Loki's Daughters

by Delle Jacobs

  And that was the last thing she wanted to do.

  Wrong. It was what she wanted most to do.

  Arienh gave in, yielding to her body's need to feel him nestled, hard and excited, into the curve of her backside, exactly where he wanted her to be. He rewarded her. As she drew the arrow, sighted down its length, he let her release it.

  The arrow flew and plopped to the ground a few feet in front of the target. A high-pitched giggle floated through the air.

  Ronan didn't laugh. She turned to see his eyes, darkening like storm clouds, but not from anger. "Don't feel bad, love. It is a good first shot. They will be lucky if they do as well. But an arrow does not fly straight. It falls as it flies, so you must aim above the target, about as much as it fell short."

  Arienh sighed again and ignored the female and male snickers as Ronan settled once again into her backside and positioned her. She nocked the arrow hurriedly and raised the bow, cocking it just so. Anxious to finish, she drew the string, aimed above the target, released.

  The shot flew wild, skimmed the grass, and landed near where Olav's feet would have been, had he not had the sense to jump away quicker than a hare avoiding an eagle's dive.

  Ronan's chuckle rumbled in her ears as raucous laughter echoed around her. "Never rush yourself. You make mistakes that way. Always do everything exactly the same. Of course, that only applies to shooting."

  The men roared with laughter. Arienh recognized the allusion. Everyone knew how much men liked variety in their love play. Well, she'd give him "exactly the same". She'd give him perfection. She'd get every little part of this absurdity exactly right, and end it. This time she'd concentrate.

  Determined, Arienh nocked another arrow, checked her posture, checked again. Angled the bow just so. Drew the string back so that her thumb touched her ear, exactly as he had shown her. Sighted, and raised the elevation.

  "Take your time. Hold very still. Be sure. Move nothing but your fingers when you shoot. Now."

  Arienh checked everything once more. She released the two fingers that hooked the bowstring. The arrow flew, arcing across the green, catching the lower edge of the painted sheepskin.

  The men cheered. The women laughed.

  "That's enough," Arienh said. "Let someone else try."

  Relief flooded her when Ronan didn't protest.

  Egil stepped up. "Birgit," he said.

  From where she sat on the grass, Birgit jerked around. Her pale green eyes widened in horror.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  "Nay." Birgit's voice sounded as frail as her eyes were weak. Even Liam's brilliant blue eyes gleamed with fear.

  Egil shook his head, holding out his hand to Birgit. "It is your turn. Everyone must learn."

  Frantic thoughts raced through Arienh's mind. She had to think of something, quickly.

  But what?

  "This is foolish," Birgit said as she rose and turned, trying to mask her fear. But it cavorted in her eyes.

  Egil took Birgit's arm and led her toward the green before she could walk away.

  "I must get back to my weaving."

  "Aye, in good time." Egil handed her the bow he had made.

  Birgit stared at the thing as if she held a snake. Hesitantly, she yanked on the bowstring a few times. "I cannot pull this thing," she said. "It is too strong."

  "Only because you do not hold it right, Birgit. You are no weaker than the other women. Come, we will do it just like your sister. You will see, it is not so hard."

  Arienh's heart lurched as Egil took Birgit into his arms. She must not panic. Egil did not press himself against Birgit in the way Ronan had done to her, but Birgit's eyes bugged with fear, begging Arienh to think of something. She would not even be able to choose the direction to shoot.

  Unless...

  Arienh picked up the bow she had left on the ground. "Well, while you figure that out, I think I will practice," Arienh said, forcing composure into her voice.

  Standing as close to Birgit as she could without being obvious, Arienh positioned herself as perfectly as Ronan had taught her. But her back faced Birgit, so she glanced back over her shoulder, hoping Birgit comprehended.

  Unsmiling, Birgit returned a tiny nod.

  Arienh squared herself to the target, and elevated the arrow exactly. Birgit was an excellent imitator, for the symmetry of her weaving had taught her exact proportions. Arienh glanced back again, and saw that Birgit imitated her sister's position precisely. Then the arrow slipped and dropped to the grass.

