Viking Warrior

by Connie Mason

  “Reyna, ’tis Wulf. I am here, at the window.”

  Reyna started violently and glanced toward the window. She blinked and looked again. “Wulf? Is that really you or am I dreaming?”

  “Tis no dream, sweet.”

  Reyna rubbed her eyes. “How…I do not understand. How could you be here? Are you alone?”

  “I will answer all your questions later. We must move swiftly or risk discovery. Come close to the window and give me your hands; I will lift you out.”

  Reyna gave the window a skeptical look. “The opening is too narrow. I am not sure I can squeeze through.”

  “You are slender enough to do it. Quickly, give me your hands.”

  Reyna approached the window and held up her hands. The moment their hands touched she felt confidence surge through her. If Wulf said she could squeeze through the window, then she knew she could do it.

  The opening was indeed narrow, but with Wulf’s help Reyna managed to scrape through. Once he had her on the ground beside him, he pulled her into his arms and hugged her as if he never intended to let her go.

  Reluctantly he released her. “Did Elgar hurt you?”

  “No, but he tried. I did him a grave injury when he attempted to assault me.”

  Wulf chuckled softly. “So that’s why he was limping when I spied him earlier in the yard. That will teach him to leave my warrior woman alone. Come, I need to get you safely away from here.”

  He grasped her hand and led her through the darkness into the woods. “Where are you taking me?”

  “To the ship; you will be safe there. Your brothers and mine will lead our warriors in a predawn attack. Surprise and superior numbers are on our side. We will not be defeated.”

  “My brothers are here?”

  “Aye. We do not have time for lengthy explanations but I will tell all when this is over.”

  “I am happy you cared enough to come for me.”

  “Before I knew what happened to you, I feared you had left me for good. Then once you were gone, I realized how much you meant to me. I want you in my life forever, Reyna.”

  Reyna couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Wulf wanted her in his life? She’d never expected to hear those words from him.

  “I could not have left you even if I’d wanted to. You are my life, Wulf. I…I love you.”

  Wulf stopped in midstep, turned toward her and dragged her hard against him, seizing her mouth in fierce possession. “I love you, Reyna,” he whispered against her lips. “I humbly beg you to forgive me for my sins against you. I did not want to love you. I fought a hard battle, but in the end I lost my heart to you.”

  He kissed her again, his mouth hard and hungry as his tongue delved between her lips to taste her sweet essence. The kiss would have gone on forever if the hoot of an owl hadn’t interrupted. Wulf broke off abruptly and looked around.

  “Come, we are not alone. The woods are teeming with our warriors. The fjord is just ahead. You will be safe aboard my ship.” He guided her through a clump of trees to the fjord. “Here we are, and there are the warriors left behind to guard the ships.”

  The three warriors saw them despite the darkness and reached for their weapons. Wulf called softly to them and they relaxed.

  “I have my wife with me,” Wulf said. “Once she is safely aboard my ship, you are to guard her with your life. She is not to leave the ship no matter how she begs.” He turned toward Reyna. “The lives of these men are in your hands, sweet. If you manage to escape, they will be severely punished.”

  “Wulf, let me come with you. I can be useful.”

  “No, obey me in this, my love. I need my warrior woman alive and well.”

  He led her to his ship and helped her aboard. “Rest while I am gone. Use the wolf pelts to make a bed on deck and get some sleep.”

  “Sleep?” Reyna squeaked. “Are you mad? How can I sleep when you are risking your life on my behalf?”

  He touched her cheek in a gentle caress. “I will return, I promise you.”

  He kissed her hard and then left her staring into the darkness, wondering if she would ever see Wulf alive again.

  The gods wouldn’t take him from her so soon after he’d declared his love, would they? She hadn’t even told him about their child.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Fear and anxiety rode Reyna. Sleep was out of the question. When she located the wolf pelts, she wrapped one around her and paced the deck of the ship, pausing from time to time to peer into the darkness toward Elgar’s long house.

  When Reyna heard war cries, followed by screams and the sound of clashing weapons, she knew the battle had begun. Remaining behind was unbearable. Forgetting Wulf’s strict orders, she searched the deck for a weapon, pleased when she found a battle-axe. Throwing off the wolf pelt, she loped along the deck, leapt to the ground and came to an abrupt halt against a solid wall of hard flesh.

