Vale of the Gods

by A. E. Rayne

  Aleksander grinned. ‘You say that now, but when they’re flinging sea-fire at the Hestians, you’ll be thinking more fondly of them, I’m sure.’

  ‘I’m sure I will. And hopefully, we can get to the caves by nightfall. It would be good to get some cover.’ Fyr had flown off, and Jael kept watching the sky, wondering if she would return.

  ‘Have you had any visions?’ Axl wondered. ‘Do you see anything coming?’

  Jael shook her head. ‘No. Nothing. Not yet. Hopefully, I will, though. And Ayla’s here, don’t forget. She’s much better at this than me, so don’t worry. We can’t change anything now. It’s all up to Draguta. There’s nowhere for us to go but forward. The next move is hers.’

  Draguta sat with Jaeger for a while longer, and when she had his agreement that he would commit to becoming the ruler she envisioned, she handed him the book, though not for long. But his desperation to touch it, and his realisation that he needed it had proven useful. Now he would be less likely to get himself in trouble, she was sure. He was bound, unable to go against her, eager to please her, and now he knew what would happen to him if he failed to live up to her expectations.

  They had an agreement.

  She smiled as she walked back into her chamber with the book, hearing the low moaning chorus from down on the square. After a coolish start, the clouds had dispersed, and the heat was beating down on the harbour like a hammer striking an anvil.

  Draguta couldn’t have been happier. The Followers were out there, suffering, begging for mercy, wanting an escape from the heat. Desperate for shade. A breeze. Water. Well, she had instructed the soldiers to give them water. Of course she had.

  Just not that much.

  Still, Briggit would arrive soon, and they needed to live... at least until then.

  Placing the book on the bed, Draguta turned her attention to her new seeing circle. She ran a finger around one of the symbols, watching the long train of warriors trekking across Brekka, heading for...

  ... their deaths?

  She smiled, seeking out Jael Furyck.

  And there she was, riding at the front. Draguta could almost feel the fear pulsing inside her as she held her head high, bravely leading her army to war as the noble warrior she imagined herself to be.

  But it wouldn’t be a war, Draguta sighed contentedly.

  It would be a massacre.

  ‘Meena!’ Jaeger was striding towards her as she hurried back into the castle with a basket of bats. He threw his arms around her, genuinely pleased to see her. ‘You look different,’ he murmured into her hair. ‘So different.’

  Meena’s arms stayed wrapped around the basket as he inhaled her, trying to press his body against hers. ‘So do you,’ she mumbled awkwardly.

  Jaeger stood back, looking her over. ‘I’ve been ill, but I’m recovering now.’ And he was. He felt different already. Just being near the book was helping him, he was sure. ‘What happened to you?’ He ran a hand over her hair, smoothing it down. ‘You look taller.’

  Meena laughed. She couldn’t help it.

  ‘You do,’ Jaeger insisted, an arm around her back as he ushered her into the hall. ‘Taller and happier.’

  Meena couldn’t deny that the last part was true. ‘Draguta didn’t kill me, so I suppose that’s a reason to be happy.’

  Jaeger smiled. ‘Come to my chamber tonight,’ he whispered, not wanting anyone to overhear. Not wanting Draguta to know. They had an agreement, and though it didn’t explicitly state that he should avoid taking Meena to his bed, Jaeger was sure it was implied.

  Meena frowned. ‘What about Amma?’ She glanced towards the entranceway, feeling guilty. Amma had chosen to remain in the markets, wanting to stay far away from the castle and her husband.

  Jaeger walked Meena towards the map table, almost expecting his father to be waiting for him, readying an insult, his brothers on hand to share in the joke.

  Except for Berard. He’d never laughed along.

  Shaking away his nostalgia, Jaeger turned back to Meena and what he needed her to do. Bending down, he lowered his voice. ‘I want you to find a chamber for Amma. Somewhere far away from mine.’

  Meena was confused. ‘Why?’

  Jaeger’s eyes were darting around her head, wanting to see which slave was trying to listen. Wanting to know if Draguta had any spies. But closing his eyes, he realised that she didn’t need any. ‘I want Amma kept away from me until the baby comes. It’s best if she’s nowhere I can reach her.’

  ‘Oh.’ That was a surprise.

