Trana gave a small nod to show that she understood. ‘I was willing to stand shoulder to shoulder with you, but I’m no warrior. I’m not brave like you.’
‘And me, Vargr?’ Ragn asked and her stomach knotted. She waved the heavy sword, drawing his attention away from her cousin. ‘What do you want from me? Am I supposed to go meekly to my death?’
He moved swiftly, put hard fingers about her upper arm, forcing her to drop the sword before she had the chance to react.
‘I thought you would not have the wits to use it. Did you really think you’d prevail against me and five of my men? The odds were always in my favour, Ragnhild.’
Ragn muttered a curse as he twisted her arm. Every breath he remained here was another chance for Gunnar to arrive. Panicking was not going to solve anything. ‘You have little idea about my wits.’
‘We have unsettled business.’
‘I thought we said everything we had to say to each other when you threw the lighted torch in my hall.’ Ragn forced her voice to be steady as her mind raced. They would have to drag her out. She could scream as they did so. People would notice. Anything to delay. Anything to allow Gunnar or Maurr to return. ‘Those lands belonged to my family, but I offered them to you in exchange for my sister’s life.’
‘My father should never have favoured my brother over me.’
‘Your father is long dead. Your brother is dead.’
‘Hamthur turned our father against me. You with your feasts and being kind to people helped him. I should have inherited the better estate.’
Ragn swallowed hard. He was talking and his men were just standing menacingly in the doorway. Good. Now to keep him talking. ‘I will not apologise for making those lands prosper. Hamthur’s lands only prospered because of my inheritance and because I managed the lands. I offered to teach you to improve your lands.’
He snapped his fingers. ‘We are wasting time. I won’t allow you to destroy my world.’
‘Leave Trana here and I will go quietly.’
His smile showed no mercy. ‘Trana comes with us so she can understand precisely what happens when people cross me. Nothing will happen to her if she obeys, but she does need to learn a lesson.’
‘I had no plans to come back until you sent your assassins. That was wrong of you, Vargr, endangering others.’
Vargr put his face close to hers. The madness shone in his eyes. ‘I had thought the witch woman was speaking of Svana and then I realised—she was speaking about you. You are the one who is destined to destroy me unless I destroy you first. I see it now.’
He put his hands about her throat and closed. The world started turning black at the edges. Her hands flailed, brushing the eating knife in her belt. With her last conscious thought, she grasped it and pushed the knife upwards into his belly. He gave a grunt and his grip loosened.
She drew a life-giving breath as she spun away from him and grabbed the poker.
‘Catch her! She has stabbed me.’
One of his henchmen grabbed her arms, forcing her to drop it. She kicked out ineffectually. ‘You will never get away with it. My husband will not stand for it.’
‘What, your new husband? I have the measure of the man. A loner. No one to worry about.’ He shrugged. ‘I fancy he will be at the King’s hall some considerable time as the Queen has taken a dislike to him. Maybe you two will meet in death. It would be fitting. You will die for attempting to murder me. I could not have planned things better.’
Ragn thought of all the things she had left unsaid and how she would have clung to Gunnar far tighter when he went to the King’s hall if she’d known what was going to happen to her. She should have told him that she loved him last night and made him believe it, instead of allowing her body to whisper the words.
‘I pity you, Vargr. You think only of power and gain. I know what love is and what difference a good man can make in the world.’
‘Do you indeed?’ A stern voice sounded from the door.
Ragn went weak at the knees. Vargr had lied. The King had not detained Gunnar. He had come as he’d promised he would. ‘Gunnar.’
‘Unhand my wife.’
Vargr’s henchman increased his vice-like grip on her arm.
‘I am taking her with me as is my right,’ Vargr said, putting a hand over the growing stain on his tunic. ‘We shall see what the King says—the witch stabbed me in the stomach. She intended to kill me and she must pay for her crimes.’
‘Are you terminally stupid? That is barely a scratch,’ Ragn shouted.
