Lord of the Mountains

by Sabrina Jarema

  “That doesn’t sound like a lover’s tryst.”

  “Not like any I’ve experienced.” He gave a thin smile.

  Magnus didn’t question the statement. “We need to see what she brought back. Perhaps that will provide a clue. We can’t alert anyone else.” He considered their options. “I’ll ask Silvi to call her into our chamber to help her with something. In the meantime, Birgitta can go through her things and look for the pouch. Depending on what’s in there, if we confront her with it, she’ll have to tell us the truth.”

  “I have methods, but they’re nothing I would use on a young woman. However, if it’s for Silvi’s welfare, I might make an exception.” He inclined his head to Magnus. “With your permission.”

  “Let’s take one oar stroke at a time. I’ll ask Silvi to call her to help her. Then we’ll see what Birgitta finds. If we all confront her, I don’t know of any young woman who wouldn’t give in to a group of warriors standing before her.”

  “It depends on what she has on the line.”

  “Then we’ll just have to find out, won’t we? And offer her something far more valuable.”

  * * *

  Magnus and Nuallen waited in the common room, a pitcher of ale between them. Silvi barely acknowledged him when he went to speak to her, but she did send for Thyri. No matter how upset his wife was, she had to realize the importance of all this.

  He watched the door to the cooking rooms, where many of the serving women slept for the warmth. In spite of how positive he’d tried to sound to the others, his own uncertainty ate at him. Unless he could prove otherwise, Silvi was in grave danger. All because of him. No. He set down his cup. Because of Toke.

  When Birgitta came out, his heart pounded. She walked toward him with a platter of sausages balanced on one hand, and set it before him. “Mardoll is watching. The pouch is under the plate.”

  He nodded to her and stabbed a sausage with his knife. Nuallen did the same, holding the plate as though to steady it. The pouch came away in his hand and he dropped it in his lap. After Mardoll left, he gave it to Magnus. When they finished eating, Magnus and Nuallen went into his meeting room. Leif joined them and shut the door.

  “We have to be fast, lest Thyri returns to her bed before we speak to her and finds it missing. She may flee.” Magnus opened the pouch. White granules filled it. “What do you make of it?” He passed it to Nuallen.

  He smelled them but didn’t touch them. “No odor. It looks like a mineral of some kind. There are so many poisons from other lands we can get in the markets, it’s hard to say. I would wager that if we ask her to take some of it, she’ll tell us everything.”

  Magnus took back the pouch. “Remind me never to get on your bad side.”

  Nuallen’s face was grim. “That would be Rorik. He’s the one who attacked my holding in the first place, leading to my enslavement. My war will be with him one day.”

  “I wish you luck with that.” Leif shook his head. “Some of that family’s insanity may have rubbed off on you.”

  Magnus hid the pouch in his hand and walked to the door. “Let’s go speak to Thyri.”

  When they entered the bedchamber, the servant was brushing out Silvi’s hair. Magnus’s body tightened at the sight. It flowed down her back like spun silver, gleaming in the morning light. She was his. No coward, no man, no assembly would ever take her from him.

  Nuallen remained by the door, and Magnus walked up to Thyri. There was no point in dragging this out. He showed her the pouch. “What’s in this, Thyri? Nuallen followed you last night and saw you receive this from a young man in the woods.”

  Thyri turned pale and dropped the comb. Glancing at the door, she backed away, but Nuallen crossed his arms and met her panicked gaze. Leif stood at Magnus’s back.

  “It’s—it’s from Oleg. I’ve known him since we were younger, and he’s sweet on me. He said it will make me want him, but I wasn’t going to take any of it. I was going to get rid of it.”

  “If he’s sweet on you, then he wouldn’t give you anything that would harm you, would he?” Magnus looked at Silvi. She was even more pale than usual and sat unmoving, her hands kneading her skirt. He tried to catch her eye, to comfort her, but she wouldn’t acknowledge him. He crossed to a pitcher of water and poured some into a cup. “Thyri, why don’t you try taking some of it and we’ll see if it works? I’m certain any of the men here would like to give some to their women and make them more willing.” He held out the pouch and the cup. Nuallen stepped up beside him.

