by Quinn Loftis
My heart twisted at the endearment, wishing I could hear it from Torben’s lips rather than his mother’s.
“I didn’t realize my thoughts were so obvious.”
“Don’t worry about it. It only means you are compassionate and have empathy for others. You feel like you are letting Torben down in some way because you cannot help him, especially since he helped you and your homeland deal with that wolf in sheep’s clothing. You feel like you owe him, but that’s not the case. That’s not how relationships work. There is no, I did this so now you do this. Relationships thrive on willing sacrifices. You both have to be willing to do whatever is necessary for the other person, regardless of whether they ever reciprocate it. Torben would not want you feeling guilty.” Hilda held my gaze for a few heartbeats.
I tilted my head back and stared up at the night sky. The stars dotted the heavens and peeked out of the darkness like small beacons of hope. I let Hilda’s words sink in and drew the truth from them. She was right. Torben would not want me feeling guilty. Instead, I needed to be thinking about how we were going to escape Magnus.
“Do you have a plan yet?” I asked the Oracle.
“I want to see Magnus’ brother’s reaction when they finally come face-to-face. That might help me determine when we should make our escape,” she said.
“Why does that make a difference? Do they hate one another?”
“It’s not about hating one another. They are the chieftains of different clans. In essence, they are not enemies, but neither are they allies.”
“So, his brother might turn him away?” I asked.
She let out a humorless huff of laughter. “No, he will not turn him away. He just might offer less than hospitable accommodations.”
My eyes widened. “You mean his own brother would take him as a prisoner?”
“Take all of us,” Hilda corrected.
“Why?”
“Strength, power, to show he is the more dominant male,” Hilda said. “The Viking world is survive or die. The weak don’t always make it, and men like Magnus and his brother devour the weak for breakfast. They sharpen their teeth on the bones of the men they’ve killed just because they believed them to be lesser.”
I tried not to let the revulsion show on my face, but I was certain it came through. This was the world I was going to be a part of if I married Torben? Was I strong enough to survive in this world? If I wasn’t, would Torben allow me to die? I thought the last question that ran through my head was ridiculous. Of course he wouldn’t let me die. Then I paused as more questions filled my mind. If I were weak and Torben coddled me, or didn’t let nature take its course, would he look weak to his clan? Would they try to challenge him as their jarl?
I took a deep breath and reminded myself there was nothing I could do about the what-ifs. I could only focus on the present and what I could control. Waiting was not something I really wanted to do, but Hilda knew these people and their ways.
I felt my sister shift beside me as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. Her braided hair was a nest from where she’d laid upon it. She always looked so young when she first woke up in the morning. I hated that she was here with me. I wanted more for her. She was too young to be in this dangerous situation, and yet I knew that Dayna wouldn’t change a thing. While Lizzy had always been the cautious one of us, Dayna was the one who jumped headfirst into things and worried about the consequences after the fact.
“How long did I sleep?” Dayna asked. Her mouth opened in a wide yawn, and she stretched her arms above her head.
I noticed several of the Norsemen gawking at my sister instead of guarding the sleeping group and nudged Dayna. “Quit that.”
“Quit what?” she asked incredulously. “Quit stretching?”
“You’re drawing attention to yourself, and that is the last thing we need in this situation.”
She rolled her eyes at me as she lowered her arms. “It’s not like I can control where they look. As long as they don’t get close enough to touch, they’ll keep their eyes and their hands. But if a single grubby, Viking finger comes near me, then my knives are coming out.”
“You’ve got knives on you?” Hilda asked.
Dayna huffed. “No, but that’s not the point.”
“It kind of is if you’re threatening to cut off appendages. You can’t very well do that if you don’t have a sharp object.”
“If it makes her feel more confident to threaten her captors, even though she can’t exactly follow through, then let’s just let her have it,” I said to the Oracle.
Hilda grunted. “I suppose false bravado is better than sniveling cowardice.”
