The King's Warrior (Pict King Series Book 2)

by Donna Fletcher

  “Even if he starts a war with the Picts?” Verity asked.

  They both turned quiet as Minn approached on her horse.

  Minn ignored Verity, keeping her eyes on Wrath. “I remember you telling me that you would never wed, a wife being too much of a distraction to your duties. It seemed your concern was proven accurate last night. The Wrath I knew would have guarded the prisoner himself to make certain he did not escape. And the Wrath I knew would have easily dispensed of the men who helped the Northman escape.” Her eyes fired with anger. “I never expected the mighty Wrath to turn weak over a woman.”

  “And I never expected the courageous Minn to show jealousy.” Wrath raised his hand as she went to argue. “Hold your tongue, Minn, I am not finished. It was the Imray warriors who allowed the enemy to slip past them and—”

  “And your two warriors who failed—”

  “To realize the Imray were not capable of defending their home against a Northman my warriors captured.” Again he held his hand up to silence a simmering Minn, her neck and cheeks glowing bright red. “And was it not you who failed to notify your chieftain that a stranger, an old man you believed presented no problem, had entered the village? Was that not a duty of yours? The King will want to know all that took place and I will not fail to tell him everything. And as for my wife being a distraction—I was wrong. A good wife does not distract. She makes her husband stronger than ever. You should find a good husband, Minn, and let him do for you what Verity has done for me.”

  “She made you a fool,” Minn snarled.

  “Jealousy does not suit you, Minn.”

  Her chin shot up. “I am not jealous. I see the truth while you do not.” She turned her horse away and rode off before Wrath could respond.

  Verity turned soft, questioning eyes on him. “Do I distract you?”

  “All the time.” He laughed and she playfully punched him in the chest.

  “You distract me,” she said, the hand that had punched him now pressed gently against his chest. “My thoughts linger far too often on you and not on concern for Hemera.”

  “Trust me. Hemera is safe with the Wyse. She is better off being with them than wandering this land alone in search of you. You will be reunited. You saw it yourself.”

  They both were distracted by Tilden riding toward them.

  He reined in his horse beside Wrath. “No signs that anyone is following us have been found in any direction.”

  “Keep the men alert,” Wrath ordered. “I will not have us caught unaware again.”

  Verity found her eyes closing as her husband and Tilden continued talking. After her head bobbed once, she rested it on Wrath’s shoulder and it was not long after that she fell asleep.

  Wrath was glad his wife finally stopped fighting her fatigue and slept. She needed rest, having gotten barely any last night, and hopefully it would be a good rest and not a brief one.

  He continued speaking with Tilden, making certain all was being seen to as it should be and that they remained alert to any possible problems. Once that was done, Tilden took off to see to his duties.

  Minn approached him again and he was quick to say, “I will not listen to you disparage me or my wife again. So unless you have something useful to say to me, be gone.”

  She did not leave. “I was thinking of the escaped Northman. How is it he speaks our language so well that he sounds born to it?”

  “The Northmen have been trading with the Picts for a long time. They have come to know our language as many of the Picts in the north have come to know theirs.”

  “That would explain it, but what of his arrival before you and Verity? Do not tell me that you have not wondered what reason he had for stopping at my village. I do not believe it was simply to seek shelter,” she said troubled by her thought.

  “I have thought the same and some of the possibilities disturb me.”

  Minn nodded. “They disturb me as well. Word spreads about those who feel King Talon is not fit to rule. I fear the Northmen may be searching for the discontent among us.”

  “Or there is someone who has invited the Northmen here to help him seize power from the King.”

  “I do not want to believe a Pict would betray his people, but I have seen how greed and power can entice. It is why I pledged my fealty to King Talon. He fought hard to unite the Picts under one rule and chase foreigners from our shores. He is an honest man and sees that the people are provided for and are well-protected.”

  “Does everyone in your tribe feel that way?” Wrath asked.

  “It is not easy to take various tribes and bring them together as one. There are those who miss their tribes and their ways, but do their best to adapt. Others adapted easily, understanding there was nothing for them to return to, and others cling so tightly to the past, I wonder if they will ever let go. Dalmeny does not have it easy being chieftain of a mixed tribe.”

  “You have not answered me,” Wrath said.

  With an annoyed shake of her head, she said, “There are some who speak out against the King. Some try to blame him for the loss of their tribe, but all know that is not true. If anything, King Talon saved the tribes from complete extinction and he set a rule down when the Imray Tribe was born. He ordered that the history of the various tribes that became the Imray be told again and again so that they are never forgotten. I never grow tired of hearing them, for the ceremony ends with the telling of how the Imray was born.”

  “Then there are none you feel would betray the King?”

  “I cannot say for sure, for I have seen wise people do the most foolish things,” Minn said, grinning at him.

  “You are right, for I have seen the same,” Wrath said, turning a smile on her as well.

  Minn nodded at Verity. “I still think she is too weak for one as strong as you.”

  “If you give Verity a chance, you will find she is more courageous than the two of us.”