  A pair of strong, male hands seized her and held her in place while a second warrior grabbed the weapon from her hands. Reyna glanced up into the faces of her determined guards.

  “Where do you think you are going, my lady?” the warrior holding her asked. “You heard Wulf. You are to remain with the ship.”

  “But I want to help,” Reyna cried. “I can protect Wulf’s back.”

  “He does not need your help. His orders were to keep you safe. Back aboard you go,” he said, lifting her bodily onto the ship.

  It didn’t take long for Reyna to realize she wasn’t going anywhere. She sank down on the deck, pulled the wolf pelt around her again and listened to the sounds of battle as dawn broke around her.

  The battle had begun scant minutes before dawn, when the sky held but a promise of daylight. Wulf had nodded to Borg, Borg had cupped his mouth and imitated the sound of an owl. A moment later the call was returned.

  “Everyone is in place,” Borg whispered.

  Wulf grasped his sword in one hand, his battle-axe in the other and let out a war cry loud enough to wake the dead. Immediately men crashed through the woods toward the long house and the warriors sleeping in the yard.

  To their credit, Elgar’s warriors had woken quickly and armed themselves, but it was soon evident that they were badly outnumbered. The overwhelming numbers and surprise attack had worked in Wulf’s favor.

  When Wulf saw Elgar emerge from the hall, he hacked and fought his way to the man who’d dared to steal his wife. Elgar must have seen Wulf advancing toward him for he paused, a stunned look on his face. Then he changed directions and headed for the hut where Reyna had been imprisoned. Wulf didn’t break stride as he charged after the Dane.

  Elgar threw back the bar securing the door, flung it open and turned to confront Wulf. “Your wife is a dead woman, Wulfric the Ruthless. You cannot reach her in time to save her.”

  So saying, he disappeared inside the hut. Wulf had just reached the door when he heard Elgar roar out a curse. “Where is she?”

  “Where you cannot hurt her,” Wulf said. He stood in the doorway, feet wide apart, weapons at the ready. “You have lost, Elgar, son of Hakkon. No one steals what is mine and lives to tell the tale. Prepare to die.”

  His face a mask of fury, Elgar attacked. His weapons flashing, he thrust and hacked at Wulf. Wulf met the attack with equal fury, maneuvering Elgar in the small hut until he had the advantage. The fight for power and superiority lasted long after the sounds of battle outside the hut had abated. Wulf had received a shallow slash across his upper arm while Elgar was bleeding from several places on his body.

  Growing tired of Elgar’s feeble attempts to kill him, Wulf struck out with his battle-axe, sending Elgar’s sword flying. Before Elgar had time to react, Wulf pressed his sword to Elgar’s throat, pushing him against a wall.

  “Kill me,” Elgar growled. “Send me to Valhalla to frolic and feast with the Valkyries.”

  Poised on the verge of thrusting his sword into Elgar’s throat, Wulf suddenly had second thoughts. Why should he send Elgar to an honorable death
when the man did not deserve it?

  Borg and Dag pushed their heads through the door to see what was going on. “Is all well in here, Wulf?” Borg asked.

  “Aye, though I am undecided what to do with this scum. He does not deserve an honorable death. Is everything under control? Have our warriors prevailed?”

  “Aye,” Dag replied. “Elgar’s warriors are defeated, and those that still live await their fate.”

  “My brothers?”

  “Alive and well. They guard the prisoners.”

  “Move,” Wulf ordered, prodding Elgar in front of him.

  “Kill me,” Elgar goaded.

  The point of Wulf’s sword pressed into Elgar’s neck, drawing blood. “No. Move, I say. I am taking you to join your comrades.”

  Grudgingly, Elgar obeyed. With his men beaten and his hostage gone, he was left with no choice.

  Olaf greeted Wulf gleefully. “Shall we kill the bastards, Wulf?”

  “What think you, Borg, should we kill Elgar and his comrades?” Wulf asked Reyna’s brother.

