by Jianne Carlo
“You were in Gná’s tunnel when this happened?” Tighe asked.
“Aye. ’Twas then that the Arab laughed—a terrible laugh, my lady. The laugh of the devil, I am cert. He said Magnhildur belonged to him and would be sold to the highest bidder at the slave auctions.” Ívarr shuddered.
Xára flinched. She had no liking for Magnhildur, but to sell a noble-born woman into slavery? “Nay. He truly said that?”
“Aye. Lord Néill shouted at him and the lady flew into a fury-fit.” Ívarr’s tanned complexion ashened. “They roared at each other. Lady Magnhildur lost her wits.”
“She screeched some evil spell and raised the dagger still dripping with Lady Jennie’s blood. I thought she would kill Evie and ’twas then when I threw myself at her and caught her to me. When we went o’er the cliffs, I pushed her away. Da says she is dead. ’Tis true?” Ívarr asked.
“Very true. Lady Magnhildur’s bones were smashed on the rocks,” Tighe answered.
“Were you standing so close to the edge of the tunnel?” Brökk queried.
“Aye.”
“Why would Magnhildur allow herself to be placed in such danger? It does not seem right a woman of such cunning would be so doltish,” Skatha declared.
“Gná’s tunnel ends on a sheer precipice, but ’tis not how it appears to the eye. What you see is that the ocean appears to lap at the same level as the floor of the tunnel. ’Tis nigh impossible to tell that ’twould be a great fall if you but took one more step. It seems as if one step would take you ankle deep into a calm sea,” Xára explained.
“Have you found Godfraid’s remains? Néill said that he was dead somewhere in the tunnels.” Dráddør ran his free hand though his hair.
“Nay. We have not searched all of the tunnels though. I will have the men take dogs with them. They will find him. The body will have begun to rot by now.” Tighe twirled his mustache.
Konáll, who had been conversing with his wife, turned to them. “I have finally recalled where I saw Magnhildur afore. You would’ve remembered immediately, Brökk. She was one of Etta’s court friends. The two of them were always whispering and giggling.”
“Which one was she?” Brökk straightened.
“The one that called herself Maggie the Magnificent.”
“I recall her now. Black hair, white skin. Think you she was involved in Niketas’s schemes?”
“Lady Magnhildur called the Arab by that name.” Ívarr offered.
“’Twould seem that Lady Magnhildur somehow fell into a slaver’s hands. Mayhap she was sold in the slave markets in Miklagard,” Konáll mused.
“And sought to buy her freedom with tales of gods and goddesses and how a Caliph could attain immortality,” Dráddør stated. “What tale do we present to Olaf Longface when he returns from visiting the outer villages?”
“I am too weary to compose one at this moment. Mayhap after we have eaten and rested.” Konáll waved a hand at the door. “I suggest you return to your own chambers. I have need of time alone with my wife.”
“Ívarr, give me your oath you will not speak of any of this unless you obtain my permission,” Dráddør demanded.
Solemnly, Ívarr affirmed his vow.
“I would see Evie,” Xára whispered after Brökk, Skatha, and Jorunn left the room.
“I missed you, sváss, and yearn to be inside of you, but ’twill have to wait until I have washed away my battle stench. Mayhap I will hie myself to the river now, while you visit with the girls?” He slowed as they approached Evie’s room.
The door stood open and Evie spied Xára at once.
“Xára,” Evie yelled, raced to Xára, and hugged her tightly. “Liam tells me you can speak.”
“Aye. I can. You will be happy to know that Ívarr is well. He is with his parents and will come see you soon.” Xára tousled her sister’s hair.
Evie craned her neck. “Mama is dead.”
“I know, dearling. Magnhildur is dead, too. Ívarr sent her to her death.”
A frown creased Evie’s forehead. “I cannot remember any of it. Why?”
“’Tis God’s way of easing your pain. Do not dwell on it. But, if you need to speak of it, come to me or Dráddør or Ívarr. Are we agreed?”
“Aye.”
A throat cleared. Xára glanced in the direction of the sound.
“I am Hjørdis.”
