by A. E. Rayne
Ulrick had disappeared into the bedchamber with Bergit, closing the door after them, leaving Lotta tucked up in bed in the main room, watching the glowing embers darken, wondering what she was going to do.
It was the first time in so long that she hadn’t slept on the ground, that she’d almost forgotten the joy of a mattress and the pleasure of a pillow, though strange voices echoed in her head. Some she recognised; others terrified her.
She saw Bergit’s face, and she felt worried.
Ulrick had promised her a new home with a woman who had long been desperate for a child, yet Bergit appeared anything but. She had looked at her with horror and distaste. Ulrick appeared not to see what Lotta could. He had tried to pacify his wife while they ate a tasteless soup and sat around a spitting fire together. Ulrick had smiled at Lotta, and offered her more soup, concerned by her listlessness, eyes on his wife, hoping to encourage some concern in her. But Bergit Dyre had stared at Lotta as though she couldn’t see her at all.
It worried her.
Their whispering worried her too.
‘You have ears like a hawk,’ her mother would say with a smile, holding her close.
Lotta wanted to sob, but fear was blocking her tears. Fear was like a great damn holding them back. She couldn’t cry. She couldn’t feel.
Answers lay hidden in the darkness.
And Lotta feared that the way back to her mother was becoming more complicated than any of them had ever imagined.
‘Thenor has turned away from you, taken his allies with him, thrown you to the wolves!’ Mother cackled, creaking in the chair.
Hakon woke in a fright, bounding out of his bed of furs, staring at her.
Dreaming.
‘Of course you are dreaming!’ Mother laughed, enjoying his distress. ‘I haven’t risen from my grave, nor my pyre, which I cannot, you having left me to the birds and the beasts. A frozen corpse in a frozen forest. A meal for many!’
Hakon panted before her, eyes peeled open.
‘Thenor has abandoned you, The Hunter has marked you. And what will you do about that?’
‘Marked me?’
‘He pointed his sabre at you. You saw that. You feel it too. You are marked, Hakon! The promise of death is carved into you now. See for yourself!’ And lurching up from the chair, she bustled towards him, grabbing his tunic, pulling it up. ‘There!’
Hakon couldn’t feel his stomach wound. He felt no pain at all.
But he could see the dark symbol almost glowing in the centre of his chest.
‘Over your heart,’ Mother purred, touching it. ‘For hearts are what The Hunter feeds on. Thenor’s gift to him for all his hard work!’ And smiling, she let Hakon’s tunic drop, turning away. ‘Though there are things you can do. Help you can find. If you weren’t so blind...’
Placing a hand over his heart, Hakon shuddered. He could feel the heat of the mark throbbing beneath his palm. ‘Help?’ Looking up, he swallowed. ‘But you’re dead. What help can you be to me, Mother?’
‘Me?’ And the old woman laughed, returning to the chair, but she didn’t sit down. She walked around it, muttering to herself, running a finger over the back of it, eyes low. ‘I may be dead, though I have ambitions still. I can show you where hope lies... if... if you swear an oath to me.’ And looking up, she grinned, teeth bared.
‘But you’re dead. This is just a dream.’
‘Oh yes, and as a dreamer, I know how powerful dreams can be.’ Mother stepped forward, voice rumbling. ‘Give me your oath, Hakon. Give it to me, and I will show you the answer.’
23
Alys woke with a start, immediately disappointed, Eddeth tugging her cloak.
She hadn’t had a dream. Not even a hint of one.
‘Come on,’ Eddeth hissed. ‘You can sleep tonight, for now, we must leave!’
Glancing around, Alys frowned. ‘Where’s Stina?’
The shelter was full of sleeping servants, a few of them snoring. It was still mostly dark, though Alys saw a faint blush of light on the ground. She shivered, frozen solid, wanting a fire. And then, blinking, waking herself up, she knew that she wanted to be away from the camp and Hakon Vettel more.
‘She’s with the horses, so come on, my sleeping dre–’ And stopping herself before the rest of that word tumbled from her tired tongue, Eddeth shook her head, trying to wake up.
Nodding, Alys scrambled to her feet, shivering some more.
‘I need a piss!’ Eddeth declared, loudly enough to elicit a grumble from the corner. ‘I’ll meet you at the horses. Everything we need is there, waiting. Only thing missing is us!’
