by Quinn Loftis
“We could leave the horses and sail straight to the clan,” Brant said, interrupting my thoughts, “but if Cathal has already made it there—gods forbid—he will likely continue on by land when he doesn’t find Allete. If he goes farther inland searching, we could possibly run into him coming at him from the opposite direction.”
It was something I hadn’t considered. “Good thought, Brant,” I said, patting his shoulder.
“So, the horses come with us,” Kjell said. “But should you continue to ride?” He nodded to my side, which I hadn’t even realized I was clutching. “You were injured before. I can’t imagine that little episode you just had made it feel any better.”
“I’ve fought battles with worse injuries. I think I can handle sitting on a horse a while longer. And what just happened has only strengthened my resolve. Not even the gods are going to keep me from getting to Allete,” I said. After a few moments staring at the harbor, I surveyed at each of my men in turn—Amund, Rush, Kjell, Delvin, and Siv. “Are you all with me?”
They nodded and answered as one. “To the death.”
“And you?” I asked Thomas.
“I will do anything to save my cousins. Right now, you are their best bet, and as long as you continue to be, I will follow you.”
I chuckled. “At least you’re honest.” I took my borrowed horse by the reins and began marching toward the dock. “Then we ride.”
It took some time to find a captain willing to sail us across, not to mention one with a boat large enough for all of us and our horses. In the end, it was Thomas’s name, station, and a handful of gold coins—with the promise of more to come—that convinced a grizzled old sea captain to bear us across the channel. The man’s ship, if it could be called that, had to be two or three times older than its captain. It floated in a sad state of disrepair and looked as if it might slip beneath the surface of the water at any moment.
“Do you think we will make it?” Brant asked.
“And can the horses swim a good distance if we don’t?” Rush added.
I ignored their questions and began helping the elderly captain, who called himself Roland, prepare to cast off. We coaxed, threatened, or cajoled the horses slowly up the gangplank and onto the deck of the ship. Apparently, the beasts were wise enough to share my men’s concerns about the seaworthiness of the vessel. By the time we finally got all men and beasts aboard, the sun was dipping low in the sky, reflecting across the choppy water.
“How long does it take to get across the channel?” I asked Roland.
He motioned for me to raise the sail. “Depending on the wind and sea, can take half a day to a day. If the gods decide they want to play with us, could take longer.”
Brant motioned me over to where he stood with Thomas trying to keep the horses calm. “Is he trying to tempt the gods to hinder our travel?”
I frowned. “He was just answering my question. You aren’t old enough yet to be worrying like an old maid.”
Brant growled at me. “You’ll be singing a different tune when we’re fighting through a squall in a couple hours. Him talking about the gods playing with us just puts ideas in their minds.”
“Do you really think the gods give a shite about whether we make it across the channel?” I asked. “They have better things to do than watch us sail across the ocean. Besides, this entire boat is being held together by the sheer will of a man who refuses to see that he’s too old to be commanding a pony, much less a ship this size. We’re likely to go down the minute we clear the harbor without any help at all from the gods.”
Brant made a sound halfway between a splutter and a growl. “Don’t you go tempting the gods, too,” he barked before turning his back on me, muttering prayers and incantations under his breath.
Four hours later, I was choking on my words. Apparently, the gods were extremely interested in whether we would make it across the channel intact and onboard. The sea roared around us as rain poured from a sky that had been cloudless only a couple of hours ago. The storm had rolled in faster than any I had ever seen, and the night sky was pitch black and starless. The moon’s tepid light barely penetrated the clouds, only enough for me to see a few feet in front of my face.
“Don’t ever comment on what the gods care or don’t care about,” Brant yelled at me over the waves and wind.
Thomas laughed, which made me want to throw him overboard, but I refrained, for Allete’s sake. The horses reared and bucked, so I grabbed the reins for two of them while Brant and Thomas did the same. Rush and Amund took hold of their own animals, while the other men helped Roland keep the boat together and on course. I ran my hand down each horse’s neck, trying to soothe them, even though my own spirit was far from relaxed. I prayed to the gods, all who would listen, to get us across in one piece. The only thing left to do was hold on and hope the storm passed quickly.
Finally, after what seemed an eternity, I glimpsed land through the gloom. I had no idea how long we’d been tossed about in the chaos of the gods’ wrath, if that’s what it truly was. My legs were shaky and weak, even more so than they’d been from riding all day, but my feet had never been happier to find solid ground.
“Well, that was brutal as hell,” Kjell said. He helped Amund, Roland, and Rush get the ship tied off to the dock. Thomas lowered the remaining sails, and Siv, Delvin, and Brant helped me get the horses ready to move.
When we were all back on land, Thomas turned to Roland and handed him several gold pieces bearing the seal of King Albric. “I will be sure to get you the remainder as promised.”
Roland nodded. “If you need a ride back across, search me out.” He waved to them and then limped back onto his ship.
“I know we’re soaked, but we need to ride for a bit and find a place to get a fire going and make camp,” I said. The men nodded and mounted their horses without complaint. I pulled out my compass and moving until it pointed north before digging my heels into the horse’s flanks and taking off into the night.