  Minn snorted as she laughed. “I doubt that.”

  “Your loss,” Wrath said with a shrug.

  “Dalmeny will be extra vigilant since the incident with the Northman. He will trust few and watch all and send word to me if he thinks it necessary.”

  Their talk soon turned to memories they had shared and Wrath was glad that they could talk as good friends once again.

  Minn left his side to speak with some of the other warriors she was familiar with and Wrath was content to be left with his sleeping wife. He gazed down on her lovely face for a moment. It surprised him how deeply he actually cared for her. He had been so busy fighting battles and protecting the King that he had had no time for much of anything else. That had changed when Verity entered his life and surprisingly he favored the change. There was a comfort with her that he had not known with other women. And mating with her had brought him more pleasure than he had thought possible.

  Verity had not only stolen his heart, but his good sense as well. He had to smile at the thought, though also be careful of it. He was leader of the King’s personal guard and that came before everything else. Would she understand that and was it fair of him to expect her to?

  Fair or not, she belonged to him now and he had no intentions of letting her go, another surprise to him, but one he had no difficulty accepting.

  He shook himself out of his reverie, having lingered too long in his thoughts. He needed to remain focused on his surroundings. He was not of the same opinion as Verity when it came to the Northmen not attacking them. They were a vicious group that could not be trusted. Besides, it continued to worry him that he did not know how many Northmen were here on Pict soil.

  Wrath altered the path they took home, avoiding any tribes, knowing if they stopped it would delay their journey home. He did, however, intend to send a warrior to each tribe to inform nearby tribes that Northmen had been discovered in the area, and they should remain vigilant and take extra precautions.

  The sky grew darker with clouds and by the time they stopped for the evening a light snow was falling. Fi
res were started and a small lean-to was erected for Verity and Wrath.

  When she objected, telling Wrath she needed no special treatment, he made it clear that he thought otherwise.

  “You are still healing from all you have suffered.” His hand went to her neck to gently touch along the area where a rope had left its mark. It was healing nicely, though Wrath was concerned it might not completely fade and she would be left with a reminder of her time spent with the Northmen. His hand moved to her cheeks where the bruises were still fresh upon her and it made him wonder how the wound at her side faired. “I will not see you suffer more.”

  Verity could see that he was still upset that he had not gotten to her fast enough and nothing she said would change that, so she let it be. And later, she was grateful for the lean-to, since the snow continued to fall, though not on her and Wrath.

  They woke to gray skies that continued to follow them home as well as a flourish of flurries now and again, almost as if the sky could not make up its mind whether it should snow or not.

  Wrath had them push through to the stronghold on the last part of their journey, having them arrive home well after it had grown dark. No one complained, since all were eager to reach home.

  He was not surprised to see Broc waiting just inside the gates. He surmised the King would want to speak with him upon his arrival. He would want Wrath to report on his journey and there was much to tell him and much to explain to him about Verity and her visions.

  Tilden stepped forward, without being ordered, to escort Verity to their dwelling.

  Wrath slipped his arm around her and brushed a kiss across her brow. “Go rest. The journey has been a long one.”

  While Wrath would have liked his wife to be awake and waiting for him when he joined her, from the slump of her shoulders and her large yawn as she walked away, he did not think that would be likely.

  Wrath entered the feasting hall to find it empty except for King Talon. He sat at a table close to the fire pit. He looked deep in thought, staring into the vessel clutched in his hands. He spoke to him as a friend, not a King when he said, “What troubles you, Talon?”

  The King kept his eyes on the vessel in his hands as he said, “I will hear all about your journey.”

  “Aye, my King,” Wrath said, hearing the command of his King, not the voice of his friend. “First, let me tell you about Verity.”

  The King listened as Wrath told him about Verity’s visions, detailing some of them, and how they had warned about things that were yet to be. He went on to explain how Ulric accused her of trying to kill him so that he could have her imprisoned and make use of her skills, hence the red mark around her neck from the rope he kept on her.

  “Ulric wastes his time if he thinks that I would turn over one of my own people to him, especially a seer. She could be helpful to us in many ways. Does anyone else know of her skills?”

  “No. I thought you should know before anyone else.”

  “Others will find out soon enough, especially with her visions coming on her without notice,” the King said. “I will speak with her after she is well rested.”

  “There is more you need to know,” Wrath said and went on to tell him about the two Northmen they had come across. He did not like having to tell the King how the Northman Lars had not only beaten Verity before he could reach her, but that he also had escaped him. “I saw to my wife before the prisoner,” he admitted.

  “Pict warriors were there as well, they should have made sure the prisoner remained secured as well as Dalmeny’s warriors. There is no excuse for this to have happened,” King Talon said annoyed, “though I will hold you responsible for it.”

  “And rightly so,” Wrath said. “There is more.”

  “Good or bad?” King Talon demanded, “since bad is the only news I am receiving of late.”

  Wrath did not confirm either, he continued speaking, “Verity made me aware that the Northmen warriors who had been found here resembled more Pict than Northmen and they spoke our language as if born to it.”