Our talking ceased when Magnus stepped out of the circle of warriors. The sun had just begun to break over the tops of the trees, and its light stretched across the clearing like outstretched arms, coaxing all of nature from its slumber. The serene moment was broken, however, when Magnus’ voice boomed through the forest.
“Show yourselves!” he yelled.
“I take it subtlety is not his strong suit?” Dayna asked.
Hilda snorted. “Madmen are rarely subtle.”
“I can honestly say I never imagined being anyone’s prisoner, let alone the prisoner of two different people on the very same day. But I do suppose it is better than having two different people try to kill me on the same day. Though it is yet to be seen whether being a live prisoner is any better than what the Vikings have in store for me.”
~ Diary of Allete Auvray
“Is he determined to have us stabbed and strung up like fresh meat for the crows?” Dayna asked through gritted teeth as we watched Magnus pace like a puffed-up rooster.
I looked around to see that Magnus’ men were all on their feet and attempting to close the circle back around their jarl. I didn’t like being on the ground with all these men standing above me, but standing meant making myself an easy target for a stray arrow. Dayna obviously didn’t care about being an easy target as she shot to her feet and dusted off her dress.
Surrounded by gruff warriors, I felt ridiculous dressed in the beautiful—though becoming increasingly travel-stained by the minute—gown I had worn to the palace banquet. I sighed as I, too, stood up. It would at least make it easier to grab my sister when she decided to say or do something imprudent. Hilda also clambered to her feet, though with a little less speed and grace.
“What now?” I asked the Oracle.
“Now we wait to see if Magnus’ brother is friend or foe,” Hilda answered.
I still felt we should take the opportunity to sneak off while everyone was distracted. But then I remembered the possibility of potential enemies hiding in the forest. No doubt one of them would see us. Perhaps staying put was best for now.
“Calder, I know it’s you and your men. Is this how you treat the brother you haven’t seen in ages?” Magnus said. “You hold me and my men in the sights of your arrows all night?”
This time there was a response.
“No, it’s how I treat uninvited and unwanted intruders.” A large man walked out from a particularly dense area of trees and tall grass. He held a striking resemblance to Magnus with long, shaggy black hair streaked with grey and a beard that matched. His eyes appeared to be a golden brown from where I stood. His jaw was square and strong like his brother’s, and his lips were stretched in the same thin line. His shoulders were broad, and the rest of his body was clearly the result of a healthy amount of physical activity, probably carrying off innocent women if he was anything like his brother. Their similarities were so close that I wondered if maybe they were twins.
“Why are you here, Magnus?” Calder asked. “Have you lost control of your clan? Did they rebel against you and cast you out?” He turned to me and my sister, his narrowed eyes missing nothing. “And why in the gods’ name do you have two English princesses in your company?” His last question was more of a growl.
I frowned. How on earth did he know my sister and I were princesses? I looked down at my dress a
nd pursed my lips. It definitely hinted at royalty.
“How does he know?” Dayna asked, obviously sharing my thought.
I nudged her. “Whisper.”
The last thing we needed was to draw more attention to ourselves than our overly bright clothes already did. We were like two brilliant flowers in a field of brown pebbles.
“They are none of your concern,” Magnus said, his lips pulled back in an animal-like snarl. His eyes flashed with a possessiveness that made me want to vomit.
Calder made a motion with his hand, and two large warriors came stalking toward us. My feet stumbled as I pushed Dayna and Hilda behind me, despite the Oracle’s protestations. I didn’t have time to brace myself before the blow hit my cheek, but I dimly heard Dayna’s voice through the sound of my teeth rattling as I pitched sideways onto the ground.
“Hit her again, and I will remove your balls, feed them to the crows, and make you watch as they peck them into mush,” Dayna roared, daring the warriors as if she could take them all single-handedly.
“Hush, child,” Hilda said firmly as she and Dayna both helped me to my feet.
