Sword Brothers

by Jerry Autieri

  "At least we recruited one person," he said. Gunnar did not laugh.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  Ulfrik paced the deck and a black serpent of anger coiled about his heart. Across the inlet where his ship remained anchored, the black town of Hedeby chugged white smoke into the morning air. The inhabitants were like colorful flecks tumbling around the drab blocks of its buildings. Ships glided in and out of the docks.

  "Nails!" he shouted at the town. "No more nails! Is this possible?"

  His fist slammed the rail of his ship and he stared down at the green sea water slapping the hull. Someone behind cleared his throat. Finn's steady voice was at his left shoulder.

  "More nails are on order with the blacksmiths, but all construction of our ships has stopped."

  "And before that it was not enough lumber, and before that the ship master was ill." A cold breeze slapped his face, and it smelled of the sea and smoke. "Feel this wind? The summer is finished but our ships are not. We were to have been sailing up the Seine by now. The men I recruited are being paid to stay out of Hedeby, but they grow bored. And then you two."

  Ulfrik faced his two sons, Gunnar and Hakon, who had returned with barely a dozen new men the prior night. They seemed to hide behind Finn, who stood with his freckled face turned bright red. The rest of the crew either found duties to occupy them on the opposite end of the ship or hung their heads in shame.

  "At least Gunnar and I have settled our differences. That's what you really sent us away to do, right?" Hakon's smile seemed so genuine Ulfrik nearly laughed, but then he remembered how his wife's dying wish for revenge was disintegrating like old cloth in a fire.

  "I sent you to fill your ships with fighting men!" His voice echoed around the inlet. "You barely found replacements for the warriors we lost."

  "You also have a new grandson to meet." Gunnar spoke to the deck and his face was as red as Finn's. Only Hakon seemed pleased at the news.

  "Morgan was not with child when you left. You mean to tell me you spent this time searching for your bastard children?"

  "Oh no," Hakon said. "There's a good story behind this one."

  Ulfrik silenced Hakon with a glare, and his voice was low with threat. "I should throw the both of you overboard."

  "He's a good boy. Got Mother's smile," Hakon said.

  "You're in a fine mood for someone reporting failure." Ulfrik stood nose to nose with Hakon. It was like looking into a pond and seeing a reflection of his younger self, only he had not been this irritatingly optimistic. "What has brought you such a lift to your step on this wretched morning?"

  "He met the Frisian girl, Elke," Gunnar said, a wry smile twisting his mouth. "I think our unmarried man might have found his match. It was like a lightning strike when the two saw each other."

  A hot rock fell into Ulfrik's stomach. Elke had stayed with Morgan and his grandchildren on Gunnar's ship last night. He had brushed aside her advances all summer, unable to reconcile being with another woman so soon after Runa's death. He still felt as if Runa were only waiting at home for him. Besides, Elke seemed to offer herself as the only way she knew to repay him. Yet when he stepped back he realized from his son's foolish grin that he was jealous of Hakon. The moment he realized it, he felt ashamed.

  "She told you she's a Frisian? Took me half the summer to learn that about her. She is a good woman, and grows more beautiful as she loses the marks of slavery. But I need you to focus on our troubles today." Hakon's smile widened and Ulfrik had to turn aside from him.

  "While you two are discovering new love and lost children and having grand adventures with my gold, I have not forgotten my promise to your mother. You did not have to see what Mord's poison did to her. How she drowned in the clear air. How she gasped out her wish for revenge. Nor did you witness how the poison robbed her of her beauty and turned her into a hag. I did, and I will never forget. Mord and his father, Gunther One-Eye, killed your mother, and are the reason why I sleep on the deck of a ship rather than beneath the roof of a hall. So put aside your joy and remember your anger. Your mother and our honor have yet to be avenged, and there can be no happiness until that day has come. Do you understand?"

  Both of his sons bowed their heads and nodded, and Hakon's silly grin had bent into a frown. He circled them, a plan forming as his boots thumped the deck.