I had only planned to ride for an hour, but my spirit was restless inside of me and kept urging me forward. We rode until the sun was high in the morning sky. I pulled my horse to a stop when we came upon a small creek.
“Let the horses rest,” I commanded.
“The horses,” Brant groaned. “How about mine own arse? It needs a rest, too.”
“I’m not terribly concerned about your arse,” I said. “I’ll leave that to Dayna.”
The others laughed while Brant mumbled under his breath something about me kissing the arse in question. It felt good to laugh, but I still felt the restlessness growing inside of me. I found some semi-dry ground under a tree and sat, leaning back against the trunk. My eyes closed, and I wondered if I would see my love in my dreams. It didn’t take long to find out.
After what seemed like only a few minutes, I sat up from the tree, peering about me. A fence enclosed the tree and I now, and two sleeping figures lay on the ground near me. My men were all gone. I turned my head and saw the figures were Allete and her sister, Dayna. Then I heard Allete’s voice, coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
“I am tired,” the voice said. Looking up, I saw her standing a few feet from me, but her body was also still lying on the ground.
“You are the soul of my beloved,” I said.
“And you are the soul of Torben,” she responded with a gentle smile.
I reached for her, and she came into my arms without hesitation. I pulled her down between my legs, her back against my chest, and wrapped my arms around her. I couldn’t get her close enough.
“Are you okay?” she whispered.
“I’m worried about you,” I answered truthfully. “What happened to you? Who hurt you? Where are you?” I know the questions were coming out too fast, but I couldn’t hold them in. Seeing her, holding her, was a relief I couldn’t begin to describe, but I needed to know what had happened. I wanted to know who I needed to kill.
“That is an interesting story.”
“Please, Princess, tell me what happened to you. Who hurt you?”
“You know about that?” she asked, somewhat surprised.
I nodded, her hair rubbing against my face as I pressed closer to her. “I tried to speak to you. I didn’t know if you could hear me. I could feel everything, Allete. I couldn’t breathe. I felt the pain on your face and in your stomach. The worst, though, was what I felt on my throat. You were dying.”
“I was,” she admitted. “A man was holding a knife at my throat, and when I moved to get to my sister, it slit my throat. I didn’t think; I just lunged. A witch was going to touch her, and I didn’t know if she would hurt her or not. But I didn’t want to wait to find out. So I just acted.”
“Hilda healed you?” I asked.
“Yes. She had to join her magic with my own to do so.”
“And what about your face and stomach? Who hit you?” I didn’t want to upset or scare her, but I couldn’t keep the anger out of my voice.
“One of Calder’s men. Just like one of his men was the one holding the knife.”
“Who the bloody hell is Calder?”
“Magnus’ brother.”
“What?” I snapped, pulling her tighter against me. “Calder? We’ve had no contact with him in a very long time. I thought they were at odds.”
“Apparently, they don’t like each other now any better than they used to. He took us all prisoner. And Calder has a witch working for him—a wielder of dark magic. She was trying to decipher who the healer was, Dayna or me. She’s evil, Torben. There is no conscience in her. After Hilda healed me, Gisele—that’s the witch—stabbed Dayna.” Her voice caught with emotion, and her body shuddered against me.
“Dayna is okay?”
“Yes. I healed her. Seeing her hurt was more terrifying than feeling the life slip out of my own body,” she admitted. “I can’t imagine a world without Dayna in it.”
“That’s how I feel about you,” I whispered. Tilting her head toward me, I gazed into her eyes. “I was helpless to save you. I knew something horrible was happening to you, and all I could do was endure it with you. I couldn’t even take your pain away or let you know I was with you. Why couldn’t we speak to each other like we’ve done before?”
“I don’t know. This bond is still so new, and your mother hasn’t had time to fully explain it to me.”
“You’ve been too busy saving each other,” I said, sounding more irritated than I meant to.
“But that’s not the worst of it.”
“Tell me,” I said, my stomach already sinking at what she might say.
“Gisele stabbed Dayna and called her useless, and as you can imagine, my impulsive sister did not take kindly to the slight. She was more insulted by that than being stabbed. Stupid girl.”
“Where was Magnus while all this was happening?” I asked.
“He was tied up along with the rest of his men, watching. He wouldn’t tell his brother which one of us was the other healer, besides your mom. Calder took us all as prisoners, and his witch confirmed what I am by ruling out Dayna. The idiots didn’t realize all they had to do was ask. I would have told them if it would have kept Dayna from being hurt.”
I cursed under my breath. If Calder knew Allete was a healer, he would want to enslave her, too. That certainly meant he wouldn’t kill her, but there were some fates worse than death. Damn Magnus and his greedy soul. “I’m sorry, Princess,” I whispered against her neck. “I told you I would keep you safe, and I haven’t been able to keep my promise. I’m sorry you’ve endured such horrible things.”
“You can’t control every situation, Torben,” she said, running her fingertips across the back of my hand. “I will be fine. Dayna and I are not so easily defeated.”
“You will make an amazing shieldmaiden,” I said with unconcealed pride.