  ‘I thought about it a lot on the journey from Angard... what happened to Elissa. What happened to my son.’ He had thought about it. There had been no one to talk to and nothing to do but hunker down on that rain-drenched ship, trying not to vomit, wondering if he would die. The storm at its worst had threatened to sink them. Many times. And his thoughts had wandered to his father and his brothers. To his mother, who had loved him most of all. But mainly, Jaeger had thought of the son he didn’t have. The son who would have carried on his name. Who would have ruled Hest one day, if he hadn’t killed him. If he hadn’t lost control and punched Elissa, ending both their lives.

  ‘Amma needs to have this baby,’ Jaeger whispered, his eyes haunted as he stared at Meena. ‘Keep her away from me. Please.’

  Edela had a problem, and she was struggling to solve it.

  In the end, she went to Biddy for help.

  ‘It’s Eydis. She won’t even talk to Ontine. When Ontine is near her, she moves away.’

  ‘I’ve noticed,’ Biddy said, hands full of bandages she wanted to put down. She felt flustered, worrying that they wouldn’t be organised before night fell. ‘But what can you do?’

  ‘Well,’ Edela sighed, ‘I was hoping you could tell me. What can I do?’

  They stared at the two girls who sat on opposite sides of the circle Edela had cast in the middle of the hall, both of them not knowing what to do with themselves.

  Biddy frowned. ‘Let me put these bandages on the table, then I’ll grab Eydis. You take Ontine. She’ll be fine. It’s just Eydis who has the problem. I’ll have a word with her. Set her right. She’s not going to be any help if she won’t get out of this mood.’

  ‘Good. Good idea. You’ll be better at that than me. I really do need to spend some time with Ontine. If an attack comes tonight, I need her to understand how she can help without getting in the way.’

  Biddy nodded, heading to the nearest table while Edela motioned for Ontine to join her for a walk, leaving Eydis all alone. Having deposited her bandages, Biddy sat down beside her.

  ‘Hello,’ Eydis smiled, recognising the smell of rosemary, a little fish too. ‘Have you seen the puppies? I haven’t heard them all day. I hope they didn’t run after Jael.’

  Biddy laughed. ‘If they’d done that, they’d have been sent back here with their tails between their legs! Nobody wants those big babies for company.’ She thought of how Ido and Vella had tried to defend her against that giant warrior, and she felt bad. ‘They were in the kitchen just now. Freya’s crumbing fish which always means a mess, so I doubt they’ll be leaving till she’s done.’

  ‘That’s good.’

  Biddy took a deep breath. ‘Edela is worried about you and Ontine,’ she began gently. ‘About how you will work together when the time comes. You don’t seem to like the girl. Is that because of Fyn?’

  Eydis immediately lifted her shoulders, dropping her head. ‘No.’

  Biddy smiled. ‘No? He did seem quite taken with her, didn’t he?’

  ‘Did he?’ Eydis lifted her head.

  ‘He did. She is pretty, and boys usually tangle themselves in knots to impress pretty girls. They can’t help it. But pretty doesn’t matter in the end. Once they’re done making fools of themselves, they move on to something real. To someone real. Someone they care about. Someone who has more than long eyelashes and a heaving bosom.’

  Eydis laughed. ‘Has she got a heaving bosom?’

  Biddy was p
leased to see Eydis come to life. ‘Not that I’ve noticed, but then I haven’t looked too closely!’ She held Eydis’ hand, giving it a squeeze. ‘Fyn cares about you, and you know it too. But you’re young.’ She saw Eydis frowning. ‘It doesn’t mean you don’t feel things. Doesn’t mean your feelings aren’t real. But it does mean that there’s time. Time for Fyn to grow into a man. For you to grow into a woman, and one day, if it’s meant to be, it will.’

  Eydis squirmed, but she didn’t deny anything that Biddy was saying.

  ‘And none of it will even matter if you don’t put it all to one side and focus on being useful. On helping Edela. That’s why you’re here, Eydis. She needs you. You’ve saved us all, many times, and she’ll need you to do it again. We all will. And you can’t help any of us if you’re too busy thinking about Ontine and Fyn.’

  Eydis felt even more embarrassed. ‘I’m sorry,’ she mumbled. ‘Sorry for being silly.’