The girl who dipped a curtsey wore an air of serenity Xára usually saw in the elderly. “I am your new sister, Xára, and I am much pleased to meet you, Hjørdis.”
“We have vowed to be the best of friends for as long as we live,” Evie declared, walked over to Hjørdis, and twined her fingers with the girl’s.
Chapter Thirteen
“’Tis all sorted?” Xára asked Dráddør as he strolled into their chamber.
“Aye. ’Twas a formidable task. Ne’er have I seen such treasures.” Dráddør studied his wife. The constant worry over Evie the last sennight had resulted in dark circles under her eyes. “We have coin and jewels to spare and have gained a fortune in paned glass and fired tiles.”
“’Twas a wise decision to return to Gjall and take Niketas’s ships.” She set aside the tunic, bone needle, and thread and gave him a watery smile. “I only wish Jennie could see Lathairn return to its former glory as it will with your newfound wealth.”
In truth, though the riches gained had been worth the seven days and nights spent away from his new wife and home, Dráddør had not expected the despair to which Evie, and therefore Xára, had sunk in such a short time. Both females had shed an alarming amount of weight and looked wan and fragile.
He had spoken to Skatha and Nyssa on the issue and they both urged him to give Evie and Xára time. Still, he had ordered the cook to make the sweet puddings they were both so partial to for the end of every meal.
He captured Xára’s hands and pulled her to standing. “Our wealth, wife. ’Tis time for the náttverðr. Come, let us fetch Evie and Hjørdis and make our way to the hall. How was Evie today?”
Xára’s eyes brimmed with unshed tears. “She lost her temper twice. I begin to believe she will recover her mischief-making ways. Hjørdis is wise beyond her years. She will not let Evie brood and hide away and keeps her busy.”
“’Twill take time for Evie to regain her former spirit, sváss. You must let her be and not hover o’er her. The sprite needs time.” Dráddør cupped her chin and dropped a quick kiss on the tip of her nose.
“I know.” She leaned her forehead on his chest. “If only I had told you of Magnhildur sooner, mayhap Jennie would not have—”
“Nay, Xára.” He tipped her chin. “Trust me. Those two words—if only—are ones that eat away at your heart. We cannot change the past and brooding o’er it will do no good. You must look to what is to come and not fret about what has already happened. Think you Jennie would want you or Evie to fall into despair?”
She shook her head. “You have the right of it, husband. From this day I will not allow my grief to hobble me. Nor will I treat Evie differently as I have been doing. Both Skatha and Nyssa have told me I must stop treating her as if she will break if I so much as scold her. Aye, let us go to collect the girls.”
Pleased by her resolution, Dráddør curled an arm around her waist and led them out of their chamber. “Nyssa and Konáll plan to depart on the morrow.”
“Nyssa told me this morn. I will miss her dearly. Skatha and Brökk will stay longer?”
He gave her a little squeeze. “Nay. They will also set sail on the morrow. I have asked them to consider leaving Hjørdis here for the winter.”
She halted abruptly, grasped his tunic, and craned her neck to meet his gaze. Her glorious eyes shimmered more green than blue today. “Truly? Think you they will agree? I have dreaded the thought of Hjørdis leaving. Evie has grown so close to her, and Hjørdis’s departure coming so soon on the heel of Jennie’s death, I fear ’twould send Evie into a terrible despondency.”
Tucking a curl behind her ear,
he said, “’Twas my fear, too. Skatha has already given her approval and Brökk will as well, after he has grown accustomed to the notion.”
“That eases my mind, Dráddør. I cannot thank you enough for this boon.” She lifted up on her toes and kissed his chin.
He hugged her to him. “’Tis my duty to keep my wife and her sister content. I warn you, ’twill be a long winter of much mischief once Evie’s grief is not so raw. I dread the thought of the tricks the two sprites will play to our detriment.”
“For myself, I look forward to scolding Evie for putting salt in the pudding or loosing the cocks in the hen coops.”
Dráddør flicked her nose. “As do I. Come, let us make haste. My belly rumbles.”
She grinned. “I heard your belly complaining when you walked into our chamber.”
