The Wolves of Dumnonia Saga Box Set

by Peter Fox

  Rathulf stared back at the chieftain helplessly. He was equally bemused, but he was certain Eirik was not acting out of pure kindness. There was more to this, but what?

  ‘No,’ Helga said, countermanding her husband. ‘What we need now is to draw breath and put this whole episode behind us. We have all perhaps overreacted a little…’

  ‘You’re telling me,’ Sigvald rumbled.

  ‘So,’ Helga continued, ignoring her husband, ‘you should heed Eirik’s advice, Rathulf, and go to Alrik and make up with him.’

  ‘Fine with me,’ Rathulf said with some relief, seizing the chance to escape. He hurried out before anyone could have a change of heart.

  He found Alrik down by the shoreline, but the boy was not, as Eirik had warned, searching for a weapon with which to dispatch his friend. Alrik tilted his head at the sound of Rathulf’s approach, but then he turned away when he realised who it was. Rathulf just stood there, not sure what to do or say, as the waves washed onto the shingles in noisy little plops. Beyond, the waters of the fjord glittered brightly in the late afternoon light. Eirik’s longship had just pulled away from the shore, making its way under oar toward the setting sun. The tall jarl offered a salute to the boys from the helm, then he turned back to his crew. Nearer to hand the crippled Wave Skimmer lay half-submerged, its mast leaning at an eccentric angle against the pier.

  ‘I was so scared,’ Alrik said, speaking to the water. ‘More scared than I’ve ever been in my whole life. I thought we were… that he was going to…’ He stopped and bit his lip, unable to go on.

  Rathulf waited for more, but Alrik blinked tears from his eyes and remained silent.

  ‘Sorry,’ Rathulf said, not knowing what else to say. He would never be able to repay Alrik for what had happened, not in a thousand lifetimes.

  Alrik let out a sigh. ‘Jarl Eirik told me what he said to my father, and to you. He said we shouldn’t become enemies over this, and that we should be proud of each other instead. I told him that I wanted to stab you in the heart. He just laughed and said that’s exactly what Sigvald would have said to Thorvald if it had been them at our age. They were all friends, you know, back then; Thorvald, Sigvald, Eirik and my father. They were all there when Thorvald crashed into your færing and found you. You know that’s why Eirik has offered you his sword? They all swore a blood oath to protect you, Ra.’

  Rathulf frowned at his friend, not sure where this was going.

  ‘Anyway, Eirik said that what happened to me was just punishment for what I’d done to you.’

  ‘Eh?’

  ‘Losing your trunk, daufi. But he did say that what happened to me was really bad and unforgivable, but that he needed to play it down to stop my father and Sigvald going to war.’ He paused. ‘He said that’s what you were trying to do too.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Rathulf answered, impressed with Eirik’s insight, ‘it was.’

  Alrik twisted around and sighed at Rathulf. ‘Well, I guess we’re even now. You started the fight with Horik, and I started the one with Ivar. I threw your trunk into the fjord and Helga sank my ship – your ship – whatever.’ He was particularly distressed about that, and Rathulf apologised again.

  ‘Stop saying sorry,’ Alrik said. ‘It’s really irritating.’

  ‘Sorry,’ Rathulf said, without even thinking.

  Alrik rolled his eyes, then changed the subject. ‘You know what really makes me angry?’

  Rathulf shook his head, remembering not to speak this time.

  ‘It’s the fact that you went for both of those drittsekks, like went for them with the rage of the bear in your heart, and the best I could do was stand there crying like a baby and pissing myself.’ He turned away again. ‘Everyone thinks I’m the brave one, Ra, but it’s you, not me. Despite what Jarl Eirik says, I’m nothing but a pathetic sissy.’

  ‘No!’ Rathulf protested, ‘that’s not true. You went for Ivar first, remember?’

  ‘Fat lot of good it did me. And, as I said, I pissed myself,’ Alrik reminded him. ‘Oh, and I threw up too.’

  Rathulf hated the sound of self-disgust in Alrik’s voice. He took a few steps and sat down beside his friend, pleased that this was what was bothering him because for this he had an answer. ‘Well for starters,’ he offered, ‘I puked too, remember? And don’t forget that I pissed all over myself in front of Gunnar just after the avalanche.’ He winced at the memory of that particularly humiliating day.