  "A slave trader and merchant by the name of Udolf had owned Elke and when I defied him he threatened me. I expected attempts on my life, or violence. I have much to learn. He did none of that. Instead, he has used his influence in this town to drain my money and keep my ships from completion. He mocks me from the shadows and all my sword-strength is nothing. I can't get near him in order to--persuade him." Ulfrik stopped before his sons. "But he doesn't know you or your ships. You haven't even docked yet. So I will go with you upon your ship, and you will bring him back to me where I will be hidden. We will take him out to sea to show him what a good sailing ship is like, if you take my meaning."

  Gunnar was already smiling, but Hakon frowned. "Why not let us handle him for you?"

  "Because it's my problem, and I will fix it. Now let's get about this or his spies will see you here."

  The plan came together simply. Gunnar pulled his ship alongside Ulfrik's, took on supplies to pose as trade goods, and Ulfrik dressed himself as a plain crewman without gold or fine clothes. While Gunnar's ship was a sleek longboat, it was not uncommon for raiders to offload at Hedeby. As a last minute inspiration, Ulfrik took the smallest of the new men and tied them loosely. "Here are captives you wish to sell as slaves," he said. "That seems to be Udolf's favored good."

  The new crew were reluctant to surrender weapons and let themselves be tied, however loosely, yet Ulfrik insisted they were best suited for it. Their companions teased them as the rest of the crew rowed the ship to the docks. Once moored, fees paid, and a quick inspection performed, Gunnar and Hakon took seven crewmen and left in search of Udolf.

  Ulfrik waited in silence, seated on a sea chest and arms slung over the rails. The gentle rocking of the ship and the bustle of dock workers made him drowsy. It took all his control not to jump up when he heard Gunnar speaking over-loud. Instead, he lazily turned and pulled his leather cap down over his eyes. He skimmed over the group of armed men that accompanied Udolf. Both Gunnar and Hakon stood close to him, and each spoke over the other. Ulfrik pulled back to prevent Udolf from noticing him, but he loosened his sword. Conversation floated up from the dock, with one voice drawing closer.

  "The bog iron we can speak of later," Gunnar said as he bounded up the short gangplank. "The slaves are captured Saxons. A few died crossing the channel, but these are strong. Have a (look."

  The rest of the crew had all loosened their swords and shared wide-eyed glances with each other. Gunnar stepped onto the dock, looked at him as if he did not matter, then grabbed the first slave. "If I bring just one down, you won't have a good idea of the lot. I don't want to sell one. I want to sell all of them. My crew is hungry for gold, Master Udolf."

  The reply was indistinct, but from Gunnar's frown, Ulfrik understood Udolf was too canny to board a slave trader's ship. As Gunnar yanked one of the so-called slaves forward, he slipped the man a dagger as he pretended to untie him. Again he glanced at Ulfrik, and gave a barely perceptible nod.

  As they disappeared down the gangplank, Ulfrik drew his sax, a short sword for close fighting, and his crew followed.

  "Now!"

  He leapt the rails like a man half his age. While he was in the air his heart raced with the pent up frustration of a wasted summer. When he crashed onto the deck, he screamed with battle lust and shoved the first of Udolf's guards into the water. The other crewmen sprang over the side to land among Udolf's guards. With their heavy chain shirts and long swords and spears, they had no room to fight. Gunnar was already hauling Udolf up the gangplank while Hakon drew a guard's own dagger and plunged it into his neck.

  The battle was quick and decisive. Ulfrik thrust his sax into the leg of
the next man when at last Udolf's guards regained themselves. He dodged a spear thrust, caught the shaft with his left hand. When the enemy pulled back on it, Ulfrik shoved forward and sent the guard splashing into the water.

  "Cast off!" Gunnar shouted. The former slaves were already cutting the ties and jumping back up onto the rails, aided by their friends. Uldolf's guards tried to follow but the weight of their chain shirts left them stranded.

  A sword stabbed at Ulfrik's gut and opened his shirt, slicing the surface of his flesh. He growled, and instead of stabbing with his own sax, he pummeled the man on the head, staggering him. He was strong but shorter than Ulfrik, and when he fell Ulfrik caught him under arm. Putting the sax to the man's throat, he swiftly interposed him with the last of Udolf's guards. He backed up the gangplank with his hostage, and fell onto the deck with the man atop him.

