Islands in the Fog

by Jerry Autieri

  "I will discuss it with my crew, but you and your friend will need me no matter what. My only condition, and you must agree to this, is that Ulfrik be given to me. He must face justice from my hands and no other. What do you say, Jarl Hardar?"

  Hardar did not hesitate. Ulfrik was a match for both him and Vermund. "It is a fair start. Let's drink to the fall of Ulfrik and Nye Grenner."

  CHAPTER TEN

  Ulfrik stood before every man in Nye Grenner. They assembled in the thick grass, murmuring in low voices. Concern was written in the creases of the men's faces, and vibrated in the timbre of their voices. Women and children either waited in the hall or remained at their homes. Ulfrik thought of Runa, and how she had quivered to restrain tears at hearing the news. He wished he could be with her, but his first duty fell to the people under his protection.

  The sun hung fat and low in the sky, turning the high clouds pink. It would not vanish for several more hours despite the late hour. A balmy breeze shuffled the grass. In the distance, white dots of a sheep herd crossed the green slopes. Ulfrik held his arms tightly behind his back until the murmurs died, then cleared his throat.

  "You all know why I've had to call this meeting. But I wanted you to hear the news from me. Halla Hardarsdottir fled to my lands, seeking protection from a man she fears. I cannot say if her fears are true. But she came to us of her own will, and Toki has offered her shelter. Now Hardar claims she has been kidnapped and demands her return. I would have been glad to do this, but he also demanded Toki's life. He refused a payment of silver instead. So now he has fled and vowed to return with allies. We are at war."

  Men spoke all at once. Snorri and Toki sat at the front, and both turned to the crowd to ask their silence. Ulfrik let the initial reactions subside before he continued.

  "War is all Hardar wants, and so he shall have it. Each of my hirdmen are worth three of his. He counts on allies and numbers to crush us. He is wrong. We will send his men to the feasting hall, seize his flocks and wealth, and put an end to his threat."

  Men clapped or shouted in agreement, but not all did. The young and warlike seemed eager to find glory in the shield wall. But the older men, the family men, frowned or blinked silently. One voice shouted louder than the others. "You gamble all our lives for one man. Who wants war if not you?"

  Ulfrik started at the accusation, and the rush of voices dropped. He recognized the man, an old farmer, and realized he had two sons in the hird. The pulse in Ulfrik's neck throbbed, even though he had expected such a rebuttal. "I know it seems an unfair trade. But if it were your life, would you feel the same? Toki did not commit the crime Hardar claims. He does not deserve death."

  Toki hung his head and picked at the grass. Ulfrik felt an awkward mix of sympathy for his guilt and satisfaction at his suffering. His rash action had cost Ulfrik his peace. The crowd returned to grumbling, a few voices calling out in support and others demanding to reconsider. Ulfrik's patience flagged.

  "Hardar has no right to demand any of our lives without better proof than his own stories. Where does it stop if I surrender Toki? Will he then demand another life for another imagined crime? Law must rule or we will have chaos."

  "Where is his daughter now? If you return her, his rage might cool, but never if you keep her."

  Ulfrik paused, knowing there was truth in the claim. He glanced again at Toki, who continued to hang his head. "She is my hostage now. Hardar will not dare much with his own daughter's life at stake."

  "She is Toki's lover," shouted a voice from the back rows. "You keep her for his pleasure!"

  Men stood and the uproar echoed over the field. Toki leapt up and spun to curse the anonymous accuser. Ulfrik paced from one end of the crowd to the other, waving men down and begging for calm. He wished he had something to bang or a horn to blast. But he could do no more than yell over the confused voices until he prevailed.

  "Silence! By the gods, stop your bickering! Listen!" The crowd grumbled a few moments longer, then returned their attention to Ulfrik. "Now, I keep her as my hostage and she fulfills that role before any other. Hardar cannot gamble with the life of his only child. I am no murderer, and I could no more kill her than I could kill a baby. But if Hardar attacks and she is in the hall with your women, will he burn it down? Does that help you understand the benefit to her presence?"

