“You should never feel embarrassed to speak your mind in front of me. I find it very refreshing.” He took her hand and kissed it softly. “Sleep well.”
Sasha took a couple of steps away from him, then turned and came back. Just in case she did not see him again, there was one thing she wanted to do. She rested her right hand on his cheek, before standing on tip-toe and brushing her mouth softly across his. A couple of times. His lips were cold but incredibly soft.
“Goodnight,” she breathed, not daring to look at him, before rushing up stairs.
She only made it a short distance along the hallway before strong arms had her pinned up against the wall. Her muffled cry of shock was drowned out by his mouth. He wasn’t particularly gentle, he was Viking after all. And she didn’t want gentle, she wanted to feel the true force of his passion. She could barely breathe, he had her in such a tight hold as his mouth wreaked havoc on hers. She sank her hands into his blonde mane, drawing her body even closer to his. She felt like he was devouring her, and she loved it. She wanted more.
Her body tingled with delight as he murmured her name in her ear. Then she stiffened abruptly when she realised it wasn’t her name he had said. He felt her tense.
“What is wrong?” he asked as he ran his lips down her throat.
“You call me Brigid,” she responded coldly. Nothing like killing the moment. For her, anyway.
“Forgive me. You remind me so much of her.”
As he went to kiss her again, Sasha stepped out of his grasp. She felt like she had had a bucket of ice cold water tossed over her.
“And that’s the problem, Heinrekh. I’m not sure whether you’re kissing me or the memory of your deceased girlfriend.”
He stared hard at her. “What do you mean?”
“I am not Brigid, nor will I ever be. If it’s her that you truly want, then I suggest you increase your use of dark magic and resurrect her.”
“And if it’s you I want to be with?”
“Then try and win me around tomorrow afternoon. You’ll find women from my Realm get a little pissed when you get their name wrong in a passionate embrace.” With that she covered the short distance to her room and shut herself inside.
She breathed a huge sigh of relief. Heinrekh had done her a favour calling her Brigid. Had he not, she did not know whether she would have been able to say no to him. It seemed he had almost total control of her body, it would have done whatever he had wanted, completely in disagreement to her head. She really wasn’t overjoyed at the prospect of leaving, she did find him fascinating and genuinely thought he could benefit from a female in his life. Preferably her of course. She ran her fingers over her slightly bruised lips. But hell, the guy could kiss.
Now all she had to do was wait for Erin to show up. They were going to ride out a few hours before first light, before most the castle would be stirring. She was not sure how they could get away without anyone seeing them or the horses but Erin had ensured her they would pass completely undetected. Even from Heinrekh’s eyes.
Magnus and Wilhelm rode out from the camp just as the first rays of light were starting to flicker through the cloud. Magnus had barely slept that night, instead he tried many times to reach Erin. She eventually answered him.
Quite bugging me, Magnus, I’ve kind of got enough on my plate right now.
What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing, Erin?
I thought that was obvious. Are all Vikings this slow?
We’re coming to get you.
No you’re not, I’m on my way back.
Which way are you headed?
How the hell should I know? There aren’t many road signs here, just nothing but white for miles and miles.
Do you know how far you are from the Skarsgaard border?
Sorry, SatNav’s not working.
Magnus let out a frustrated growl. He really could strangle her about now. I hope you make it back here in one piece, because I want to have the pleasure of killing you myself.
Erin laughed. Reception’s not great here, Magnus, you’re started to break up. She made a hissing, crackling sound then cut the link.
“I really will enjoy having my hands around her throat,” Magnus grunted.
“You were talking to Erin?”
“Yes. She’s on her way to the border. Which one, she’s not sure about. To her everything here looks the same.”
“We should head to the woods on the far side of Skarsgaard. Cover there is decent and we should be able to spot Erin crossing the plain.”
Magnus nodded and the two rode swiftly in silence. Wilhelm eventually spoke. “You should not be too hard on Erin. She no doubt gets her impetuousness from her mother. It is a Viking trait. In fact I would have done exactly as she did.”
“But you would at least have had the good sense to take your personal guard with you.”
“Erin’s powers should be enough to keep her safe.”
“You’re jumping to her defence a little too freely,” Magnus looked hard at Wilhelm. “Have you warmed to your new Priestess?”
A faint smile crossed Wilhelm’s face. “I can see a lot of myself in her, that’s probably why we antagonise each other.”
“Just don’t plan on getting too close. She sees me more as a brother than a guardian, and I’m not about to let a highly sexed Viking near her, royal or not.”
The smile on Wilhelm’s face got bigger. “I’m not sure where you get your information from, but trust me, I wish I was highly sexed. I am aware though that Erin is not experienced with men.”
“She’s not experienced with life,” Magnus stated bluntly. “With any of this.”
