by A. E. Rayne
Jael tightened her grip on Tig’s reins, her eyes snapping to Evaine as she wailed, comforted by her sneering father. Jael didn’t care that she was shaking and wet through. She didn’t care that she was the mother of Eadmund’s son. Evaine had stabbed Edela. She had tried to kill her, no doubt at Morana’s insistence.
Jael frowned, remembering her talk with Eirik.
Morana had hated Eirik. If she had taken her revenge on him somehow, knowing that Eadmund would then become king...
A king under their control.
Jael felt Morac’s eyes on her.
The pointy faced man. Morana’s brother.
Jaeger ran his hand over the book.
Its soft, leather cover was as dark as a starless night. He was enamoured with the feel of it; the fine texture of its surface, always so cool to touch. Somehow, it soothed him.
Just being near the book made him feel calmer.
He slowly turned the delicate vellum pages; each one filled with spidery scrawls and magical symbols that made no sense to him at all.
Morana Gallas could read some of it, he knew. But what did she want in return for her assistance? A woman like that? A woman happy to watch someone murder her mother? To encourage it, even? That was a woman who was certain to betray him for her own ends.
But what were they?
Egil had seen her with Yorik Elstad, leader of The Following. And The Following would want the book. They wouldn’t care how they got it. Jaeger frowned, running his fingers around the intricate symbols, wishing he didn’t need Morana. If only Meena could read it for him instead.
Then they wouldn’t need anyone at all.
He thought of Berard and tightened his hand into a fist. Once he had felt as though they were in this together, on a path of mutually desired revenge against their tyrannical father. But Berard had befriended Jael Furyck – perhaps even plotted with her – then tried to take Meena away from him.
Soon, he would want to take the book away from him too.
They all would.
They rode until Eadmund’s anger had built to such a heat that he could no longer keep it in. He yanked harshly on the reins, pulling Leada to a skittering stop. Jael, following behind on Tig, came to a halt beside them.
Eadmund dismounted and quickly strode to the edge of the lake. Its smooth water was as grey and dismal as the sky above them. Light rain washed over him, and he remembered how cold Evaine had felt in his arms. How wet and miserable. And his anger grew. He spun around and glared at his wife. ‘What were you thinking?’
Jael clamped her lips together as she fought to control her tongue.
This was not Eadmund.
‘Evaine tried to kill Edela,’ she said slowly. ‘She may well have succeeded. You think we should keep all of our criminals roaming freely around Oss? That they shouldn’t be punished for the crimes they commit?’
Eadmund’s eyes flared. ‘Criminal? How is she a criminal? What proof do you have?’ He shook his head, his sandy hair curling damply around his face. ‘You, who are so fond of proof when it comes to Ivaar! You, who kept me from killing him when he actually murdered my father! Demanding I find proof! But now you’ve decided that Evaine committed a crime, just because you don’t like her? Because you’re jealous of her?’
Jael’s temper exploded like a bonfire. ‘Come back to me, Eadmund!’ she screamed. ‘Stop this and come back to me!’ She lunged at him, but he caught her arms. ‘How can you not even remember Hest? It was only days ago!’ Jael’s face twisted in pain. She was desperate to see something in his eyes that was familiar, that told her he was still in there.
That there was still hope.
Eadmund pushed her away, scrubbing angrily at his beard. ‘What are you talking about?’ he yelled. ‘You think that Evaine is some witch who put a spell on me? As though I’m not in control of my mind or body? That what I think and feel is somehow not of my own choosing?’ He laughed but it was hollow and bitter, and he shuddered, glaring into those green eyes that were so full of fire.
Jael watched Tig’s ears as they flattened back. He knew that something was wrong.
So did she.
‘Edela broke the spell –’ Jael started.
‘Evaine is not a witch! What are you thinking? Spells? Magic? Evaine is not a witch!’
‘No, perhaps, but her mother is!’
Eadmund frowned, watching as Jael’s dark braids flapped across her face. The wind was becoming as angry as they were. ‘Runa?’
‘Runa is not Evaine’s mother. Your father told me that Morana was her real mother. She gave Evaine to Morac and Runa to raise as their own when she was born.’