  Borg rubbed him chin as he pondered Wulf’s words. Before he could make a decision, Dag forestalled him. “Banish Elgar from his land. Give him and his people time to gather their belongings and women and leave in their dragonships. Once Elgar is gone, I will occupy his holdings. I have no land of my own, and Elgar’s farmstead will serve me well.”

  “Will sparing Elgar’s life satisfy you, Wulf?” Borg asked.

  “Aye, as long as Elgar settles far away, somewhere like Scotland or Iceland.”

  “tis settled, then,” Borg decided. “Dag and I will remain here to make sure Elgar and his people leave for foreign parts.”

  Wulf nodded his approval and motioned for his brothers and warriors to follow him to their dragonship. It was time to take his wife home. But first they would return to Harald’s farmstead to let her parents know what had transpired this eventful day.

  The wait and worry was getting to Reyna. Dawn had given way to daylight and the sounds of battle had ceased long ago. When no one appeared immediately after the shouts and cries had ended, Reyna became a tangle of raw nerves, waiting to learn the fate of Wulf and those she loved.

  The sound of feet pounding through the woods brought her thoughts to a halt. Throwing off the wolf pelt, she clambered down from the ship and ran toward the woods. She didn’t get far, for the guards held her back, ready to defend her with their lives, as Wulf had ordered.

  The sight of Wulf emerging from the cover of the trees was the sweetest thing Reyna had ever seen. Her knees buckled and she would have fallen had Wulf not reached her and snatched her up into his arms.

  “Are you ready to go home, sweet?” he asked against the warmth of her neck.

  She pulled back and looked at him. “Are you well?” Her eyes widened in panic when she noticed his bloodied sleeve. “You are wounded!”

  He grinned. “tis a mere scratch.”

  Suddenly his grin darkened into a scowl. He reached out and tenderly touched her bruised cheek with a fingertip. “Did Elgar do this to you?”

  “It does not hurt anymore,” Reyna said in an effort to calm his building rage.

  “What happened?”

  “Elgar struck me after I kicked him in the groin. Think no more on it, Wulf. I want to leave this place. The men are taking their seats at the oars as we speak. My father will be frantic with worry if we do not return soon.” She glanced about, suddenly aware that her brothers were missing. “Where are Dag and Borg?”

  “Do not worry, they are safe. I will explain once we board the dragonship. But now, after seeing what Elgar did to you, I should return and put an end to his miserable life instead of sparing him.”

  “Do not return, I beg you. I injured him more than he injured me. Let it go, my love.”

  For a moment Wulf looked torn between punishing Elgar and doing as Reyna asked.

  “Are you coming aboard?” Eric called to them.

  Eric’s words must have convinced Wulf, for he shrugged and lifted Reyna aboard the dragonship. They sat side by side while Wulf’s brothers took charge of the crew.

  The moment the ship glided into the fjord, Reyna said, “What do you mean you spared Elgar’s life?”

  Gathering Reyna into the shelter of his arms, Wulf told her what had transpired during and after the battle. “Elgar is smart enough to heed my warning. He will leave these shores and never return. Your brothers remained behind to make sure he obeys orders. Dag is excited about owning his own land. I am sure he will make a success of it.”

  “ ’twas generous of you to let Elgar live,” Reyna praised. “I am sick of war and killing. If I had my way, you would never go a-Viking again.”

  “I am of the same mind, sweet. I will go to sea because it is in my blood, but like Hagar, my travels will be for the purpose of trade and exploration, not plunder and killing.” His gaze wandered past her, toward the open water. “One day I hope to settle on my own land, to farm and live in peace. I have heard a great deal about Ireland. Norsemen have settled on the Isle of Man and the Orkneys and I would do the same, but only if you are agreeable, of course.”

  “Anywhere you choose to settle is fine with me, but not right away. You see, I am…”

  “We have reached the landing adjoining your father’s farmstead,” Wulf interrupted as the oarsmen inched the dragonship toward the sandy beach.

  Reyna slumped in disappointment. Apparently this wasn’t the time to tell Wulf about their child. But soon, she vowed, very soon; before they crossed the sea to his farmstead.

  “Look.” Reyna pointed. “Father awaits us on the shore.”