Alys was looking forward to riding, and resettling her long cloak about herself, she followed Eddeth out of the tent. Yawning, rubbing her aching eyes, she was relieved to see the welcome glow of purplish light building in the east. They were in the mountains, and it would help to be able to see the path. Eddeth was not the most confident horsewoman, Alys thought, smiling to herself, seeing Ivan staggering towards her.
In fact, it wasn’t only Ivan. She saw Lief too, with Falla yawning behind him.
The camp was quickly coming to life, everyone eager to be on the road early.
Ducking her head in annoyance, Alys tried to avoid them all.
To no avail.
‘Looks like a fine day ahead!’ Ivan boomed with a sleepy grin, though he did not feel happy.
‘I hope so,’ Alys said. She saw Falla watching her and Lief staring at her, and feeling self-conscious, Alys ran a hand over her hair, thinking about Lotta. ‘I wish us all a productive day on the road.’
‘And where will you be heading?’ Lief wondered, ushering Falla to the fire one of the servants had expertly brought to life. His wife was shaking as she hurried to the flames, unhappy to have been dragged out of bed so early.
‘South, then east. To Ullaberg.’ Alys didn’t enjoy lying, though she was skilled at it, having spent years making excuses for what Arnon was doing to her.
Ivan tried to encourage Alys to the fire beside Falla. ‘You’ll need a good breakfast before you go.’
‘We have food for the journey, thank you.’
‘Well, you’ve been a great help, and one day, when Lord Hakon becomes the king, I’m sure he would welcome you to Stornas to thank you again for saving his life.’ It was something to say, and Lief felt foolish for saying it, certain that few believed that Hakon would become the King of Alekka now.
Nodding, Alys stepped around the stone circle, eyeing the flames.
As much as she wanted to leave, she couldn’t stop shivering.
‘Run! Now!’
Alys spun around, hearing a voice.
‘What is it?’ Falla asked, staring up at her. ‘Did you hear something?’
Alys looked at her blankly, mouth open. ‘I...’ She turned again, hairs on the back of her neck rising. ‘I thought I heard Eddeth,’ she croaked. ‘I must go and find her before she wanders off! Goodbye!’ It was a mumbled rush, and Alys found herself panicking, urged on by that loud warning.
Eddeth hurried up to her, stumbling into a hole, falling onto her forearms, yelping in pain.
‘Eddeth!’ Alys bent down to help her up. ‘Are you alright?’
Eddeth pushed herself up with a groan. ‘I’ll be fine, just fine!’ she insisted, worrying that she most certainly wouldn’t be fine. Something had twisted, and she doubted she could put all her weight down on her right ankle, which she’d already strained. Wanting to test out that theory, she tried. ‘Ouch! Soon! I will be fine soon! No need to worry!’
Ivan didn’t look convinced. ‘Here, I’ll help you to your horse.’ And he held out a hand, but Eddeth pushed him away.
‘No, no, don’t trouble yourself, Ivan Vettel!’ And leaning on Alys, she urged her on, aiming for the horses. She saw a glimpse of Stina in the distance, already mounted. Haski and Wilf were still tied along the length of rope strung between the trees, saddlebags packed, waiting for their riders.
‘Well, goodbye!’
Ivan called after the women, feeling an odd sense of loss. Hakon had insisted they leave, and they certainly seemed eager to go, but he would miss Alys’ company. She was nothing like Falla, he thought, eyes on the scowling woman who hunched over the fire, hands to the flames, grumbling at her fussing husband.
‘Wait!’ came a bellow from behind him.
And Ivan turned to see Hakon stumbling out of his tent, Rikkard following him, breath smoke swirling around them both.
‘Ivan! Hurry! Stop those women!’
Ulrick was surprised to be awake so early after the exertions of his long journey. It was barely dawn, he realised with a yawn, and reaching a hand out to his wife, he was surprised to find Bergit just as awake.
‘We need to talk about the girl,’ she grumbled, pushing his hand away from the breast it was trying to fondle.
‘We need to talk about more than that,’ Ulrick said, hearing the displeasure in her voice. ‘I have to find a ship, for we are leaving, my love. It is time to go north again.’