Eadmund was horrified. Morana’s daughter? He hated that bitch. ‘Eirik told you this?’
‘Yes, he did, just before we left for Saala. And he regretted that he allowed it to happen till his last breath.’
‘And Evaine knows this?’
Jael shrugged. ‘What do I care if Evaine knows who her mother is, Eadmund? I care that Evaine tried to murder my grandmother! I am the Queen of Oss now. Do you think I should just let her get away with it? What sort of queen would that make me?’
Eadmund was suddenly hesitant. Morana was a witch, but Evaine... he couldn’t stop thinking about her. He felt sick with worry, his body vibrating with an overwhelming urge to see her, to comfort her.
She needed him.
He glared at Jael. His usually kind eyes were harsh and unforgiving. ‘Find me proof that she did it or leave her be. Until you show me anything to the contrary, Evaine is not your prisoner, nor mine. Stay away from her, Jael, I warn you!’
Jael cocked her head to one side, pushing her boots onto the grass. ‘You warn me?
They eyed each other furiously, shoulders taut, jaws clenching.
Neither one saying a word.
Then the rain came down.
Eydis burst into tears at the sound of Biddy’s voice.
‘Oh, Eydis,’ Biddy soothed gently as she pulled her into her arms. ‘There, there, my poor girl.’
The puppies were jumping up Eydis’ legs, desperate for her to notice them too. Entorp was there, tears in his eyes at the sight of his dear little friend, who was now an orphan.
‘How is Edela?’ Eydis sniffed, trying to get a sense of who was in the house, of what was happening.
‘She is stronger,’ Entorp said kindly, reaching for her hand. ‘Here, come and sit by her. She will hear your voice, I’m sure. And maybe you’ll feel how she is.’ He led Eydis to the bed as Amma hopped out of the way.
‘Stronger?’ Eydis asked. ‘Does that mean she will live?’
Entorp glanced at Biddy who looked ready to cry. ‘Well, she is very weak. Can you feel it? When you touch her?’ Rada had been able to tell so much by touch, and, being blind, Eydis’ senses were even stronger than her mother’s.
Eydis nodded as she held Edela’s hand. It was limp, and, although warm, it felt almost lifeless. She could barely sense any energy in Edela at all. Just darkness. Eydis turned around, listening, less nervous than she normally would have been. Everyone in here loved Edela, she knew.
She felt safe.
‘I dreamed about Edela,’ she began softly. ‘I know of something that might help her.’
Jael and Eadmund didn’t move as great sheets of icy rain slammed down on top of them. But the horses did.
Tig and Leada reared up, galloping away as a bolt of lightning shot through the dark clouds, landing amongst a cluster of moss-covered boulders nearby.
Jael blinked in shock. ‘Tig!’ she screamed, running after the horses who were heading home without them. ‘Leada!’
Thunder boomed all around them.
Eadmund chased after her, putting his fingers to his lips, whistling furiously but the storm was so loud that any hope he had of attracting the horses’ attention was lost in all its noise.
They were just as annoying as the puppies, Jael grumbled as she ran, hood pulled low, eyes half closed against the teeming rain. ‘Tig!
’ He looked as though he was slowing down, but then another shard of lightning struck and after that, there was nothing slow about him as he disappeared into the distance, Leada right behind him.
Eadmund stopped, realising the futility of chasing them any longer. The horses were, at least, heading in the direction of the fort. He grabbed Jael’s hand. ‘Come on!’ he cried. ‘Over here!’
Thunder rumbled ominously above them as Jael followed Eadmund towards a tiny cave tucked beneath an overhanging ledge of rock. Not big, but big enough for two soaked, storm-chased bodies to shelter in; although neither was in the mood to be in such close proximity to the other.
Jael felt uptight, annoyed, desperate to get back to Edela. She was wet through, worried about the horses. She shuffled about, crouching beneath the roof of the cramped cave, grateful to be out of the rain as it lashed the ground outside their shelter, quickly flooding it.