Vargr went red in the face. ‘Who are you calling stupid?’
Gunnar raised his brow. ‘I am happy to fight you for her. You and me. We shall see who wins.’
‘The Queen will insist on a trial by ordeal rather than a trial by combat,’ Vargr said with a sneer.
‘You are friendly with the Queen. I hadn’t realised.’
Vargr preened. ‘She does what I say. My wife is her closest confidante.’
‘Truly?’
‘The King is so besotted with her. His decree about marriage has meant that I have been able to increase my holdings as I knew it would when I suggested it.’ He gave an arrogant laugh. ‘I am the ultimate power behind the throne.’
Gunnar’s brow furrowed and he appeared to ponder the statement. ‘Does he, indeed? It does not sound like the Harald I know from old. There was only one leader in his felag—Harald. Shall we ask him? Harald, who leads this country?’
Gunnar stepped to one side. The King strode into the room. ‘I run my country as I ran my felag,’ the King proclaimed and Vargr went white.
‘I believe you heard everything, Harald,’ Gunnar said. ‘I regret my wife inflicted a slight wound on this piece of filth rather than killing him outright, but one cannot have everything.’
‘This is a family dispute,’ Vargr said, gesturing to his henchman who released her. ‘A quarrel which got out of hand. Nothing more.’
‘Is it, indeed?’ King Harald arched his brow. ‘Interesting way you quarrel, Vargr.’
Vargr wiped his hand across his face. ‘I demand the right to avenge this wound!’
Gunnar looked at Harald. ‘Do I get my trial by combat?’
The King tapped his hand against his mouth. ‘My wife has been overly hasty. She spoke without due consideration of the situation. She has been badly advised in recent months. That ends now.’
The colour drained from Vargr’s face. ‘I can explain. He has twisted my words. I merely came to talk to my sister-in-law and discover why she has spread such lies about me. She attacked me, unprovoked.’
‘You make no demands of me. I have heard enough,’ the King thundered. ‘Your lands are confiscated for plotting against the Crown.’
The King’s bodyguards removed Vargr and his henchmen. Ragn ran swiftly to Gunnar and he put a reassuring arm about her shoulders. At his touch, her knees threatened to give way, she leant her head against his chest and heard the steady thump of his heart and his arm tightened further.
‘You are arrived in time,’ she whispered. ‘I knew you would.’
‘You are alive and that is the only thing which matters,’ he said against her hair.
Harald coughed and gave a low bow. ‘Gunnar, I see this time I must thank you for saving my throne. Had Vargr been allowed to continue, he would have alienated many powerful jaarls.’
‘I thank you for your opportune intervention,’ Gunnar said, keeping his arm about Ragn’s shoulders.
‘He will be properly punished,’ the King proclaimed. ‘He bore false witness and swore that Ragnhild Thorendottar was dead. Her lands will be restored to her. You can be a jaarl in Viken properly now, Gunnar.’
Ragn closed her eyes. Once, seeing Vargr punished and getting the lands back had been her dearest wish, but now she wanted to be where her heart was. ‘My husband’s land
s are where I wish to be. We are carving a new life and I intend to live that life.’
Harald bowed towards them both. ‘I’m sure some deserving warrior will be grateful for such a fine estate. I will ensure you are properly compensated for it.’
Gunnar pulled her tighter. ‘I would go where you wanted,’ he said in her ear.
‘Good, then we go back to Jura. Back to our home.’
As the King and his men started to withdraw, the door banged opened and Maurr rushed in with a drawn sword. When he spied Gunnar holding Ragn, he halted. ‘Someone sabotaged my ship and the guard I left has gone missing.’
‘I believe we know who that someone might be—Vargr Simmison. I suggest you apply to the King for compensation,’ Gunnar said. ‘And I believe you gave your word, Maurr. You were going to stay here. You were going to ensure Ragn did not get into any trouble.’
