The Burning Sea

by A. E. Rayne

  Evaine was mumbling to herself, squinting, going over each, almost indecipherable scrawl, desperate for a clue as to why she felt that Eadmund had gone. ‘But don’t you see, Father?’ she croaked wildly, her eyes never leaving the page. ‘I must find an answer, before it is too late, before everything is lost. Before he is lost!’

  Runa’s eyes widened. She would have to go and visit Edela and Biddy in the morning. Evaine must know that her spell had broken. But what if she managed to find out why? She swallowed, wondering if Morac would protect her if Evaine discovered her part in everything. Despite her lack of feeling towards her husband, she needed a protector, and Morac would have to be it. ‘Leave her be,’ she called to him. ‘Evaine is a mother now, so she can surely make her own decision about when to go to bed. But as for you,’ she said with forced warmth. ‘You look ready to fall down.’ She swallowed and reached out a hand. ‘Time for us to go to bed.’

  Morac blinked, surprised but happy as he left Evaine and walked hastily towards Runa and this unexpected offer. She had slept in Fyn’s bed, outside their bedchamber, since his return. He had missed her.

  Evaine didn’t even notice them as she turned another page, her shoulders so tense they felt like wood. But she would not move, would not sleep, would not eat until she had discovered what had gone wrong.

  Until she had discovered how she had lost Eadmund.

  Eadmund kissed her and Jael forgot all about her cold toes.

  She ran her hands across the coarse bristles of his beard, so familiar and smoky. His lips were warm and urgent as he bent his head towards her neck, kissing her skin – her chilled, shivering skin – all the way down to her breasts.

  ‘Stop,’ she murmured.

  Eadmund lifted his head, surprised. ‘What is it?’

  Jael wriggled away from him, feeling a sense of urgency, worried about those dreamers. ‘We have to go back. I don’t want to leave Eydis alone out there.’

  ‘Fyn won’t let anything happen to her. You know that.’ He touched her face, running a finger over her scar. ‘What’s wrong?’

  Jael shook her head. It was dark in the chamber. No fire had been set, and she was cold, but more than anything, she was suddenly overcome with fear; the fear of loving someone and not being able to keep them safe; the fear that Eadmund would disappear again and not come back. That she would lose him.

  She didn’t want to lose him.

  Jael swallowed. ‘Nothing,’ she sighed, shutting it all away. ‘Nothing. But we should be quick.’

  ‘Quick?’ he laughed. ‘Is that your way of saying you want to get on top?’

  Jael smiled, relaxing again. ‘Well, you do tend to take forever.’

  ‘And that’s a bad thing, is it?’ Eadmund laughed, flipping her over.

  Jael looked into his eyes, adjusting her legs, rocking from side to side, getting comfortable. ‘Stop talking,’ she murmured, leaning forward, her hands on his shoulders as she bent towards his lips. ‘We don’t have long.’

  ‘You look as though you’ve been sucking a lemon all night, my love,’ Lothar grumbled as Bayla left them to talk to Haaron and Haegen. ‘It does not suit you to purse your lips so.’

  Gisila looked embarrassed, ducking her head.

  ‘Perhaps you need your bed?’ Lothar wondered, reaching under the table to run his hand over Gisila’s thigh.

  Gisila almost bit her tongue. ‘Perhaps,’ she smiled quickly. ‘It was a difficult time to be in Saala, worrying about you. We were all very anxious, especially after what happened to Eirik Skalleson. How he was murdered like that.’

  Lothar’s entire body sagged with happiness. There she was again, his perfectly agreeable wife. He patted her leg, edging closer. ‘Let us go, and quickly then,’ he shuddered excitedly. ‘I have had quite enough of Haaron’s company tonight.’ Glancing around guiltily, he was relieved to see that Haaron was not within earshot. He grabbed Gisila’s hand and hurried her to her feet, farting with utter pleasure at the thought of what awaited him.

  ‘He is a disgusting buffoon of a man,’ Bayla sneered as Lothar and Gisila passed on their way out of the hall. ‘Somehow, I expected better from a Furyck.’

  ‘I agree,’ Haegen laughed. ‘They appeared fiercesome from a distance, not foolish!’

  ‘You will be the one who appears foolish if you do not see that Lothar Furyck is hardly typical of their line. I would place a chest of gold on his parentage having been misrepresented to his father,’ Haaron said snidely. ‘He’s not even worthy of being Ranuf Furyck’s fool, let alone his brother and usurper of the Brekkan throne!’

