They looked at him blankly and he felt frustration filling his chest. His time was limited. He heard a rumbling in the distance that wasn’t thunder and he figured it was the soldiers on their way to help the monks. He ran to look over the edge of the wall. That’s when he saw Kadlin down below, outside the walls of the monastery. She ran over the ground toward the longboats with a brown woolen robe fluttering behind her in the breeze. Her hood had fallen down and he could see her long, blond braids bouncing up and down. It was the best thing he’d ever seen in his life.
“She’s alive!” he cried out, feeling a weight lifted from his shoulders. He shouted over the edge of the wall. “Kadlin, can you hear me?” She stopped and turned around and he lifted his hand to get her attention. She looked upward and he was sure she saw him, but she just turned and continued toward the longboat.
“Brandr, this place is full of treasure,” shouted his brother, heading up the stairs with his arms filled with golden plates and chalices.
The monk cried out and rushed forward, grabbing a chalice from Finn and causing him to drop the rest. Brandr’s brother looked up in anger and pulled his sword from at his side.
“You will die for that, holy man.”
“Nei, put the sword down, Finn, and just let it go.” Brandr stepped in between them. “I’ve seen Kadlin. She’s alive and headed for the longboats. We need to get back to the ships.”
“Not before we’re done. There is still so much more to take.” Finn bent down and scooped up a few of the items he’d dropped.
“That’s an order,” said Brandr, shoving his brother toward the stairs. Finn would have probably objected, hadn’t the sound of a Viking horn split the air just then. Three short blasts and one long one was the signal that they were in danger and needed to return to the ships at once.
“What’s going on?” asked Finn, looking over the wall. “Who’s sounding the horn?”
“It’s Kadlin,” Brandr told him, her name on his tongue tasting ever so sweet now. “She’s trying to warn us. The soldiers are coming. Now we need to go.”
“Nei, we’ll stay and fight to the death. I’m not afraid. We’re warriors, we don’t run from danger.” Finn had that crazy trance-like look in his eyes again of a Berserker. When he got this way, there was no stopping him. Brandr hurried him down the stairs where Asa and Signy were waiting. He hoped he could distract Finn long enough so that he’d forget his rage.
“Did you find Kadlin?” asked Signy. “We haven’t seen her.”
“She’s blowing the horn from the ship,” Brandr announced.
“She is?” Asa’s face lit up. “Thank the gods, she’s alive!”
“Possibly not for long.” Brandr felt a shiver work its way through his body at just the thought that Kadlin could be in danger once again. “She’s trying to warn us that the soldiers are on their way. Now take whatever you can carry and get back to the ships at once.”
The women picked up their bags filled with pillaged treasure and hurried toward the gate.
“Finn, help me get the word to the others,” Brandr ordered. “I’ll stay until everyone is out.”
“Nei, I’ll stay,” said Finn with his jaw set firmly in a clench. “You go to Kadlin. Protect her this time, brother, as it might be your only and last chance to keep your promise.”
“I owe you,” said Brandr, clasping arms with his brother, and turning and running toward the gate.
Brandr dodged monks running in fear and Vikings hauling out their newfound riches in big canvas bags thrown over their backs. His uncle even wore several gold crosses on chains around his neck. If Thor didn’t strike him down for that, Brandr just might do so as soon as they got back to the boat.
He ran across the soggy earth, making his way to one of the ships. When he approached, he saw Kadlin in the moonlight, standing at the prow of the ship, just behind the wooden carved head of the fierce dragon that had led the way to these lands of opportunity.
She looked more beautiful than he’d remembered, and he stopped for a moment and just stared up at her. “Kadlin,” he said, in not much more than a whisper.
She dropped the horn from her lips and looked down to him. Their eyes met and he thought he’d burst with joy. He saw the Forget-me-nots in her braid. Though they looked broken and slightly wilted, she still wore the flowers. She remembered his promise in the field of flowers five years earlier. She must still want him if she was still wearing Forget-me-nots in her hair so many years later.