  Biddy wrapped an arm around her shoulder. ‘Nothing to be sorry for. It’s perfectly normal to feel jealous. We all do sometimes. Even me many years ago. But now’s not the time for it. Now you need to get to work. So when Edela and Ontine come back, you have to make it right. Show Edela that you want to help.’

  Eydis nodded, feeling bad that she’d ever caused Edela to worry, but at the same time, she couldn’t shake the feeling she had about Ontine.

  There was just something about the girl she didn’t like.

  And it had nothing to do with Fyn.

  24

  Everyone was in shock that they’d made it to their first campsite without being attacked by fire-breathing dragons or pecked to death by possessed birds.

  Nothing had happened, apart from the weather turning foul which hadn’t made things easier, especially not for the catapults or the wagons, whose wheels had to contend with sucking mud as well as rocks.

  ‘At least you’re dry,’ Jael grinned at Ayla and Astrid, who did indeed look dry after spending the day inside their covered wagon.

  ‘We are,’ Astrid smiled, her arms loaded with the branches she was taking to the nearest fire. ‘Or we were. Now we’ll be as wet as everyone else.’

  Jael, who was soaked to the bone, shivered in response. ‘Well, the faster we get those fires going, the quicker we can all dry out.

  Astrid hurried away with her branches, while Ayla turned around to look for Bruno, leaving Jael to wait for Aleksander who was running through the rain towards her.

  ‘Happy?’ he wondered, coming to a stop, shaking his hair all over her.

  ‘With what? Being wet and cold?’

  ‘With still being alive. One day down and we’re all still here to tell the tale!’

  Jael didn’t look impressed. ‘You’ve just cursed us. I imagine Draguta’s watching you. You and your big mouth.’

  Aleksander shut his big mouth for a moment. ‘Well, I was thinking about that. Might help us to have her launch an attack now. The more of her creatures we kill before we get to the vale, the less there’ll be waiting for us.’

  ‘Ha! A nice thought, but I don’t imagine she’ll throw everything she has at us before we get there.’ Jael glanced around, lowering her voice, conscious of the rain getting heavier and her desire to get out of it growing stronger. She pulled Aleksander into the cave they would be sleeping in. ‘If Draguta wanted us dead now, we’d be dead. We’re still alive because we have a part to play. We have no control over anything, so we just need to keep going.’

  Aleksander nodded. ‘Well, let’s keep going over to that fire before you break some teeth. And I’ve got to get cooking. I promised you a stew tonight.’

  ‘You did.’ Jael rubbed her wet hands together, looking out into the rain, wondering where Fyr had disappeared to. ‘And I can’t wait!’

  Ontine was pleased to get out of the hall, away from Eydis Skalleson. It was unsettling to be around the girl, and despite Eydis being blind, Ontine sensed that she was always watching her.

  It made her uncomfortable.

  ‘You needn’t worry about Eydis,’ Edela assured her, enjoying the last of the sunshine, though she felt her shoulder blades aching at the thought of how much they still had to prepare. ‘Eydis has had a difficult time of late. Her father was killed, her brother taken. She has had to leave her home. And she is motherless. It has been a hard time for her.’

  ‘Oh.’ Ontine looked surprised. ‘I sympathise with her loss. It has been a painful time for us all.’

  ‘It has. We are all struggling with loss of some kind, aren’t we?’ Edela said, thinking of Branwyn. ‘But only by working together will we be able to prevent any more. We must come together now.’ She smiled at Alaric and Derwa who were deep in conversation with Sybill at one of the tables in the square. ‘You are older than Eydis, by what, five years? So you must lead the way, Ontine. Show her that you wish to be friends. She is a lovely girl, but rather reticent around strangers, so you can help her. Be a friend.’

  Ontine nodded, sensing that Edela was already keen to get back to the hall. The old dreamer kept turning around, twitching. ‘I will, of course. I just want to help. Not be a distraction.’

  Edela stared up at her, trying to focus. ‘Yes, I know you do. And you will. I have a few more stones to paint symbols onto. Perhaps you could sit with me, and I’ll explain what may happen and how we will need to respond.’ She shook her head, realising that she had no idea what was going to happen next. ‘Well, how we will prepare ourselves, at least!’