‘What?’ Horrified, Bergit propped herself up, glaring at her husband. ‘But we’re going to Stornas! We’re going to the city! I’ve been preparing. Preparing to be a lady. To have a house! To be your lady!’ Her voice was shrill; loud in the silence.
Ulrick frowned, turning his head to the door, knowing that Lotta would be awake, listening. He pulled Bergit to him, annoyed that she was letting the cold air into the bed. ‘Stop it, woman,’ he grumbled, resettling the furs around them both. ‘You will be a lady. You will have a grand house. I promised you that, and I won’t let you down. There are other lords. Other ways to achieve our goals.’
‘Other lords?’ Bergit spat. ‘Other lords?’ She was horrified. ‘Are you that disloyal? You were Jesper’s man before you were ever Hakon’s, and now you speak of other lords?’
Ulrick sighed. ‘The Vettels won’t be happy with me. Hakon at least. I...’ He didn’t want to explain further. ‘We must leave. Once they return, we won’t be welcome. In fact, it might become dangerous to be here.’ He thought of the old witch dreamer who would certainly want to get her hands on Lotta. ‘I’ll find passage on a ship today. We must act quickly, my love. The Freeze will come early this year, it’s what everyone’s saying. We must leave before we’re stuck here, for if we are, we won’t be able to remain in Slussfall. We’ll have to find a tiny village somewhere and hide out till spring.’
Bergit’s frown deepened. ‘What did you do, Ulrick?’ She grabbed his arm, squeezing, her voice rising again, her ambitions shattering. ‘What have you done?’
Hakon’s dream lingered like storm clouds as he strode around the firepit, ignoring Falla, ignoring Lief, ignoring Ivan, Rikkard trailing after him, his lord’s cloak draped over his arms.
‘You!’
Alys froze, swallowing, hands tightening on Eddeth’s arm.
Stina, hearing Hakon’s bellow, wrapped her hands around the reins, watching from the trees.
Eddeth sneezed, feeling Alys’ tension. ‘We must be on our way, my lord!’ she insisted loudly, not turning around. She tried to limp ahead, but Alys released her, hearing the fury in Hakon’s voice.
Trying to think.
She glimpsed Stina, willing her to ride, wanting her to escape. And then she turned around. ‘Yes, my lord?’
Hakon snatched Alys’ arm, yanking her to him, his breath snaking around them both.
Ivan hurried forward. ‘Cousin! What’s happening? What’s wrong?’
‘Wrong? Nothing, nothing at all. Isn’t that right, dreamer?’ Hakon grinned, watching terror spark in Alys’ pretty eyes, hearing Eddeth’s sharp intake of breath.
‘What?’ Ivan looked shocked.
Falla sat up straight, hand out to Lief, who helped her to her feet, eyes sharp with interest.
Everyone turned to look at Alys, whose mouth hung open, certain she could hear Hakon’s dead dreamer laughing hysterically.
Reinar woke with a sense of purpose, and he was already down at the piers with Bjarni before Sigurd had even crawled out of bed. But, sent on his way by a grumpy Gerda, who had endured another sleepless night thanks to Liara Sansgard, he hurried down to join his brother.
Reinar barely noticed he was there, hopping out of Dagger and striding down the pier towards one of their newest ships, Hawk Eye.
‘What’s the hurry?’ Sigurd croaked, realising that he’d left the hall without any breakfast. ‘Are we leaving today?’ He smiled sympathetically at Bjarni, who looked as exhausted as Gerda.
‘I had a dream!’ Reinar called, head down, running his eyes over the ship. Most of their fleet was old, though after thoroughly inspecting every ship over the past few days, Bolli felt confident that they were mostly watertight. ‘I want spears. More rope. Braziers. We’ll need to secure them. Somewhere to keep wood and tinder dry too.’ He was muttering, almost to himself, as Bjarni stood beside him nodding.
‘You had a dream?’ Sigurd laughed, jumping on board. ‘And now we’re leaving?’
‘I saw us trapped in ice, Brother,’ Reinar said. ‘It made me think. This winter’s come at us so early. Surely The Freeze will arrive early too? We have to leave as soon as we can. Not delay a day more than we need to.’ His shoulders were tight with tension, knowing that the king had tasked them with defeating the Vettels.
They couldn’t keep him waiting.
‘Makes sense,’ Sigurd agreed with a yawn. ‘But will we be ready?’