“Tell me more of the gifts you inherited from Heimdallr.” He set his hand to the small of her back and set a fast pace down the hallway. “I know you can hear the grass grow and the icicles melt. What other talents am I to expect from my wife?”
“In truth, I know not the all of it, for ’twas only in my tenth and seventh summer that I began to notice I was different from the others at the abbey. Nyssa said she came into her healing powers at the same age. Think you ’tis a coincidence?” Xára glanced up at him.
“Nay. I am convinced naught of what has happened to all of us—Skatha, Brökk, Nyssa, and Konáll, you and I—is by chance. Methinks your immortal fathers and mothers have orchestrated every event. From sudden storms to Niketas’s evil schemes.” Dráddør stopped in Evie’s doorway and smiled, for Ívarr had both girls engaged in practice with wooden swords.
Evie spied them and waved her weapon. “Ívarr is teaching us the ways of sword-play. See you the wonderful swords Tighe carved for me and Hjørdis?”
Dráddør accepted the proffered carving and inspected the runes carved into the hilt. “’Tis a fine blade, sprite. Mayhap I will spar with you on the morrow.”
“Truly, brother?” Hjørdis joined them in the doorway and swiped at a curl escaping her tight braids. “Would you teach us how to use your hammer?”
“Nay, bright star, ’tis too dangerous for you. Tidy your skirts and accompany us to the hall. Ívarr, seek you your father and mother and join us at the high table for the meal.” Dráddør suppressed a grin at the boy’s wide eyes and flushed face. Ívarr would soon learn his father had granted permission for the boy to be trained as a warrior under Dráddør’s tutelage.
“Aye, my lord. I will find them at once.” Ívarr collected the swords from the two girls and set them on the table before sprinting out of the room and down the corridor. It took some time to set the girls’ dresses and hair to rights and, once Xára was satisfied with their appearance, Dráddør guided his females to the stairs.
By the time the group arrived at the hall, the chamber was packed. Warriors, villagers, and the keep’s people crowded the benches. The cavernous room resonated with noise, and a giddy excitement had even the elderly scurrying back and forth ’tween the tables.
Dráddør, Konáll, and Brökk had divided Niketas’s cargo between them and this eve he planned to distribute much of the riches to his people. The loud babble grew to a fevered pitch when first one, then another, and another spied Evie, Hjørdis, Xára, and Dráddør at the foot of the steps. He had shared his intentions with Liam, and from the enthusiastic roar of the throngs, word had spread.
His brothers and their wives occupied the bench on the dais.
“May we go to accompany Ívarr to the table?” Evie and Hjørdis, hands linked, hopped from one foot to the other.
“Aye, but walk to him. ’Tis too packed for running.” Xára cautioned the girls.
“My thanks, sister.” Evie and Hjørdis skipped away.
Xára shook her head. “Why did I bother?”
“Stop fretting. We celebrate this eve.” He twined their fingers together as they wound their way to the high table.
“Good eve, brother,” Konáll greeted him, his arm draped around Nyssa’s shoulder.
“You are ready for the morrow?”
“Aye. Though ’tis with both reluctance and eagerness Konáll and I will take our leave. I will miss you all dearly. How long will it be before we are all reunited again, I wonder?” Nyssa knuckled away a tear rolling down her cheek. “Mind me not. ’Tis maudlin I am, and I blame it all on our son.”
“Son?” Konáll straightened. “’Tis some goddess foresight that you now say our babe is a son when all along you have tortured me with the promise of a wee girl?”
Nyssa glared at her husband and lifted her chin. “Son or daughter, it matters not, does it?”
“Methinks Nyssa taunted Konáll with the promise of a daughter all along e’en though she knew the babe a boy,” Dráddør whispered as he helped Xára to sit. “She is willful. I thank Odin you are a biddable wife.”
“Biddable?” Xára jammed her hands onto her hips. “Think you I am meek and mild and pliable like a wind with no direction?”
“You jest. All winds have direction.” Dráddør settled on the bench and turned to face Brökk. “Women have no knowledge of sailing.”
“I have sailed the entire circumference of North Ronaldsay. And the channel ’tween the isle and South Ronaldsay is known as the wind without direction,” Xára declared and fixed him with a scowl.
