The sudden new direction of his turmoil must have been apparent on his face, because Leif smiled. “We can discuss such matters later. For now, be with your wife. You fought hard to rejoin her, and she fought hard to be waiting.”
Friend or not, Leif was right. Vali took his wife’s hand and led her out of that room of death.
Brenna let Vali lead her into and through the empty great hall. So rarely was it empty that its dark quiet seemed eerie and unfamiliar to her, even though it had been long since she had been a welcome presence in it.
When they crossed into the jarl’s private rooms, she stopped. Prevented by her hesitation from going any farther, Vali turned and squeezed her hand. “What is it?”
“Hilde? Turid? The children?”
Åke had had three wives, who among them had given him twelve children. His first wife, Torunn, had died birthing Ulv, the third son. After her death, he had taken Hilde to wife. When she gave him only daughters, he’d brought Turid into their bed.
Six of Åke’s children were grown. The three sons, Calder, Eivind, and Ulv, were off on the raid. None of the three had yet married. Hilde’s three oldest daughters had all been married away. At home still were six children—four daughters and two sons. The boys, Turid’s only issue, were the two youngest—one a babe still at the breast, not much older than Brenna and Vali’s son would have been, and the other just toddling.
The oldest of Hilde’s child daughters was eleven. When Brenna had first served Åke as thrall, she had become close to Hilde and her daughters. Saving their lives had freed her from that servitude—so she had thought at the time. She remained fond of them, even of the little ones she had never tended.
Now that Åke was dead, his family would have been killed as well. It was the way, but it hurt her heart nonetheless. She hoped it had been quick.
Brenna looked up at Vali. “What of his wives and the children?”
Vali cocked his head and then led her to a nearby chair. When she sat, he crouched before her and took her hands. “Åke sent them out of town, but they were stopped on the road and returned. We hold them in a house at the edge of town until we can decide what should be done. What would you do?”
“They have not been killed?”
“Is that what you would advise?”
Confused, she frowned. “The children are likely enemies. Their mothers would nourish that. That is our way.”
“No, Brenna. It was Åke’s way. He was brutal and impatient in all things. My jarl, Snorri, would have said that if we kill everyone who might someday be an enemy, there will be no one left alive to be a friend.”
“So, what then would you do?”
He picked up her hand and kissed her fingers. “I would offer them sanctuary here and allow them to remain as freewomen to make their way.”
“Hilde is a proud woman. She will never be subject in the home she once ruled.”
He sighed. “Then I would offer them supplies and let them find a new home.”
“And if she and Turid sow hatred in the hearts of their children? There are already three strong sons who will soon come home to a Geitland greatly changed.”
“Calder and his brothers we will contend with when they return. We will be prepared in a way they cannot be. As for the hatred of a suckling babe, that is a concern for the future. Only a seer can know so far ahead.”
Remembering something Åke had said only a few days before, at the feast after the thing, Brenna chuckled.
Vali smiled in response. “What amuses you, my love?”
“Åke said something before the raiders left. He had been to the seer, who told him that he had the eye of the gods, and Geitland was about to enter into an era of greatness. He thought the prophesy meant that he had the gods’ blessing to do to me what he did. But he was wrong. Bringing me here was his ruin. And you are the jarl who will bring greatness to Geitland.”
Vali stiffened and stood. “I don’t want it, Brenna. This is not my home, and I am no leader. Estland is lost to us. I would return to Karlsa. That is my home. I would bring you there and become the farmer you would have me be.”
She stood, too, and took his hand again. “But you are a leader. Even here with me now, talking about Åke’s family. Your words, and your thoughts, are wise and true. Your actions are purposeful and righteous. You heed the counsel of those you trust. And people trust you. They admire you. They follow you. I think you are a great leader already.”
He shook his head. “I don’t want it. I want to go home.”
Brenna found herself charmed at how much her great, brave, strong husband sounded like a homesick boy. The thought that the little home they’d almost made for themselves in Estland was gone made her feel homesick, too. She had no other place she had ever wanted to be a home.
She certainly had no love for Geitland, where she had twice been a slave, and where she had been abused and abased. Karlsa was far north, farther than she had ever been, but she thought she could love a home that Vali loved. Perhaps his people would treat her as a woman, as he himself always had.
She had an idea. “Split the jarldom with Leif. Restore the territories—we will go north, and you will take Snorri’s seat in Karlsa. Leif can take Geitland. This is his home.”
Vali stalked away, almost to the luxurious bed, then stopped and turned back. “You trust him? After all of this?”
“I do. He is our friend. He saved us both.”
It was odd to be standing in this room, still appointed with the personal effects of Åke and his family. She found herself distracted by a piece of half-finished needlework resting on a chair not far from where Vali stood. Such an innocent, domestic thing on this day of violence and upheaval.
