Poul Anderson

by The Golden Horn; The Road of the Sea Horse; The Sign of the Raven (epub)

  "Is there any reason why we should be friends?" asked the king. His intent was to gall Thorfinn by thus speaking to him before the whole town; see what came of that, and how real the jarl's offer was.

  Thorfinn opened his mouth angrily, but mastered himself. "You are my rightful sovereign."

  "Well, then, come with me to the hall. I suppose you are already guesting there?" Harald led the way, the two bands of guardsmen tramping after. Dusk was soaking into the streets, and lanterns guttered in the high wind.

  "My lord," said Thorfinn, "best I tell you at once why I have come to do homage, then you'll know that no treachery is planned."

  The tale was simple enough; Harald could have fitted it together himself from accounts brought by men who had been in the West. Thorfinn's friend and ally, Macbeth, lord of Moray, had refused to acknowledge Duncan, the new king of Scotland. Together Thorfinn and Macbeth overthrew and slew him, and now Macbeth was king of the Scots. Folk said he was a good ruler, but he was being threatened by Duncan's son Malcolm, who was supported by the powerful English earl Siward. Open war could not be many years delayed, and Thorfinn did not wish to risk having Harald on his back while Malcolm and Siward attacked from the South.

  The submission was the more valuable because Thorfinn had lately brought the Hebrides under him. Harald did not long weigh his thoughts. It would have been more valiant, perhaps, to avenge his old counselor Rognvald, but Rognvald had fallen in fair battle, and here was dominion gained without loosing an arrow. The summer's gloom lifted from Harald, and he said gladly; "This must be considered, of course, but I can tell you now, Thorfinn, that we shall receive your offer well and send you home with honors."

  Come, now, he told himself, it was not so little he had: the Orkney realm and the Faeroes, besides the sprawl of Norway herself. Iceland and Greenland did not acknowledge his overlordship, but they were friendly and might in time come to him—even this mysterious Vinland the Good, with its dark-skinned Skraelings and limitless forests. Yes, surely St. Olaf watched over Norway, and Denmark would soon drop from the bough if he shook that tree enough. There remained Sweden, England, Ireland, Scotland ... An empire of all the strong young Northern folk? The thought was dizzying, but as weariness fell off him he was sure he had strength for the task.

  Then let the Wends rage and the Germans brawl and the Byzantines rattle dry bones in their golden cuirass; his sons, his kind of people and way of living, would have this earth at their feet!

  With a high and joyous leaping in his breast, he entered the king's hall.

  His two queens stood side by side to greet him. He scarcely saw Elizabeth; his eyes were for Thora. Tall and proud she stood, with a smile like flame on the wide full lips, eyes aglow and hair in a thick coppery coil. A costly dress of green silk was tight around her breasts, cut so shamelessly low that the great ruby in her massive necklace smoldered over the cleft; her round strong arms were weighted with gold, and an ermine stole was draped about the wide shoulders. The skirt was cut full enough that he did not at first notice the swelling of her. She came forward with the bold stride that was dear to him and said aloud, "Welcome, King Harald!"

  He took her hands and the fingers strained against his. Then, reaching up, she pulled his face down and kissed him heartily in the sight of all. This was not a mannerly thing to do, but as he felt how she had grown he forgot it. "Thora," he cried, "are you with child?"

  "Yes, already!" she laughed. "The next king of the North."

  "Oh, my darling—" he whispered; then, catching himself, he turned to Elizabeth and said courteously, "Greeting, my lady. I hope you are well?"

  "Yes," she replied. Her slight form was clad in plain bluish gray, with scant ornament; she had grown pale again, and lost weight; the eyes seemed to fill her thin childish face. By one hand she led her daughter, who was shooting up, fat and healthy though shy of Harald. He lifted the girl and she shrank away and burst into tears.

  "There, now," he said with as much tenderness as he could raise. "It's but your old father, home from the wars." He gave her back to Elizabeth.

  "You should let the little one get more used to you," said his wife quietly.