  "I cannot do this," Birgit said. "I am too clumsy." She tried to hand back the bow, but Egil refused. Reluctantly she nocked the arrow again and carefully tilted the bow exactly as Arienh did.

  But Arienh had stalled too long. Her shoulders ached from holding back the string. If she held too long, the men might suspect her ploy. She let the arrow fly. It struck low on the target. She bent and chose another arrow from the arsenal beside her, covertly checking Birgit's position, perfect in all respects except that she squeezed her eyes shut. With a silent prayer, Arienh turned back.

  "How can you aim with your eyes shut?" Egil asked.

  "I already aimed."

  Two arrows flew together. Two arrows thudded into the target. Arienh stared, astounded. Hers was still low. Birgit's had split the center.

  In the unearthly silence, Birgit stood still, eyes pinched tightly shut as if she waited for a blow to descend on her.

  Elli shrieked. Mildread rushed up to Birgit, laughing, and shoved Egil aside to hug her cousin.

  "You did it, Mama!" Liam tugged excitedly on Birgit's skirt.

  Birgit had the good sense not to reply.

  "Of course she did," Arienh said calmly, and she raised her chin haughtily as if she had expected nothing else of her sister. "She has always been good at such things. It is a shame she forgets that."

  "Well, it was a good shot," Egil agreed. "Do it again."

  Again?

  Birgit frowned. "Don't be silly. I told you this was stupid. I'm going back to my weaving."

  Before Egil could stop her, she spun away and raced up the hill to the little stone cottage. "Well, I have had enough, too," Arienh added. "The rest of you may carry on, but I must get back to work." She set aside the bow and hurried after Birgit, Liam in tow.

  As soon as Arienh shut the door behind them, Birgit threw her arms around her, trembling almost to sobbing.

  "It's all right, Birgit." Arienh rocked Birgit gently in her arms. "It was a shock, though. A perfect shot, Birgit."

  Liam squeezed his way in between them. "Aye, Mama, it was perfect."

  "Was it really? If I lived to see the millennium, I could never do that again."

  "And I will never let it happen again," Arienh promised.

  Somehow, she wouldn't. She didn't know how, but for today, she simply wasn't going to let Birgit out of the house again.

  ***

  "A bit strange, those two," commented Olav.

  Bjorn snorted. "All women are strange. And you're all fools."

  Ronan had begun to wonder, himself. Arienh's consternation had been easy to understand, given how determined she was to fight off her attraction to her Viking enemy. But after that, nothing had made sense. He laughed at Egil's confusion, but slapped his brother's back.

  "Come on, Egil, let's get back to the lessons. You can chase your sweetheart later."

  Egil's wicked blue eyes sparkled beneath his thickly fringed blond lashes. "You do it, Ronan. I have other things to do."

  Ronan watched Egil saunter up the slope to the little stone cottage where the sisters lived.

  ***

  Arienh answered the knock on her door, glaring at Egil. His wheat-colored beard was gone, freshly shaven away, and his splendid yellow hair flowing entirely free, without the tiny plaits he usually wore beside his ears. He looked like an eager suitor. Fresh resentment bloomed in her.

  "What are you doing here? You are not supposed to come here."

  Egil gave Arienh a coolly tri
umphant smile as he wriggled past her. "This is a different matter. It is my duty."

  "Duty? Your duty is to abide by the agreement and stay away from our houses."

  "Nay, I must speak to Birgit. It is about Liam."

  "And Liam is my responsibility," Birgit replied. "You may not concern yourself with him."

  An eager grin laced across his face. "But I must. We have all agreed to do the things men must do. It is a man's duty to train boys in men's ways, and he has no father, so I must do it."

  Arienh shared glances with her sister. Had he somehow detected the truth in spite of Birgit's accurate shot?

  "Nay, you will not take him from me," Birgit replied, and her gently shoved Liam behind her.

  "Take him from you? I only mean to teach him. Do you not share your skill at weaving with the village girls, Birgit?"