Maurr reddened. ‘Ragn told me to go. She said she would be safe with just a guard outside. I never thought the man would be so brazen to do something like this in broad daylight.’
Gunnar tightened his grip on her shoulders. ‘Did you, Ragn? That was very reckless of you.’
‘That’s right. I told him to go.’ She put a hand to his cheek. ‘I trusted you would be back in time and you were. It is in the past. Besides, we might have needed a swift ship.’
Gunnar gave a low growl. ‘It is well I am in a good mood, Maurr.’
‘I left one of my men guarding the door. I am not completely careless,’ Maurr retorted. ‘Where is he?’
A quick search found the unconscious man dumped in an alleyway. Maurr and his men took him away to be seen to.
‘I am not feeling so well,’ Trana said when all was quiet and collapsed on the floor in a faint. Eylir went pale and lifted her up, fanning her face and begging her to speak.
‘I think Trana has something to tell you,’ Ragn said, grabbing Gunnar’s hand. ‘We should leave them alone.’
Gunnar nodded and led her to the loft where they had slept the previous night. His arms came about her and held her tight. For a long while, neither said anything.
‘There are things we need to say to each other as well,’ Gunnar said against her hair. ‘You took far too many chances. You should have gone with Maurr to the ship. You knew what was going on. You must not take chances like that. My heart can’t take it.’
She reached up and stroked his face. Her heart turned over. ‘Does that mean you have feelings for me?’
He gave her a look which took her breath away. ‘I love you with every particle of my being. I was wrong not to tell you before. I was going to tell you that day the men arrived, but then they did and I thought my growing love for you nearly caused your death by calling down that curse. I hated that I nearly destroyed the woman I loved. If stopping loving you was the price I had to pay for keeping you alive, I would have gladly paid it.’
She laid her head against his chest and listened to the steady beat of his heart. He loved her. ‘Were you able to stop?’
His arms tightened about her. ‘I tried. I tried telling myself that you had used me. That all you wanted was vengeance and to return to your old lands, but my heart refused to listen as you are very easy to love. Your bravery and the size of your heart put me to shame. I decided I would defy the curse.’
‘I am very glad your heart showed sense. Now do you see that the curse has no power over me and never did?’
He turned her, so she had to look directly into his eyes. ‘The image of you in danger will haunt my dreams for months to come. When I was racing over here to save you, I realised that the only power the curse had was in my mind. It stopped me from trying to make a difference. And then I knew, I could save you.’
‘I never thought Vargr would use a decoy at court,’ she admitted.
‘Next time, you go with me. It is the only way I can ensure your safety—keeping you with me at all times.’
She laughed softly. ‘You can’t decide when someone’s life will end, Gunnar. The important thing is to have them part of your life and to let them know that they have made your life better. In the past few weeks, you have shown me what it is truly like to live and I love you for it.’
‘My life has meaning because you are in it,’ he said, placing his cheek against hers. ‘I was busy dying inside and didn’t realise it. But then you arrived and demanded I fulfil another’s promise.’
‘I was wrong to do that.’
‘I fell for you when you defiantly stood with that spoon in your hand and the pot of stew bubbling on the hearth. You made me remember what it was like to be cared for. You looked like a goddess.’
‘Hardly that.’ Ragn smiled. ‘I had an ulterior motive—I was determined to have a hot meal for Svana.’
‘Then you found my mother’s good-luck charm. I knew she’d have approved of you and the way you are kind to people, the way you make other people’s lives better.’
Ragn put her hand against Gunnar’s cheek. He turned his face into her palm and kissed it. ‘I know I would have liked your mother as I know the calibre of her son.’
‘You have my heart, Ragn. I thought it dead and buried with my family, but it was here all the time and waiting for you. You made me remember my family and those memories have brought my family back to me. What more can I say?’ He pulled her against his body. ‘You are the most beautiful woman in the world to me. Some day maybe you will believe me.’
