by A. E. Rayne
Kormac looked awkward, eager to change the subject. Evva had not been his daughter, but her death still haunted him. No one enjoyed being reminded of that night. ‘Edela is healing well, so hopefully, you won’t have to stay here too much longer,’ he suggested.
Fyn approached the railings with a wide smile. ‘What did you think?’ he asked breathlessly, glancing back to where his opponent was picking himself out of the mud.
‘About what?’ Jael wondered blankly.
Fyn looked crestfallen. ‘Nothing,’ he said slowly, slouching his way back into the ring.
‘Fyn!’ Jael called, smiling now. ‘It was good! I think you would’ve knocked Thorgils over with that kick!’ Oh, how she missed Thorgils.
Thorgils who had saved her grandmother.
Thorgils who was looking after her husband.
She hoped he was alright.
‘Hello,’ Isaura smiled as she opened the door to find a bashful looking Thorgils standing there. His eyes were puffy, and he smelled as though he had spent most of the night in the hall and needed a good bath. She reached out and touched his hand.
Thorgils looked down at her, and his weary eyes sparkled. ‘Hello.’
‘How are you?’ Isaura wondered. ‘Did you sleep?’
Thorgils grinned, listening to the squealing children as they raced around inside the house. ‘I don’t think so. But I can sleep when I’m dead. There’s too much to do for sleeping!’
Isaura’s smile faltered as she felt the cold grip of fear around her heart. ‘Will you come in? We have porridge and berries. Honey and warm bread too.’
‘Well, that sounds pleasant,’ Thorgils said shyly. ‘Although, I warn you that I eat a lot more than when you last lived on Oss. I’m not sure your servants will welcome my arrival.’
Isaura laughed and pulled him inside. ‘I shall have to tell them to prepare more in future,’ she said, closing the door behind them. ‘A lot more!’
Irenna was pleased that Nicolene had brought her servant along as that servant was now weighed down with cords of linen, wool, and silk as she waddled behind them both. Nicolene had commandeered two male slaves as well, and they trailed at the rear carrying baskets full of beeswax candles, rounds of hard cheese, jugs of wine, and tiny jars of preserved fruit.
‘I’m just going to take a look down here!’ Irenna called as she squeezed her way past a merchant who immediately lunged at her, trying to tempt her with an amber necklace she had absolutely no need for.
Nicolene rolled her eyes. She was bored now, satisfied with what she had purchased, and ready to head back to the castle for breakfast. She couldn’t imagine the dire shed of a hall that she would soon be moving into. Her shoulders heaved at the thought of being stuck so far away from everyone with just Karsten and their two squawking sons for company.
‘You do like to get up early,’ Jaeger murmured as he stopped behind her.
Very close behind her.
Nicolene was caught between wanting to still be annoyed with Jaeger and feeling excited to see him again. ‘We’re leaving in a few days. There’s much to prepare,’ she said sharply, shooing away the servant and slaves.
‘And how will you enjoy your new life in Kroll, I wonder?’ Jaeger teased. ‘Lady of the Arse Crack of Hest!’
Nicolene decided then that she was far more annoyed than excited, and pushed past him. ‘Why don’t you go back to your servant?’ she sneered. ‘No doubt she is waiting in your bed!’
‘At this time of day?’ Jaeger laughed, nonplussed. ‘I doubt that. And besides, there are plenty of other places she never goes.’ He didn’t move, watching as she stalked away.
But not very far.
Nicolene paused, then turned towards her brother-in-law, more excited than annoyed now. She put a finger to her lips. ‘What places?’
‘What do you think your sister is doing on Oss?’ Jael wondered, trying not to sound as bitter as she felt as she walked Fyn back to Aedan’s. ‘Having her own throne built?’
‘I imagine so, and having dresses made, and hiring servants to do her hair and bathe her every day.’ He frowned, certain that Evaine would be flouncing around, acting like the queen she wished she was. Although, part of him hoped that that was the case as she would be far too occupied to do anything to hurt his mother.
His mother. He was happy about that. News that Evaine was Morana’s child, not Runa’s, had come as a relief.