  ‘Then why become allies with such a man?’ Bayla asked, sniffing at the cup of mead Haegen handed her. ‘Surely, he will take us down with him?’

  ‘We have legs, my wife,’ Haaron smiled knowingly. ‘We will leave when the time is right, do not fear. Hest will look after its own.’

  ‘And the girl?’ Bayla murmured, her eyes sharp on the simple little thing that was Amma Furyck, who sat at the high table, shrinking under Jaeger’s attention.

  ‘She is perfectly formed, and perfectly timed,’ Haaron said quietly. ‘Exactly what we need to keep our limping bear busy. He seems quite taken with her, wouldn’t you say?’

  Haegen nodded, slightly concerned by just how quickly Jaeger had taken to Amma Furyck. He had seen the same predatory look in his brother’s eyes when he first met Elissa.

  Neither woman could sleep.

  Biddy’s legs kept twitching as she lay there listening to the wind shriek around the house, thinking about everyone who wasn’t safely home on Oss. She would not feel at ease until they had all returned.

  Edela was growing irritable. She had set herself the clear purpose of dreaming about Jael, but her thoughts were too muddled to even begin. She could not find the sense of clarity and calm she needed to fall asleep. Sitting up, she gasped at a sharp pain in that annoying hip of hers.

  ‘What is it?’ Biddy wondered, propping herself up. ‘Are you alright?’

  ‘Mmmm,’ Edela mumbled in the darkness. ‘Well, not really. I want to dream, but there are so many things that are confusing me. I have too many thoughts in my head!’

  ‘Can I help?’ Biddy wondered eagerly.

  Edela yawned. ‘Well, perhaps if I tell you everything I remember, then it will be gone, and my head will become clearer. It is all such a noisy mess in there now. I need some peace!’

  Biddy laughed and lay back down. ‘As long as you don’t give me nightmares!’

  ‘Oh, I can’t promise you that,’ Edela smiled, delving back into her memory, to where it all began, to the first time she had seen Evaine’s face. ‘I certainly can’t promise you that. But don’t worry, Biddy Halvor, I’ll protect you!’

  ‘We should go back,’ Eadmund sighed, stretching sleepily.

  Jael shivered, hopping out of bed, rushing around the chamber looking for her clothes. ‘We should.’ She shook her tunic over her head and grabbed her sword belt. ‘Come on, then.’

  Eadmund sat up and stared at her.

  ‘What?’ Jael asked impatiently. ‘What is it?’

  ‘I can’t stop thinking about my father,’ he started, shaking his head. ‘That he’s gone. That we are here. It doesn’t feel real, as though it was all just a nightmare or something that happened so long ago...’ He stopped and looked at his wife. ‘And then there’s Aleksander.’

  Jael sat down beside him, suddenly uncomfortable. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘When he arrived on Oss,’ Eadmund murmured. ‘It’s as though you came alive. You were sad and worried for Edela, I know, but around him... I’d never seen you like that.’

  Jael felt her stomach tighten. She didn’t know what to say without digging herself a great hole. ‘I’ve known him my whole life, just like you and Thorgils.’

  Eadmund laughed. ‘I don’t think it’s like me and Thorgils!’

  ‘Well, not quite,’ Jael smiled. ‘But, he’s my family, and it was hard to say goodbye to him. We were happy.’
Her eyes skirted Eadmund’s. ‘But I don’t want to go back to Brekka and be with Aleksander. Not anymore. I want to go back to Oss and be with you.’ She swallowed, feeling guilty, knowing that she was being disloyal to Aleksander, but at the same time, Jael knew very clearly what she wanted.

  She wanted her husband.

  Eadmund reached out and held her hand, his whole body sighing in relief. ‘Well, that will make things easier, won’t it? Being king and queen as we are.’ He smiled, not letting go of her hand. ‘Let’s go back to Eydis, then, and get this whole thing over with. I just want to go home.’

  Morana’s laugh was like a bird screeching as it echoed around Varna’s chamber. ‘Did you enjoy it, girl?’ she wondered slyly. ‘What he did to you? When he ran his hands over you, tried to make you his?’ she crowed, circling Meena as she sat shaking on a chair in front of the fire.