“She has adjusted well, especially to her powers.”
Magnus stared hard at Wilhelm. “I’m really not used to this diplomatic version of you. Can we go back to the one that throws tantrums regularly. You’re making me feel uneasy.”
Wilhelm sighed and shook his head. “There is just no pleasing some people.”
The sun was up by the time they reached the woods. They continued in silence, keeping watch for any Vasmaarian soldiers. Luckily there were none. Wilhelm stopped a short distance before the end of the woods.
“She should wait here for Erin. It gives us a good view of the plain so we will see her coming and the thick cover of trees will keep us hidden from sight if any Vasmaarians pass through.”
Magnus nodded and dismounted, leading his horse into the thick undergrowth. He prayed to Odin it would not be long before Erin rode into sight, not just because he was concerned for her. It was damn cold too.
Erin’s heart was pumping fast as she tiptoed with Sasha through the castle. She had read in one of Heinrekh’s books about an energy force that shielded the incumbent from view, as though they were invisible. She held Sasha’s hand as she whispered ‘Majorin’ and a faint blue tinge appeared around them. It was dead of night and she did her best to avoid anyone and anything that was lurking in the corridors just in case the spell did not work.
The two girls hurried to the stables where Erin threw the saddle onto Athena.
Sasha leapt back when a soldier appeared in the doorway. Although he could not see them, he could see Athena saddled. Erin hit him with Loxhadrin, she had to stop him from raising any alarm.
“What the hell was that?” Sasha asked wide-eyed.
“Just pure energy. One hundred percent organic.”
“Is that what everyone is after from you?”
“Sort of. It’s a long story and now is not the time. We still have to get to safety.”
Erin jumped up into the saddle and pulled Sasha up behind her.
“Wouldn’t it be easier if I rode a horse myself?” Sasha asked.
“We are more silent on one horse. Besides, the others belong to Heinrekh, it would be like stealing.”
As they headed out the stables into the dead of night, Erin vaporised two Midgards and another guard. They did look a little surprised at seeing the horse riding along, apparently rider
less. A short while later they were well clear of the castle, a good job as the Majorin was wearing off. The moon was partially obscured by cloud, so visibility was not good. Erin tossed a ball of Loxhadrin up into the sky to light their way.
“Do you actually know where you’re going?” Sasha asked.
“Hopefully this is the way I came,” Erin shrugged. “I was following a bloody blackbird at the time.” Which reminded her, she still needed to roast that irritable bird.
The ride was very cold and quite slow. They could not travel too fast as Erin did not want to risk Athena’s safety, not being able to see the path clearly was a danger. As the first few embers of light began to filter through the cloud, Erin started to feel relief growing in her depths.
The lighter it got, the faster they travelled. In the distance she could see the treeline, before long they would be close to the Skarsgaard border. At least she hoped she was headed in the right direction.
Not far into the forest, she spotted two figures out the corner of her eye, she raised her hand and stopped.
“Haven’t you learnt not to sneak up on me?” Erin grunted.
Magnus stepped forward and grabbed Athena’s bridle. “You are without doubt the most reckless, headstrong idiotic fool I have ever had the misfortune to meet.” Magnus was not in good humour.
“Could we perhaps save the pep talk for later,” Erin snapped. “I imagine I have the remains of the Vasmaarian guard that’s not camped on the border after me.”
“She’s right,” Wilhelm was staring at the horizon. “They are close behind.”
Magnus growled and nodded. The two mounted up and led Erin through the woods. A short while later they ran into trouble. A Vasmaarian scouting party. Erin pushed in front of Magnus and let loose a huge burst of Loxhadrin. It got a few of them, but there were still too many to zap. She leapt down from Athena, this would have to be done the old-fashioned way.
Erin was good at fighting in the training hall but real combat was something else. And in deep snow too. She cleared her mind, these guards were no different from Heinrekh’s creatures, and if she did not kill them, she would in turn be killed. She felt sick as a dog the first time her Talmar sliced through flesh but the fighting was fast and she luckily did not have too much time to reflect on it. The scouting party were dealt with swiftly.
Close behind Erin could see the small group of Vasmaarian guards that had been trailing them from the castle. She made an executive decision.
“Magnus, take Sasha back to the camp,” she instructed.
“I’m not leaving you here, Erin.”
“Yes, you are. Wilhelm and I can hold these guys off. I need you to get Sasha to safety, otherwise everything I’ve risked would have been for nothing.”
“I don’t care. My job is to watch your back.”
“Magnus,” Erin barked. “I don’t have time to argue. Please, just do it.”
“Erin will be fine with me,” Wilhelm joined in the debate.
Magnus let out a frustrated howl and mounted back up, swinging Sasha up behind him. “When you get back to camp, you and I are going to have a very long talk.”
