The Wolf

by Alaric Longward

  Red Raven fell back. I tripped him, and he crashed over his chair. He roared and pulled out a hidden dagger, and so did the Roman and I. Akkas stepped back, and back, and one of the völva moved like a lightning and produced an ax. She smashed it into the skull of Akkas so brutally, his skull was crushed and split. The troll-like man rolled to the side.

  Red Raven fought for his life. He hissed, spat, and rolled to his feet. His blade was moving, slashing and stabbing, and he kept me and Lucius at bay as we danced around him. He opened his mouth to scream for help, and then, the other völva struck him in the face with a club.

  He fell forward and onto our feet, spitting teeth, moaning.

  We looked down at him as he tried to see us. “You…this is the White Tent! Donor will—”

  “I serve Lok,” I said. “The Roman serves his gods, the two sisters theirs.”

  The völva pulled out their deer masks. Mada and Saruke stood there, and Tamura looked at them with pride and worry.

  Heinrich was shaking his head. “An abomination. You are…this is. Abomination. No Hermanduri has ever betrayed the old ways like this. How dare you…”

  I squatted next to him. “I cannot serve Akkas. I cannot leave. I cannot serve you, you rapist shit. You are a worm. So, I shall serve Rome. It is unfortunate I had to make Tamura betray Rome so I might have a chance to be of service to them, but of service I have been. It was I who pushed Cenhelm to despair, risked all Roman plans, and then? I serve them the solution. They took the deal. I will serve Cenhelm now.” I looked at the girls. “Your boy hates you, by the way. He is your heir now and shall seek no vengeance. He will marry one of the girls, and as he has released both, he has also taken vengeance on you. You raped his once-lover that night in the hall before his eyes. Remember? Do you think he is like you? He is not. I could see it from the first moment I saw him. He has taken your bodyguard away, by the way.”

  He shook his head, chuckled, and spat as he tried to get to his elbows. The Roman kicked him, and he fell to his side, trying to draw breath. He looked at me with a pain-filled expression. “You think Rome will forgive you, or the bitch there for this?”

  “Cenhelm will marry Tamura,” I said.

  “Oh, will he? He might, but he slices his own balls by doing that! And you and Rome? Solution for their problems, or not, you inconvenienced them and made the problem to start with! When you came, I was still going to die in battle in the Wolf Field. You came up with the plans, and here we are! They won’t forget. You do not understand Rome.”

  I looked at Lucius, who said nothing as he stood over Heinrich.

  He went on. “And Hermanduri?” He chuckled. “They won’t forget what you did. They will know. They will never forget this. Cenhelm stained his rule with this treachery. It is soiled like a piss-filled bed. You think you will rule here? That Cenhelm shall invite you to his feasts and shower you with wealth? He will know better. Even a rapist murderer, Maroboodus, would have served you better.” He looked at me and then at Tamura. “I took them both. I had them both, and men were watching. They were not brave, and wept and begged, but I didn’t care. Gods spit on you as well, bitch.”

  Tamura closed her eyes and stepped forward. The two girls, eyes cruel, stepped with her, and together, they tied the man’s hands and legs. The Roman helped. When they were done, Tamura looked up at me. “He is right. He is right that we must make amends to Rome. I shall do it by marrying Cenhelm. What will you do? And how will you survive with us, because I hate you? I have aided you here for Saruke, and I will save you once for Mada, but I will then kill you for the others who died.”

  Heinrich was chuckling, in terrible pain.

  I said nothing and watched the girls stripping Red Raven. He was gagged and whimpering, and as they pulled out daggers from under their tunics and pulled down his pants, he was wheezing, face red.

  Tamura smiled happily as she looked at me. “You have no answer? No plans to cover me?”

  I nodded. “I have one. I shall marry the girl Bertilo won’t. I agreed to this with Cenhelm. Surely you will stand with your family.”

  She looked at me with an ashen-faced anger. “I agreed to Bertilo’s marriage. Not to this one.”