  Meena hadn’t said a thing when she’d returned. She’d been horrified to find that her grandmother wasn’t there. Only Morana. And Morana had pounced on her instantly, taunting and poking at her with her barbed insults, trying to get a reaction. Meena had never wanted to see Varna so much in her life.

  ‘But did he tell you anything about the book?’ Morana continued, licking her lips. ‘Promise it to you? Show it to you? Or was he too busy fucking you to even mention it?’

  Meena shuddered, gasping for breath as Morana bent her sadistic face towards her. ‘You are worthless to us if you cannot get that book from him. Do you understand that, girl? We will have no need for you soon. Not unless you bring me that book!’

  Meena blocked her out, tapping her head, trying to think of Jaeger and the strangely exciting things he had done to her. It had felt so uncomfortable, so invasive, terrifying even. But she was consumed with a throbbing desire to go back so that he could do it all over again.

  Amma had avoided Axl all evening, desperate not to be seen looking at him by the sharp-eyed Nicolene. As she turned to leave the hall, she scanned the room quickly, hoping to catch just one glimpse of him before she disappeared. But instead, she saw Jaeger hobbling towards her on Karsten’s arm, Nicolene peering at her from his other side.

  ‘I am looking forward to tomorrow,’ Jaeger smiled, seizing Amma’s hand, pressing it to his lips as Amma forced herself not to squirm. ‘Sleep well.’

  Nicolene’s sharp eyes were fixed on Axl who was coming towards them with Gant, Fyn, and Aleksander. She smiled at Amma, before turning to follow her husband and brother-in-law out of the hall, her hand on Jaeger’s back.

  Axl waited for them to leave before turning to Amma, who was blinking back tears. He shook his head, wanting to do something; to kill Jaeger Dragos, to grab her hand and run away. To keep her safe. ‘Shall I take you to your chamber?’ was all he could say.

  ‘I think it’s probably best if I do that,’ Gant said quickly. ‘Axl, you grab hold of Aleksander.’

  Axl didn’t think that was the way it should go, but Gant gave him no choice as he unloaded his side of Aleksander’s slumped frame onto him.

  ‘It’s better this way, I promise,’ Gant insisted.

  Amma nodded sadly. Gant was not wrong, she knew.

  Axl scowled. Gant was completely wrong, he was certain.

  Fyn grunted and glared at Axl who was too distracted to notice that Aleksander was tipping over.

  Amma blinked quickly at Axl, then turned as Gant led her away, barely noticing that her feet were moving but very aware that her heart was breaking into tiny pieces.

  Biddy rolled over. ‘Do you think the Widow is the one who wants to stop Jael?’

  Edela yawned, listening to the soft rumbling snores of Vella who lay wedged into her side; a nice, warming lump. ‘I don’t know, but she is someone we must consider. She seems to have very evil intentions. Although...’ she muttered, puzzled, ‘it makes me wonder why Fianna and her mother visited her and then sent Aleksander there as well.’

  Biddy sighed, suddenly hungry, but far too cold and tired to get out of bed and shuffle into the kitchen for food. ‘It’s very confusing, knowing Fianna as we did.’

  ‘Indeed,’ Edela started, then stopped and frowned. ‘When I saw Fianna with Jael in my dream, when she was just a wee thing and Fianna was helping her, I could feel how much she loved Jael. There was no one around. It wasn’t a pretence. Her love was true and deep. It was as though Jael was her own child, which, looking back, is how I always thought it was. I cannot imagine that Fianna ever willingly conspired to hurt her.’

  ‘That is good news for poor Aleksander.’

  ‘Yes, although we still don’t know why she sent that note that led those men to Tuura,’ Edela sighed. ‘And as for the Widow... I’m certain that she is the key to so much we have yet to uncover. If only we could find the prophecy. Perhaps that is what I must dream on?’ She closed her eyes and stroked Vella’s warm fur, thinking of her granddaughter who she missed with a deep longing. Afraid for her. Desperate to do anything she could to protect her. To help her.

  There was so much she didn’t know...

  Eadmund was sound asleep. So was Eydis.

  Jael was grateful for the silence. She needed to think. She felt strange all over and had barely found a moment to even breathe since they left Oss.

  Since Aleksander had arrived with Edela.

  She hoped that her grandmother was still well. Thorgils should be there by now, keeping them all safe. Keeping Ivaar at bay. She sighed and adjusted her arm which had been aching all evening, not wanting to think about the problem of Evaine and her son.