Vali’s focus was sharp, on the other hand. “No, Brenna. He betrayed us. He let us be overrun in Estland. He let you be taken. He let you be hurt!”
“Vali. What else should he have done?”
“He should have warned us. We could have fought Åke there. He should have protected you!” He slammed his fist into the palm of his other hand to punctuate his last sentence.
“He did.”
Her husband stalked back to her and cupped his hand around the side of her neck, his thumb brushing lightly over the skin her shackle had made raw. “No. He did not.”
She pulled his hand away and held it. “He made himself a shield between me and the worst Åke would have done to me. He made sure I could live and fight.”
“I want to know everything, Brenna. Everything that happened to you. I want to know it all.”
She had no intention to indulge his fruitless curiosity, and she had even less desire to relive their time apart. “No. You have seen the scars and wounds. That is enough.”
He flinched at that. “And nothing else?”
She knew what he was really asking. Even if he had not imagined it already, allowing him to see the way she had killed Igul would surely have put the thought in his head. “No. Nothing else. Igul tried, but he could not…temper his sword. When he tried something else, I threatened him, and he beat me instead. A fair trade.”
Rage still lit Vali’s eyes. “I cannot forgive Leif. It is because of him that Åke had you. I cannot forgive him, and I do not understand how you can yet call him friend.”
“I have known him long. He trained me in the ways of the warrior. I know him, Vali. He is our friend. Perhaps we would have made different choices, but his choices were made in love and loyalty. His choices put him at risk, as well.”
Vali glowered, and then shook his head again. “He is not my friend.”
With a sigh, Brenna gave up that approach. She stepped up to him and closed her arms around his waist. “But might he be your ally?”
He embraced her as well, gazing down into her eyes. Then he bent his head and pressed his lips to the bruised bump on her nose. “You trust him.”
The words didn’t have the lilt of a question, but she answered them anyway. “I do. With my life.”
“Then I will heed your counse
l. If Leif will take the seat here, you and I will go to Karlsa and lead there together. We will be allies with him.” He curled his finger under her chin and held her head up. “But he is not my friend.”
It wasn’t true, but Brenna wouldn’t fight that losing battle. “I understand. I hope one day you can find forgiveness for him.”
He brushed his fingers over her throat again and shook his head.
~oOo~
“All of Åke’s lands are rightly yours, Vali. It was your axe that killed him. It is you and Brenna he most wronged.”
Vali only glared across the table at Leif. Before the three of them sat brimming cups of mead and a platter of meat and fruit that had made Brenna’s mouth flood when Vifrid had brought it out, but thus far only she had partaken of anything. The men vied tensely, silently, on either side of her.
They had already called Hilde and Turid in and offered them sanctuary in Geitland. Hilde had turned them down flat, with her chin held high. Turid looked surprised, and torn, but she dipped her head and deferred to Hilde. The women and their children would be given a horse and cart, a driver, and a week’s provisions. They would leave town at the dawn and find their own life.
“Vali,” Brenna said, prompting him to calm himself and speak. He glanced at her and then sat forward and finally took a drink from his horn cup.
“I do not want this seat. I want no part of it. I hate this place with all my heart. You have Brenna’s trust, and she has mine, so we offer this arrangement instead.”
“To split your land in twain would split your power as well. Are you sure you want this?”
“I have little interest in power. But what I have would be split only if you are not my ally. Are you not?”
Leif sighed and dropped his head as if it had suddenly become heavier than he could manage. When he looked up, he said. “I am, Vali. I am your friend and Brenna’s. Always will I be. I will accept this arrangement. Geitland and Karlsa will be allied as long as you wish it so. If you agree, we can have the rituals here, tomorrow, and you and your clansmen can be on your way north.”
Brenna cut in then, leaning in to put herself as much between the men as she could at the table. They couldn’t leave yet. “The raiders will return, three ships full, and Åke’s sons will find their father dead and their family displaced. Calder is much like Åke in his rashness and quick anger. You need the warriors of Karlsa to hold this town. You need us here until that battle is won.”
Leif turned to her. “You are the God’s-Eye, Brenna. Calder knows your import to his father, and he heard the prophesy. He will believe that Åke’s defeat is your doing—which is not far from true—and he will blame it on the power of your eye. You should be far from here when he returns.”
Brenna bristled. “You would suggest that I cannot fight him and win?”
“As you are now, after these weeks enslaved? I would say that you are not as strong as you should be. And I would say that you have fought long and hard enough, and Åke has caused you harm enough.” He turned to Vali. “This is my peace offering to you. Go, and take your wife away. If Geitland is to be mine, then I will hold it.”
Vali nodded.
“Vali! We cannot!” Without the Karlsa warriors, Leif would be as weak as Åke had been.