He ran through the water, splashing it every which way, making his way to Kadlin. He flung himself over the sidewall of the boat. He hurried to her with outstretched arms, his heart so happy that she was alive that he wanted to shout out loud.
“Don’t touch me, Brandr.” She held out a hand and backed away. Brandr’s excitement left as quickly as it had come.
“Kadlin, you’re alive,” he said in a hoarse voice as he dropped his arms to his sides.
“No thanks to you,” she snarled and looked out over the sea.
“I thought you were dead.”
“Well, I wasn’t. You knew that. You looked right into my eyes before you left me to die at the hands of the enemy, all alone.”
He wanted to talk to her and find out more, but the Vikings were hauling themselves and their plunder back onto the ship now.
“Kadlin!” shouted Asa, throwing down her shield and running to hug her sister.
“Daughter, thank the gods you are alive.” Signy followed right behind her.
Brandr just stepped out of the way, his heart sinking to his boots when Kadlin hugged and kissed her mother and sister the way he’d wanted her to do to him.
She looked over to him then, her green eyes filled with tears. He wasn’t sure if they were happy or sad tears, but the tears she shed weren’t for him. Her stare was cold and stone-like and he knew he’d have no chance to talk to her and make amends right now.
He heard the sound of horses and the earth shook with thunder as the king’s soldiers burst through the forest with their swords raised high.
Brandr looked around him, realizing most the Vikings had obeyed his orders and were already back to the longboats with their bounty.
“Where’s Finn?” Brandr pushed his way through the crowd of Vikings, looking for his brother. Then he pulled his uncle to the side. “Where’s Finn?” he shouted.
“I don’t know,” growled Skuti. “I saw him heading for the refectory as I left the gates, so maybe he’s still there.”
“Arrrgh,” Brandr growled, knowing he never should have left his brother. Finn was too stubborn and was also obsessed with treasure. “Was he looking for more Vikings?”
“Looking for more to plunder is more like it.” Skuti plopped his bag down, so laden with heavy gold and silver objects that he could barely carry it. Brandr heard that oftentimes the monasteries housed the wealth of kings and nobles as well. Now that they’d collected so much, he could see it was true.
“Get ready to set sail,” Brandr gave the order to the others. “Man the oars and do it quickly because we have visitors, men.”
“We’ll fight them,” called out one of the men.
“Nei. This time we will return to Skathwaite with our treasures and our men alive. This time we will not leave with our dead lying upon foreign soil.” He started to lift himself over the sidewall of the ship.
“What are you doing?” asked Signy, running over to stop him.
“I’m going back for Finn.”
“That’s suicide,” she said, eyeing the soldiers spreading out across the land, heading up toward the monastery. “If we leave now, we can all get out alive.”
“I’m not leaving a loved one behind.” He looked over to Kadlin when he said it. Their eyes interlocked for a mere second and she dropped her gaze to the floor of the ship.
“Skuti – if I’m not back with Finn before the soldiers make their way down to the water . . . leave without us.”
Kadlin’s head jerked upward and he
r eyes opened wide. He was sure she was going to object, but she didn’t.
Brandr was too choked up to say anything to her. Instead, he lowered himself over the side of the longboat into the water and ran up the hill to the monastery. He prayed to Odin to protect him, because he had a good idea this time it would be him lying wounded or dead on the shores as the longboats pulled away.
Chapter Six
Kadlin watched in horror as Brandr ran up the hill with his weapons drawn, heading right into the midst of trouble. What was he doing? She’d sounded the horn and warned them. They could be safe and gone from here by now, but instead he was heading back to the monastery to save his fool brother.
“I’m going after him,” she said, hurrying over to the sidewall.
“Nei, you will not!” Her mother grabbed her by the arm, but Kadlin managed to pull away.