  Ulfrik folded his arms and glared at this man. He avoided Toki's gaze, even though he felt it hot upon his own. Just as it seemed calm might prevail, another voice rose up.

  "Is it true Toki broke an oath to the gods when he took in Halla?"

  Ulfrik felt as if he had swallowed ice. His belly fluttered at the question. "Who asked that?" Toki's oath had only been known to Ulfrik's closest men. None of them would have spread this secret, yet one had.

  Silence blanketed the group. Every expression turned stony and every face turned to Ulfrik. He attempted to assemble a response, scrambling for the right words. But Toki jumped in front of Ulfrik as if to shield him from an arrow.

  "My oath is to the gods and not to you. But I will answer, since my actions have brought worry to your homes. Yes, I vowed to never see Halla again. I made a mistake, and the gods will have their vengeance upon me." Toki's head drooped and his voice became a whisper. "And they have already begun. Guilt is a worm that eats my heart."

  Ulfrik placed his hand on Toki's shoulder and guided him to his side. "It is as the old sayings go: 'Nothing good can happen to a man who breaks his solemn vows.' But it is not our place to judge Toki, for many of us have broken small oaths. And many of us have not dared to take a heavy oath, and tested our own will. Let the gods deal with Toki. We must deal with Hardar."

  The assembled men shifted and looked away, but many still folded their arms in dissent. Ulfrik leaned toward Toki. "Don't worry, old friend. It is easy to make accusations. I will bring them around."

  Toki shook his head. "It is not for you to bring them around to me. It is my task. You focus on Hardar."

  Ulfrik patted Toki's back, then addressed the crowd again. "We have much to prepare. If we suspected Hardar of raiding sheep or disputing fishing grounds before, we can plan on worse aggression. I want the levy prepared, and each man to take their flocks upland if you haven't already. We will watch from the cliffs, prepare beacons to warn us if Hardar returns. In the meantime, I will plan our attack with my war leaders. That is all for tonight."

  He waved his hand in dismissal, and the crowd divided and wandered away. Ulfrik watched the two groups forming: men who were prepared to fight and those who were not. He spoke to no one in particular. "No matter what my plans, the first battle will be at home."

  Halla's eyes and head throbbed from two days of crying and worrying. Muscles she never knew existed burned after the struggle to hold fast during the storm at sea. Even now, safely on land, she still felt the violent rocking of the ocean. When she closed her eyes, her mind replayed Toki's friend tumbling overboard with an arrow in his back, his smile incongruent with the moment of death. She knew no peace, no rest, since that moment.

  She sat at the edge of Toki's bed while Dana sat on the floor, picking at her tattered dress and humming softly. Toki's home made her feel like she was in a box. The small fire pit was unlit and the smoke hole open. A watery light spilled down and outlined Toki's few possessions that hid in the dark corners. The home was uninviting and unused, a place for ghosts and forgotten dreams.

  One of her dresses was balled up and tossed into a corner. It had been ruined during the flight to this place. She and her mother had made it together. The thought of her mother brought shudders of sadness, but her tears were spent. She expected to never see her mother again. Everything she took from her old life was stuffed in a sealskin bag that now lay on Toki's bare dirt floor.

  Dana noticed Halla was now sitting up, and leapt to her feet. Her delicate face was smeared with dirt, but her smile came through. "Lady Halla, I didn't realize you were awake. Master Toki is away, but promised to return soon."

&nb
sp; "I never slept," Halla said, stiffly rising to her feet. "My mind is too busy for it."

  "You need sleep," Dana chided. "You must look your best for Master Toki."

  Halla's shoulders slumped. "He favored me well enough to risk his life. Let him see me as I am, which is tired and unhappy."

  "Lady Halla, you have to charm the others too. You need friends here, if this is our new home."

  Halla walked the short distance to the door, pushed it open and welcomed more light and fresh air. She didn't dare leave, as if crossing the threshold would commit her life to Nye Grenner forever. The thought of Nye Grenner being a new home had appeal, until her father had complicated that possibility. Now I will become a hostage, she thought while turning back inside. I am still a piece on my father's game board, only on his opponent's side. What have you gained for all you've done?

