‘This should be on your father’s head.’
Liddy shook her head. ‘Allow me to deal with this in my own way. I will not die a slave. I give you that promise.’
‘It isn’t that simple. I have a duty towards you.’
She hugged her arms about her waist. This was the problem with Aedan—he thought women were to be protected, rather than letting them contribute fully. Women in his world were delicate creatures who did not have any sense. She might not be able to wield a broad sword for any length of time, but she certainly knew how to protect herself. ‘That duty finished when I left here as a widow.
‘No more messages, Liddy, except the one I want to hear. You don’t have to do this alone. That is part of what the fish were about—a message to that overgrown lump that there will be consequences if he tries to harm you.’
Liddy closed her eyes. She should have known that he would not listen to the message she sent. When she had control of her temper, she looked directly at her former brother-in-law. ‘He had the women in the grove properly buried. Did you know that? He doesn’t sacrifice women. He is different. He is honourable. I promise you.’
‘When you are ready to see sense, send the pendant.’ He bowed low. ‘We may have our differences, but you are family. No family member of mine stays a slave if I can help it.’
Chapter Thirteen
Sigurd waited until they had left Kintra’s lands with its graveyard far behind them. His heart had skipped a beat when Liddy returned with the sunlight turning her hair red-gold and had readily agreed to Aedan’s suggestion that this was the start of a new era.
He’d not realised how worried he’d been that she’d just disappear. He should have known that Liddy would keep her word. His mother would have loved her and he could think of no higher praise.
She had passed the test. And it frightened him. Had she only returned because he owned her?
If he freed her, would she stay? Or did she want something more from life? Hring was right. Once he’d found the gold, then he could marry her and offer a secure future. His gamble with Beyla would work. She would lead him to it.
However, the spark faded from Liddy’s eyes as they soon as they left Kintra behind.
‘How did you find the graves?’ he asked, trying to discern what was wrong. ‘Neglected?’
He waited as Liddy studied the ears of her mare for a long while.
‘Aedan apologised to me. He no longer believes I am cursed. He knows it was Brandon’s invention to cover up the defects of his boat. He lied in church about me being cursed.’
‘The utter swine. It’s a pity he is dead. I would have loved to challenge him.’
Her mouth turned up. He found lately that he was striving more for her little smiles, the ones which lit up her eyes like the sun peeking from behind the clouds after a morning’s rain shower. ‘You would have defeated him as well, I’m sure of it.’
‘Will you need to return there?’
She slowly shook her head. ‘There is nothing for me there. I’ve said my goodbyes. It is a lovely spot, though, overlooking the bay. Peaceful. Aedan commissioned the most beautiful cross. Part of his apology. He offered me sanctuary if I wished to escape...’
‘You wish to escape.’ Something tightened in his chest. He half-wanted her to say yes. It would make things easier. His mother had died because of him. He did not want Liddy being used against him.
She turned in her saddle, eyes blazing. ‘Do you think so little of me? Or would you like me to go?’
‘Will you take his offer?’
Quickly masked pain and hurt crossed her face and Sigurd knew he had said the wrong thing. He hadn’t explained it well enough.
‘Are you giving me my freedom?’ Her voice shook. ‘Are you saying that our time is at an end? How long have you been plotting this? Did you arrange it with Hring and Mhairi so that I would demand to come?’
Sigurd regarded the rugged landscape. The words about loving her and being frightened to be without her stuck in his throat. The last time he thought he’d loved someone, it had ended badly. All he could see was Liddy slipping away from him.
‘It was a mistake to come here.’
A mixture of emotions fluttered across her face. ‘I see.’
‘I hope you do.’ The words about how much he dreaded losing her wouldn’t come out. But equally he dreaded having her stay only because she was bound to him. Aedan’s words taunted him. ‘I hope you do. When you want to go back to Kintra, you tell me and I will arrange it. I will make sure you are looked after. But I want you to stay with me because you want to be with me, not because your father sold you. You are now a free woman. You belong to no one except yourself.’
A lump formed in Liddy’s throat and the carved pendant Aedan had given her felt heavy in her pouch. He’d just done the unthinkable and had offered her her freedom. He knew that the gold was lost for ever and he’d have to marry a wealthy woman to make up the missing tribute.
She had been prepared for the end, but not so suddenly. She doubted if she could bear it—watching him with a new woman. While it might not be Beyla, the entire experience showed that she could take nothing for granted. Sigurd needed a wife with a dowry. With Brandon she had had some rights, with Sigurd she had none and yet she’d been freer with Sigurd than she had ever been with Brandon.
Freedom did not have the same feeling that she thought it would. ‘We are going a different way back. We should have taken the left fork in the track.’
‘You wish to return with me?’
‘Coll would be cross if I left him.’
Sigurd’s face broke into a wreath of smiles. She wanted to savour the moment and pack it away so that she could bring it out when she was old and grey and Sigurd had long departed from her life. A moment of perfect understanding that needs no words. ‘Of course Coll. He depends on the both of us.’