Dráddør frowned for his wife had shown no signs of a temper until that moment. “’Tis one thing to sail around a tiny isle and yet another to cross vast seas. While I am cert you can manage a tiny boat, ’tis only a warrior who can captain a langskip.”
“Have you lost your wits?” Brökk asked. “Rest assured Skatha, I share not my doltish brother’s notions and am well aware a woman can do anything she sets her mind to.”
“Hear, hear. Well said Brökk. Xára, you should box Dráddør’s ears for sprouting such loutish nonsense.” Nyssa waved her eating knife at him.
Konáll murmured, “Best switch to another subject, brother, and be prepared to grovel later.”
Dráddør glowered down the table at Tighe whose raucous chortles threatened to drown the noisy hum of the crowd. “I do not grovel.”
“I have agreed to let Hjørdis stay here for the winter,” Brökk announced in a loud voice.
Immediately Evie and Hjørdis jumped up from their seats and ran around the table to hug Brökk whose cheeks flushed when the two girls peppered kisses all over his face.
“My thanks,” Hjørdis squealed. “I am so pleased, brother. Mayhap Evie can come to Bita Veðr in the spring?”
Brökk rolled his eyes. “Mayhap Evie is not as eager to leave Lathairn—”
“I would love to travel to the Norse lands.” Evie interjected, she released her stranglehold on Brökk’s neck, danced in place, and clapped. “I have ne’er been on the high seas. Is it true you see naught but the blue ocean for day after day?”
Dráddør noticed Xára’s fierce frown and he bent to whisper in her ear, “Is aught amiss?”
“I do not relish the notion of Evie travelling so far. She has seen but nine summers.” Xára toyed with her eating knife.
Dráddør considered all that had been said and a solution formed. He raised his voice and declared, “Why not let us all meet here at Lathairn in late summer? My lands are the southernmost and my harvesting will be first. You can help with the harvest, then we go to Rurari to help Konáll and Nyssa with their harvest, and then we can end at Bita Veðr afore returning to our lands for the winterfylleth. What say you?”
“I say my youngest brother has acquired wisdom in marriage. Aye. ’Tis a fine plan. Does this please you, wife?” Brökk turned to Skatha who swiped at a couple of tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Aye, husband. It pleases me well. For by then Nyssa would have had her babe and so would—” She cupped both hands over her mouth and rolled her eyes.
Brökk’s bronzed complexion greened. “You are with child. How long have you known?”
A pink hue
dusted Skatha’s cheeks and forehead.
Brökk dragged Skatha to standing. “How long?”
His bellow effectively silenced the great hall’s audience.
“One moon,” Skatha murmured. “We are leaving on the morrow. There is no reason to be upset. I had Jorunn without any issue.”
Brökk slumped back onto the bench. He buried his face in his palms. “Eight more moons. ’Twill be a long, long, winter.”
“Mayhap the sickness will not affect you so this time.” Skatha captured one of her husband’s large hands and rubbed them ’tween hers. When she noticed Dráddør’s frown, she whispered, “While I do not suffer from the morning sickness of most women, Brökk does. ’Tis not pleasant.”
The rest of the meal occurred without any new revelations and before the prayer blessing, Dráddør announced that most of the bounty from the ships would be divided amongst the keep’s people and the villagers. Since Niketas’s cargo came from Miklagard and Lathairn’s inhabitants had never ventured farther than a few miles up or down the coat, none had seen the exotic fruits of oranges and lemons, which were distributed first.
Each family received one gold coin and a small parcel of food. Each child was given a marble ball, and the women a length of fabric for a gown. The excited hum blossomed into squeals of delight and marble races soon broke out.
Dráddør kept a close watch on Xára and Evie, and both appeared pleased and even happy to see how thrilled their people were. After the blessing, none made a move to return to their homes. Instead people gathered in groups to ooh and aah over each other’s treasures. Evie and Hjørdis organized a marble game pitting one set of boys and girls against another.
By the time Dráddør and Xára finally made it back to their chamber, ’twas well past the midnight hour and their need for each other made for a fierce, quick loving.