  “That’s why I didn’t mention it to you,” I said darkly. “As for Roman anger for me,” I said, and saw Lucius nodding softly as he held Raven still. The blade was cutting at Heinrich’s cock and balls, “and the Hermanduri resentment for this deed and for my broken oaths?” I shrugged as I turned to leave. “I will prove myself in war. Cenhelm knows I am a good ally to have. Have I not proven my wits many times over?”

  I stepped outside and took a deep breath. I almost felt the Spinners cutting threads, and as the Sarmatians were finally making their grand sacrifice, I turned to see Cenhelm speaking with Tyr and Snake. Both saw me coming, looked down, and then went to their knees before Cenhelm. They muttered oaths to the man and left, without looking at me.

  Cenhelm watched them going and looked at me and at the tent.

  I nodded. “Akkas is dead. Heinrich is hoping he would be. It is done.”

  Cenhelm shook his shoulders. “You have given your oaths to me. You have hurt me and then served me and proven…worthy.” He was shaking his head. “It will not be easy, Maroboodus, to join us after this. I will blame it on you and the Sarmatians. You agreed to it. They will ask me why you yet live. I will say the gods will decide if it was right or wrong, and they will be swayed by the fact Heinrich was an oath-breaker and Akkas a coward. But you will bear the blame. We shall see what kind of a hall you will get.”

  “I will prove my worth over and over,” I said. “I have made my choices.”

  He smiled. “You have, and I agreed, and I must see if the gods hate me for it. Can I trust the Sarmatian, I wonder?”

  “If you don’t try to hurt her daughters,” I answered. “And you stay true to Rome.”

  He nodded. “I shall. This Erse and Maino will be delivered to you. And for you to prove your worth, you must have men. You will lead the Chatti. They are yours and may you serve well.”

  I smiled, looked over the river, and saw Ingulf there, alone, waiting.

  I rode to him, and he looked at me, as we sat there.

  He rubbed his face. “No hall with Red Raven.”

  “Unless in Valholl,” I said. “Or wherever gods saw fit to place him.”

  “Not in Valholl.” He eyed me with suspicion. “Why did Tyr spit at my feet when he rode past me? Why did Snake look away?”

  I took my weapons from him and looked away.

  “Where are they?” he asked.

  “Akkas is dead.”

  He stared at me.

  “Red Raven is likely dead as well,” I added. “It depends on how tough he is.”

  He thought it over, and I didn’t stop him. He was sweating from pain, and there was an odd look in his eyes. He spoke softly. “You chose neither. You chose Rome. You made yourself the most hated, cursed man under the Sunna and the Mani, to serve Rome. You betrayed all their customs, the peace of gods—”

  “They had too many guards,” I said. “That was the only way. It was the only way to get Maino off the Romans, and it was, in fact, the only sensible thing to do. Hermanduri will blossom under Cenhelm and Rome, and we shall find our hall, finally.”

  He smiled. “After we, yet again, prove ourselves. You will have to make a name for yourself, again, and you must … “He shook his head.

  “Yes. We must find a new way to power.”

  “Through another war,” he said bitterly. “Over new people who hate you, and you and I shall kill them until you are the Thiuda.”

  “Perhaps?”

  He laughed and spat blood. “And then, when you are, you must guard your power, because men will hate you, and you will have enemies. We will never have peace.” I moved to touch his shoulder, and he nearly pushed my hand away, but let me clasp it. He looked away.

  I spoke softly, worried. “We are nearly there. Where we should be. I will mar
ry, Saruke, probably.”

  He nodded. “What of Maino?” Ingulf asked.

  “Maino?” I asked. “They will give me Maino and Erse.”

  “And will you keep your word to Bero?” he asked. “You will fight Maino?”

  I shook my head. “No. I shall hang him. Him and Bero both. Then, we go to war and worry about Father later.”

  BOOK 4: THE BLIND OWL

  “A someone with a ruthless force of men, and perhaps riders, who might have crimes to clear, honor to shine, would do well to take that bridge, and hold it, and doom the Quadi and their king to die in our spears.”

  Cenhelm to his war council

  CHAPTER 14

  For one week, we prepared for war. Eight thousand men were coming to the Wolf Field. The Red Shields under Bertilo, and Akkas’s former men under Tyr, both marched under the Banner of the Wolf. Herds of horses, columns of cows, thousands of women, and the warriors made the field look like a nation on a march. It was, in many ways.