  Arienh had not expected that argument. As she focused her anxious gaze on Birgit, she saw something else, something different, something turned upside down. She had expected her sister's pale eyes to radiate fury at the Northman's audacity. Instead, Birgit thoughtfully folded her arms and turned her gaze on her son.

  "What do you mean to teach him, Viking?"

  He had the gaze of an ardent suitor, soft, sweet, intense. Definitely, that was what it was. Arienh might not have seen such since childhood, but she knew it when she saw it.

  "I do not know everything a man may know. But I am a hunter, and a fisherman, and I have some carpentry skills. I can show him the ways of farmers, and I know some of smithing. But more than that, I would have to turn to my friends."

  Birgit rested her hand within the nest of Liam's bright curls. "And of raiding?"

  "I have no experience with those things."

  "But you have admitted you are a warrior."

  The man folded his hands before him. "As all men must be if they are to defend their own. On the Green Isle, I often fought in battles with the Celts against the Danes."

  "I do not want my son to be a marauder."

  "He will not learn it from me. But I will teach him to defend himself and those he loves."

  Birgit's eyes roved longingly over her son, whose bright blue eyes beseeched, echoing both fear and excitement.

  "Nay, Mama," he said, pulling on her kirtle.

  Arienh and Birgit exchanged glances. There was nothing Liam wanted more than to go with the giant blond Northman, but Old Ferris's words still terrified the boy. And they both knew Egil was far too kind and gentle to bring the boy any harm, but that was not their real fear.

  "How do I know you will not hurt him?" Birgit asked, fixing her pale stare on the Viking.

  "I will give you my oath, and a Northman may not break his oath. If he should come to harm by me or by my error, I must give to you my firstborn son."

  "You have such a son?"

  "Nay. So I pledge you my very future."

  An odd, undecipherable light flickered in Birgit's eyes, then quickly tucked itself back down beneath her solemnity. "Let it be so, then."

  Liam gasped. "Mama, I'm afraid."

  "There is no need, Liam. A Northman may not break an oath made on his firstborn son. You will be safe with him."

  Arienh's jaw dropped open, along with Liam's. Had they made a pact? Or had Birgit merely picked up the thread of Egil's plan, just as she had done with the archery earlier?

  Egil gave Liam a very solemn nod. "Then I will come for you in the morning, Liam, so that we may join the other men in choosing wood for more bows. Now, if you wish, we will go to the river to fish."

  "With my pole?"

  To his credit, Egil did not laugh. "It is the best way."

  Liam glanced back and forth between his mother and the fascinating Northman, then even briefly looked at his aunt. His natural exuberance could no longer be constrained by fear. "May I, Mama? Please?"

  With great solemnity, Birgit nodded. "That is the agreement, Liam. You may go."

  The boy dashed for his fishing pole, and his brassy golden locks bobbed as he hurried off behind Egil. Egil flashed a magnificent smile for Birgit, and a sly wink, as he left.

  Fury boiled up in Arienh as if it began in her toes and rose all the way to her ears. "Birgit, how could you? After all my work?"

  Birgit gave a shrug. "I was going to give in to him anyway. There was no point in wasting time with a fight."

  "Birgit, don't you see the danger in letting the man get too close?"

  "Aye, I do, Arienh. But it is clear Liam needs him. I will just have to be careful."

  "It is not your loose tongue I am worried about. But Liam is just a little boy. You cannot expect him to guard his words."

  Birgit turned away her head, looking off out the door as if she stared into some far distant time. "I know, but I must risk it, for Liam. It does not matter about me, Arienh. I do not think you can stop it."

  "Then why don't you just run right out and tell them, if you are so intent on giving up?"

  "You do not understand, do you?"

  "Nay, I do not." Arienh stalked out of the cottage, and as she swung the door to bang it shut, the leather hinge broke. In her fury, she left it sagging in its frame.

  Unraveling. Everything. Birgit was unraveling!