  "Indeed," jeered Thora. "He should stay home all his days and bounce her on his knee." Elizabeth's lips tightened. Clearly squabbling had been common between the women.

  "Enough," snapped Harald. "We have hungry men to feed, besides our noble guest Jarl Thorfinn."

  To cover his embarrassment, he spent the whole evening talking with the Orkneyman or listening to the skalds chant of the summer's work. Not till he was alone in the bedchamber with Thora did he let his longing slip. No word was spoken between them for some time, until they lay in darkness resting.

  She ruffled his hair and said huskily, "How I've missed you, my beloved! It's been one great hunger, these many weeks."

  "How have things gone otherwise?" he asked.

  "Oh, not badly, I suppose, though the highborn ladies are not overly polite to me. They know I'm your favorite, so now they turn to Ellisif." Thora snorted her scorn. "Let them! Am I a crofter's wife to gossip about what somebody said to somebody else?"

  "There has been trouble between you two?" he asked slowly.

  "Well, two women could never live under one roof. Each will ever have her own way of doing things. And it rasps me the way she must put on airs because she's a Russian princess. My folk were kings when hers were landless Swedish Vikings."

  "No more of that," said Harald. "I've too much to do already, without being plagued by women's fits."

  "Oh, well, let Ellisif mope about with her heathenish icons and those priests you got for her. I have you." Thora's arms stole about his neck.

  He felt a dim guilt, almost as if he were letting a murdered friend lie unavenged; but the urgent warmth of her, pressing against him, drove it from his mind.

  2

  Between harvest and the first snowfall, Harald summoned a Thing of the Throndheim men to lay before them his proposals. This proved to be a great assembly, swarming over the field: a racket of voices, a whirlpool of faces, a little town of gaily decked booths, the shaggy presence of many horses. It was held with both old and new ceremonies; Mass was heard and the lawmen recited the laws; a full day passed before business could start.

  Harald mounted the platform when they were ready and addressed the gathering. He wished to announce the honors he had given Ulf Uspaksson and the submission of the Orkneys; he meant to go back to Denmark next year with a force as large as he had had this time; he planned a stone minster in Nidharos, dedicated to Our Lady, as a new shrine for Olaf's holy remains; a town was needed on the Oslofjord; to do all this, and much more, he wanted increased taxes, but every sensible man could see it was for the good of the whole country.

  Einar Thambaskelfir trod weightily forth. As the mightiest of the Throndlaw sheriffs and the chosen spokesman of the people, he was a man to listen to with respect, and Harald noticed more silence for him than there had been before. Gray and strong, his seamed face bitten into angry lines, he took the word:

  "My lord, you bring fine news about the islands, though no surprise to most of us. Some might say that a lucky turn of Western affairs brought this about, but I shall not dispute your statecraft in the matter. As for the power given your henchman Ulf Uspaksson, this is your right and we have many other chiefs of no small power. The Lady Church is doubtless a holy work, even if some feel that Nidharos has enough churches already. However, my lord, when the Throndheim folk must pay scot to benefit the Southerners, with this town of yours, and when again our land must be emptied to make war in a foreign country, it is well to stop for thought.

  "There is no threat to us from outside which we cannot meet with a levy when needed, and indeed many folk mislike paying to support your standing forces at their present size. There are no few suits to be brought at this Thing against royal guardsmen who stayed behind this year. Most of them are from other shires, and they have proved an overbearing lot. Some feel that th
e king has already too much power, and goes too recklessly forward. Eirik Blood-ax was driven from the land, Haakon the Good was forced to acknowledge our old laws and freehold rights, the Eirikssons had scant help in their time of need because they had been too haughty, and Haakon Jarl was abandoned for Olaf Tryggvason because he also found power a heady drink.

  "Rather than that the realm again suffer such troubles, I feel it wiser that we abide by ancient usage. Let not the king claim more than is lawfully his; let him not keep a guard so large that folk groan to support it; let him not engage in adventures which may increase his own domains but cost his people blood and gold. Let him ride the land like a good horseman, not so furiously that the steed must either throw him or burst its heart.