‘Ake’s left us enough men. We’ve got the ships. The fletchers are working on more arrows. Bows. Shields. I’ve had Gerda and Agnette organising food and ale too.’
Sigurd frowned, looking back up at the fort, rising out of the cliffs. ‘And you’re sure the Vettels aren’t just licking their wounds, hiding deeper in the forest? Biding their time before attacking again?’
Reinar shook his head. ‘Not likely. They’ve been weakened. Would you try again? I certainly wouldn’t. I’d head home and regroup, care for my injured men, restock my weapons, think of how to begin again. And they will. They’ll be doing nothing but thinking about what to do next. Though now they know Ake’s back from Ennor, they’ll have to decide whether to wait for spring or build a fleet, press further South.’ Reinar found himself getting impatient, wanting to leave now. ‘All we can do is work on our own plans. Head for Slussfall as soon as we can. I think we can be ready in four.’ He decided quickly, eyes on the snow clouds thickening around them, already blocking out the rising sun; conscious of how much shorter the days would soon become. ‘Four days and we’ll head for Slussfall.’
Hakon dragged Alys towards his tent, ordering his cousin to watch Eddeth. Eddeth, who was trembling and shaking and trying her very best not to look over to where Stina had been waiting with their horses.
Alys glanced over her shoulder at Eddeth as Hakon dropped the tent flap behind him, stepping towards her.
‘Sit.’
He seemed angry, alert, and in great discomfort, Alys thought as she stumbled down onto a tree stump.
‘You’re Reinar Vilander’s dreamer.’
Alys blinked into those strange eyes. She remembered seeing them before she ever met Hakon Vettel. She remembered telling Reinar about the man who was so hungry for the throne. And now, here he was, spitting at her, his anger boiling over. ‘I... no.’ She shook her head. ‘I’m not, no.’
Hakon dragged a stump towards her, sitting down with a grunt. ‘You’re not?’ He narrowed his eyes. ‘You’re sure that’s the game you want to play, Alys? The lie you want to tell?’
‘I am a dreamer,’ Alys admitted quietly, warm all over. ‘I’m not his, though. No.’
‘But you were?’ Once Hakon had sworn an oath to Mother, promising he would attack the Slave Islands and defeat Jael Furyck, she’d gleefully told him all about Alys and her secret.
Alys sighed, sensing that the only way out now was to reveal everything.
Almost everything.
‘The Vilanders came to my village. They captured us. Took all the women onto
their ships.’ She saw her children running from her, and sadness filled her eyes.
Worry too.
Hakon listened, encouraging her to continue. She was so lovely and helpless. He couldn’t stop staring.
‘They were taking us to Goslund, they said, but your ships were there, waiting to ambush us.’
Sitting up straighter, Hakon peered at her. ‘You saw my ships? You saw that they’d attack?’
Alys nodded. ‘I was never a dreamer. I’d never been one before. I had dreams since I was a child, though I was forbidden from revealing them. My mother... she was killed for it, you see, for being a dreamer.’ She felt uncomfortable revealing so much, but she needed Hakon to trust her.
She needed Hakon to free her.
‘So you saw the ships coming, and you spoke out?’
‘I did. I had no choice. I told the Vilanders. They stopped your ships, took us back to their fort. Made us fight for them.’
‘Fight for them?’ Hakon was intrigued.
‘Yes, they trained some of the women to use bows. They put them on the walls. And me?’ Alys swallowed. ‘Reinar Vilander stuck me in a cottage, told me to dream for him.’ She tried to look miserable about that, though she wasn’t. She looked back on Ottby fondly. She thought of her cat and her cottage and Agnette. Ludo and Stellan too. She saw the hall with its enormous fires and tables. The muddy square.
The shed. Torvig.
Tulia’s dead body.
And shuddering, Alys waited, not sure what else to say.
Hakon chewed it over, staring at her. She was timid, trembling, and terrified, though he couldn’t detect any lies in what she was saying. ‘You killed my dreamer. That’s what she says.’
Alys almost bit her tongue, realising how Hakon had discovered the truth. ‘She came to you?’
Hakon nodded. ‘She did. Most annoyed she was, you killing her like that. I imagine she wanted a helping of revenge, and I can hardly blame her. Who knew a dreamer could be useful even after death?’