  ‘I would like that. It would help to know what to do... before it happens.’

  Edela nodded, hoping she could find out what Draguta was planning before she attacked.

  Before it was too late.

  Thorgils ended up eating most of Jael’s stew that night. It was as though he could tell that she had little appetite when he plonked himself down next to her, and he was quick to pounce on her bowl when she stopped eating.

  ‘Are you ever not hungry?’ Jael wondered.

  ‘Never.’

  Karsten grinned, finishing off his own bowl, wiping his beard on the back of his sleeve. ‘That’s the best meal I’ve eaten in a while,’ he declared, surprised he was saying that to Aleksander. ‘You’ll make someone a good wife one day.’

  Jael glanced at Aleksander, who was suddenly very interested in the fire.

  ‘I’m sure Hanna would agree!’ Thorgils laughed.

  Jael was surprised by that, but not as surprised as Karsten.

  ‘Hanna?’ He stared at Aleksander, who, having poked and prodded the perfectly healthy fire, slowly turned around. ‘You and Hanna? Wouldn’t have picked that.’

  Aleksander tried to put an end to it. ‘I knew Hanna in Tuura. Nothing more. We’re... friends.’

  Thorgils lifted his eyebrows, nudging Karsten. ‘Special friends, from what I hear.’

  Jael frowned. ‘Who do you hear anything from?’

  But Thorgils didn’t say.

  And as no one else was speaking, Jael decided to leave them all to it. ‘I’m going to check on Ayla and Astrid. See if their company’s any better!’ And standing up, she stepped around the fire and out into the rain.

  Thorgils watched her go. ‘So where were we?’ he wondered, looking from a moody Karsten to a squirming Aleksander. ‘Oh, that’s right... Hanna.’

  Marcus brought Hanna to the hall for supper, leaving her on a bench beside Berard while he disappeared to see what he could do to help.

  ‘You look better!’ Edela declared from the floor where she was crawling around on aching knees, placing her symbol stones. Her back was niggling her, and she looked wistfully at those sitting on benches.

  Hanna smiled. ‘I feel better, thanks to Astrid’s broths, though I’m looking forward to eating something else while she’s gone!’

  Edela nodded distractedly, pointing Ontine to a bunch of herbs. ‘Bring those into the circle. Yes, right there. I want everything to hand. Biddy! Where is that tinderbox of yours?’

  ‘I thought we could do something wi
th the children tomorrow,’ Hanna suggested, turning to Berard. ‘Organise some fun.’

  ‘Fun?’

  Hanna laughed. ‘Didn’t you have fun when you were a child? Or was it all practising for war?’

  ‘Well...’ It had been so long since he’d thought about his childhood that Berard wasn’t sure. ‘I think there was fun.’ He frowned. ‘Karsten and Haegen had fun tricking me. Hiding from me. Sometimes they hid me.’

  ‘Hid you?’

  ‘From our father. When he asked them to find me. They’d lock me in a wardrobe or a chest instead. Run away with the key so I couldn’t get out. Then my father would grow wild and send servants to look for me.’

  ‘How mean! And what happened when they found you?’

  ‘Oh, my father would be even more furious at me for being such a gullible fool, and a weakling for not being able to fight them off.’

  ‘That’s terrible.’

  Berard laughed, memories of his childhood coming into sharper view. ‘It wasn’t so bad. Eventually, they’d feel so guilty that they’d take me to the training ring and have the slaves feed me sweetmeats while I watched them fight.’

  ‘How generous of them!’ Hanna snorted.

  ‘I do miss it.’

  ‘What? Being locked in a chest?’

  ‘No, Hest.’ Berard looked around the dark and smoky King’s Hall. ‘I’m glad we’re here, but I miss my home. I miss the castle and my chamber. The view of the harbour. The heat.’ He leaned forward, wrapping his hands around his empty ale cup. ‘I miss Meena.’

  Meena showed Amma to her new chamber.

  She felt happy for Amma, who was elated to have been removed from Jaeger’s, and even more elated with the news that Jaeger wanted to stay far away from her until the baby’s birth. Meena smiled, though she did not feel happy because Jaeger had told her that she would be moving back into his bed immediately.