Saved by the Viking Warrior

by Michelle Styles

Cwenneth stared at the dying embers of the fire. Martha’s question was something she preferred not to think about. Thrand would be furious with her when he found out what she had done. She had to hope that he’d listen.

  ‘Before the cock crows, I’ll be back. Edward will listen to me and heed my advice. He has in the past.’ Cwenneth straightened her shoulders and refused to think how long in the past it had been since Edward had listened. She would make him listen if she had to tie him down and beat him about the head. ‘Failure is not an option.’

  ‘If you haven’t returned by mid-morning, I will tell him where you have gone, and if he is half the man I think he is, I won’t be able to hold him.’ Martha waggled her finger. ‘Think on that, my lady. Think on that.’

  * * *

  A few stars faintly twinkled in the sky. Cwenneth raised her hood and stepped into the darkness.

  A black shape stepped in front of her. ‘Where do you think you are going?’

  She missed a step and nearly fell. ‘Thrand? You are supposed to be asleep.’

  ‘Once Martha told her tale, it was obvious what you were going to do.’ He lifted a brow. ‘I asked you to stay with me and to confide in me. You refused.’

  She dipped her head. He was making her out to be in the wrong, but it wasn’t that way at all. ‘I wanted to save your life.’

  ‘How? By running away?’

  ‘By going to my brother and telling him the truth?’ She held out her hands and willed him to understand what she was doing was for him. ‘It is the only way to stop this madness. If he knows the truth, my brother will stop Hagal. His interest is in saving his people rather than having a vendetta against you.’

  ‘And what do you think he will do? Just let you go? Allow you to return to me? The kidnapped bride?’

  She glared at him. ‘Once my brother knows the truth and sees how he was duped, he will understand he owes you a life debt. Do you really think Hagal will be planning on keeping him alive?’

  She waited for him to agree.

  He ran his hand through his hair. ‘You should always say goodbye when you go, even when you think you will only be gone for a short while. One of the things I always regret is that I never said goodbye to either of my parents. I slipped away to meet Ingrid. I was supposed to be working in the barn, mending a byre as punishment for disobedience.’

  ‘I’m sure they knew you meant to,’ Cwenneth said quietly.

  He clenched his fists. ‘My mother’s body was in the barn. She’d left her hiding place and had gone searching for me. If she had stayed hidden, she would have survived. If I had said goodbye, she would have lived.’

  Cwen went cold. His quest for vengeance made more sense now. Why he blamed himself. All the self-loathing and naked longing to change the past was written bare on his face. ‘She should have trusted you were old enough. You were hardly a baby. You knew what to do in case of attack.’

  His mouth twisted. ‘You didn’t know my mother. She was always fussing. I was her one chick. She knew my father’s rules. She would have stayed hidden if she thought I was safe. But she didn’t. She came to get me and I wasn’t there. She died because of my lust for a faithless woman. I have regretted it every day of my life.’

  Cwenneth breathed deeply. She had to get it right. Her instinct told her that Thrand had carried his guilt close to his heart and had never confided it before. ‘We all make mistakes. You were barely more than a boy. How could you have foretold the future?’

  His mouth twisted. ‘It is nothing I am proud of, knowing that my actions caused my parents’ death. But the children should know where you are going. Think about them and stop. They need a mother. They have bonded with you.’

  ‘And if I do nothing, if I continue on to Iceland, what am I guilty of?’ She held out her hands and willed him to understand that her decision had not been an easy one. ‘People will die. Other boys will be left without their parents. Hagal needs to be stopped and I am the only one who can stop him. Here. Now. Before he has a chance to murder more innocent people.’

  ‘And you think going to Lingwold will make a difference?’

  ‘Doing nothing will allow Hagal to get stronger. If he leaves Lingwold with an army, he might succeed. Are you prepared to take that risk?’

  Thrand looked down at her. His brow creased. ‘Hagal wants you dead.’

  She put her hand to his cheek. ‘I can stop this madness before it starts, Thrand. I can expose Hagal’s lies.’