‘You may as well get comfortable!’ Eadmund shouted, trying to make himself heard over the roar of the storm. He sat on a large rock, trying to calm down, worrying about Evaine, wishing he’d had her released before he’d left with Jael.
Jael peered around the cave, then took a rock near her husband, biting her fingernails, not letting her eyes stray near Eadmund for a moment.
She couldn’t stop thinking about Hest.
How every part of her had felt right again, having him back.
All of him.
There had to be some way they could set him free. Edela had done it once before. Surely she could do it again?
If she had that book, maybe...
6
Eydis hesitated, suddenly overcome with nerves. The house was so quiet that she couldn’t even hear Edela’s breathing. She could feel the beat of her heart, though, throbbing steadily in her wrist.
That was a good sign, she thought.
‘I saw a book in my dreams,’ Eydis began. ‘An important book. A man has the book. He keeps it hidden. He has dark hair. He is a powerful man but not a dreamer.’
Aleksander’s eyes widened. ‘And do you see where this book is? Where the man is, Eydis?’ he asked gently.
Eydis turned towards Aleksander’s deep voice. He was standing somewhere behind her. ‘He is in Tuura. He wants Edela to come. He wants Jael to come too.’
Aleksander frowned, the hairs on the back of his neck rising. He glanced at Axl who looked just as disturbed.
Gisila visibly shuddered.
They couldn’t go back to Tuura.
‘But what about the journey?’ Amma wondered. ‘Wouldn’t that be too much for Edela?’
Biddy shrugged. ‘I don’t think there is much choice, is there?’ She turned to Entorp, seeking his opinion.
‘Well, it appears that Eydis and Edela are of the same mind,’ Entorp said as he knelt next to Eydis. ‘And yes, of course, it would not be the wisest thing to take her on a ship. But, perhaps it is that she will die here if we don’t? And we cannot hope to save Eadmund without Edela.’
Thorgils burst in through the door, wide-eyed and panting. ‘Jael and Eadmund went for a ride, and only their horses came back!’
The storm was blowing its way across the island, away from the cave, and they could finally hear themselves think. The rain was still heavy, but Jael didn’t want to wait. ‘Let’s go,’ she said, standing, shaking her wet clothes away from her body and resettling her sodden fur cloak. ‘I need to get back to Edela. I want to make sure the horses got home safely too.’ Pulling up her hood, she edged towards the mouth of the cave.
‘Wait!’ Eadmund grabbed Jael’s arm, turning her towards him, blinking at the fire in her eyes that had not dampened one bit. ‘We can’t go back to the fort like this. Our people need us to show them that the kingdom is safe. They’ve just lost their king. All those years of stability with Eirik in the hall? We can’t put them in the middle of a war between their new king and queen.’
Jael sighed moodily, not wanting to agree with him at all. ‘Of course.’ She wanted to reach up and brush his wet hair out of his eyes but didn’t. She looked away instead. ‘What are you suggesting?’
‘We need to focus on what’s important, and forget about everything else.’ His own anger was still there, but fighting with Jael was not going to help them protect Oss. ‘For now. Just for now,’ he insisted. ‘We can talk about Evaine and what I will do with Ivaar at another time. A better time. But for now, we have made more enemies than I can count, and we need to think about how to make us safe and quickly, before they’re in our harbour, trying to take our fort.’
Jael frowned. He was right, annoyingly, and Eirik would have felt proud to hear him talk so; perhaps even surprised. But Evaine? ‘It makes sense,’ she admitted reluctantly, her teeth barely opening. ‘A truce.’
‘A truce,’ Eadmund agreed.
‘But don’t expect me to apologise to her,’ Jael grumbled as she ducked her head on her way out of the cave.
Eadmund ducked his own head, a wry smile on his face as he followed her. ‘I would never expect that,’ he snorted. ‘Not ever!’
‘Good, because you’re my husband,’ Jael said fiercely as she turned back to him. ‘No matter what she says or does, or how you think you feel right now, you’re my husband, Eadmund Skalleson, and I’m not letting you go! Not without a fight!’ And Jael strode off, not waiting for him. ‘And I’ll have you know that I’m very good in a fight!’ she bellowed into the wind.