  "What do you think of this place as a new home, Dana?"

  She shrugged her shoulders and sat on the floor again. "I won't miss your father's temper. Otherwise, it's all the same for me. My home is far away from here, Lady Halla."

  "How foolish of me, sorry." Dana smiled, and Halla continued. "If Toki is the man I hope he is, maybe one day you can return home. My father kept you as my slave, but I think of you like a sister."

  Dana's hugged her knees and looked away. Halla sat on the floor across from her, leaning against a bench coated in dust. Halla wondered at the dust. Does no one ever visit here? Will this lonely house become a prison? She pushed the answers down into her mind. She didn't want to guess.

  She heard footfalls approaching and a shadow crossed the open door. She didn't stir, but Dana scrambled to her feet and faced the entrance. Toki's dark shape filled the doorway. He paused, curly hair and cape stirring in a summer breeze. His hands were working the belt that held his sword. When it came free, he entered and absently dropped the weapon into a corner.

  "You are awake. You must be hungry now."

  Halla nodded slowly. The engaging and intelligent conversations of days past had become three and four word sentences since she arrived. She sensed Toki struggle to keep a pleasant face.

  "When you are ready, I will take you to the hall. My sister's cooking is famous."

  "So you've said about twenty times in two days." Halla stood, and Toki extended his hand to assist. He still smiled, and she felt her face grow warm. "I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that. I'm being terrible."

  "It is a difficult time for both of us." Toki stepped back from her once she had her feet.

  "To be honest, I don't want to go to the hall. Could you bring something back to me?"

  He stared at her, his lips tightening as he did. "It's time you came to the hall with me. You will be here a long while yet, so there's no shame in going to the hall."

  Halla trembled and feared she might cry again. Toki had been more patient than she had expected, but he must have a limit. She dreaded to find it, and learn what he would do to her. An image of her mother sprawled out and cradling her face as her father leaned over her popped into Halla's mind.

  "I am a hostage, am I not? That means Ulfrik must hate me."

  Toki laughed, placing both hands on his hips. "He does not hate you. What he must tell the people and his true heart are two different matters. He will welcome you and treat you well."

  "How can you know his heart?"

  "We have faced death together, many times. We are brothers, Ulfrik and me, not of blood but of the sword. We know each other's minds."

  "Then did he know you would seek me after vowing to the gods you would not?" Halla asked intending to deflate his confidence. But she saw her words had struck deeper. Toki's face clouded and he turned away, walking farther into house. He unpinned his cloak and threw it on his bed, then sat on a bench. Dana stepped back, trying to disappear and not knowing where to look. Halla dismissed her with a nod. Once Dana had exited, Halla sat beside Toki and placed her hand on his knee.

  "I have made a mess of things, for you and me. For everyone on this island. I was foolish to think my father would not act as he has."

  Toki smiled and covered her hand with his, warm and rough on her skin. "Neither of us planned things well. I am not so good at planning, and hoped you'd be stronger at it than me. Forethought is better than afterthought, they say. I will learn that lesson one day."

  They both laughed, and Toki squeezed her hand tighter. He met her eyes, his expression becoming earnest. "But we followed our hearts. Can that be wrong between a man and woman? I will make you glad for your choice."

  Halla tensed at the weight of his words. She had fled to him seeking escape from Vermund. As rash as it seemed now, she did not expect to marry Toki, not immediately. But then what had she been thinking? She pulled her hand from Toki, and touched her head. She had made so many mistakes, and hoped to avoid making more. Yet she did not know what was right.

  "I'm sure I will be glad, Toki. But nothing is settled. My father is at war with your lord, and so you are sworn to battle against him. Does that mean you would kill him? Would you kill my father?"

  His eyes grew wide, and Halla seized on that idea. She needed to create space for herself, to avoid being rushed into marriage with a man she did not honestly know.

  "If I had to defend my lord, my sister and nephew, then I would." Halla heard the iron in his voice. He gave her a hard look, then studied the floor at his feet.

  "And if you had to defend yourself?"