  “They blend with our tribes,” the King was quick to say. “Ulric plots something.”

  “That is my thought as well,” Wrath said, watching the King as he turned silent, lost in his thoughts. Talon already had surmised something about the situation. Wrath had never met anyone whose mind was as quick as Talon’s. He could pull various pieces together and make sense of them long before they fit properly.

  “Either the Northmen heard of the unrest among some of the Picts and approached them and offered their help in removing me from the throne or the person who leads those against me approached the Northmen for help.” The King shook his head. “A foolish choice since I believe it is Ulric who is involved with this and that he wishes to show his people that he is stronger and more fearless than his father. Ulric would never let the fool Pict take the throne. He would claim the Pict land for the Northmen and unseat his father. The attacks that have taken place so far, especially the one on the Raban Tribe were to make me look weak to the people.”

  “Then their attempt failed,” Wrath said. “The Raban thought even more highly of you, their King, when you arrived with your warriors and saw to helping them and leaving the warriors to protect them.”

  “For now, but more attacks will follow. There is no telling how many Northmen are already here, especially if they hide within some of our own tribes. How does Egot do? Has he kept watch on who has entered his tribe?”

  “Egot has grown lazy in leading his tribe. It appears that Vard shows more leadership than Egot does. Dalmeny has even complained that Egot has gotten lazy in keeping his tribe protected, which leaves his tribe vulnerable, since the Imray Tribe borders the Ancrum Tribe. The Kerse warriors are also concerned and looking for answers when we met them while on their way to deliver a Northman to you and also to speak with you. One thing I do know for sure is that trouble stirs in that region as does worry and it is not far from the stronghold.”

  “Do you have any thoughts on who might be the one who leads this revolt against me?”

  “Vard comes to mind, since I believe he is keeping things from Egot, who does not see what goes on in his own tribe. He is too busy fighting with his wife, Ethra. Vard also had been seen speaking with a tall stranger in the woods. Egot sent him to the Raban Tribe to offer them help.”

  “Vard is not a leader, he follows. It is someone much stronger, someone with a thirst for power or perhaps revenge. I must think on this.”

  Wrath reached out to grab the large vessel when the King went to take it and pour himself more wine.

  “Leave it, Wrath, we sit here as friends now not King and servant,” Talon said and poured himself wine. “Have you discovered where Verity’s sister might be?”

  “I believe so,” Wrath said and explained what had happened when he followed Verity through the door.

  “Anin would know if Verity’s sister is with the Wyse. As soon as she and Paine return, we can find out for certain.”

  “I have no doubt she is. Her sister left her cloak as a sign so that Verity would know she was safe and she was not to worry, though she will continue to worry until she and her sister are reunited.”

  “Tell me how it goes with your wife.” Talon smiled when after a few moments Wrath had not responded. “She has left you speechless?”

  “She has done more than that,” Wrath said and refilled his vessel.

  “You finally realized you care for her?” King Talon asked. “I was wondering how long it would take you to surrender.”

  “I did not surrender,” Wrath said and downed a good portion of wine.

  King Talon laughed. “Wait until Paine learns of your capitulation.”

  Wrath cringed. “Wait until you lose your heart.” He shook his head angry with himself for not thinking before he spoke and for his words wiping the laugh from Talon’s face. “I am sorry, Talon. You deserve better than to be stuck with a woman whose chief task is to bear you an heir.”

  “It does
not matter, my friend. There is no woman who can match my unquenchable thirst for mating or could tolerate my temper. It is better I marry out of duty than to condemn a woman to such a harsh union.”

  “When will the future queen arrive?” Wrath asked.

  “Not soon enough,” Talon said as he stared down at the wine in his vessel. “I received troubling news earlier that no doubt will have spread through the village by the morrow and will soon spread across the land. My second wife, who I arranged a good marriage for when ours ended, is now with child.”

  Wrath did not know what to say, though he thought what most everyone else would think upon hearing it, that the King was incapable of fathering a bairn. How then could Pict rule survive? This was not good for the King and would only serve to help his enemies.

  “Go and be with your wife. We will talk again on the morrow.”

  Wrath did as his King ordered, for it was no longer his friend speaking to him.

  Wrath took quick steps to his dwelling, entering quietly in case she was asleep and was disappointed to find she was. He would not wake her, though his need for her had grown with each step he had taken. She was tired and there were her bruises to consider. He slipped out of his garments and when he went to slip in beside her, he realized she was not asleep.

  She was in the throes of another vision.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Verity stood frozen from where she watched in the woods, unable to move. Her legs felt like they were encased in a block of ice rather than the minor snowdrift she stood in. She struggled to free herself and the more she struggled with no success, the more her worry grew. She heard shouts and the thunder of horses’ hooves as they pounded the ground.

  “Find them!”

  Verity felt an icy shiver run through her. She recognized the voice. It was Ulric. Was he after her and Hemera? But where was Hemera? She turned her head, searching the woods around her, hoping to spot her sister. She did not see her and her worry soared as she struggled again to break free.