Calder let out a loud sigh, as if the sight of his clansman striking me exhausted him. “You have come into my territory with prisoners—English royalty, no less. It is absolutely my business. I will not fight in a battle that is of your own making.”
Magnus’s face twisted into a sneer, his breathing was building faster and fast as if he were preparing exhale fire at any moment. “The English king will not be marching in on you. He has no idea where I’ve gone. He most likely thinks I’ve gone back to my clan. You have nothing to worry about.”
Calder repeated the hand signal he’d given just moments ago. This time, I braced myself, but the blow came unexpectedly from the other warrior and struck me on the opposite cheek. Whether the second Viking was stronger or just more sadistic than his counterpart, I didn’t know, but the second blow was much harder and swifter than the first and lifted me off my feet. Again, I was blinded by pain and hit the ground, this time stifling a scream as I landed facedown in the dirt.
Immediately, I heard a string of curses above me, accompanied by the flailing of many limbs as Dayna tried to leap upon the Northman. Thankfully, Hilda held my sister firmly, the old woman displaying a surprising amount of strength that belied her age.
“You’ll only make things worse,” the Oracle hissed in Dayna’s ear. She whispered something else as Dayna struggled, but her words were drowned out by Magnus’ bellow.
“Why are you hitting her?” the Viking roared at his brother. “You bloody fool!”
I lifted myself onto my hands and knees. Then I crawled to my feet, intending on showing whatever modicum of defiance I could muster by meeting my attackers’ eyes. At the very least, I was determined not to cry out again. Unfortunately, the choice of making noise was taken out of my hands as, no sooner than I was standing upright, another blow struck me squarely in my stomach. I doubled over, the wind completely knocked from my lungs, then pitched forward, one hand wrapped around my middle while the other was pressed to my throat as if that would somehow make it easier to breathe.
Gnarled hands caught me just before my face smacked the ground—again. “Try and relax,” Hilda whispered into my ear as she eased me onto my back. I struggled to suck in even a tiny amount of air, and the world began to grow fuzzy. I felt like I was mere seconds away from passing out.
The Oracle murmured a few words, and the tightness in my gut eased a little. Cool, crisp, life-giving air rushed into my lungs. I laughed at the feeling despite the pain. The mirth was short-lived, however, as I heard a loud war cry issuing from behind me.
Apparently, without Hilda’s retaining grip, Dayna had resumed her attack. I raised my eyes up to see my sister attached to the man who had just struck me. She looked like an angry mountain cat, biting and clawing as hard as she could. Her thighs were holding firm on his hips as she raked her fingernails across his face. The profanities that flew from her lips would have made Cook proud. His companion, the Northman who’d been the first to punch me, started forward as if he might intervene, but then he grinned, planted his feet, and stayed his hand.
“Stop it, girl,” Hilda yelled, jumping up from the ground at my side.
Dayna’s victim grabbed a fistful of my sister’s hair and ripped her head backward. The move was so violent I was afraid he’d broken her neck, and it immediately loosened the hold she had on the Viking with her legs. Dayna fell with a squeal. Unfortunately, the man didn’t let go, so she was now hanging by a fistful of her blonde locks, her knees a few inches from the ground. Despite the grimace of pain on her face, she continued to lash out at the man, rising back to her feet and doing her best to kick and punch whatever part of his body she could reach. Her efforts proved futile. The Northman was over a head taller than Dayna and twice as heavy. He held my sister by her hair as a child might hold a doll as they dragged the toy around their bedroom.
The Northman’s free hand reared back, closed firmly into a fist, and then he looked at Calder. I tensed, grinding my teeth but powerless to stop what was coming. Luckily, though, the clan leader gave a single shake of his head. In response, the warrior nodded and threw Dayna aside. She landed in a heap practically on top of me.
As she was about to jump back to her feet, I gripped her arm and held fast with all the strength I could muster. “No,” I whimpered. It was the only sound I could make.