  Next he heard alarm horns sounding and dock guards stamping along the docks. Security in Hedeby was serious, considering the amount of wealth and raiders that congregated there. Gunnar laughed as he steered his ship, and every man that wasn't working the sail hauled on an oar. The sleek, light vessel flew over the water, even as another ship gave chase.

  "You'll never make it away," Udolf shouted. "You'll be hunted until--"

  Hakon kicked Udolf in the head while he searched for rope to bind him. Ulfrik shoved his captive to the deck while he searched him for other weapons. Once both captives were bound, Ulfrik leaned over the side to see two ships giving chase. They were not of Norse build, but fatter and with a deeper draft. Their sails filled and their crews shouted curses, but Gunnar's ship was an eagle to their sparrows. They glided out of the bay and into the Schlei inlet, where cliffs brooded down on their left and open water invited them to the right.

  "There are plenty of places to hide along these shores," Gunnar said.

  Udolf had grown still once he realized Ulfrik had captured him. Once they were out of sight of pursuers, Ulfrik dragged a sea chest up to where Udolf sat on the deck.

  "See how easy that was," he said with a smile. "You imagined yourself out of my reach, that I would not chance violence against you. And it was true all summer, until you pushed me so far that I had nothing left to lose. You might be a great trader, Udolf, but you are a fool in war. Once you cornered me, you created a desperate foe capable of anything. Always leave a way out for your enemy."

  "Thank you for the lessons in war," Udolf said. His fat jowls quivered and his small eyes narrowed. "But you will regret this."

  Ulfrik stood and drew a knife, placing it against the soft, yielding skin of the merchant. "You will instruct the guard that I have captured to use your authority to ensure my ships are completed before the next full moon. He will reveal nothing about me, and claim we are only pirates seeking ransom. You will remain captive until my ships and their new crews are leaving Hedeby. If anything happens to me or my people, you will tied to the anchor stone and dropped into the sea. I've seen many drown, and it is a horrible way to die."

  Udolf swallowed as Ulfrik withdrew his knife. Whatever bravado he possessed had fled, and a dark stain bloomed at the crotch of his blue pants.

  "I'll take that as agreement," Ulfrik said, sheathing the knife. "Welcome to your new home for the next month."

  CHAPTER FORTY

  The masts of Ulfrik's fourteen ships and a dozen or more other masts of raider crews clustered off the southwestern coast of Jutland. Ulfrik climbed onto the rails of his ship, one hand balancing against the neck of the prow and another holding the rigging. Finn held the tiller and his crew sat ready at the oars. Gulls screamed over head, begging for food from the fleet assembled in the bracing cool of the morning. Both Hakon's and Gunnar's ships rocked on the waves next to Ulfrik's, and both his sons looked to him.

  The day seemed it would never come, but capturing Udolf had been the key to unlock the endless delays with the shipbuilders. They had set the trader free only this morning. Gunnar had suggested Udolf be sacrificed to the gods for good luck, but Ulfrik had no heart to kill the man. He had proved easy to keep captive, as if he had practice in it. He lost weight from not eating, but had otherwise not sought to escape nor deviate from the terms of his captivity. Once he had resigned to his fate, he treated it much like any business deal. Ulfrik did not like him, and would rather they never met again, but he did not hate him enough to kill. So Udolf walked off toward Hedeby without anything more than the clothes on his back, and if the gods saw fit to allow him a safe return, then Ulfrik would not interfere.

  "We will sail day and night until we make landfall south of the Seine," Ulfrik shouted to his sons.

  They had reviewed the plans a dozen times, but nerves forced him to repeat them. Both Hakon and Gunnar waved then returned to their crews. In Gunnar's ship, Morgan and his grandchildren waved at him with bright smiles. Even his newfound grandson, Brandr, offered a fearful wave. They boy was timid, probably because his father had beat any boldness out of him. Ulfrik did not care for him, but did not dislike him either. He simply had no time to know the boy.

  He turned to the next ship, where Elke leaned against the rails with Hakon. Her small, hesitant hand waved to him and he raised his own in return. Her hair now flowed down to her shoulders and she had sloughed off the vestiges of slavery, holding herself with defiant pride. She looked good beside Hakon. As Hakon led her away, Ulfrik wondered if he and Runa had looked so poised when they were young.

  Shaking his head, he stepped down from the rail and relieved Finn at the tiller. His crew watched him expectantly, and a wide smile broke across his face.