  She looked back and forth at all of them, then crumbled to the ground, hiding her face in her skirts. As she sobbed, Leif shrugged. “You were right, Brother. We must be more intimidating than I thought.”

  Magnus reached down and dragged her up to stand before them. “I want the truth, Thyri. What is this and what were you supposed to do with it? I want you to tell us everything. Now.”

  “I can’t.” She sobbed. “If Mardoll even knows you’re all in here with me, she’ll kill me and Toke will kill my brother and father. She watches me all the time and might come in here. If she sees all of you . . .”

  They looked at each other. Magnus gave her to Leif to hold, and he knelt before Silvi. He touched her cheek, but she drew back. “Silvi, I need your help. Do you understand?”

  “I’m angry with you. Not stupid.”

  He hid a smile. “Angry is all right, as long as you do something for me. For all of us.”

  “What.”

  “We need Mardoll to leave the longhouse for a time. Can you ask her to go, in a way that won’t arouse her suspicions?”

  She didn’t answer at first. Then she sighed. “I could ask her to go to Ingeborg and get some herbs that must be freshly ground. She’ll have to wait for them.”

  “That would be fine. Will you do that?”

  She nodded and left. He returned to Thyri, and Leif continued to hold her by the arms. She wept and pleaded, but they ignored her until Silvi came back in. “Mardoll’s gone to the healer’s house. She doesn’t suspect anything.”

  “Thank you. Now, Thyri, Mardoll isn’t coming in here. What’s in that pouch?”

  Her face collapsed and tears ran down her cheeks. “I don’t know its name, but Toke got it in the Far East. It comes from a rock and they use it to kill people. He wanted me to put it in the bucket that people use to draw water from the well. It would make them sick, like they had eaten something rotten. But it might also kill them.”

  “Why is he doing this? What does he hope to gain?”

  “He wants revenge on you for his son. Also for being more prosperous than he is. He wants Thorsfjell for himself. That’s why he had the outcasts attack you last winter. He sent me here to spy on you and then to do things that look like the dark arts. He wanted the blame to fall on the mistress, so you would lose her.”

  Leif shook her. “We took you in, gave you shelter, a home. This is what you do to thank us?”

  “I had no choice.” Her legs gave out and Leif set her in a chair, then stood back with Magnus and Nuallen.

  Magnus slipped the bag inside his belt pouch. “What did you mean when you said Toke would kill your father and brother?”

  “That’s why I had to do as he said. He’s hiding my brother, Rollo. He’s only fifteen.

  “If my father and I don’t do as he says, Mardoll will kill me and Toke will kill my brother. He’s forced my father to lead his outcasts or he’ll slay all of us. My father never meant any harm. He’s a good man. When Toke slew the old jarl and took over Bygvik, he found out my father had been a raider once and had his own ship. Toke took the ship, and then my brother, and used him against all of us. Mardoll is a relation of Toke’s and will do as he says for her own gain. He gives her things and supports her. He sent her here to be certain I do what he wants.

  “I’m so sorry. I had no choice.” Her expression hardened as she looked up at them. “But now, if I can tell you anything to help you, I will. I want revenge on Toke for what he’s done t
o us.”

  “Tell us of your father.” Magnus sank down on the bed.

  “He’s a skilled fighter. He didn’t want to attack you. I’ve heard it said that whoever led Toke’s forces must have been very foolish and inept. He’s not. I’m certain he meant to lose those battles, deliberately misdirecting the men. He knew you’d defeat them, but he still could tell Toke that he tried. It would, at least, keep him from killing my brother.”

  “What of my wife? Do you know how he intends to accuse her of the dark arts?”

  “Oleg is very proud that Toke trusts him. He brags of things. He told me Toke plans to say the mistress’s dark ways caused the sheep to die. Mardoll forced me to give them the yew. She was watching me. But I made certain some of the leaves stayed in their mouths so you could see what it was and try to help them. He’s going to use Droplaug’s stillborn son, saying Silvi caused it, that the child died as it came from the womb because she touched it.”