Eadmund stared after her, confused. He felt as though he was in the middle of a tug o’ war; Evaine and Jael pulling him from either side. And as much as Evaine pulled, he still found himself drawn to his wife’s demanding eyes.
He shook his head and hurried after her.
‘I thought you could read it? All of it?’ Jaeger sneered, watching as Morana frowned her way down the page.
‘All of it?’ she sneered back. ‘Of course not! I’m not a god! A god wrote this book. The god! He has secrets in here. Secrets that he doesn’t want the likes of you or me to know.’
Jaeger leaned over her shoulder. He hated other people touching the book. It was not Morana’s, not The Following’s, not Berard’s book. He felt his blood heating, pulsing in his veins. ‘Well, who is going to help me uncover those?’
Morana spun and glared at him, willing him to back away from her. He was always so close. She couldn’t stand the smell of him. ‘You think you can find another dreamer? Someone who will keep this book a secret?’ She stood up, her body a hands breadth from Jaeger’s. He jerked away at last. ‘You’re a naive fool not to see that another dreamer would just take it for themselves! The power in this book...’ she shook her head, batting him with her hair. ‘It is without equal. It is all that is desired by people with a mind to do what you want.’
‘And why are you so noble then? A woman who happily stood by as her mother was killed?’ Jaeger growled. ‘Why should I trust you? You, who appears to be such good friends with Yorik Elstad?’
Morana laughed throatily, not revealing her surprise that he had uncovered that. ‘Well, do or don’t. Your choice entirely.’ And she crept towards the door.
Jaeger frowned. ‘Where are you going?’ he panicked. ‘You haven’t told me anything at all! Again!’
‘No, and I won’t,’ Morana said firmly, not bothering to turn around as Egil scrambled to open the door for her. ‘Not today. I promised to meet with your father. You keep the book safe, and I may return tomorrow with some answers.’
Jaeger sighed irritably as Morana slithered through the door. She had told him nothing. After all these days. She kept promising things, touching the book, running her hands over its delicate pages, her dark eyes widening and narrowing, but she never revealed anything that would help him.
‘My lord?’ Egil murmured. ‘Shall I put the book away now?’
Jaeger spun around, his eyes aflame as they rested on his servant. ‘No! You shall not. But you shall bring me some wine, Egil. And quickly!’
‘I won’t be long,’ Meena smiled as she cl
osed Berard’s door, feeling unusually content. She was away from Morana, in her own private, almost-warm chamber. Soon she would be earning her own keep too, caring for Berard, who was being so kind to her.
And then there was Jaeger.
She felt sparks of desire bursting inside her body at the thought of him. It was not a feeling of safety, but it was as though she belonged with him. That he understood her. That they were the same in some strange way.
She shivered, desperate to see him again.
‘And where have you been hiding, little mouse?’ Morana hissed as she crept up behind Meena, who jumped, biting her tongue. ‘Not running away from me, are you?’
As much as Morana terrified her, Meena knew that Jaeger cared for her. How much, she didn’t know for sure, but enough to hope that he would keep her out of Morana’s grasp.
And Morana needed Jaeger.
For now.
‘I have a job.’
Morana recoiled. Confused. ‘Job?’ she snorted, wrinkling her face in disgust.
‘I am in the employ of Berard Dragos now,’ Meena said nervously, tapping her leg, fighting the overwhelming urge to tap her head as well. ‘I have my own chamber too.’
‘Is that so?’ Morana murmured, creeping closer. ‘Hmmm....’ She closed her eyes and inhaled sharply, as though she was inhaling Meena’s very soul. Opening her eyes, she sighed contentedly. ‘Well, do enjoy yourself, girl, for he will not be around much longer to protect you. His brother will see to that.’ She ran her tongue over her teeth before slinking away.
Aleksander guided Tig down the steep hill behind Thorgils, who was bouncing along on Leada, scanning the vast expanse of barren land that lay to the south of the fort. The rain was almost horizontal, and the wind was attempting to blow his cloak right off him.
The horses had not been impressed to be taken out in it again.