by A. E. Rayne
‘Hopefully, you’ll have enough. We’ve got vats of liquid but we need more jars, so I’ve had the potters at work on those.’
Jael was nodding, only half listening. She needed a drink and something to eat, and she wanted to hear about Edela’s dreams. ‘Let’s get the horses sorted, then head to the hall!’ she called to those men who stood around her, stretching out stiff limbs and aching backs.
There were grunts and nods of approval at that.
‘Still standing?’ Karsten grinned at Berard after extracting himself from Bayla, who had quickly complained about all the things that were wrong with the cottage they were still stuck in. Thankfully, Ulf had come along and turned her attention to something else. Nicolene was still in bed apparently, which had only added to Bayla’s irritation.
‘Still standing,’ Berard smiled, relieved to have Karsten back. He was feeling stronger; riding and training every day – when he could escape Bayla’s clutches. He didn’t feel useful with a sword yet, but he was confident that he would be able to ride to Hest without causing himself or his brother too much embarrassment.
Karsten leaned into Berard as they made their way to the stables. ‘And what about Hanna?’ He hadn’t seen Marcus, which concerned him. ‘Is she... still alive?’
‘She is. She’s with her father. I saw her this morning. She’s sitting up. Eating. She asked about you.’
‘She did?’
Berard was surprised by the interest in his brother’s voice. ‘Mmmm, she wanted to know how everyone was.’
Karsten adjusted his eyepatch as they walked towards the stables, past Aleksander who had been caught by Edela.
‘Where have you been hiding?’ Edela smiled, peering at his bruised face. ‘I wondered if you’d had an accident, though I hadn’t seen anything bad happening to you in my dreams. Though something does appear to have happened to your face.’
Aleksander put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze. ‘It was an interesting journey, to say the least.’
Edela frowned. ‘And?’
Aleksander saw Gant walking away with Gisila, knowing what that would be about. ‘I’ll tell you everything over a bowl of stew, after I see to Sky. But tell me something before I go... how is... Hanna?’ He lifted his voice, trying to sound casual, but he could see Edela’s keen eyes sharpen, twinkling in the sunshine.
‘Hanna is well.’
Aleksander blinked in surprise. He had been steeling himself for bad news the whole ride home. ‘Well?’
‘Go and see for yourself. She is recovering now. Doing very well.’
Aleksander found himself nodding, though every part of him had just tensed uncomfortably.
Edela didn’t notice. She was watching Ayla hurrying away from the hall, hopefully going to see if Bruno was awake. Soon it would be time to talk to him about the prophecy, she knew, and though she desperately needed answers, Edela wasn’t sure if Ayla was going to like what Bruno had to say.
Draguta stared into Eadmund’s troubled eyes, smiling as she came to a decision. ‘Stay with Evaine. It will keep her quiet until I decide what to do with her. I have enough people to think about for now.’ And leaving Eadmund on the steps, she headed for the heated baths, eager to feel the steaming water on her skin. Sensing that Eadmund was not moving, she turned around. ‘You are free now, Eadmund. From Evaine. But not from me. You will never be free from me, and one day soon, Jael Furyck and her dreamer friends will discover the truth about that.’ And sweeping her long, white dress around she disappeared through the doors.
Eadmund watched her go, unable to move.
His heart was throbbing with the need to go back to Andala and find Jael. He could feel the ache in it; the emptiness and pain finally revealed now that he had been freed from Evaine’s spell.
But as he watched Draguta disappear into the castle, he knew that she was right.
He could never leave her.
She needed him.
Gant wanted to do it quickly, though it didn’t feel like the right time, and he didn’t think Gisila would respond well to what he had to say.
He knew Gisila wouldn’t respond well.
He couldn’t decide where to do it either, but having handed Gus off to Thorgils, who was happy to take him to the stables for a rub down, he took Gisila’s arm and led her across the square, towards the harbour. It was a nice walk, through the trees, listening to the birds, busy above their heads, the waves crashing in the distance. But he was distracted, tense, knowing that he was about to hurt her.