  ‘Then go to Jorvik and tell the king. Halfdan will listen, particularly as we know the true extent of Hagal’s treachery. We will get there before any army.’

  ‘I want to avoid more death, not destroy a generation of Bernician men.’ Cwenneth wrapped her hands about her waist. ‘One of the main reasons I was willing to marry Hagal was that I didn’t want another woman to go through what I did when I lost Aefirth.’

  ‘I...I...care about you, Cwen, and want to save your life. Throwing it away like this is madness.’

  Her heart soared. Thrand cared about her. But then she forced herself to think and Cwenneth’s heart shattered. Too little too late. She had settled for Aefirth caring for her. She had settled for a lot of things, but no longer. She wanted Thrand’s love. She deserved more than lukewarm caring. She deserved his whole-hearted love.

  ‘Part of you remains that boy who found his parents murdered.’ She raised her chin. ‘We need to stop Hagal while we can...unless you are afraid?’

  ‘I’ve lived my life, hoping for the opportunity to destroy Hagal.’

  Thrand waited in the silence. Inside he felt a great hollow open as if his heart was being ripped from his chest. He was a liar. Cwen was his life. Without her, he was nothing. And she did not love him enough to put him first. He might have confessed that he cared for her, but she didn’t care for him. Her loyalty remained with her old family.

  ‘Fine. I’m glad we have that settled. Now if you will let me go so I can return to my home...’

  He gasped her upper arm. She might have rejected his love, but he couldn’t allow her to stumble blindly into whatever trap Hagal had laid for her. ‘You are not going alone, Cwen. I forbid it.’

  Cwen took his fingers from her sleeve. ‘You forbid it? You forbid nothing.’

  Thrand clenched his fists. He ought to turn his back on her, but he couldn’t. She might not believe in his love for her, but he knew it was fierce and strong. The reason he lived now was to protect his family— his new family.

  ‘I will go with you. In the background as insurance in case your brother does not behave how you’d expect.’

  She arched her brow. ‘What shall we do with the children?’

  ‘Take them with us, of course. We are a family. We stay together. If it is safe enough for you, it is safe enough for them.’ He glared at her, daring her to say differently. ‘And who would think Thrand the Destroyer would be travelling in the company of two children? How many people have actually seen me? I will wear a cloak to cover my hair and will keep silent unless you actually need my help.’

  ‘You are willing to do that? To let me speak first? To keep silent if necessary?’

  Thrand put his hand on his sword. What he was about to do was the hardest thing he had ever done—allow the woman he loved to go into danger. But he knew she was right, not because he needed vengeance for his long-dead family but because he needed to protect the family he had acquired. Looking over his shoulder and worrying was doomed to failure. Hagal had to be stopped now before he had an army on his side.

  ‘Shall we put your theory to the test?’ He raised her hand to his lips.

  She bowed her head. ‘I didn’t expect you to agree.’

  ‘So you could go off all indignant and lose your life?’ Thrand put his hand on her shoulder. The faint stain of colour told him everything he needed to know. ‘If you a
re going to face Hagal, then I’ll be there, ready with my sword.’

  ‘Thank you.’ She laid her head on his chest. Thrand enfolded her in his arms and knew he’d protect her with his dying breath.

  * * *

  Cwenneth stared up at the grey stone walls of her old home. They had made good time from Martha’s and had arrived before the main gate opened. Once she had dreamt of this moment, but now, instead of the welcome comfort, she knew it was potentially her prison and a death trap for Thrand. However, she could not turn her back and walk away. She had to stop Hagal, for good. And this was the only way she knew how to do it.

  It meant a lot to her that Thrand walked at her side, carrying a sleepy Aud as Hilde held her hand. Each step she took, she was reminded of why she was doing this. These children deserved to grow up free from the menace which was Hagal.

  Cwenneth hoped the children along with the cloak they had borrowed from Martha would provide enough of a disguise for Thrand. They had discussed the plan several times on the way over. Thrand reluctantly agreed that he needed to stay in the background until her brother learnt the truth.