It would be so much easier to kill her.
If Jael didn’t get to her first.
‘Well, Eadmund will hopefully be too busy to notice,’ Jael said. ‘It appears that Oss is about to be attacked by Ivaar. Or has been. Which, I suppose comes as no surprise. It was only a matter of time before he came back.’
Fyn turned to her, his eyes wide with worry.
‘Ivaar only wants Eadmund,’ Jael reassured him, patting his arm. ‘You have no need to worry about Runa. He won’t hurt her.’ She blinked, surprising herself, but it was true, she realised. Ivaar was jealous of Eadmund. He wanted revenge. He wanted to assume what he saw as his rightful place on the throne of Oss.
He wasn’t about to kill everyone.
She hoped.
The ritual spell that Morana needed to translate was a winding maze of words that were both familiar and yet not familiar at all. And because Jaeger would only let her look at the book in his chamber, she found herself constantly back at the beginning each time she arrived, stumbling over the same confusing passage that never became any clearer.
She could feel Jaeger’s breath as he loomed behind her, sensing his displeasure at having to share the book with her.
‘And?’ he muttered impatiently.
Morana turned around, cocking her head. ‘When did you last eat?’ she wondered, noticing how his desperate eyes sunk into his face; how prominent his cheekbones appeared as he glared at her.
Jaeger ignored her. ‘The ritual? Have you translated it?’
Morana turned back to the book. ‘No, not yet,’ she grumbled.
‘But what about Axl Furyck? You do know exactly where he is now?’
‘Yes.’
‘When, then?’ Jaeger asked impatiently. ‘When are we going to the Crown of Stones again?’
Morana snorted. ‘You should eat something. Rest. I will come for you at midnight, so be ready. But for now, I must concentrate. We will never be able to unleash the true potential of the book if I cannot unravel this spell!’
Jaeger grunted, prowling around behind her, his eyes rarely leaving the book; flinching every time she turned a page.
Meena, sitting on the bed, shivered, tapping her feet on the flagstones. They were going to hurt Axl Furyck, she knew.
Try to kill him.
More than just him.
But what could she do to stop them?
Entorp had worked quickly, and by late afternoon they all had stones, and everyone knew that they were in danger.
But no one knew what they could do about it. Not without that book.
‘I can’t take it out of the secret room,’ Jael insisted, sipping from her cup of small ale. ‘It’s safer where it is for now. And Edela thinks that Eydis can see the book without us needing to actually have it.’
Eydis felt nervous, hoping that Jael was right. ‘I can feel the dreamers,’ she said quietly. ‘I can feel their eyes searching for us.’
‘So can I,’ Jael agreed. ‘But where do you think they all are?’
Alaric was there, sitting on Edela’s bed. ‘There is a special chamber in the temple,’ he said cautiously, worried that the symbol stones were just a flimsy theory, not guaranteed to work at all. He was expecting the door to be smashed in at any moment by angry soldiers with swords out, ready to take them away to the temple. Everyone was staring at him, though, and Alaric was quickly flustered. ‘The Chamber of Dreams is a place where they send the most talented dreamers in Tuura. The elderman gives them... tasks. Sets them to dreaming for the answers he seeks. When I worked at the temple, it was my job
to record the dreams they had there.’
‘Well, Gerod must have them dreaming about you,’ Branwyn murmured to Jael.
‘And the book,’ Biddy added as she darned one of Eydis’ socks by the fire. ‘Without that book, who knows what the ravens would have done to us.’
Kormac was still shaking his head in disbelief. ‘So, there is no one we can trust in Tuura? Not a single person?’
‘I don’t think that everyone is bound or a member of The Following,’ Jael said. ‘You’re certainly not. But how do we find out who is without alerting the dreamers? The only people we know we can trust are the ones in here, as well as Aedan and Aron, and Beorn and the crew. And Marcus.’
Branwyn looked doubtful. ‘Do you think you can trust him?’ She glanced at Edela, who was asleep. ‘Mother didn’t. And look at what he tried to do to Aleksander.’
Alaric nodded. ‘He may well be a member of The Following too.’