There was a sneer on the warrior’s face as he loomed over us, and I shuddered at the gleam in his eyes when he spoke to Dayna. “You should know we like our women feisty. Makes the chase all the more fun. So by all means, keep fighting.”
Dayna sat up and spat at him, the moisture landing on the man’s breeches. She made a move as if she were going to rise, but Hilda grabbed her other arm.
“Tend to your sister,” the old woman said.
“Dayna, enough,” I said as I released her and struggled to my feet. I attempted to make my voice strong, but I was still trying to catch my breath. “Are you all right?”
“Me?” she asked with wide eyes, regaining her own feet. “You’re the one that donkey’s arse has been beating on.”
“Shh,” I said, pressing my hand to her lips. “Try to remain calm, all right? There’s nothing we can do right now except try to keep from provoking them.” I turned my back to the warriors and whispered, “We’re biding our time, little sister, okay?”
She gave me a begrudging nod as I hugged her tight and then released her. We stood next to each other with our shoulders touching, our chins up. They could hit me as many times as they wanted, and I would continue to get up. As long as my sister was on this earth, I would rise over and over again to protect her.
The man returned to Calder’s side, but the first Viking who’d struck me stayed where he was. I eyed him warily, but then their leader addressed Magnus, drawing my attention.
“Keep saying things that offend me, brother, and I will have to seek restitution. What better way to make myself feel better than to punish your little playthings. They obviously have some value to you.” Calder leered at Magnus, speaking as though beating us was akin to slapping a dog that got on his nerves.
Magnus bowed his head. “It was not my intention to offend you, Calder. I am simply tired.”
“I ask again—why aren’t you with your clan?” Calder took a step closer. “Why would you not seek your own lands for the protection of your prizes?” He motioned toward us.
“Because that would have been the obvious place for me to go,” Magnus said. The tone of his voice sounded as though he thought Calder was an idiot.
His contriteness lasted all of thirty seconds, I thought.
Apparently, Calder got the same impression as his face grew dark and his brow drew down low over his eyes.
I was ready this time, only the blow did not come at me. The Viking with Dayna’s claw marks down his face slapped my sister so hard that she fell into me, knocking us both over.
I wrapped my arms around Dayna, trying to protect her, and watched in awe as Hilda unsheathed a dagger from somewhere near her shoe.
The Oracle held the blade up to the man who attempted to step toward where Dayna and I both lay on the ground. “Take another step and I will cut you just here,” Hilda said as she pressed the very sharp tip of the blade to the place just below his ear. “I don’t even have to slit your throat to make you bleed out like a slaughtered goat.”
The warrior looked unsure, but the pressure of Hilda’s knife made up his mind and he took a step back.
Calder continued talking as if nothing had happened.
“I see that you haven’t changed since the last time I saw you nearly two decades ago. You’re still an insolent arse, too proud to be intelligent,” Calder sneered.
Helping my sister up, I regarded Magnus, expecting to see rage at the insult, but he was simply staring at his brother. His face had relaxed into an almost indifferent expression.
“You can think what you want of me,” Magnus said. “While you’re thinking it, I ask that you grant me a temporary stay until I am sure the English king has given up his search.”
I nearly snorted a laugh but managed to choke it down. My face was sufficiently throbbing, a poignant reminder that the men around us were not beneath brutalizing a woman. But the fact that Magnus believe my father would ever stop searching for us proved he was as unintelligent as his brother claimed him to be.
Our parents would only cease their pursuit of us once we were home for them to either hug or bury.
“He is a fool,” Hilda muttered under her breath.
“I second that,” Dayna said with a sharp nod. The skin on her cheek was red and angry, and I could see the faint outlines of finger marks. I gritted my teeth to keep from doing something that would get us both killed, or worse.
Again, to my surprise, Calder nodded. “I will grant you a temporary stay, but not as my guests.”
The indifferent look on Magnus’ face was wiped clean and replaced with a tightly drawn scowl. “What?” he snapped.