  “And he wanted you to use this poison and say the sickness and deaths are Silvi’s fault.”

  She nodded, and sobbed again. “I wasn’t going to do it. I was going to tell Mardoll that I tried it and it didn’t work. Toke is also going to say the mistress brought down snows on his side of the mountain, to kill people. Mardoll saw her sitting on the stillborn child’s grave, and everyone knows that’s how sorcerers make the ground shake and the rivers flood.”

  “He’s using our misfortunes to his own advantage,” Leif said. “As well as lying outright.”

  “I know.” Magnus couldn’t trust Thyri, but he might still need her. He regarded the other men. “If we can get the boy back here to safety, it would take away some of Toke’s leverage. Thyri, do you know where your brother is?”

  “No, Jarl. But Oleg has a sack of food with him when he meets with me. He might be taking it to Rollo.”

  “All right. You have to understand that we can’t quite trust you any longer. You’ll be watched very closely from now on. If you do as we say, we’ll be able to rescue your brother and father. But you have to be true to us.”

  “I understand, Jarl Magnus.” She left the chair and fell to her knees in front of him. “I don’t care what happens to me. You can sell me into slavery for what I have done to you. But please rescue my brother. He’s blameless in all this.”

  “No one is being sold here.” He pulled her to her feet. “We’ve never dealt in slaves. My rescuing your family gives me more leverage against Toke. It’s a means to an end. Understand this, Thyri: Nothing is more important than my wife’s safety. Nothing. Not me, not my brother, not even Thorsfjell. If you betray me, you’ll wish I had sold you off.”

  Now he had the information he needed. The missing pieces were on the game board and all he had to do was move them into place. Toke would be on the run; but, like the pursued king’s piece in tafl, once he reached the end of the board, he would have no place left to go.

  He shoved her away and nodded at Leif and Nuallen. “Tonight, we plan.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Silvi hid a tiny smile behind her cup. She hadn’t felt anything other than pain in the week since the envoy had come. Since the unthinkable had happened. The smile felt foreign.

  Sitting at a table in the common room, she sipped her milk. It was all she’d been able to stomach these last seven days. She’d used so much myrrh for the pain in her belly, her mother had stopped her from taking any more of it. The darkness she’d been living under since finding out about the charges against her had begun to lift only in the past two days.

  Magnus paced the room, striding out the front doors and back in again. He wasn’t accustomed to waiting. He’d always charged into the fray, leading his men in their battles. Not this night.

  All their plans were coming to fruition. Even though they involved only the warriors, Magnus had insisted she sit in on all their sessions. It had helped. Seeing what they were doing for her sake, how they were fighting for her reputation and her life, had given her heart and hope. Magnus hadn’t worked at all on his own defense, only hers. It made her uneasy, but every time she’d mentioned it to him, he’d told her not to worry about it.

  She hadn’t sought her visions, or the runes. Let her mother do that. It was all dead to her. She’d always thought them a gift, but now they were a curse.

  “What’s taking so long?” Magnus sliced his hand through his hair. “They should all have been back here by now.”

  “They had to travel a good distance.” Lifa sat at another table with her runes spread out before her. “All the signs are good ones. The gods smile on us.”

  “If they did, we wouldn’t be in this position to begin with.” Silvi shot her mother a glare. Although she’d started to come to terms with what had happened, resentment still simmered in her. If it weren’t for Magnus, her mother, and Eirik, the gods would indeed be pleased with her. But they weren’t, and this was the result. Now Leif was stealing ships from Toke, and Nuallen was out chasing some boy across the mountains to find Thyri’s brother. All of them were in danger.

  “The gods don’t change what people do, Silvi.” Lifa turned one of the runes over and studied it. “They do help us overcome the misfortunes we have.”

  She didn’t reply. Thyri had met with Oleg a few days ago, and then again, this night. He let her know when he wanted her to come to him next, so Magnus and his group had been ready. Toke had left for the Thing, so they’d had to move fast. Right after Thyri had told them of Toke’s plans, Magnus had ordered Mardoll locked away so she couldn’t do any more damage, or harm Thyri. Leif and Kaia took the small faering to Toke’s fjord to kill whoever was guarding their vessels, and steal them. Then, no one could go after Toke and warn him about what was happening there.