Jael frowned, thinking. She shared many of the same fears. ‘I trust him,’ she said at last. ‘His daughter is risking her life to try and get the Book of Darkness. And he gave Edela that book. Gave it to me, too. He knows where it is. He could have easily turned it over to this Gerod. But he didn’t.’
‘Jael’s right,’ Kormac agreed. ‘We have this book because of Marcus. It doesn’t mean that we have to trust him entirely, but right now it makes no sense not to.’
Branwyn nodded reluctantly. ‘I agree. But if the elderman’s a prisoner in the temple, and there’s no one to trust anymore, what are we going to do?’
Eadmund tried to resist the pull of Evaine as he sat talking to Ayla. Evaine’s eyes followed him everywhere he went, but they were especially sharp with displeasure whenever he was near the dreamer.
‘Isaura told me about your dream walk to try and save my father,’ he said, feeling the ache of grief, still so raw. ‘I wanted to thank you. For trying.’ He kept his voice low, which was unnecessary. The hall was humming with activity as everyone rushed about, preparing for the attack they assumed would come soon.
Ayla looked away, embarrassed that she had not done enough. ‘I’m sorry that I could not warn Eydis in time. He was a good man.’
Eadmund swallowed. ‘He was. He didn’t deserve to die that sort of death.’
‘No,’ Ayla agreed.
‘Was it Ivaar?’ Eadmund asked quickly. ‘Did Ivaar do it?’
Ayla hesitated. His eyes were so desperate. ‘No, he didn’t,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘It wasn’t Ivaar.’
Eadmund felt as though he’d been punched in the stomach. ‘But who was it then?’
Ayla clasped her hands together in her lap, feeling a twinge in her thigh. ‘I don’t know.’
‘Then how can you know that it wasn’t Ivaar? Perhaps you’re wrong?’
Ayla sat quietly for a moment, considering that. ‘I was kept prisoner by Ivaar for over a year. In his bed. At his side. I could not escape.’ She felt sick, not wanting to relive the memories. ‘I know Ivaar better than I would wish to. He wanted your father’s throne, but I don’t believe that he ever had the stomach to kill him. He loved him too much.’
Eadmund looked horrified. ‘Loved him?’
‘He was a boy who was abandoned by his father. Abandoned in favour of another son. His mother killed herself because he chose your mother. In his eyes, he lost both of his parents because of you. He wanted to destroy you, not Eirik. He only wanted his father’s love.’
Eadmund sat back and sighed. ‘So, now he is coming to destroy me at last?’
‘Yes, and to take back those things he believes are his. His island, his throne, his wife and children. His dreamer.’ She shivered.
‘And will he?’
‘For a long time I had such a strong vision of him sitting on that throne,’ she said, glancing at the fur-lined chair that Evaine was fussing over. ‘That vision is not as strong anymore, but he will come with many men. It’s hard not to see him being victorious.’
‘This fort is solid. It can withstand a lot,’ Eadmund insisted.
‘Yes, I can see that,’ Ayla said. ‘But eventually, your people will run out of food and water. They will die from starvation. Those who aren’t injured or suffering from disease by then.’
It was a grim reminder of what might come. A siege was about more than the strength of your walls, Eadmund knew. It was as much about the strength of your people to withstand deprivation and hardship. He looked into Ayla’s eyes. ‘Perhaps it doesn’t have to come to that. There may be something you can do to help us.’
29
It was early in the evening, but Jaeger had already fallen asleep, and Egil was nowhere to be seen, so Meena had made the most of the opportunity to escape the castle.
She had begun to feel like a prisoner, although she wondered if that was just in her head. Jaeger barely spoke to her now. Like a new toy abandoned quickly, he appeared to have tired of her. And Meena didn’t know whether she wanted him to notice her again, or to forget about her so that she could leave and return to her chamber.
But what would she do there without Berard to care for?
Soon, he would be gone.
‘Meena!’ Berard smiled as he led his horse into the stables, surprised to find her waiting for him. ‘Not trying to move in here again are you?’
