held two blankets near the fire to warm. Several minutes later, she returned. If possible, she was even more sodden.
Merewin swayed when she stopped before the dancing flames.
Hauk stepped up and began to undress her. He managed to strip the heavy clothing down to her shift before she noticed.
“Cease.” She leaned back, her arms over her chest to hide the peaked nipples from his view.
Hauk tried to ignore how the thin, wet material clung to her curves. Unfortunately his body reacted without his consent. He shifted in his stance and adjusted the tightness that strained against his wet trews. “We need to get you dry, woman, before illness tak
es you.” The gruffness of his words made him sound surly.
She looked at him, weighing his words. “I will remove my shift,” she ordered and pointed to the back corner. “Ye can stand over there with yer back to me.”
He stood a moment. She would soon be his slave once he gained her from Ragnar. Yet she ordered him. He should be allowed to see her naked. He opened his mouth to say as much, then saw her shoulders tremble as a cool breeze flew around the drafty room. He shut his mouth. She would stay in her wet shift if he didn’t comply. He could rip it from her, but it would go against his word. She shivered again, and he made up his mind. His responsibility was to bring her to Ragnar alive and well.
Hauk stomped off to the back of the small room. He grabbed a dry blanket. He stripped out of wet clothes and inspected his freshly opened arm. He’d clean it and bind it a third time.
Hauk froze as he heard Merewin remove her shift. The soaked fabric sucked against her skin. Was her skin as silky pale as her face? Like moonlight splashing against her? Her nipples would be peaked no doubt due to the chill. He heard the dry sound of the blanket moving, wrapping around, covering her like his body should. But she was past exhaustion. To touch her now would be dishonorable. And then there was his bloody promise. Even though she belonged to him, he would hear her breathless pleas before he took her. The thought of what that would sound like nearly made him groan.
Several more minutes passed without a sound. “Finished?” No reply. He turned.
Merewin lay on her side, her body wrapped in the blanket curled inward so that her entire front faced the heat of the fire. Eyelashes lay against the deep circles of exhaustion. Breath came in even draws through gently parted lips. Sleep had claimed her, curling around her soft form like a lover.
Hauk stared a long time as the firelight flickered across delicate features. Damp tendrils dried into curls around her face. How had she healed Gamal? And guided them home through the fog?
“Magick,” he frowned, his back rigid. “Illusions,” he accused, but she only answered with a whispered sigh. He walked to the door of the hut to stare out at the rain. He would never allow illusions and false promises to harm his family again.
Chapter 4
“Must we really get back on the boat?” Merewin murmured as she stood on the rocky shore before the dragonship. “The world has just stopped swaying beneath my feet.”
The Vikings continued to board.
Gamal stopped.
“We must bring Hauk’s ship to its home mooring, plus it is the swiftest way to Ribe.”
“I’m in no hurry.”
Gamal laughed. “Nay, you aren’t are you,” he squeezed her hand, catching her attention. “You have my thanks from me and my family for healing me on your land, especially when you knew me only as the enemy. If I thought you were walking into danger, I would stay you.”
“I am a slave, Gamal,” she looked directly at his merry blue eyes.
“You are a thrall.”
“Which means slave,” Merewin replied softly.
“Not exactly,” Gamal waved his hand toward Hauk. “And you are a thrall to Hauk the Broad.”
“And this should make me feel safe?” Merewin trailed off her question.
Gamal offered Merewin his arm and pulled her closer to the wooden side of the dragonship. “Hauk protects what’s his to the death.” Gamal’s words came serious, more serious than she had heard him before.
The effect caused a chill to tickle the back of her neck where Bela lay like a wrap. She shivered and stopped on the pebbles just before the lapping water touched the tips of her leather boots.
She looked down at the cold water at the same time Gamal did. He bent to pick her up, his arm just brushing the backs of her knees, when another set of strong arms lifted her into the air.
Hauk scooped her away so suddenly that Gamal nearly fell into the water. “I will carry her aboard,” Hauk’s voice thrummed through Merewin, the deep cadence hammering with the beat of her heart.
Merewin held onto his shoulders as he sloshed through the shin-deep water.
Bela peeked out and hissed.
“Bela, doesn’t like the idea of boarding any more than I do,” Merewin said above the thudding in her ears. Could he hear her heart beating so hard?
“Your pet is free to remain here,” Hauk said and Bela ducked behind Merewin’s hair.
“She goes where I go, always has.”
Hauk grunted and placed her on the deck near his station at the tiller.
“What? Haven’t ye ever had a pet, a faithful animal that followed ye wherever ye went?”
“Nay,” he paused and looked out at the men climbing aboard. “But I’ve seen it before.” He stared out watching his men. “My son had a dog, followed him everywhere.”