  Nuallen went with Thyri to follow Oleg. They could only hope he led him to Rollo. If he didn’t, when Toke’s men found the ships missing, they would kill him.

  Magnus stayed behind to coordinate their plans so the timing would be right. His inactivity was wearing on him. Thyri was curled up in a little ball on a side bench, tearstains on her cheeks, lost in her misery. She’d returned a short time ago saying that Nuallen had sent her back and then followed Oleg. They’d heard nothing since.

  Voices drifted to them from outside. Silvi jumped up as Leif and Kaia came in. He was grinning, and even the stoic shieldmaiden looked pleased.

  “Toke’s ships are gone from their beach.” Leif took the cup of ale Birgitta brought him.

  “And so are the five outcasts guarding them.” Kaia smiled and Silvi stared at her. She was quite beautiful when she wasn’t contemplating killing someone. Then again, her joy may have been because she had just killed someone. “We hid the ships in a small cove to the west of the entrance to your fjord. We felt it would be better than bringing them here. Stealing ships is not honorable.”

  Leif shrugged. “We’re only claiming them a little early, is all. When the assembly finds in favor of Magnus, he’ll challenge Toke, and kill him. Then, by law, he’ll gain all of Toke’s property. The ships will belong to Magnus anyhow.” He drank down the rest of his ale.

  Birgitta brought out a platter of meats, cheese, and dried fruit. Behind her, Nuallen strode in.

  “I didn’t want to come in the front door in case there was a problem.” He nodded to someone in the cooking room. A young man stepped out. He had long, wavy brown hair and gray eyes, like—

  “Thyri.” He held out his arms and she leaped off her bench and ran to him. They embraced hard, their faces buried in each other’s hair.

  “Rollo. I thought I’d never see you again.” Her voice was thick.

  He held her away from him and ran his thumbs over her tears, drying them. “I know. I wasn’t certain I’d survive either. They said if I tried to escape, they’d kill you. I didn’t know what to do. There were four of them guarding me all the time. I couldn’t get away, and even if I had been able to, I couldn’t risk them hurting you.” After giving Thyri a kiss on the forehead, he walked to Magnus.
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  “Jarl Magnus? On our way back here, Nuallen told me all that has happened. If you need another sword, I’ll pledge myself to you. Now and always.” He looked embarrassed. “But I’d need a sword first. Mine was taken.”

  They all laughed. Even Silvi smiled. He was a tall, strong young man, not yet grown into his maturity, but the promise of it was there in the set of his shoulders and the pride of his bearing.

  “First you need to recover, Rollo.” Magnus indicated the food. “Take what you want. You must not have been fed much.”

  “No.” He took a plate and piled on the meats and cheese.

  “And Nuallen, I suppose Toke has four fewer men.”

  Saying nothing, the Northumbrian inclined his head.

  “What of the boy you followed?”

  “I don’t kill unarmed youths, barely into their first beards. I waited until he left.”

  Magnus regarded them all. “Tomorrow, we leave for the Thing. We’ll keep Rollo and Thyri hidden until the right time. Toke will want to keep their father close to him, so he should be there. We’ll find him and let him know we have them and he needn’t fear for them. Toke will have no more leverage against us, and the truth will be told. Like tonight, we must hold back our strike until the right time. Then we attack with every weapon we have.”

  They raised their cups with a shout. Thyri held on to Rollo, smiling through her tears. After they’d drained their ale, Magnus came to Silvi.

  All through the past seven nights, he’d done nothing more than hold her. At first, her resentment kept her turned away from him. She couldn’t look at him or touch him without anger building in her because he had destroyed her dreams, and perhaps her life. Still, he’d gathered her to him, keeping watch over her while she’d slept. In the daytime, he’d planned and strategized to save her. Following his lead, all the villagers had come to her, supporting her, lending whatever help they could. Love surrounded her from all of them. She’d seen she wasn’t so alone any longer.