  "I would do what I must," he snapped, twisting on the bench to snarl at her. "This is an odd situation, and I understand. But what would you have me do? Allow myself to be gutted? Beg the gods it will never happen, and that your father will come to his senses and accept payment for my life."

  The tears finally began to run again as Toki glared at her. She wished she were back home, even with her father and Vermund. She longed for her mother, badly enough that her sorrow broke through. She had prodded Toki, at last finding his limits. Thinking of him killing her own father filled her with horror. He was a miserable man, but she didn't want her father dead.

  Toki blew out a long breath and rose from his bench. Halla watched him stand through tear clouded eyes. If he disowned her, then she would truly be alone in this land. The panic began to build, and she found herself blurting out her thoughts. "I want to go home to my mother."

  Toki had fetched his cloak from the bed, but froze at her words. Then he spoke and threw his cloak across his shoulders. "That would be unwise. You are under my protection here."

  "So I am your hostage!" She stood now, her heart racing and a stream of worries flooding her mind. "I thought I meant more to you than that?"

  Toki fixed his cloak pin, and smiled at her. "I will let you decide whether you are a hostage or otherwise." Without another glance he pushed past her and paused at the door. "I will bring you back something after I eat. I trust you will remain here if you won't come with me?"

  Halla didn't answer. She sniffled instead, lost for anything to say. Toki grabbed his sword out of the dark corner where he had dropped it.

  "If you plant to visit your mother, men watch this home and watch the shores. Stay inside if you won't consider being my guest." He ducked out of the door. Halla watched the shadow grow smaller until he had gone.

  She collapsed to the bench and began to sob, wishing she could undo the past two days.

  The last of Ulfrik's men locked into place in the battle line. Ulfrik paced before them, mail flashing in the afternoon sun. He tucked his helmet underarm so he could peer into the eyes of each man as he passed. Nye Grenner's green standard with black elk antlers cracked and snapped overhead. On this pleasant afternoon full of wind and high clouds, where seals barked merrily on the rocks and the air was redolent of the sea, war would visit Nye Grenner.

  Smoke from the beacon on the cliffs overlooking the northern entrance to the fjord struggled against the wind, but had given its warning nonetheless. He judged Hardar's ships to appear within the hour of the smoke appearing. He planned to rich
ly reward the two boys manning the beacon fires. Their sharp eyes had proved as valuable as any weapon. From his vantage on the hill, he spied the first sails on the glistening water. He watched with his men, his mouth silently moving as he counted the sails.

  Ulfrik called his army to attention. He held them in momentary silence, reviewing them and judging their will. Satisfied he saw no weakness, he planted himself before them and thundered out his speech.

  "Make no mistake, today we are called to defend our lands. Hardar's intent is clear: to reduce our homes to ashes and tears. If you count the sails behind me now, you will see he has bent others to evil. No matter. All foes will wash away on the tide of blood before this day is done. We stand on this ground and we do not budge. We do not show mercy. We accept only victory. We fight for family, unlike Hardar and his jealous friends who fight only for pride. The gods love us and will grant us justice. We deliver the gods' justice at the point of our blades!"

  Ulfrik thrust his fist into the air and his men followed, shouting in one voice. Ulfrik's heart thrummed at the grit and determination arrayed before him. Without looking back, Ulfrik knew the ships closed on the shore.

  "Remember how we have drilled. Follow my command and those of my seconds. Protect yourself and protect your shield-brother. Then let your blades speak for you. Your families are safe in the hall, and Hardar will want to threaten it. He knows you will worry for your kin. Forget about the hall. If we stand here there is no way for him to reach it. You do not leave this hill; you do not leave your position! Do as I've ordered, and victory will follow. For Nye Grenner!"

  The men roared back as Ulfrik joined the center of the line. Snorri gave an approving nod as Ulfrik donned his helmet, drawing the cheek plates closed. On his right, Toki gripped the banner of Nye Grenner. His stoutest warriors formed the front ranks, and many ranks back his trained hirdmen bristled with spears and axes. Behind them, Ulfrik had clustered bowmen drawn from the levy.