  ‘I will go through this back passage. You will go through the main gate and stay in the main hall. Once I have spoken to my brother, I will join you and we can walk out together. Slowly and carefully. If I am not there by the time it is noon, you must go back to Martha’s and I will get there as soon as possible.’

  Thrand’s eyes glittered. ‘I hope you are right, but if there is any trouble, I will be there. I will protect you.’

  Cwen gave Aud a kiss and then knelt beside Hilde, rather than answering Thrand.

  ‘I wish I had something...’ She stopped and remembered the rings she had hidden in the hem of her skirt way back when this adventure first began. She rapidly extracted them. ‘If anything happens to Far, you are to take these to the Lady of Lingwold and tell her what has gone on. Show no one but her.’ Cwen looked over Hilde’s head at Thrand. ‘My sister-in-law may be many things, but she has a soft heart for children. She knows my rings. She will find a place for them...if the worst should happen.’

  ‘Hilde, if there is trouble, we discussed what you do.’

  Hilde nodded. ‘Far told me that I was to go to Martha. He showed me where he has hidden some gold for us. But it won’t come to that, Mor. Far trusts you and your judgement.’

  At Cwen’s sceptical look, Thrand nodded. ‘I have trained her well.’

  She stood awkwardly, not sure what she should say to Thrand. There was far too much she wanted to say. ‘I will see you soon.’

  His hand curled about hers. ‘I am counting on it.’

  He turned with the children and didn’t look back.

  Keeping to the shadows, Cwenneth crept over to where the hidden passage ended and pulled the covering open. It smelt danker than she recalled, and she wished she had a light. The woman she had been when she’d left this place would never have dared to do this. Thrand believed in her and moreover had taught her that she was capable of far more than she dreamt.

  Everything had seemed clear back at Martha’s and indeed on the path here. But standing in front of the walls, it seemed a much harder proposition. Edward hated being duped. He always reacted badly. She had to hope that he turned on Hagal quickly and never discovered his most hated enemy was on his lands. She’d slip away quietly.

  ‘There is no hope for it.’ She spat on her hands and felt for the knife Thrand had insisted on her wearing. It remained securely strapped to her calf. ‘I have to begin before I can be finished.’

  She crouched down and began to crawl. Spiders’ webs entangled in her hair, and she bumped her knee against a particularly hard rock. When she had nearly given up hope, she saw a faint crack of light. She pushed against the door, and it gave way.

  She tumbled out on to the hard stone with a clatter which seemed to echo.

  She froze, waiting, but there was no sound of anyone stirring.

  A wild excitement filled her. She might just do it. She started towards the kitchen. Someone there would know where her brother slept. It would be safer. Edward would understand, she told herself for the thousandth time. He would let her go when she asked.

  A hard hand descended on her shoulder. ‘Who goes there?’

  ‘I am Lady Cwenneth of Lingwold,’ Cwenneth said with as much dignity as she could muster. ‘Unhand me and take me to Lord Edward. There is much I want to say to him. There is much he needs to know before he makes the biggest mistake of his misbegotten life.’

  ‘Not so fast, my lady,’ the man replied with a thick Northman accent. ‘Hagal the Red has business with you first.’

  Chapter Fifteen

  ‘Unhand me.’ Cwenneth struggled against the restraining paw of Hagal’s henchman as he dragged her to where Hagal was holding court in a small room at the back of Lingwold. Hagal gave her a look which was pure evil. ‘I am perfectly able to walk. I demand to see my brother. He is the lord here, not you.’

  Hagal gave a nod. ‘Release her. You will have your time later with the lady. You wish to see your brother, do you, wife?’

  Cwenneth hated how her scalp crawled. She tore her arm away from the great hulk and silently vowed that he was never going to have any time with her. Thankfully, she still had the knife and she would not hesitate to use it.

  ‘If you will take my arm, my lady.’ Hagal held out his arm in a parody of a gentleman’s pose.

  ‘Where are we going?’

  ‘Where else but to see your brother?’ Insincerity dripped from every feature. ‘We have all been worried sick about you, my lady. Thrand Ammundson has a fearsome reputation. Your brother will rejoice to see you unharmed.’