Meena swallowed, suddenly nervous as she shuffled her feet in the hay, avoiding his eyes. She had come hoping to find Berard, thinking that if she told him what Jaeger and Morana were doing with the book, that perhaps he could stop them somehow. But now that she was here, she realised that doing so would only put him in danger. ‘I, I should be getting back to the castle. It will be supper soon.’ Meena could almost feel Morana’s hands on her, dragging her away.
She turned and hurried through the doors before he could stop her.
‘Meena, wait!’ Berard handed the reins to the stable boy and ran after her. ‘Why are you leaving?’ he called.
Meena slowed down, letting him catch up with her, not wanting to make it worse. ‘I, I just... came to look at the horses,’ she mumbled, her shoulders up around her ears.
Berard looked confused. ‘You did?’
‘I like horses,’ Meena whispered truthfully. ‘I always wanted to have one.’
‘Well, you didn’t need to leave. Come back. Stay as long as you like. I have to get to the hall for supper, but you take as long as you want to.’
His voice was full of kindness, and Meena felt her shoulders relax. She lifted her head and met his eyes, wishing she could tell him what Morana was planning. But she couldn’t. She didn’t want to put him in danger. Dropping her eyes to the ground, she sighed. ‘Alright.’
Ayla leaned forward. ‘Me?’
‘Can you dream walk again? To Jael?’ Eadmund whispered, not wanting Evaine to hear. ‘I need her help. I need her to go to Andala, to get the Brekkan ships and their sea-fire.’
Ayla’s eyes widened. ‘I...’ She saw Evaine stalking towards them and paused, watching how Eadmund’s attention was immediately consumed by the girl.
‘Sevrin and Otto are over there, waiting on you,’ Evaine said sharply, glaring at Ayla. ‘There is much they need to discuss. Important things, they said.’
Eadmund nodded. ‘I’ll be there in a moment, I just have to finish this meeting.’
Evaine looked furious. ‘Meeting? About what?’
Eadmund didn’t want to mention Jael’s name, but he struggled to think of an excuse.
‘The king needs information about Ivaar,’ Ayla said hurriedly.
‘I see,’ Evaine said coldly. ‘Well, hopefully, that won’t take much longer.’ And eyeing Eadmund, she walked slowly away, turning around every few steps to scowl at Ayla again.
‘Thank you,’ Eadmund smiled. ‘So, can you? Will you? Dream walk to Jael?’
Ayla took a deep breath. ‘I can try.’
Karsten watched Nicolene as she ate.
She normally picked at her food, but tonight she appeared ravenous; finishing off he
r bowl of soup and quickly starting the next course of crab claws. She was not looking forward to going to Kroll, he knew, and yet, there she was, smiling as she chatted to Irenna and Bayla as though nothing was bothering her at all.
Haaron watched Karsten watching his wife. If what Karsten suspected about Jaeger and Nicolene was, in fact, true, it was a good thing that they were leaving so quickly. Although, he considered, it would be the perfect way to get rid of Jaeger without being blamed for his death. He smiled to himself and pushed his plate away, frowning suddenly at the thought of Morana.
He had trusted Varna implicitly. But he didn’t know her daughter and Morana had made it plain that she had no interest in getting to know him. It was difficult to listen to advice from someone who didn’t appear to care one way or the other.
And if she was working with Jaeger against him...
‘I shall miss this hall,’ Haegen murmured, watching as the servants shepherded the children away from their table.
Haaron blinked at his son, noting the sentiment in his eyes. He turned to follow his gaze towards his grandchildren, remembering when his own children were that small. That innocent.
They had all looked up to him once. Wanted to be like him. And now?
According to Morana, each one of them wanted his throne. Each one of them was, therefore, a threat to his life, and yet, when he looked at Haegen, his eldest boy, he saw genuine sadness in his eyes.
‘I’m sure your mother will visit regularly,’ Haaron muttered, feeling uncomfortable.
‘And you?’
‘Me? Well, I have the kingdom to care for. Much rebuilding to do. I have plans for a wall, you know.’
‘A wall?’
‘From the Tower, all the way across the pass.’
‘A good idea,’ Haegen agreed. ‘You could build further towers along it?’