  Cenhelm was living in his father’s hall now. He visited the mound, he was generous, he was kind, and he feasted the Roman centurions, the auxilia commanders, and the Prefect Cato, who was a humorless, bristly haired man.

  And I was shunned and hated, save by the practical Chatti, who seemed to consider it entirely normal that I took over after Anvil died. They had no use for grudges, and apparently, Anvil had not been a man who feared gods either. My infamy suited the dogs fine.

  During that week, I watched Bero tending to Maino in a hall I had been given. The bastard was sick, he was thin, had sores on his arse, and he shat blood. He was barely coherent, so I decided to wait until he would be well enough to die with fear in his eyes. No man who was dying already would see a rope as nothing but a relief.

  So, I waited.

  The day before we were to march west, a great feast was held. I didn’t attend, but walked the Chatti camp, which had been set around my hall. I spotted Erse coming out of the hall, and she was speaking to Ingulf. I stopped to watch them, and I smiled, for Ingulf looked happy. Ingulf spotted me, and then, he moved away to tend to our horses, and I approached Erse. I had not done so thus far. She walked away, and I followed her to a spring, where she pretended she had not seen me and was washing a cloth. She looked haggard, tired to the bone, and I had no idea how much she had suffered in her Roman slave pens. She was unhappy I had sought her out and couldn’t look at me.

  I squatted next to her and held my head, trying to find words. “It has been a long road, Erse.”

  “I was twelve when you were born,” she said. “I’ve known you for that long. That’s the day I was taken into the hall as a slave, and I served your father by taking care of you.” She nodded. “It has been a long road. But I suppose you don’t mean how many years have passed.”

  I cursed in my head. “He didn’t have to come after me,” I said. “We failed each other many times. All I wanted was to be left alone. We have spoken of this before.”

  She shook her head. “I take no sides. I hate you both. One so righteous, he even shits straight and cannot see what is good in his life, and the other one so selfish and evil, he cannot shit without killing a man.”

  I looked at her closely, and she shook her head. “What happened?”

  “He married me,” she said. “I became pregnant. He insisted we go on when I was ill. Then? I was pregnant no more. I was ill for a while. He had company.”

  “Bero’s wife?” I asked.

  “He is married to me,” she said. “But he is also a fool. I blame you for the child I lost. I blame him.” She shook her head so hard, her hair got into her mouth. She ripped it out, spat on the cloth, and kept rinsing. “Deaths and more deaths. You will kill Maino.”

  “I will hang him,” I said. “I have my reasons.”

  “He told me,” she said softly. “He expects a fight, but you won’t risk it.”

  “He wouldn’t risk it, either,” I said.

  “Ingulf expects you to,” she added. “So. Will you hang me too?”

  I was silent for a while and shrugged. “No. Why would I? Why would I even consider it? I do not hate you. Never did. But I will not leave enemies behind, Erse. One by one, I shall deal with everyone who thinks I should be under a mound, my bones buried deep. Will you go back to Father and tell him he should go away? I have a life here.”

  She snorted. “They call you a murderer. They say you came here and made oaths to one, then to the other. They said you kept no words. Do you know how Ingulf suffers? He is your friend, but you let him down. You promised him honor and smeared him in shit. They all look at him as if he had poisoned a völva.” She shook her head. “Red shields look at you pass and hate you. Akkas’s men remember you as a traitor. Tyr is praying for you to die. This other lord, Snake is too stupid to do any praying, but he will not aid you in war. They see you lead the filthy Chatti, and they see you a friend to Romans and Sarmatians, and not even the grudging respect of Cenhelm can change that. You have no home here. Your father is right. You are the Bear. You come with me and spare them all and make peace.”

  I shook my head. “I am what I am. I go where I am pushed.”

  She hissed and pushed me. “And perhaps, for once, you should let yourself be pushed. You betrayed your father. No matter what he decided and mistakes he made, you betrayed him. You restless bastard. Will you fight Maino or hang him?”