  Sure enough, Harald stood on the bank of the fjord, awaiting the return of his family. His face lit up when he saw Reyna stand and wave as the ship pushed through the surf and scraped to a stop. He waded out to meet them, though his gaze swept past the ship, searching for the vessels belonging to his sons.

  Wulf jumped ashore and handed Reyna down. She flew into Harald’s arms and he hugged her tight. “Have you been keeping a vigil, Father?” Reyna teased.

  “Aye, ’tis what fathers do.” His gaze swept over her, searching for signs of abuse. When he saw her bruised face, his mouth hardened. “Did Elgar do that to you, daughter?”

  “Aye, but he did not escape unpunished. I am fine, Father. Thanks to my husband, I have returned safely.” She grinned up at Wulf. “Wulf was magnificent. He found me before the battle was engaged and took me away to safety.”

  Harald’s gaze drifted past her again to the fjord. “Where are your brothers? Never say they…”

  “They are well,” Wulf interjected. “Once we return to the hall, I will explain what happened and why they remained behind. Reyna is exhausted and needs to rest.”

  “Forgive me,” Harald said. “Maida has been supervising the preparation of food since everyone left yesterday. You, your brothers and your warriors are invited to the hall to share a meal with us.”

  Everyone trooped up to the hall, crowding inside behind Harald, Wulf and Reyna. Maida ran to meet them, her arms closing tight around her daughter. She studied Reyna’s face, frowning when she saw the purpling bruise.

  “ ’tis naught, Mother, truly.”

  Though Maida looked skeptical, she did not question Reyna further. Instead, she asked, “Where are my sons?”

  “They are fine, Mother. Wulf will explain when everyone is settled and has eaten.”

  Maida nodded and invited everyone to sit. Soon afterward, thralls began placing platters of food on the table and pouring mead, ale and buttermilk into mugs and horns. Once everyone had eaten, Harald looked at Wulf and said, “I am eager to hear what has happened to my sons. Speak, Wulf the Defender.”

  Wulf cleared his throat and began his explanation. When he finished, Harald appeared stunned. “You let Elgar live? I cannot believe it.”

  “Wulf is finished with killing, Father,” Reyna revealed. “When he goes to sea it will be strictly for trading. I commend him for allowing
Elgar to seek new lands.”

  “Hmmm,” Harald said, stroking his chin. “Still, the man should not have struck you.”

  “His punishment was defeat and loss of land, not to mention Reyna’s own brand of retribution.”

  “I think Wulf was wise not to kill Elgar,” Maida revealed. “Our Reyna has no stomach for brutality. I approve, Wulf.”

  “Aye,” Harald added grudgingly.

  “Will you bide with us a while?” Maida asked hopefully.

  “We will remain until your sons return. Then my brothers and I must return home. Hagar and my mother will be anxious to know if our mission to rescue Reyna succeeded. They are more than fond of her.”

  “As I am of them,” Reyna returned.

  When Wulf, his brothers and her parents began a lively conversation, Reyna excused herself, telling Wulf she planned to rest in the stillroom that had once been Wulf’s sleeping hut.

  While Reyna was eating, she had begun making plans for the coming night. Before she left the hall she collected wolf pelts, candles and clean linens and asked a thrall to help her carry them to the hut. Then she set the thrall to cleaning the place while she collected a variety of sweet-smelling herbs and wildflowers. To night, when she told Wulf about the baby, she wanted everything to be perfect.

  Wulf was becoming anxious. He hadn’t seen Reyna since she’d left the hall to rest. He’d expected she would return later to join the family, and when she didn’t, he could scarcely wait to join her. He ached to hold her soft body against his, kiss her and make love to her. His love for his wife was such a new thing that he still marveled at it. He knew now that Astrid and their unborn child belonged to his past; Reyna was his future. It didn’t matter that she couldn’t give him a child; all he needed was Reyna.

  He sighed wistfully. Though a girl child with Reyna’s pale gold hair, courage and loving heart would be wonderful, children weren’t necessary for his happiness. The more he thought about Reyna’s sweet body, the more he wanted to rush off and join her. When the conversation lagged, he excused himself for the night and strode from the hall.