  ‘We’re a brilliant pair then, aren’t we,’ Alrik said. ‘Puke and piss ourselves at the first sign of trouble.’ He paused, then picked up a bit of flotsam from between his feet and twirled it in his fingers. ‘Thanks, by the way,’ he said.

  ‘What for?’

  ‘For standing up to Ivar like that. I still can’t believe how quickly you got up there and… stopped him doing… I know I was mad about it; I’m still mad at you, but it was actually unbelievably brave. Unbelievably stupid too, but then it is you we’re talking about.’

  ‘Yeah, well,’ Rathulf said, ‘I can say the same about you and Horik. That was pretty brave of you to come stand by me even though I was being…’ He paused.

  ‘Unbelievably stupid?’ Alrik offered.

  Rathulf smiled back at his friend. ‘So, we’re still friends then?’ he asked tentatively.

  Alrik threw Rathulf a wry smile. ‘I guess,’ he replied.

  ‘Okay then,’ Rathulf said, feeling a surge of relief.

  Alrik’s expression grew more serious. ‘I know I get angry at you sometimes Ra,’ he said, frowning as he struggled to find the right words, ‘but you understand… I’d… I’d do anything for you?’

  Alrik’s unexpected intensity threw Rathulf off kilter. ‘Sure,’ he said, but he felt the same discomfort he had experienced in their earlier conversation. He had been surprised at how upset he had been over his and Alrik’s falling out. ‘I’d do anything for you too,’ he added.

  ‘Then how come we’re fighting so much?’ Alrik said, clearly worried about this change in their relationship. He lifted his injured arm. ‘I keep remembering your face, Ra, when you came at me with your sword. You really wanted to kill me.’

  Rathulf didn’t know what to say because it was true, but equally, he didn’t understand what was happening between them either. It was deeply unsettling, and he found Alrik’s hurt expression made his chest tighten and his stomach flutter, and he felt weird all of a sudden. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, conscious that it was a completely inadequate response.

  Alrik held Rathulf’s gaze for a moment longer, then he released him. ‘Well, don’t think I’ve forgiven you for what Helga did to my ship,’ Alrik said, then his mood lightened a little. ‘I’m definitely claiming Tariq as compensation.’

  ‘You’re welcome to him,’ Rathulf laughed, grateful for the diversion. ‘Even if it’s not your ship.’

  Alrik looked at him, evidently surprised he would give up the magnificent horse so easily.

  ‘You were right all along,’ Rathulf explained. ‘Tariq’s one really big mistake.’

  ‘I beg your pardon?’ Sigvald said from behind them, indignant. ‘What ingratitude. And after the lengths I went to procure that magnificent mount for you!’

  Both boys turned around at the sound of the jarl’s voice.

  ‘I was sent out to make sure you two weren’t slaughtering one another,’ Sigvald explained when they both frowned up at him. ‘But I see you’ve made up. Wonderful. Come back to the hall and reassure your father and aunt. What’s wrong now, Ra?’

  The young Viking looked up at the jarl. ‘What are we going to do about Leif?’ he said.

  ‘Nothing,’ Sigvald said firmly. ‘You heard Eirik.’

  ‘But he needs our help,’ Rathulf protested.

  ‘No, you’re the last thing he needs. Like I said before, what you have to do is get healthy and fit and prepared for summer. It’s going to be a busy time. Everyone is agreed that we’ll take this to the Althing, which is immediately after your birthday; and your birt
hday is less than two months away, and we have to get ready for that too. We have a house to rebuild, and your father is in a right flap about everything from your antics to the colour of the socks Helga puts on him, so it’s going to take a concerted effort on all our parts to calm him down and teach him how to smile and laugh again, because by Odin’s balls, if he doesn’t lighten up soon I’ll send him back to Niflheim myself.’ He paused. ‘Okay?’

  ‘What about Alrik’s – our – karve?’

  ‘What about it? The fish will enjoy their new home I expect.’ He softened. ‘Listen, between you and me, Helga might be feeling just a little bit guilty about how she perhaps over-reacted in response to your wanton destruction of her precious longship, not that she’d ever dream of admitting it or backing down of course, but let’s just say I’d not be at all surprised if she quietly asks Ottar to put the Wave Skimmer right again. Not that either of you will ever be allowed to sail anywhere again on your own. Anywhere period. Bardi has banned you from the water for good.’

  ‘That’s not fair,’ Alrik said.

  ‘You still have your pony,’ Rathulf reminded him.