“I can’t let him die,” she said, surprising herself by these words, as she really thought she wanted him dead up until now. Kadlin tried again to get to the side of the ship but Asa blocked her path, standing like a warrior with her shield in hand and her legs planted in a stance that said she wasn’t going to let her sister pass.
“Asa, move aside,” said Kadlin. Her sister looked so much like a warrior and so much older than her seventeen years of age. The years had changed people and she hardly even recognized her little sister anymore. She’d grown up and turned into a shieldmaiden, while Kadlin had spent the last five years learning how to communicate with monks who worshipped a God that was foreign to her.
“Let him die,” said Asa. “After all, isn’t that what he did to you? Left you?”
She looked up to see the other two longboats already sailing away from the shore. Skuti was giving orders to the men to raise the sail and she knew, although he was Brandr’s uncle, he wouldn’t wait for him to return.
A shout was heard and she ran back to the rail and looked over the edge to see the soldiers riding their mounts through the gates of the monastery. Brandr was in there with his brother and now they would be trapped. She knew it would be only a matter of minutes before the soldiers realized the Vikings were already back on the ships and come for them. And when she heard Skuti’s next command, she realized she was about to lose Brandr forever this time.
“Oarsmen, prepare yourselves for departure. We will wait only another few minutes for Brandr and Finn, and then we will sail away without them.”
“Finn, Finn, where are you, you fool!” Brandr stormed through the gates of the monastery to find his brother dragging a heavy bag behind him, with another one over his shoulder. He still held a torch in one hand.
“Give me a hand with all this booty,” said Finn, his face lighting up until he saw the soldiers coming right behind Brandr.
“Behind you,” he called out, and Brandr raised his sword and swung around just in time to stop a blow that could have been deadly. He managed to take out the man with one fatal swipe of his sword, but another soldier atop a horse threw a rope around him and rode away, dragging Brandr behind him.
“You don’t do that to my family and live to tell about it.” Finn dropped everything and picked up his battle axe, flinging it through the air. It hit the soldier in the back and the man fell from his horse to the ground, almost hitting Brandr in the process.
“Aaaaargh,” Finn cried out, holding his shield and sword high and running through the courtyard like a man possessed, striking down one soldier after another.
“Finn, let’s go,” shouted Brandr. He wasn’t afraid of a fight, but knew they were severely outnumbered and that the longboat was about to leave without them.
He unwound himself from the rope and pushed up to his feet. There was chaos all around him and the soldiers were closing in. His hand went to his sword and he prepared himself for battle. There was no way out of it this time.
“Kadlin,” he heard someone say from behind him. He turned to see the monk he’d followed up to the bell tower. He was sitting atop a horse-drawn wagon full of hay. “Kadlin,” he said again and held his hand to his heart.
“You were her friend?” he asked, in his own language. The monk seemed to understand him and nodded. Then he pointed to the back of the wagon and headed the horse toward the gate.
Brandr could see what the monk was doing. He was trying to help him. His cart was headed right toward the gate. The soldiers were getting out of his way. This might just work, but he needed another distraction. He picked up the burning torch that Finn had dropped and lit a pile of hay on fire, and then another. They went up in flames. Shouts were heard and some of the soldiers jumped off their horses to aid in trying to put out the fire before the entire wooden building went up like a torch.
Brandr ran and jumped onto the back of the wagon, throwing the torch into it, and setting it afire as well. As they passed his brother, he jumped off the cart and grabbed him. Throwing him into the back of the flaming cart, he dove in, too. The flames weren’t touching them, just helping them. The monk drove right past the soldiers and out the gates without being stopped.
“We’ll wait no longer – men we sail,” shouted Skuti, spitting over the side of the boat.
Kadlin heard the sickening creak of the longboat as the wooden oars slapped the water and they started to move. Her heart broke in half to think they’d be leaving Brandr behind. After having lost him once, she wasn’t about to let it happen again.