  ‘I am sure he will.’ Cwenneth forced her feet to keep moving. All of her muscles tensed. Somehow she had to find a way to escape and warn Thrand. Hagal was not acting as though he suspected that Thrand was in the hall. She breathed a little easier and tried to hang on to that.

  ‘Look who has returned, Edward!’ Hagal crashed open the main door to the hall and propelled her forward into the tapestry-lined hall. She could remember how she used to play a game of echoes when she was little. If she stood in the right spot, just about where Edward now stood, her voice would bounce off the walls. In the wrong spot, it was as quiet as the grave.

  The force of the blow made Cwenneth drop to her knees. She gritted her teeth and slowly rose to her feet, concentrating on the red and gold of the tapestries. The stench of sour wine intermingled with ale hung in the air. Her father would be spinning in his grave. She did not dare look around to see where Thrand and the children stood. If they had made it this far...

  She lifted her chin. ‘Brother, it is good that you have given me such a warm and heartfelt reception.’

  ‘Cwenneth!’ her brother said, rising from where he sat discussing something with several of his followers. Her sister-in-law was nowhere to be seen, but her former stepson sat beside him.

  Edward’s face was puffy and his nose red. He had the air of a man who preferred to drink and carouse rather than to lead an attack of any sort. In any fight with Hagal, he’d lose. Cwenneth’s heart sank. Edward was blundering about like a fly unaware that he was caught in a web.

  ‘You are alive.’ He held out his arms. ‘Thank God, you are alive. That monster let you live. And you’ve returned unharmed to us. Hagal is willing to overlook everything. We can still have the wedding.’

  ‘I survived the attack, yes,’ she said cautiously and remained where she stood.

  Cwenneth looked at each of the men at the high table, including her former stepson. Her heart sank. There was not one she could fully trust to believe her story, not with Hagal and his men camped inside the gate.

  ‘My sister is more resourceful than you predicted, Hagal the Red,’ Edward remarked.

  ‘A great relief to us all
,’ Hagal said with a bow. ‘Thrand Ammundson does have a certain reputation with women. Back in Norway, he caused the death of my beloved Ingrid.’

  ‘Still, my sister has returned to us after her ordeal. And she will give witness to what happened. Your king will have to listen to her. A delegation can be sent, rather than an army.’

  Hagal’s face turned crimson. ‘One hopes that she is not a traitor.’

  Cwenneth kept her gaze trained on her brother and willed him to believe her. ‘Thrand Ammundson rescued me after Hagal’s men slaughtered everyone else. Edward, you above all people should know my love for Lingwold is without question.’

  ‘Why would Hagal want you dead?’ her stepson asked.

  She directed her gaze to him. ‘Because your father, my late husband, killed his close kinsman. And Hagal made a battlefield vow. Narfi took great pleasure in informing me of it before he challenged Thrand Ammundson.’

  Her stepson blanched.

  ‘Where is Thrand Ammundson now?’ Hagal asked, muscling forward. ‘How did your ladyship escape?’

  Cwenneth’s stomach clenched. If she lied, her brother would know. He had always had the uncanny knack of knowing when she lied. She had to keep to the truth as much as she could. There remained a possibility that Thrand would not be required to rescue her, that she could walk away from this unscathed and Thrand undetected.

  ‘Where I left him, I presume.’ She batted her eyelashes and hoped. ‘He was badly injured in the fight with Narfi. Luckily I found the right track and made my way here.’

  ‘And you are asking me to believe that you made it across country on your own? Cwenneth, you can barely make it across the castle yard.’

  Various people laughed. She raised her chin and glared at her brother. ‘I stand before you. Surely your eyes tell the truth.’

  ‘Where did you get those clothes?’

  ‘From Martha. Dain’s mother. I stopped there to return Dain’s boots. My slippers would not have held up on the long march home.’

  Hagal snapped his fingers. ‘She lies. Tell me where this Martha creature lives. Ammundson will be there. Let me send my men. Let me prove this to you. Your sister will be in league with your enemy. He has seduced her. She is damaged goods.’