Gisila felt just as tense as she walked beside him. She had no idea what was about to come out of his mouth. ‘What happened?’ she asked. ‘Something happened, didn’t it? I saw the way everyone was looking at me. Just tell me, Gant. I want to know.’ She felt a sharp pain in her chest, almost afraid of what he was going to say.
Gant nodded. He was tired after a mostly sleepless night, and his thoughts were scattered like birds across a meadow as he struggled to begin.
Gisila tried to help him. ‘Is it something about Axl? Or Jael?’
Gant shook his head, then stopped himself. ‘No and yes. It’s about... Ranuf.’ They walked over a little mound, muddy after the rain. Gant grabbed Gisila as she slid.
‘Ranuf?’ Gisila hadn’t been expecting that, though the ghost of Ranuf Furyck still loomed large over Andala three years after his death. ‘What about him?’
‘He...’ Gant saw how desperate her eyes were. He shook his head before stopping and taking a breath. ‘Raymon Vandaal is his son.’
Gisila shuddered in horror. ‘What?’ It didn’t sound real, but she knew Gant. He almost looked in pain having to tell her. ‘What?’ Now her head was shaking too. ‘I... what do you mean? Ravenna? He was with Ravenna?’ Her thoughts jumped quickly trying to make sense of things. ‘When? For how long?’
Gant knew that he couldn’t hide anything from her. It had all been hidden for too long. Gisila couldn’t be the one person kept in the dark. Not now. ‘Since just after Hugo took the throne. Up until his death.’
Gisila’s mouth fell open.
She closed it and promptly spun away from Gant, hitching up her dress, and walking back over the slippery mound, hurrying all the way back to the fort.
Axl sunk into his throne, relieved to be home. Relieved that his home was still in one piece, or, at least, in the pieces he had left it in. There was so much to do, he knew, but for one moment he wanted to enjoy being with Amma again. He pulled her onto his knee, watching her squirm. ‘You look as though you haven’t slept since we left. Are you sure you’re alright?’
At that moment Amma was wondering if she needed to vomit, but she nodded, trying to smile. ‘It was worrying, not knowing what would happen every night. Listening for creatures. It was hard to sleep. Every noise woke me up.’
Axl inhaled the sweet, honeysuckle scent of her, watching as Gisila strode into the hall, past Branwyn, heading for the bedchambers. He frowned, guessing what that was about; not sure what he could do to make it any better, though. It felt more than strange knowing that his father had had a secret life, though now Ranuf seemed more of a man; not the god they had all made him out to be.
Amma suddenly scrambled off his knee. ‘I have to go and see about something in the kitchen,’ she mumbled, scurrying away.
Axl looked after her in surprise, his attention quickly moving to his cousin Aedan who had come to see his mother. He looked as lost as Branwyn. Axl had left him in charge of replenishing their sea-fire stores, hoping it would give him something to keep him occupied, but he appeared just as broken as when they’d left.
Standing up, Axl filled two cups with ale, and walked over to Aedan, almost knocking his grandmother over on the way. ‘Sorry!’ he exclaimed.
Ayla grabbed Edela as she stumbled.
‘Are you getting so tall that you can’t see me down here?’ Edela chuckled as she followed Ayla towards the doors, feeling her nervous tension building.
It was time to go and ask Br
uno what he knew about the prophecy.
Brill had been sent to find Meena.
‘We have work to do,’ Draguta declared when Meena arrived, her eyes on one of her seeing circles before looking up in surprise. ‘Why are you all wet?’
Meena had only just walked back into the city after disappearing for another swim. She had planned to walk to Dragmall’s, but Brill had stopped her, insisting that she hurry back to Draguta. ‘I had a swim.’
‘Where?’
‘In the sea.’
Draguta frowned. ‘Obviously, I am not giving you enough to do! Swanning about like a lady. You need to know your place, my girl, and it is not as the Queen of Hest. You may be Jaeger’s little toy, but that is all you are and something you won’t be for much longer if you carry on like this!’
Meena dropped her eyes, feeling her wet hair soaking through her new dress, dripping on the floor.
‘Where are the things the Furycks left behind?’ Draguta mused. ‘Whatever happened to them?’
Meena blinked in surprise. ‘Morana took them. I think she put them in a chest in her chamber.’