“Nei,” she cried, running to the other end of the boat as it moved through the water. She looked out toward the shore and saw a flaming horse-drawn cart heading toward the shore with an entourage of men on horseback following from a short distance behind. She looked harder and realized it was Brother Francis driving and, if she wasn’t mistaken, she saw Brandr and Finn hanging off the sides of the burning cart.
“Wait! It’s them,” she cried out. “Stop the boat.”
“Nei, keep going,” shouted Skuti. “It’s too risky to stop. The soldiers are headed in this direction.”
Without even pondering her action, she ran to the side of the boat and jumped off into the water. As she hit the water, she heard her mother shouting for the oarsmen to stop rowing.
Kadlin sloshed through the water toward the shore and stopped in her tracks as an arrow whizzed past her ear, landing right behind her.
“Kadlin, come back,” shouted her mother from the boat.
She looked up to see Brandr and Finn with their weapons raised, jumping off the burning cart and running toward the longboat. She smiled and then nodded her thanks to Brother Francis who stopped the skittish horse right at the water’s edge.
The man’s eyes opened wide and he stiffened, then fell from the cart to the ground. She realized what had happened when she saw an arrow sticking out of his back.
“Brother Francis!” The horse almost trampled him as it broke loose from the burning cart and a flame caught on the monk’s robe, setting him afire.
“Let’s go,” said Brandr, grabbing her by the arm and leading her toward the boat with his brother at his side.
“We can’t! Brother Francis is hurt,” she cried. “And on fire!”
“He’s probably already dead,” said Brandr. “Now hurry, the soldiers are coming.”
She shook loose of his hold and pushed away from him. “Is that what you said about me five years ago? Well, I’ll not leave a friend for dead the way you did.” She started toward the monk, but Brandr pulled her back once more.
“I’ll throw you over my shoulder if I have to. Now, I said let’s go.”
“Go without me. I’m not leaving the monk. He’s the one who saved my life. Now, it’s only fair I do the same for him.”
Brandr let out an exasperated breath, knowing Kadlin wasn’t going to change her mind. He also knew she was right – he did leave a friend for dead and he was not about to make the same mistake twice, even if the friend was Kadlin’s and not his.
“Get on the ship,” he said in a low voice. When she started to object, he just nodded to his brother. Finn l
eaned over and put the girl over his shoulder and lifted her into the air. She kicked and screamed as he hurried to the safety of the boat.
Brandr turned around and headed back to shore. This was either going to land him in the good graces of Kadlin or kill him, but either way he had to try to save the monk. If he didn’t, there would be no living with Kadlin, as she would never let him forget that he’d left two people behind to die.
Chapter Seven
Kadlin almost retched as Finn climbed over the side of the longboat with her over his shoulder. He plopped her down on the deck and the boat continued to move away from shore. She ran to the sidewall and peered out into the night, seeing Brandr block several arrows with his wooden shield as he made his way toward the monk. The soldiers were riding their horses toward him and getting closer. The Vikings were still too close to shore to be safe and this worried her.
“Hurry,” she cried out, watching Brandr take off his fur vest and tunic and use them to beat out the flames on the monk’s robe. Then bare-chested, he threw the monk over his shoulder, and dodged a few more arrows as he ran out to the water to catch up to them.
“Someone help him,” she cried.
Finn and another Viking reached out over the side of the boat and pulled the monk to safety, laying him on the floor. She ran to him and got down to her knees, putting her hand on his neck, happy to find a pulse. Still, there was an arrow in his back, he was full of blood, and his skin was burned in spots.
“Faster! Row faster!” she heard Skuti call out loudly. She stood up to see Brandr’s hands on the outside edge of the boat. A soldier jumped into the water and pulled him back down. They both went under the water with a splash.
“Help!” cried Kadlin. “Someone help Brandr!” She ran half the length of the boat, stepping over the oarsmen, pushing her way closer to the edge. She looked down into the water, trying to see Brandr. She saw the water turn red and knew it was blood. Her heart about stopped until Brandr’s head broke the surface and he gasped for air.
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