  ‘Or Tariq,’ Alrik suggested.

  ‘No way,’ Rathulf said. ‘I’m riding him over the Leap first.’

  Sigvald looked at Rathulf with much scepticism, then he jabbed his fostri in the chest.

  ‘Ow!’ Rathulf cried, gasping in pain. ‘What did you do that for?’

  ‘You’ve got a long way still to go before you’re ready for that test,’ Sigvald said, his tone serious. ‘Look at you both. I get that you were a little outnumbered at Horik’s and that Ivar is not the easiest of opponents, but with you two needing a change of clothes whenever you come up against it…’

  ‘Sigvald!’ both boys protested in unison.

  The big jarl smiled at them, but it was with affection, not mockery. He flung out his arms and drew them both into his bear-like embrace and hugged them tightly. ‘Ow,’ they both said as he crushed them with his love. He eventually released them, beaming at them both proudly.

  ‘Don’t tell your father this, Alrik, but the tale of your adventure is already making itself heard amongst the men of the fjordlands. Yes, it’s somewhat disappointing that you didn’t come back with Leif, I’ll grant you that, but what guts, what determination! How many men did Ivar have with him? Twenty? Forty? A hundred? And you two took him on alone and survived! I can see you now, standing back to back, swords drawn despite your injuries, willing to fight to the death for each other, frightening the vile bastard into letting you go. And then there was the fight at Horik’s; defending the honour of your friend, who, as I’ve said, didn’t help by not being there. And you sabotaged the Vixen. What gall, what madness! And what a heavy price to pay with Helga hacking the Wave Skimmer to splinters in retaliation. Yet you lived to tell the tale, and through your valiant deeds have won the sword of Eirik, most powerful jarl in all the northern fjords! Well, second-most powerful obviously, after me.’

  They all looked out to the drakkar that was swiftly making its way down the fjord towards the sea. Rathulf had the strong sense that Eirik was looking back at them but from this distance and with the sun in their eyes it was impossible to tell.

  ‘No one will stand in your way at the assembly when the saga of your rescue attempt is known. All the more poignant that your friend had to be left behind, despite your gallant efforts.’

  ‘Um, it didn’t quite happen that way,’ Rathulf said, but Alrik jabbed him in the side.

  ‘Yes it did,’ he said, grinning. ‘Except for our spewing and pants-soiling obviously,’ he added. ‘No need to include that bit.’

  Rathulf shook his head at Alrik, amazed at his temerity, but pleased he was back to his normal, irreverent self.

  Sigvald clapped his hands. ‘Excellent. Now that we’re all friends again and Ivar is out of the way, we can get on with our lives. The first thing we need to do is get back to my place just in case Leif really is making his way there. How fabulously ironic it would be if we got home to find him waiting for us in my hall.’

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  The morning following Eirik’s visit, Helga, Sigvald, Alrik and Rathulf departed Bardisby on the Vixen. Both Ra and Alrik cast forlorn glances at the scuttled Wave Skimmer as they boarded Helga’s longship.

  ‘Alrik, you are to do exactly what your aunt tells you, understand?’ Bardi instructed. He stood on the pier, hands on his hips, eyebrows raised at his wayward son.

  ‘Yes, father, I promise,’ Alrik said, and when his father looked back at him sceptically, Alrik waved a hand at the Wave Skimmer. ‘I can hardly go anywhere now, can I?’

  ‘Hel’s thighs,’ he muttered as he picked his way down the deck to where Rathulf waited for him. ‘You’d think he’d let up just once.’

  Rathulf smiled and shook his head. ‘Nope. Not gonna happen.’

  Bardi still remained highly dubious about allowing his son to go, feeling that Alrik deserved to be grounded for eternity, or so Alrik claimed. If Bardi could have had his way, Alrik would have been sent off to some far corner of Norvegr to be apprenticed to a distant cousin in the art of fish gutting or seal skinning; it didn’t really matter provided he was as far away from Rathulf as was humanly possible. Sigvald had argued late into the night with his brother-in-law until Bardi had finally relented, but only on condition that Sigvald and Helga agreed to a raft of stringent conditions. Sigvald had done so with much reluctance, pointing out to Bardi that it was stupid to make such demands anyhow because he would just ignore them. In the end, it was Alrik and Rathulf who swayed them with solemn promises that they would behave themselves and not set a foot out of Sigvald’s garth.