‘You will bring them to me. All of them. And find a towel, so that you don’t come back and leave more puddles on my floor!’
Nodding quickly, Meena turned for the door, trying not to imagine what Draguta was up to now.
Eadmund had walked far away from the castle, Draguta’s words ringing in his ears.
Jael’s too.
Jael.
He remembered everything about her. Every scowl and smile.
Every scar.
The taste of her lips. The look in her eye.
Those eyes...
People passed him, going into the city, following after each other down the dusty, red path in a long line. Not many were going his way, and Eadmund was jostled as he walked. He barely noticed as he tried to picture Oss. His house. Biddy standing by the cauldron, telling him off for his muddy boots. The puppies crawling up his legs wanting to go outside and play. Askel rubbing Leada down in the stables. Fyn and Thorgils coming to get Jael for training.
His father.
Eirik wasn’t there anymore. He wouldn’t be on Oss when he returned.
If he returned.
Eadmund’s shoulders slumped as the path narrowed, leading towards a sharp rise. He stopped, turning back to look at the city; the castle gleaming in the afternoon sun. He wanted to keep going, to keep walking until he left it all behind. Until he was far away from Hest. Until he was on his way home.
Home.
He wanted to go home.
Closing his eyes, Eadmund heard Draguta’s demanding voice and he swallowed, knowing that he had to head back to the city. He hadn’t trained enough. Not nearly enough to please Draguta.
He had to hurry back.
It took a while for Bruno to find any words.
Edela’s question stunned him so much that his thoughts froze, though memories were quickly swirling of a past he had buried long ago. He glanced at Ayla, seeing the fear in her eyes. She sat on the edge of the bed, keeping her distance.
‘There was a time when I was in debt. I owed a great debt. I needed coins,’ he began hesitantly, stopping to clear his throat. ‘A lot of them. Chests full of them. I owed a man. A lord in Silura. Keld of Sundara was his name. I’d been his man since I was a boy. Rose up the ranks until I was commanding his fleet. He’d trusted me with his ships and his crew, and I was responsible for losing them. They were burned in a raid that went wrong. My raid.’ Bruno paused, watching Ayla, but she just stared at him, her mouth slightly open, her eyebrows knotted together. ‘We raided a lot... I wasn’t a merchant then.’ He looked embarrassed. ‘After the ships burned, and his men died, Keld took my sister. Said he’d keep her hostage until I brought him new ships and the crews to sail them. Compensation too.’
Ayla blinked in surprise. She hadn’t known that Bruno even had a sister.
‘Leesa was young. Only eleven.’ Bruno’s voice caught. ‘I had raised her when our parents died. She was my only family and Keld was not the sort of man to leave your family with. So I did what I could, as quickly as I could. Took what men I had. Stole a ship. Headed for Helsabor. Raided the coastline. It wasn’t enough, but I developed a reputation quickly, and one day when we were in Angard, I was approached. Promised five chests of gold if I could retrieve a scroll for this woman. It was kept in the Temple of Tuura.’
‘And who was she?’ Edela wondered, edging forward. ‘The woman who wanted the scroll?’
‘Her name was Neera. She was Wulf Halvardar’s daughter.’
‘You knew this for certain?’
Bruno nodded. ‘When I returned to Angard, she came herself. She wanted to see it. I think she was a dreamer.’
‘You do?’
‘It’s what I remember thinking at the time. The way she talked. The things she knew.’
‘And you gave it to her?’ Ayla asked. ‘The scroll?’
‘Yes. I traded it for the chests of gold. She paid for it. Kept her side of the bargain. But Keld didn’t. My sister was long dead by the time I returned with his ships.’ He looked down, still haunted by the shock of the day he’d discovered that. ‘It was my fault. When my mother was dying, she’d begged me to take care of Leesa. And instead, I got her killed.’ He looked up, tears in his eyes. ‘She was just a child.’
Ayla felt chilled to the bone.
Edela was still on the hunt for answers, wanting to confirm that Bruno’s story was truthful, thinking about what Alaric had told her. ‘And how did you get the prophecy?’