  “I will hang him, and then, I’ll let the dogs feed on his bones. I’ll let Bero see it all, and I’ll hang him too. Then, you go home with their corpses and tell Father to leave. Make more children and be happy.”

  “Oh, so easy it shall be,” she said tiredly. “You will not keep your word even to Maino, then? No?”

  “No,” I said. “I will not. Not to Maino.”

  “Not to anyone,” she said. “I will go to your father, and I will tell him what you said.”

  She looked at me with spite. I left her.

  ***

  The next morning, I found my hall empty. A guard had been beaten and tied up.

  Ingulf had ridden west and taken Erse with him. He had also taken Bero and Maino. I stared at the empty hall in shock.

  Tamura came to me later and kneeled next to me, looking at the empty hall where Maino had been treated. I was holding my face and felt so empty, I wouldn’t have cared if she had been pushing a lance into my belly. She put a hand over shoulder. “They rode to the Quadi rivers. They are over there. They won’t go anywhere. They will be waiting for us.”

  I nodded. Ingulf. Maino. Father. Bero.

  She lifted my face. “Oaths. I keep mine. My daughters are alive. You kept your word. I hate you and still owe you one favor. I shall keep my word. And Cenhelm told me to get you married. Saruke is ready.” She smiled. “I would not bet, Maroboodus, that family relation will stay my hand. I will make her a widow easily enough. Cenhelm and the Romans still think I am untrustworthy, and always will. My daughter, my brothers, and my plans, all ruined. No, don’t feel safe.”

  I looked at her and closed my eyes. “Safe? No, I won’t feel that. I am sorry. I am just…alone. With my thoughts.”

  She shook her head. “Marriage? This very night?”

  I hesitated and smiled. “Tell Saruke and Mada to stay here.”

  She frowned. “They will be insulted.”

  “Tell them to stay here,” I said. “Find an excuse. If I come back, I shall marry her.”

  She laughed. “And if I do not?”

  I grinned. “It seems we shall have our chance to even all the scores out there. I have no allies, and only foes. It is simpler that way.”

  She nodded. “So be it.” She got up to leave.

  I stopped her. “Tell me, did your sacrifice to the fire god work?”

  She shrugged. “I will get married after the war. Rome is winning. The Quadi don’t have the numbers to win, and Cenhelm rules.”

  “And in other ways?” I asked.

  She put a hand on her belly. “You are thinking if you should ki
ll me before I fulfill my oath and save your life? Oh, I think the fire god is aiding me. You will indeed be a hard man, Maroboodus, if you dare to strike at me. I am late.”

  I cursed and felt the hand of doom descending on me. Lok had given, Lok had tested, Lok had pushed me high in my dreams and glory, and then, he was about to exact a price for it.

  She smiled, hesitated, and sat next to me. “I can stay, for this night, and we comfort each other. Cenhelm, I fear, is too busy this night to share a bed with.”

  They all waited for me. Friends, enemies, and I had few allies I could trust in.

  I nodded at her, and we took comfort in each other, before riding for our destinies.

  CHAPTER 15

  We were riding southwest along the same river we had traveled with Ingulf and Bero. We were going to follow it past scattered, smaller mountain range, and then, we would turn west and skirt yet another range while passing rivers, and woods. It would be a four-day journey, and a hard one.

  The Quadi would know we were coming. They knew we wanted their lands.

  They had been Hermanduri lands.

  They would be again.

  I found some comfort in a war-chief who would act as my second-in-command. He was tall Chatti who had lost a part of his upper lip in battle. The man’s name was Oderic and, like the rest of the men, seemed to hold no grudge for me after what I had done to Anvil. The man grinned constantly, the split lip always revealing a part of his upper teeth, and he kept staring at my hair, especially at my forehead.

  “It should be cut,” he insisted for the twelfth time. “You cannot lead the Chatti looking like a warrior who has not killed a man. It is not proper. The men will be ashamed. Cut it now, so they don’t have to do it while you sleep. Some have been thinking about it.”

  “I’ve killed men plenty of men,” I told him impatiently, watching men marching in thick columns. “I’ll keep my hair as it is. And if they try to cut it while I sleep, they should take care of their cocks while they doze.”