“You’ll let me learn to fight?” She sounded surprised.
“Of course. Why would I leave you helpless to defend yourself? The women in our clan have the freedom to be warriors right alongside the men. They usually protect the clan when we leave, although sometimes a few come with us. You females are relentless and dirty fighters. I’d rather face a man any day.”
She laughed. “I imagine the women have to fight dirty to make up for the fact that men are physically stronger.”
“Strength does not ensure victory. There is one woman in our clan who has bested nearly half of the male warriors. She’s fast, and very good at convincing her opponent she’s weak or inexperienced. It doesn’t help the arses let their pride get in the way of their judgment.”
“You sound fond of this woman.”
She’d tried to sound casual, but I heard the jealousy beneath her cool façade. “I can appreciate her skill as a warrior without wanting to bed her, Princess. You’ve nothing to worry about.” I leaned down so that my mouth was against her ear, my warm breath caressing her skin. “There is only one female I want. Only. One.”
She trembled in my arms, and a beautiful flush covered her neck.
“One day, I’m going to find out just how far that flush goes, Princess,” I said, my voice deep with desire.
She smacked my arm. “Now you’re just being crass.”
“Expressing my desire for my future wife isn’t crass, but I will cease for now, only because I don’t want to ravish you unless it’s your physical body.”
“You’re simply incorrigible. How have your travels been?” she asked, successfully distracting me from my less-than-honorable thoughts.
I huffed out a laugh, but it lacked humor. “We were nearly swallowed by the sea on a ship that has seen better days. But we made it to Normandy.”
“You are on horseback again?”
“Yes, and my backside does not appreciate it.”
She laughed. “I’m sure we can make it up to your backside once we are back together.”
“A promise I will hold you to,” I whispered against her neck. We sat in silence, simply holding on to each other, not knowing when we would see one another again. It drove me crazy that I couldn’t be with her, that I couldn’t physically make sure she was okay.
“You are worrying,” she said.
I nodded as my lips pressed against the spot just below her ear. Her scent surrounded me, and I wanted to take as much of it into my lungs as I could. I was pretty sure I could survive on her scent instead of air. “I’ve only ever had my mother and my clan to worry about. I’ve never cared about much else more than my own safety. Now that I have you, I’m thrown off balance. I’ve never had so much to lose. It’s eating away at me. There are moments when I feel as though I won’t be able to take another breath because I do not know from one moment to the next whether you will be all right.”
“Focus on what you can control,” she said gently. “You can’t control the weather, or Cathal, or me, or Magnus. All you can control is what you do with yourself. Keep moving forward. Keep yourself safe so that you can help those who need you. We are meant to be together, Torben. Trust that it will happen because it is meant to be.”
“How can you be so sure?” I asked her.
“Because any other outcome is unacceptable,” she said simply. “And because your mother claims she’s never wrong,” she added with a soft chuckle.
I don’t know how much longer we sat there in companionable silence, but it was over much too soon. As I felt the dream world slipping away, I turned her face quickly and pressed my lips to hers. “Stay safe,” I whispered against her mouth.
“You as well, Viking,” she said, and pressed her lips once more to mine.
When my eyes opened, the warmth I had felt while holding her was gone, and I was alone. Despite the fact that my men and Thomas were with me, I felt utterly alone.
“Brant and I took turns keeping watch,” Thomas said as he stood and stretched.
“Thank you,” I said as I took stood. I had been so desperate to get to sleep in hopes of seeing Allete that I hadn’t thought to set up a watch.
If I didn’t get my head on straight, I was going to get myself and my men killed.
“We’ve been resting for about five hours,” Brant said.
“Then we should be able to ride for nearly a day,” I said. The men nodded in agreement and began gathering their horses. Thomas and Brant had also cooked some rabbits they’d managed to catch and passed around the meat. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing.
Less than a quarter of an hour later, we were mounted and on our way.
“We are going to be crossing the territory of kings and other clans,” I said. “Keep your eyes and ears open.”
“We should stay in the cover of the trees as much as possible,” Brant suggested.
I nodded and then took the lead as the others fell in line behind me.
Thomas was directly behind me, and I could feel his eyes on me. “What’s on your mind, Englishman?” I asked him.
“I’m just trying to figure out why, exactly, you were in our kingdom. I heard what you told my uncle. What I want to know is how you disguised yourself and your men. What you did was not simply stealing some soldiers’ clothes.”
I let out a sigh. Though I was still hesitant to share, I felt that Thomas had a right to know at least something. Might as well tell him. I motioned him to come up beside me. We were moving at a quick pace but not a full-on gallop. I didn’t want to wear the horses out too quickly, not when I knew we would be riding for many more days, if not weeks. As we rode, I recounted the story, starting from the first time Hilda shared the prophecy with me. I left out some of the more intimate details of my time with Allete, but I did share with him exactly what she and I were to each other. I wanted no confusion about how I felt for her or how serious my devotion to her was.
“How did my dear cousin take all of this information?” Thomas asked with a smirk.
I chuckled, remembering her face when Myra had explained the blood bond. “She handled it with all the grace of a princess.”