Bruno sighed. ‘I went to Tuura, putting myself out there as a successful merchant. I came with spices and glass. Silver and silks. High-quality items that drew the attention of those who knew people at the temple. Then I started asking around, letting it be known that I had a lot of gold to pay for a particular item I needed. Eventually, a meeting was arranged with a man who worked in the temple. He told me he didn’t know what I was looking for, but when I showed him the gold, he was suddenly eager to help.’
‘Who was the man?’ Edela wondered.
Bruno shrugged. ‘I can’t remember his name. He was a scribe, I think.’
‘And how do you know he gave you the right scroll? That it wasn’t just a ruse?’
‘Well, I don’t. I couldn’t read it. But Neera Halvardar could. She looked it over, rolled it back up and handed over the chests. And that was the last I heard of her.’
Edela was intrigued.
Ayla was speechless. She felt as though she didn’t even know the man sitting opposite her.
Noticing the tension between them, Edela stood. ‘I should leave. You will have things to discuss, I know,’ she said awkwardly, heading for the door where she stopped, looking back at Bruno who was looking at Ayla, who was not looking at him at all. ‘I am sorry,’ she added. ‘About your sister.’
Bruno nodded distractedly. ‘Thank you.’
Edela quickly pulled open the door, already knowing where she needed to head to next.
Else was pleased to see Meena. So was Morana, though there was nothing she could do to communicate with her, so she worked hard on clearing her mind, not wanting any thoughts about her dreams to enter it. She was intrigued, though, as she watched her niece, wondering what Draguta was up to now.
Meena was quickly on her hands and knees, dragging an old chest out from under Morana’s bed.
Else frowned. ‘Why are you all wet?’
Meena sat back on her heels, brushing dripping hair out of her eyes. ‘I had a swim, though I wish I hadn’t now. Draguta was cross.’
Else ignored that and smiled. ‘Oh, I’m glad to hear it. Where did you go? I would like to take a dip myself one day. It is becoming so hot in here.’ She looked at Morana who appeared to be glaring at her, although she looked like that most of the time, Else realised.
‘Just to one of the coves,’ Meena said, relaxing for a moment. ‘It’s called Fool’s Cove. The water was so cold.’
; Else’s dress was sticking to her, and she looked wistful, longing to feel cold.
‘I will ask Morac to watch Morana,’ Meena suggested. ‘Then you can go for a swim.’
‘Well, I wouldn’t say no to that! And I might visit Dragmall while I’m out. See if he’s got any more herbs for me.’
Morana was pleased to hear it, hoping that Morac would come. And quickly.
She needed to get back into her dreams.
Evaine had tried to cheer herself up by dragging Morac to the markets before they went to visit Morana. She wanted to buy more furniture for the house, hoping to make it look and smell more enticing for Eadmund, though she knew that the house wasn’t the problem. And no new bed fur or lavender added to the floor reeds would help with that.
Morac spent most of the time chatting with Elfwyn, who didn’t know what to make of the attention she was getting, and who tried to drift further back to encourage Morac to speak to his daughter instead.
‘Will you go to Helsabor?’ Evaine wondered, elbowing a woman in the ribs as she passed, not bothered by the foul look she received in return. ‘With Eadmund?’
Morac shook his head. ‘No, I don’t expect so. It was different, fighting with the Islanders. They were my people. Eirik was my king. But this is not my fight, and I’m an old man now.’ He stopped, turning to wink at Elfwyn. ‘Well, not that old. But unless I’m required, I shall remain here. I want to keep an eye on you and Morana.’
‘Why?’ Evaine snapped. ‘Morana is done for. There is nothing for her to do now but sit in that chamber and wait for death to come.’
Morac didn’t want to think that was true, but likely it was. ‘She is still your mother,’ he tried. ‘Are you saying you feel nothing for her? That you don’t care?’
‘That’s exactly what I’m saying. I care about Eadmund and our son. I care about getting away from here. Going home. Becoming the Queen of Oss. I care about all the things you have been promising me since I could walk!’ She quickly bit her tongue, realising that she was almost yelling. Leaning closer, she lowered her voice. ‘All the things you and Morana promised. Promised would happen!’