“Yer son?” Merewin couldn’t hold back the question nor the horror in her tone. “Ye are married?”
Hauk glanced back. Sadness edged the deep blue of his eyes. “Nay, not anymore.”
Relief surged through Merewin, not that it mattered much if he was married. But he had kissed her, and the thought that he would betray a wife would have made him even more the barbarian.
Her voice softened. “I’m sorry, Hauk.” She touched his arm, “that ye lost her.”
His gaze hardened, and she drew back.
“I wed to seal an alliance for my father. It was not a love match.” He turned away and walked to the side of the boat to help the other men cast the ship off from the rocky shore.
Merewin held the seat as the vessel rocked. She chewed on that information. She needed to start keeping track of all the people she would be encountering. So Hauk had no wife, but had a son and a sister who was married to Gamal. Did he have parents, other siblings, other children?
As she watched him pull the lines of the rectangular sail, she couldn’t help but admire the strength in his arms and body. Even with the gash in one arm, his strength was great, frightening if he were an enemy. She frowned. He was the enemy. He was the master and she the slave. Once recovered from the voyage, she would plan an escape. Drakkina’s words flashed through her head. Merewin was supposed to be here, with him. The thought caused her head to ache and she rubbed at it.
As the sails filled with wind, the boat moved along swiftly. Hauk came back to relieve the tillerman. He stood a long time in silence.
Merewin watched him adjust the course to keep the boat along the land, headed south.
He glanced at her. “We will be there before the sun reaches its zenith.”
She nodded. The headache continued.
After nearly an hour of silence, Gamal thankfully walked over.
“You look green, Merewin.”
“I’ve been watching to see if I need to hold her head over the side,” Hauk said from his stance at the tiller. Merewin glared at his back, and Gamal laughed.
“I’ve never been to sea before, and I doona like it,” she defended.
“Can’t you heal yourself?” Gamal asked curiously.
Merewin tilted her head in a long stretch from one shoulder to the other. “Somewhat, but the energy I use to heal can weaken me. If I’m the one I’m healing I can weaken myself more than heal. I suppose it is best to suffer,” she said, a little bit too dramatically, causing Gamal to laugh again. It was infectious. Merewin couldn’t keep her own smile from seeping onto her face. She had been frowning for days, until her cheeks hurt.
Gamal saw her smile and grinned broader. “Whew, you could win Odin’s love with that smile, woman,” Gamal said, causing Hauk’s head to swivel around abruptly.
Her genuine smile reached her eyes as she nodded slightly to Gamal’s compliment.
“You should smile more,” Gamal said and looked to Hauk. “You may need to claim her again once we reach port, very publicly.”
The thought of the last claiming made Merewin’s heart pick up pace. Her smile faded, and she looked back out over the gentle swells. She pushed her hair to one side, lifting the weight to lighte
n the strain on her neck. Bela peeked out and ran down her arm. She scampered under Merewin’s skirts.
Gamal reached out a hand to lift Merewin’s skirts. “Your pet likes to hide.”
Hauk stepped in front of Gamal’s hand and his friend straightened.
Merewin could only see the backside of Hauk where he stood in front of her, and what a backside it was.
Gamal mumbled an apology for nearly lifting up her skirts and mentioned checking on the crew as he shuffled off.
Merewin hardly noticed with the full view of Hauk’s tight trews that showed off the muscles that tapered into his thick, long legs.
Hauk stepped back to the tiller and once again silence ensued.
She sighed into the salty air. “So what is wrong with this king of yers that he must send all the way to Northumbria for a healer?”
“Ragnar is not ill, it is his son.”
Merewin’s stomach contracted, and she wondered if she shouldn’t lean over the side. She forced several long breaths of cool air down before she spoke again. “A son?” Her voice was a little higher in pitch than normal. Hauk turned to scoop her up, probably to force her head over the bobbing water, but she stayed him with a hand. “How old is this son?”
Hauk stopped but studied her carefully. “He is about half way to his second year. Will you need to purge?”
Merewin’s eyes grew round as panic consumed. She nodded helplessly as Hauk rotated her so that she faced away from him. In one step he held the top of her body over the side of the vessel. Merewin threw up into the frothy sea. She would have perished from the humiliation, but she had other problems to worry about. The king had sent for her to heal a young child. She couldn’t heal young children.
The throbbing in her head peaked violently, and Merewin pressed her forehead into cupped hands. What could she do? These brutal warriors had been careful with her, had treated her with more respect than she would have imagined after the tales of their cruelty to victims and slaves. But that was when they thought she could help their king’s son. What would happen when they discovered she couldn’t?
Magick (The Dragonfly Chronicles Book 2) Page 7