  "It is the will of the chiefs and, I think, all sound men, that the king abide by the laws and give himself more to building up his own realm than tearing down someone else's. I thank you, my Lord."

  Those who were nearby saw Harald pale and bite his lip; but he answered mildly, "How can the kingdom be strong if the king is weak? How can we build up the realm when no one is willing to work at it, when shire is selfishly divided against shire and it is more to be a Thrond than a Norseman? How can we have the respect which is necessary to peace if we womanishly give up our rightful claims? God has made me king, and I must serve as a king." His voice roughened: "This is my will, and let those go against it who dare!"

  The dispute was long that he waged with Einar. Had he been less wrathful, he might have enjoyed the duel, words meeting words, one tricky point of law after another. But the chief was better versed in the rules, and said openly that the yeoman would endure no breach of them. Harald had to yield on some points; he got the agreement to do what he wished, but the taxes would not be raised enough for it and he must dip into his own hoard.

  Leaving the Thing in a rage, Harald rode swiftly back to Nidharos. Coolness came after a while. Plain to see, Einar and Eindridhi would block him as long as they lived. They were the backbone of the resistance to him. They stood for the old ways, and clever though they were, their yeoman's wisdom could not see that those ways were doomed and a kingdom which abided by them would become a stagnant backwater and finally someone else's province.

  He said as much to Ulf, and the Icelander nodded. "I wonder if we can even trust them to be loyal. It's happened erenow that Norse chiefs dickered with foreign kings."

  "That I can find out, at least," said Harald.

  He went among his Danish prisoners and sought out two young men of good birth who were well known to be able and honest. In private, he told them that if they would do something for him he would set them free without ransom. "So it be not against Christian law and the interests of my lord King Svein, I will," said one, and the other added his yea.

  "Good," said Harald. "I want only that you go to Einar Thambaskelfir, pretending to be Svein's agents, and offering him great riches and honors if he will help the Danes against me."

  He sent them off with a carefully planned story, and had them back a few nights later. "Well?"

  "My lord, these were Einar's words: 'Although I am not King Harald's friend, I will do all in my power to defend Norway against your ruler. Now you must leave at dawn, and if I see you again it will be the worse for you.' "

  "Good," said Harald absently. "You may go; I have a boat and provisions waiting at the dock. Give my greetings to your king and say I hope to be his guest next summer."

  "We will build a good hot fire for you, my lord," said the Dane boldly, and walked out with his comrade.

  Harald slumped in his seat, brooding. Matters would be easy if Einar were an outright traitor. Ring his house in with spearmen and set it ablaze! But, as it was, at best, Einar would be a wall in his path; at worst, he would lead a rebellion in the name of Norway. Well . . .

  He sighed and went to seek Thora.

  The fall came, high bright skies and geese winging south, the hills a dry flame. Ulf rode down to Gizki with a large following and came back to say Thorberg had agreed and would sail with his other daughter to Nidharos at Yuletide. "She's a quiet sort, but I like her," he added, "and maybe I'm getting too old to tumble a different wench each night. That's a sad thing; you never come to know a woman, she's naught but a body."

  He seemed more wistful than glad, so Harald asked him, "Was there someone you'd liefer have had? I might have arranged that for you."

  "No," said Ulf, down in his throat, "you couldn't have done that. . . . Brrr, what a bleak day. Good to be a Christian and await a hell where they keep the fires going."

  A short while afterward, Elizabeth sought Harald. They had not seen much of each other. She kept to the building where she had her quarters and servants, amusing herself with games, needlework, riding abroad, and little Maria. Harald was alone in the hall, burnishing a sword, when she entered. Dusty sunlight streamed behind her, making the brown hair a halo at the edge of her cap.

  "Good day," he said, startled. "What brings you here?"

  "I saw this chance to speak to you in private." Her voice was taut, but she faced him unwavering. "Well, then, sit down. What's wrong?"

  "Nothing for me, Harald; nothing that can be healed; but for you." He sighed. "Well?"