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  "It is not a very good time of year for trout," said Egil to the small boy who bounced along beside him. "The water is still too murky, and trout do not like it."

  "Then where do they go if they do not like the water?"

  Egil laughed. He had never thought of that. "Hm. Well, they cannot leave the water. Maybe they look for a place where the water is not so muddy."

  "But isn't all the water muddy?"

  "Aye, but some of it is clearer. Maybe I am wrong. Maybe they are there all the time, but they just don't take bait when the water is muddy."

  "Don't you know? I thought you knew all about fishing. How can you teach me if you don't know?"

  Egil studied the child's suspicious gaze and suppressed a laugh. "Well, I can teach you what I know, but no one knows everything. And I do not. I'll show you the best ways to catch trout, but even the best ways don't always work. You will have to make lots of mistakes before you learn everything I know."

  "I don't want to make mistakes." The boy frowned.

  "But mistakes are important, Liam. It is true with hunting, too. You must first learn what makes noise before you can learn to be silent. With the trout, they have very good eyes, for they must see their food before they strike, so you must learn how not to be seen. But first you must learn what they see."

  Liam studied the murky water from all angles, squinting beneath his frown. "Can they see when the water is muddy?"

  "I don't know, but they do not feed when the water is too muddy, maybe because they cannot see their prey. You are a very smart boy, Liam. Maybe I will learn some things from you."

  "Truly?"

  Truly, Egil thought. He figured he would learn something very special from this boy.

  ***

  Arienh stomped down the path toward the river, determined to do something, but with no idea what that would be. Anything besides remaining in the cottage where Birgit continued with her incessant weaving. Swish, swish. She couldn't stand it any longer.

  Well, what? She couldn't tend the animals. That Viking, Tanni, had already herded them from the pens into the upper valley. He did that every day, leaving her no other task but to check them for murrain when they came down of a night. Soon, he would be keeping them in the high mountain valleys and she would not have even that to do.

  Everywhere, she saw signs of the Vikings' labor. The Vikings had plowed the fields and sown them, and green sprigs already broke the ground. Smoke billowed from the forge. Cottages all wore new thatch, even some that had been topless for years. She had refused Wynne's offer of geese, so she had no geese to tend. And there was no point in gathering clams, for the Vikings brought fresh game or meat every day. Her people had not eaten so well in years.

  She certainly couldn't
go back to the green where the Vikings exercised their tender ploys along with their archery.

  There had to be something to do. It hadn't been so very long since she had complained to herself that there was too much to do. Now, the Vikings were taking over everything, and Arienh wasn't sure where she belonged anymore.

  But what?

  Ah, the stones. In all the tumult over the Vikings, she had not been into the hills for a long time. In fact, last night she had counted twenty-three scratches on her board. The moon had passed through three phases. She had not been up there since...

  The Viking. The man had taken over her life.

  That left only a little less than three more moon phases before Beltane. She had grown careless, all because she hadn't wanted to be reminded of what had happened within the stone circle.

  With a flip of her skirts, Arienh spun in her tracks and headed toward the trail that led to the upper end of the valley and the stone circle. But she was making her pique obvious, and she hardly wanted the men to notice she had quarreled with her sister. She slowed to a more natural stride.

  Ronan stopped to watch her pass, but she pretended not to notice. Perhaps he would tend to his other students.

  Perhaps bats would fly in the bright of day.

  The trail, widened by the passing of sheep to the high pasture, and recently well muddied from the necessity of bringing in the flock every night, wound familiarly along the river where Liam fished with big, blond Egil. Seeing them together only reminded her more painfully of Liam's terrible heritage. Liam looked enough like the man to be his own son.

  "Aunt, look! I'm fishing!" Liam's excited voice carried from the riverbank to the trail.

  "Aye, I see, Liam." She continued her trek.

  "Come and watch me, Aunt. I'm going to catch a fish."

  She gritted her teeth. She didn't want to watch. Did she not want the boy to be successful? Or perhaps she wanted the Viking to fail with the boy? Nay, her anger was senseless. Birgit was right, Liam needed the man.