Husband and wife stared long at each other. Brenna tried to make him see, with only the power of her gaze, that it would be wrong to leave so soon.
He returned his attention to Leif. “I will speak to my people. If they will stay and fight with you, then we will leave them and the ships, if we might take one of your karves back ourselves.” Swiveling his head back her way, he added, “But Brenna, we are leaving. I will take you from this place as soon as I can.”
She sat back and crossed her arms over her chest. “And if I will not go?”
A frown shadowed his blue eyes. “Then I will put you over my shoulder and carry you away.”
“As Åke took me?”
Vali reared back from that verbal slap. It was Leif who spoke. “Brenna. Please. I will gladly take the help from any other who would stay, but I want you to go. I have seen what this ordeal took from you. Go and build your home and life. I will hold Geitland. If I do not, it will be because I was not worthy to be jarl.”
Brenna sat between these two strong, valiant men. Her husband and her friend, one angry and the other contrite. She turned to Leif. All at once, she understood how very tired she was. How sore and weary she was, how close to broken she had been. She had woken that morning in thrall, shackled to the ground. The night of that same day had not yet gone fully dark, and everything had changed. Vali was with her again. Her enemies were dead. And she was wife to a jarl.
“You are worthy.” Her voice broke, and tears filled her throat and stung her eyes. She swallowed hard and held them at bay.
Leif reached across the corner of the table and squeezed her hand. “Then let me prove it.”
~oOo~
That night, Brenna and Vali took a small house that Åke had kept for esteemed guests. They had allowed Åke’s wives and children to sleep in the jarl’s quarters, under guard, before their departure the next morning.
Elsewhere in town, buildings burst with people, as did the hall itself. But the year away in Estland, with their private chamber, and her solitary captivity here, had made it difficult for Brenna to find ease when a great many people were around her. So she and her husband had found a place to be alone.
The candles were already lit and the bed prepared. There was food and drink at the ready, too, and a low fire smoldered in the pit. Brenna went to it and stared down into the red embers. Trying to make sense of all that had happened on this day made her mind spin and her eyes ache.
Vali stood behind her and began to pull loose the ties of her braids. She closed her eyes and savored his gentle touch as he slipped his fingers through the woven strands until her hair fell loose around her shoulders. Then he swept the mass aside and reached over her shoulders to unfasten the brooches of her hangerock.
A small, sharp pinch of anxiety tweaked her heart, and she put her hands over his. “Vali, I…” Too many abuses had been perpetrated on her body. She did not think she was capable of accepting an intimate touch, no matter how loving or gentle. Not yet.
“I don’t mean to couple with you tonight, my love. But I would see your body, and sleep bare with you. I want nothing between us. Too much has been between us of late. Whole seas and more.” He kissed her head. “Please. It will be as it was on our first night. This, too, is a first night for us.”
Reminded of the beauty of that night, when Vali had held her, when he had given her all that she needed and asked no more of her than what she could give, when he had kept her close while she wept for the sheer shock of feeling love, Brenna dropped her hands and let him unfasten the brooches. He unlaced the sides of her hangerock and pulled until it fell to the floor around her feet.
She did not stop him when he took off her gown and her underclothes. She stood still and quiet while, behind her, Vali took in the whole of her scarred back.
His voice was tight with sorrow and anger when he spoke. “Ah, Brenna. What they did to you. Forgive me for taking your vengeance from you.”
She nodded. Åke was dead. And Viger. And Igul. She was free, and Vali was with her. It was enough. She had found no satisfaction in vengeance against Prince Ivan in Estland. It had not filled the hole the loss of her son had made. There were holes that simply could not be filled. “I do.”
Then he drew his finger down her spine, crossing each tender scar. There was no pain to his touch—not of a physical sort, at least. But Brenna felt pain of another sort well up from her heart and fill her head. She had focused all these weeks on surviving, on being strong, on not breaking, on waiting—for her chance, for her freedom, for Vali—and she had built a shield of the strongest oak between herself and her feelings. With his rough fingers gentle on her damaged flesh, Vali blasted that shield into splinters.
“Vali,” sh
e cried, and in that sound she heard all the desolate emptiness she had refused to let herself feel. “Vali. Vali. Vali.” She couldn’t stop saying his name. Even when tears overcame her and made her sob, still she repeated it, like an incantation. “Vali, Vali, Vali.”
“I am here, my love. My wife.”
He turned her and gathered her up in his arms. For a long while, he simply stood in the middle of the room, cradling her against his chest like a child, while she clutched him and wept. Then he went to the bed and laid her down. He took off her shoes and then stripped off his own clothes. When he joined her, he pulled her close, drew the furs over them, and tucked her head under his chin.
She cried herself to sleep in his embrace.
God's Eye (The Northwomen Sagas #1) Page 28