“Yes we are,” she responded coldly. “There are plenty of things I want to say. And none of them complimentary.”
After they had left, Erin glanced at Wilhelm. “You’re very quiet.”
“I was concerned for you. You should not have disappeared like that.”
“I had an invitation from Heinrekh I couldn’t refuse.”
“And how was he?”
“Quite charming and hospitable actually.”
Wilhelm looked at her in amazement. “You found him….” he searched for the words. “Agreeable?”
“Very.” Erin took a firm grip of her Talmar as the Vasmaarian guard descended on them. She had read something else from Heinrekh’s books at the castle. Time to try it out. She raised the Talmar towards the sky. “Droxhardin.” The sword seemed to produce something the equivalent of forked lightening which she then directed at the approaching guard. It decimated them, leaving only a few to deal with.
“Nice,” Wilhelm grunted and clashed swords with the first to reach them.
The small band of guards were dismissed with ease.
Wilhelm took her arm and virtually frog-marched her back to where the horses were tethered.
“Are you injured?”
“Unscathed. You?” she responded.
“Fine,” he muttered, deliberately avoiding eye contact.
Erin got the distinct impression he was pissed at something. Join the line she thought.
“Well, spit it out,” she sighed.
“What?”
“Whatever’s bothering you.”
“It is the way you spoke about Heinrekh. He killed your parents yet you welcome him into your life, are happy to sit at his table, to accept his hospitality.” Wilhelm’s tone was distinctly sour.
Erin whirled around. “Firstly, he was only indirectly responsible for my father’s death. I like to make my mind up about people myself. I have not heard one good thing about Heinrekh so I thought I would see for myself what he was truly like. And to be honest, I quite liked what I saw. Everyone refers to him as an evil sorcerer, but I do not believe that Lokranor is quite so innocent. It had a large part to play in Heinrekh’s thirst for power and I think they are painting a much blacker picture of him for my benefit.”
“If you like him so much, why the hell aren’t you taking up position in his camp?” Wilhelm bit back.
“Maybe I should.” Erin’s voice raised several octaves.
“Fine. Go ahead.”
“Perhaps, I will.”
“We don’t need you to win this fight,” Wilhelm responded hotly.
“You’ve never won against Heinrekh. You need me.”
“We’ve survived this long without you. You’re nothing but a distraction.”
“At least the distraction is only one sided. I find you repellent.”
“Really?” He grabbed her shoulders and kissed her hard on the mouth.
Erin’s response was to slap him hard across the face. They glared angrily at each other for a few seconds before mayhem broke lose. Erin was not quite sure what happened, but the next moment they were kissing passionately. He had her backed against a tree and there was no escape. Not that she was planning on going anywhere. Actually she could barely think. Wilhelm’s kiss was destroying every single brain cell she possessed. She felt weak, her legs could barely hold her up. She put it down to the effects of using so much Loxhadrin.
A loud screech filled the air, making Wilhelm jump back. He looked as shaken up as she felt. It had caught him by surprise too.
“Erin,…” He was lost for words.
“Yeah,” she turned towards her horse, she did not want him to see how he had affected her. “Let’s go.” As she glanced up at the sky, she saw a familiar sight. She really wanted to see that damn bird on a spit.
He boosted her up into the saddle and they rode back to Olav’s camp in silence. Her peace was short-lived. Magnus was waiting for her.
He led her to a tent. “This is yours.”
Erin entered and felt elated at the sight of a pile of furs which acted as her bed. She had barely slept the last two nights and exhaustion was threatening to take over. In true teenager style, she dropped her cloak and sword on the floor before flopping down on the bed. Sheer bliss.
“Don’t even think about going to sleep,” Magnus shouted. “You’re going to listen to every word I say.”
“Yes, I will,” she yawned. “I’ll just be resting my eyes.”
“I cannot possibly imagine what idiotic ……….” Magnus started but Erin’s mind wandered. She was safe, warm and very sleepy. So many thoughts flooded into her head, but the one that occupied even more space than her mother was Wilhelm’s kiss. Sure, she’d kissed a few boys in her time, but that was something really special. But then he wasn’t a boy. He was a man. And not just any man. A Viking prince. She gave a s
mall appreciative sigh.
“Are you even bloody listening to me, Erin?” Magnus hollered.
Erin did not respond. She has just fallen into a very deep sleep.
CHAPTER 25
Heinrekh woke with a start, he could feel something was not right. He ran down to Erin’s room, she was gone. He stopped by Sasha’s room, she too was absent.
He could feel the anger starting to rise from deep within him. Duped by two young women, it was mortifying. He strode outside to the stables. The disappearance of Erin’s horse confirmed that they had left.
Realms Gate Page 20