  "Row, you dogs! Row us to gold and glory!" And revenge, he thought. Now let my fury be poured out on my enemies, and let a tide of blood wash them from the land.

  The fleet of nearly thirty ships launched to sea, dark faces eager for blood and riches. They plied the coast and threaded the channel toward Frankia. They sang songs of great battles and bawdy exploits. Their spirits were high and full of strength. No enemy would prevail against them.

  Then the gods looked down upon their ships crawling across the face of the water, and grew jealous.

  They sent storms.

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  Ulfrik had spent years at sea and knew the signs of a storm: high clouds like blue-gray fish scales covering the sky, a rainbow at dawn, red light on the horizon, or a ring about the moon at night. This storm exploded from nowhere. A sheet of clouds like Thor's hand stretching out over the water blocked the sun. The winds whipped the sea into rough waves, and thunder rumbled overhead.

  "Can we make landfall?" Finn asked, yelling over the roaring wind.

  "Tie down whatever you can," Ulfrik said. "Unstep the mast, then lash yourself to a rail. I will tie myself here."

  Finn's hair blew flat against his head as he stared into the oncoming storm. Thunder growled as if reinforcing Ulfrik's order. "We do not deserve this."

  Ulfrik agreed, but the gods were fickle and their whims whisked away the lives of men. He took a length of sealskin rope and tethered his leg to the railing. An arm could be yanked out of its socket when tossed about by wave and wind, but a leg was sturdier. His right leg was better than his left, so he tied it at the ankle.

  The wind was like the roar of a dragon and the ship now crested high waves that sent it plunging into the trough. Sea chests and crates yet unsecured dragged across the deck. Ulfrik searched the water, seeing his fleet spreading out against the storm. Both Hakon's and Gunnar's ships flanked either side of his, and he wished he could offer his grandchildren comfort. He knew the terror the gods prepared to unleash on them. He heard it in the wind, the pleasure moan of the goddess Ran, the whore who dragged sailors down to her bed at the bottom of the sea. He tasted it in the bitter spray of sea foam carried off the hull. He smelled it in the loamy scent of rain. But worse than all, he felt it in the pit of his gut when the planks of his deck shuddered with the crashing waves.

  The sun failed and day turned to night. Thor hurled lightning bolts with the careles
sness of a child. Rain began to slash the sea, driven by a wind that tore at Ulfrik's clothes.

  His crew huddled against the gunwales. He and Finn pulled the steering board onto the deck. Both stared into each other's eyes.

  "I'm scared," Finn said. "I've never been in a storm like this."

  "I have, and I am scared as well."

  A wave crashed over the deck and the full horror of the storm was underway. Cold, foamy water doused the crew, knocking Finn to the opposite gunwale. Ulfrik opened his mouth to order him to tie himself down, but the next wave flattened him to the deck. For an instant he heard nothing but gurgling, rushing water and lay flat against the planks as the water pummeled his back. His shirt was over his head when the water receded, and he fought it down in time to see Finn holding onto the rail.

  Only he was hanging over the water.

  Ulfrik leapt to his feet, ran halfway across the deck before his right leg yanked back and he slammed to the deck again. His vision flashed white, and his mouth filled with coppery blood and salty water. The rain pooled and sloshed around his face and he lay stunned. He struggled to hands and knees, but relaxed when he saw another man dragging Finn onto the deck.

  Ulfrik smiled and called out his thanks. In the next instant, the ship plunged into the trough of a mighty wave and the man who had rescued Finn disappeared overboard. Both Ulfrik and Finn screamed. The crewman had left too much slack in his rope. Ulfrik did not need to see what Finn did when he clawed up to the rail. The man would remain tied but still submerged in the water. Finn hauled on it in frustration, but it was taut and bending the rail. His curse was barely audible above the howling wind and hissing rain.

  The rest of the crew huddled beneath their cloaks like barnacles on a hull. Ulfrik heard the distant crack and snap of a ship breaking apart. Shrieks and curses were indistinct in the terrible wind, and doubtless Ulfrik's imagination filled in much of what he could not truly hear. He knew all too well the horrid notes of that song. Ran sang a bitter tune to the new lovers sinking to her bed.