‘He is at home with you. We should get back.’ Once they had returned and she had picked up the threads of her life, this unsettled feeling would go. Sigurd was going to be part of her life for a little time yet. She wanted to savour each moment.
‘There is no hurry. I want to inspect more of the island.’ Sigurd leant down and patted the side of his horse. ‘A good lord knows his lands and his people. I have time. We are in no hurry that I know of.’
Liddy concentrated on the twitching of Hope’s ears. ‘Was this always your plan?’
‘Before you invited yourself along? No, but there are reasons why I wanted you to have a horse.’ He smiled and her heart turned over. ‘Allow me my secrets, Liddy. Allow me to give you surprises.’
‘And you don’t want to be there when Beyla arrives? Won’t that make her upset?’
He tilted his head to one side. ‘You seem far more worried about giving offence than I am. Beyla will wait on my pleasure, not the other way around. Hring can entertain her. It may well be that she decides to remain in the North.’
Liddy concentrated on the path ahead of them. They were following the coastline as the island looped around to Loch Indaal. ‘Why are we going to my father’s?’
‘Don’t you want to see your family?’ he asked with deceptive quietness. ‘You should make peace with them. Do you remain angry with your father?’
‘It depends.’ She tightened her grip on the reins. Some day she might be able to forgive her father to his face. He was going to be insufferable. ‘I thought we were friends.’
He gave a half-smile. ‘Lovers, you said.’
‘Both,’ she admitted. ‘I have changed my view. Lovers can be friends. Very good friends.’
He gave a very satisfied smile. ‘I am honoured. There is something I learnt at Kintra. A theory I want to test.’
‘Sail on the loch!’ one of the bodyguards shouted.
Sigurd instantly stra
ightened in his saddle and turned his head towards where the bodyguard pointed. First one longboat and then another appeared, their sails billowing in the breeze.
Sigurd let loose a volley of curses which Liddy barely understood.
‘Ivar the Boneless’s. It appears Aedan told the truth.’
Liddy watched the sails flutter in the wind as the men brought them down. ‘Then it is true, he did make common cause with Thorbin.’
‘He will find out that he picked the wrong warrior to antagonise.’ Sigurd thumped his hand against the saddle. ‘Sometimes the fates are with us and they are today. You see how you bring me good fortune, Liddy?’
‘I’d hardly call a fleet of hostile Northmen good fortune.’
‘Ah, but the element of surprise is on our side.’
‘What are you going to do?’
‘For now I watch and wait. If he does nothing, then I do nothing, but he will do something. He didn’t come all this way for a pleasant sail. We will be ready for him.’
‘But...but...’
‘They will have to come ashore somewhere, probably not close to a settlement. I do know how raids are carried out. The most important element is surprise.’ He motioned to one of his men. ‘You will return to the fort with Sven. He has a decent sword arm now.’
Liddy shook her head. ‘We are near to my father’s lands. I have to know that they are all right. Please, Sigurd, I will stay out of danger. And I trust your sword arm before anyone else’s. I’ve seen you fight.’
He had to agree. Explaining that she worried about him was not an option. She waited for the longest breath of her life.
Sigurd finally nodded. ‘Fine. But if there is trouble, stay way back.’
‘I hardly have a death wish! I have a lot to live for.’ She started in surprise and knew her words were true. She did have a lot to live for. The graves on the hillside were in her past. Joining them would not bring her children closer. She did have a lot of living left to do and she wanted to spend as much of it as she could with Sigurd.
He laughed at that and then sobered. ‘We follow them and see where they make landfall. It may be they can be reasoned with, but if not, they will feel the point of my sword.’
‘I know the area around here well, as it is between my family’s lands and Kintra. What sort of landfall are they looking for?’
‘A quiet stream where they can pull up their boats and which gives reasonable access.’
Liddy concentrated on her mare’s twitching ears and tried not think about all the innocent people she knew—the farmers, their wives and children, people who would be rich pickings for a band of raiders. These boats had to be stopped before any more disappeared. ‘They have already passed three such places. Do you think they could be headed somewhere specific, somewhere it was easy to raid?’
‘You mean your father’s farm? It is on the headland, isn’t it?’ Sigurd’s face became determined. ‘I don’t know. It is a possibility. I doubt they are travelling to enquire about the state of fishing in these waters. Is there a place near your father’s hall?’
‘We should warn them. Give them a chance to hide.’ She bit her lip. ‘We should also inform Aedan. One of the reasons he returned early was to protect his people.’
‘What would he do?’
‘He could send men to help. His warriors are far closer than your men. They could be here before nightfall. The raiders like to strike in the dark. We could strike first. The element of surprise would be with us.’
Sigurd shook his head. ‘He won’t come.’
Liddy took the pendant from her pouch. She had to use it now and save everyone. If Sigurd went in alone, he would be outnumbered. ‘He will come, if you give him this. He promised me that.’
Sigurd’s eyes widened and he turned it over and over in his hand. ‘When did you get this?’
‘Aedan gave it to me today. It is...for emergencies.’
‘And you took it without asking me?’