  For his part, Rathulf was immensely relieved that Alrik was willing to forgive him for the whole disastrous adventure, even if it had come at the cost of him admitting to the soiling of his pants.

  Thorvald and the girls were waiting anxiously down by the shore when the Vixen arrived; Gormond having roused them on the first sighting of the ship turning into the fjord. The crippled farmer stood at an odd angle, leaning on the crutches awkwardly, but at least he was up and about, which gave Rathulf cause for cheer. Rathulf scanned the home field but saw no sign of Leif, not that he really expected him to be there.

  Rathulf hadn’t even set foot on the ground when Thorvald rounded on him. ‘What were you thinking, boy? Do you have any idea what you’ve done?’

  ‘Easy there, Thorvald,’ Sigvald said, stepping down onto the shore behind his charge. ‘They’ve been through all this already, and how in Odin’s name do you know what’s been going on?’

  ‘Jarl Eirik dropped by to pass on the tidings, master,’ Gormond said.

  ‘Did he now?’ Sigvald growled. ‘It’s not even on his way home.’

  ‘I’ve nothing to be ashamed about,’ Rathulf said, getting in ahead of his father. ‘I made a promise, and I intend to keep it.’

  ‘Not at the cost of your life, and all of ours with it!’ Thorvald said angrily.

  ‘I’m not afraid of them,’ Rathulf continued.

  ‘Well, you should be. Just because Ivar is locked up doesn’t mean you’re safe from him, and what of Horik? You’re in Eirik’s debt now, which, I assure you, is not where you want to be.’

  ‘What’s so bad about it, and why are you so frightened of Horik and Eirik? You were all friends once. What’s so wrong with having the most powerful jarl on our side?’

  ‘Second-most,’ Sigvald interjected.

  ‘Who do you think he’s doing this for?’ Thorvald demanded, ignoring Sigvald. ‘You’ve walked right into his trap Rathulf, although I admit even I didn’t think he could be quite so devious. I wouldn’t put it past him to have set the whole thing up to put you squarely in his debt.’

  He stopped himself then, clearly having said more than he intended. He blinked, the pain causing him to sway uncertainly. Helga immediately went to his side and held him by the elbow to steady him.

  ‘What are you talking about?’ Ra
thulf demanded, fearing his father had finally gone mad. It would hardly be surprising given all that he’d been through, especially given the incessant pain he battled day after day.

  ‘Um, I think we all need to calm down,’ Sigvald said, seeing the distress on Rathulf’s face.

  ‘Eirik is protecting his interests,’ Alrik said into the silence.

  ‘Alrik,’ Sigvald cautioned.

  ‘What interests?’ Rathulf asked nervously.

  ‘Don’t speak, Alrik,’ Sigvald warned again.

  ‘The pact,’ Alrik said, ignoring his uncle, clearly experiencing some kind of revelation in thinking. ‘You know; Dornmoona, the trunk.’ He sprang out of Sigvald’s reach as the big Viking made a swipe at him to shut him up. ‘If it wasn’t for me, none of this would have happened. I wanted to give Rathulf his trunk, but–’

  ‘It was lost in the avalanche,’ the jarl leapt in, throwing an admonishing glare at his nephew. ‘Nothing survived.’

  ‘The avalanche?’ Thorvald said. ‘But how–’

  ‘Stop lying to father!’ Rathulf said. He glared at the jarl, furious that even now he would try to find a way to deflect attention away from the truth. ‘You can’t help it, can you? Just tell him what happened.’

  ‘How do you know about the trunk?’ Thorvald said, staring at Rathulf. ‘I didn’t give it to you.’

  ‘Because Alrik went to find it since none of you were ever going to give it to me.’

  Thorvald looked from his son to Alrik. ‘But how did he learn about it?’

  ‘He overheard me talking to Helga,’ Sigvald muttered.

  Thorvald blinked. ‘Was anyone not talking about it?’

  Sigvald shrugged guiltily. Thorvald, in turn, looked to Alrik, but the young Norseman dropped his eyes.

  Thorvald shook his head. ‘And you say it is lost? How?’

  ‘Who cares about what happened to it?’ Rathulf said, more harshly than he intended. ‘It’s gone now, and that’s that.’

  Thorvald stared at his son, then looked to Sigvald for confirmation. The jarl shrugged and lifted his hands in resignation. ‘It’s true. I always said that you should have given it to him years ago.’