  Not yet.

  Jael needed to think about Amma, and how to get her away from Jaeger Dragos. But the problem and the solution were both so equally huge that she couldn’t see how it could be achieved, not without death on a grand scale. One kingdom did not steal a member of another kingdom’s royal family; not without severe consequences. And Oss was not big enough to fight off Brekka and Hest together, especially if they were about to be unsettled by Ivaar and the lords.

  And then there were those strange women...

  Jael knew that they wanted to kill her.

  Edela had come to Oss to save her. The Tuuran dreamers had seen that she needed saving. But what if she needed saving from something that Edela couldn’t see?

  Jael was a dreamer; her grandmother had always told her so. But she had closed a firm door on embracing her gift as a child. She had no interest in seeing or feeling anything that she couldn’t touch with her own two hands.

  She preferred to hold a sword in them instead.

  So, why now? Why did she feel compelled to get up and confront those women? Why could she read their thoughts and see their poisoned, black hearts throbbing inside their chests?

  Shivering, she edged towards Eadmund and stuck her frozen feet on his large, warm ones, tired, but not wanting to go to sleep at all.

  ‘Varna is wrong about Jael Furyck,’ came the voice. A crackling, sharp-edged voice; malevolent and desperate. ‘She cares more about saving Hest than stopping the prophecy. Her loyalty is misplaced, though. We have her here. Now. We must kill her! Any way we can. She cannot be allowed to leave Hest!’

  The younger woman looked horrified as she tried to back away into the dark corner of the room, glancing anxiously at the door. Edela could hear the galloping thud of her terrified heart as she looked on.

  ‘Get me the book, and I will find a way to kill her. She will not be able to keep me out, I promise,’ the black and white haired woman growled. ‘The spells in that book were written by the God of Magic. Spells that no dreamer can ward against! Dreamer?’ she laughed wildly. ‘How is she a dreamer?’ She reached out and snatched at the young woman’s dress. ‘You will get me the book, do you understand?’

  ‘But I...’

  ‘What?’ the older woman snapped. ‘He has the book, and now he has you. It will not be hard for you to get the book for me, Meena Gallas.’ She leaned forward, her eyes flaming with dark fire. ‘Because I know how to read it. And if you want your precious
Jaeger to live, you will need me to read it. Because the prophecy says that Jael Furyck is going to kill him!’

  Edela gasped, reaching her hand up to her throat, gurgling, straining to breathe, lost in the darkness, her eyes blinking uselessly.

  ‘Edela!’ Biddy cried sleepily, stumbling out of bed and feeling her way across the room. ‘What has happened?’ She knelt quickly at her side, peering at the old woman as she tried to sit up.

  Edela turned to her, shivering uncontrollably. ‘I, I...’ She swallowed, the visions retreating quickly. ‘I had a dream. Jael is in danger!’ She shook her head. It was too much to take in. ‘Morana Gallas is in Hest!’

  ‘How do you know?’ Biddy asked breathlessly. ‘Did you see her?’

  Edela nodded, trying to keep a firm grip on the threads of her dream. ‘She is trying to kill Jael. Jael is there. She wants to stop her from leaving. She said that Jael is a dreamer, that she needs to try and find another way to kill her. As though she has tried, but it didn’t work.’

  ‘You mean because of her tattoos?’

  ‘Yes, and the stone I gave her,’ Edela mumbled, her head aching with the strain of holding the dream. She looked up suddenly. ‘The book is in Hest! Someone in Hest has the book... Jaeger...’

  ‘Jaeger Dragos?’ Biddy looked shocked as her eyes met Edela’s. ‘He has the book? How?’

  Edela shivered. ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘If Morana gets the book, can she kill Jael?’ Biddy asked, not wanting an answer.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘But what can we do?’

  ‘We need a fire and some light. I must dig into my chest.’

  42

  ‘Evaine,’ Morac murmured softly, brushing her tangled blonde hair away from her face as she lay there, sleeping soundly, her head on the book. Sigmund was crying upstairs, and Runa had gone to see if Tanja needed any help. ‘Why don’t you go up to your bed?’ he encouraged gently.

  Evaine jerked awake suddenly, groaning from the ache in her neck as she lifted it up from the book and turned it to the side. She blinked angrily at her father, then frowned at the terrible wailing coming from upstairs. Pushing herself away from the table, she stood up.