‘It seemed best.’ Liddy concentrated on Hope’s ears. Her stomach knotted. Explaining now why she’d taken it would only delay things. Later after the battle was won, she’d confess her fears. ‘It was a peace offering. Use it now. Summon him. Ask him to come where you think they will make landfall.’
Sigurd motioned to two of his men. ‘You ride and tell all the estates under our protection and Kintra about the danger. They must make up their own mind about what they will do. Then come find us. Does that satisfy you, Liddy?’
The men took off at a gallop. The tension flowed out of Liddy. They would arrive long before the raiders, particularly if Sigurd was right and the raiders would take their time. Her mother had a long-established routine of what to do if raiders should appear.
They rode on a little until they came to a sheltered cove.
‘Here!’
‘How can you be so sure?’
‘It has been used before.’ Sigurd pointed to a shallow indentation. ‘They had a fire here and you can see how the shoreline has been disturbed in the past, if you know how to look.’
‘But we have had no problems with raiders,’ Liddy protested.
‘Your brother-in-law has. It is why he went to Ireland. It is why he took those fish.’ Sigurd stroked his chin. ‘Interesting, yes?’
Sigurd directed his remaining men on how they should position themselves.
Liddy watched in fascination. Now that Sigurd had pointed out what she should be looking for, it made sense that they had made landfall here.
‘It amazes me that they never raided my father’s estate, it’s no distance away,’ Liddy said as she came to stand beside him. ‘He will appreciate you being here. Thorbin would never have done that. He rarely came out here this way.’
‘Rarely, not never.’ Sigurd paused in his preparations. ‘When was the last time?’
‘Is it important?’
Sigurd nodded. ‘It could be. I have taken both the forts apart as well as the sacred grove. There is no way the missing gold was there. But it exists. I believe the islanders when they say that they paid. He will have hidden it somewhere.’
‘Why? Why are you so certain?’
‘Because I have done as you suggested on that first day. I have shown faith in the islanders. They have started to pay the tributes. Slowly and with grumbling, but they are paying. Islay is a productive place. And the shipping alone makes it profitable.’
‘And no one has seen Shona, his last mistress. She disappeared about the time he sent Ketil’s man back in a barrel.’
‘She will be buried with the treasure so that her spirit guards it. The question is where?’
Liddy tried to remember precisely when Thorbin had visited the estate. ‘The last time was earlier this year. My mother commented on it. It was after that he became paranoid and started issuing decrees.’
‘Before or after your brother attacked him?’ Sigurd’s voice held a note of barely suppressed excitement.
‘Before. I returned from Kintra just after that. My father encountered him and his entourage hunting in the woods and invited them for a meal. My mother was very upset at the thought of such a man dining with us. However, Thorbin refused. I can’t remember if they had a woman with them.’ Liddy shook her head, trying to work out why Sigurd might be interested in such a thing. ‘After that he significantly increased the tribute. My mother blamed my father, saying that he had made too many extravagant promises and Lord Thorbin must have considered that we had more gold than we knew what to do with.’
‘Is that when your brother decided to attack Thorbin?’
‘Malcolm went to the fort to take the first portion of the tribute. There was a field of winter cabbage. He had heard that they wanted fresh vegetables. Fa had been laid up or otherwise he’d have gone.’ Liddy studied the ground. ‘I never thought Malc
olm would do such a thing. My father was astonished.’
‘Do you know what the fight was about? Did Malcolm confide in you?’
‘Why is this important now? What does it have to do with these Northmen?’
Sigurd looked out to where the ships were slowly moving up the loch. The cries of the men could be heard as they stroked their oars in time. ‘It may have great bearing. This lot are making no pretence at silence. They have been here before.’
‘It was out of character for Malcolm. He is a farmer, not a fighter. He cares about the soil and making things grow.’
‘Youth can be hot-headed. Your brother does have a quick temper.’ Sigurd gave a soft laugh. ‘It runs in the family.’
‘We are not talking about me.’ Liddy shielded her eyes against the sun’s glare. The boats were coming ever closer. ‘I don’t see how discussing what Thorbin did will help us defeat those Northmen. Perhaps we should make for my father’s hall.’
‘Is there a bay near this cabbage field?’
‘What?’
‘I suspect your brother saw something or Thorbin thought he did.’ Sigurd slammed his fists together. ‘I should have seen it before. He made an example of Malcolm when there was no need to do it. He also made sure that I knew Malcolm for a troublemaker and malcontent.’
‘You mean as if the cabbages were a secret sign.’ Liddy trembled. ‘The gold. Do you think he might have hidden it around here? And that Malcolm was attempting to blackmail him.’
‘Precisely.’
‘Why here? Why in this area?’
‘It is reasonably close to his fort, but nowhere that any of Ketil’s men would look, particularly as your father is well known to be loyal.’ Sigurd leant forward. ‘And Gorm was wrong. Thorbin did not pay Ivar anything. Ivar paid him. He had to keep the gold away from his men and that meant secreting it somewhere where his men would not suspect.’
‘But he arrested my father and brother.’
‘I suspect Thorbin felt he could manage the situation better than he did. He expected to return if he was sent to Ketil. Then he felt threatened.’
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