  "I have, at last, become friends with some of the ladies hereabouts, and even my maids speak freely." Elizabeth smiled. "I know not why, but they come to tell me their troubles, and I am an outlander. So I've seen how discontent is waxing. The land grows restless, Harald."

  "Bah! What do women know of such matters?"

  "More than you think. Husbands often talk to their wives, whether you believe it or not. They speak of law flouted, and unjust decisions, and grinding taxes. ..."

  "They should have been down in the empire." He laughed. "Then they'd not complain of me."

  "But they do. They even mutter—"

  "Of war?" He leaned forward. "Have no fear of that. I know what I'm doing. True, when a case has two sides, and most do, I give judgment in favor of the men I think most true to me. Isn't it better to keep them thus than try buying a weak friendship? And I am careful in how I clamp my will on the yeomanry. No one thing is worth fighting over. A fine here, a tax there, a threat of outlawry if anger speaks too loud—little else—but bit by bit, the strength of my enemies is whittled down."

  She reached out to him, then withdrew the hand. "Why would you not liefer have the love of the people? That's a horrible name they've fastened on you, Hardrede. I hoped, when first we came here, I hoped you would be called Harald the Good."

  "The Weakling, the Unready, the Milksop." He snorted. "Can't you see I have a kingdom to forge? Hammer blows are needful."

  She looked at him for a while, then nodded, as if to herself. "You are only half a man," she said. "The rest is a storm wind. I must believe God sends the gales."

  He made no answer. She could still surprise him.

  Rising, she smiled, a closed curve of lips, and brushed her fingers across his hair. "When a woman cares for a man, she must take him as he is," she said, and left.

  He half rose to follow, but sat back down. He knew not what he could tell her.

  3

  At midwinter, Ulf's wedding stood in the cathedral. Harald was there and at the new home, some hours' ride from Nidharos, with both his queens and large gifts; this was a time for gorging and drinking and making merry. Jorunn Thorbergsdottir had filled out somewhat, though she was still pale and slim. She met every gaze boldly. Already the first morning, she and her sister were laughing and whispering together. None could doubt what they told, and Elizabeth threw them a look of scorn.

  Afterward Harald took a few men on another long hunting trip. Nidharos was dreary in the cold months unless you cared for an endless round of feasts and threadbare thoughts; and his leman Thora was too near her time to be much comfort at night. They had good luck and got far north, up among the Finns. Those were thought to be great wizards, and Harald's followers crossed themselves as they bought lucky charms. Several weeks
passed before they turned home again.

  As he rode into town, Harald thought eagerly that Thora's child would soon be born. He hoped the new church he was building would assure it was a boy, and healthy. And he turned a blind eye to one of his men who cut runes that the elves might be appeased.

  She was waiting for him at the hall, and they went into the little house that was her own to be by themselves. "You were long gone," she said. "I'd begun to think the child would be born without you here."

  "He wouldn't dare," grinned Harald. "I am the king."

  Her mouth drooped. "It was lonely, though. I care not for sleeping by myself."

  "I fear you must often do so, till these wars are finished."

  "Take me with you," she begged. "You said you would."

  "You'll have a baby to look after," he reminded her.

  "Yes, so it goes," she answered sullenly. "Sometimes I wish I had been a man."

  He supposed it was only the humor of her condition, and tried to turn it by laughing. "I mind a Jew down in Miklagardh who told me one of their prayers—for the men—goes: 'I thank the Lord I was not born a woman.' " Thoughtfully: "I'd like to get some Jewish merchants here. They're an able folk, they'd liven this thick Northern blood."

  "Yes, thank your God and weave your schemes!" She burst out angrily. "And leave me behind to wipe the baby's butt while you go whoring in Denmark!"

  It was the first time she had thrown a real fit of temper at him. He found he could not bellow her down, and ended with the promise of a golden bracelet. That quieted her and brought her purring to his arms, but he was not overly pleased. Ellisif, he thought, would not have gotten into a rage for no good cause, and once angered would not be bought off by anything less than a better reason.

  Still, this was a lovely and lively woman he had here, and failing Maria ... He wondered, for the ten thousandth time, how Maria was faring.