Ragn’s heart skipped a beat He thought her beautiful and she knew it did not matter what anyone else thought. His was the only opinion which counted. ‘You love me?’ she asked softly.
‘Utterly and madly. I am not afraid who knows it either.’
‘There was a method to my kindness that day—I wanted a home for Svana,’ she confessed. ‘I wanted her to have a Good Jul.’
‘And in doing that you reminded me of all the good I cut myself off from. I regret that Maurr forced my hand. I wanted to woo you properly rather than forcing the wedding.’
‘You say that now, but I am glad that he did arrive and made us both see how we felt about each other.’
‘Do you think you could find a corner of your heart for me?’
Ragn gave a laugh. ‘Only a corner?’
‘As much as you can spare. I require your love, Ragn. I always did. I was a fool to say otherwise. Forgive me?’
She pretended to think about it. ‘Recently I have discovered that people do not have a small capacity to love, but a large one. I love you, Gunnar, unconditionally. My life is better for having you in it. I don’t know how long the fates will allow us to be together, but know that I’d rather have a short time with you than a life of loneliness. Now kiss me like you mean it.’
‘With the greatest pleasure.’ He bent his head and tasted her lips.
Epilogue
Winter Solstice AD 878—Jura
The faint noise made Ragn turn her head from where she was lying on the bed, looking at the tiny bundle in the cradle.
‘Were you asleep?’ Gunnar asked in a quiet voice.
Ragn shook her head. ‘I was far too busy watching our little girl blow milk bubbles.’
‘She is absolutely perfect.’ Gunnar reached out his finger to touch their baby’s cheek. ‘Asa is smiling at me.’
Ragn struggled to sit up. Her body remained tired from the birth a few days before, but the pain had been worth it when she held their baby girl in her arms. This baby was the living symbol of their growing love for each other. Gunnar had named her after his youngest sister, Asa. ‘She is indeed. She knows her father.’
Gunnar’s face became wreathed in smiles. ‘And her father promises to make sure she is well looked after. My family means everything to me.’
Ragn curled her fingers about his, knowing that he still bore the scars from how he’d lost his family. ‘Is there some problem? We have your mother’s
charm protecting the house.’
‘Svana came to see me earlier. She said that she knows we have a nisser and she wants to make sure that everyone says a wish over the porridge. I am supposed to say a wish for Asa tonight.’
‘I thought she’d outgrown believing in nissers along with her fits.’
In the past year Svana’s fits had faded to nothing. And thanks to the suggestion of Kolbeinn’s wife of covering Svana’s straight eye for a little time each day, Svana’s inward-turning eye had strengthened. Ragn agreed with her prediction that when Svana grew into a woman, she would have any number of warriors vying for her hand.
‘Apparently Svana made a wish on the porridge last Jul that you and I would have a girl before the next winter solstice. And the nisser has delivered. She is now certain that she will get a sword for Jul.’
Ragn collapsed back against the pillows, laughing. ‘You know she would never reveal to me what she asked last Jul. She simply said that we would both know when it happened. I thought she was very nervous about the birth with her constant questions about when the baby was due and if I knew the sex. I never imagined she put the nisser to such a test.’
‘It is lucky that I purchased a sword for her the last time I visited the blacksmith on Colbhasa.’
‘Svana has hardly been subtle about her desire to be a shield maiden. The sword can be from us. She has already had quite enough for one lifetime from the nisser! She mustn’t get greedy.’
Gunnar’s laugh answered her own, before he grew sober. ‘I know you do not necessarily want our children to believe in such things and so I am asking—does Asa get presents from the nisser?’
Ragn studied the cradle for a long while. Gunnar was asking, instead of demanding, but she knew how much joy he’d taken in this year’s celebrations. ‘Once I might have thought that people should only be practical and believe in things they could touch, but I was wrong. Such things allow for hope and anticipation. Life isn’t about what you can touch, it is about what and who you believe in and I believe in you.’
Sent as the Viking's Bride Page 23
