‘It has become my fight,’ she said, expertly countering his attack.
He tried to control the sudden lurching of his heart. ‘Why?’ he asked, watching her intently.
She rolled a counter between her fingers. He scarcely dared to hope that she might confess she had feelings for him. But with the slightest indication that she wanted more, he’d tell her about his own growing feelings for her and ask her to marry him.
It amazed him that on the battlefield he led men, never doubting victory would be his, but here, on a very different sort of battlefield, he was fearful of defeat.
‘When we came here you promised me we would stand shoulder to shoulder. That means more to me than you might realise. You treated me like an equal.’ She placed her counter down. ‘Once Moir arrives, we will lose our opportunity. I will be taken off the board and your enemy—your opponent—will once again have the chance to strike you down.’
‘Except I know about the danger now.’ He ran his hands through his hair. Cyn had to see that he wanted to protect her. Without her, his life wouldn’t be worth living. He needed her here with him, but he also had to know that she was safe. ‘Stop worrying. I’m pretty good at looking after myself.’
He made a move on the board.
Cynehild immediately countered it.
‘You always knew about the danger. Every jaarl must. But your enemy knows you and used your habits against you once before. I want to help, Kal. Before it is too late. Before I have no excuse to stay. Moir and Brother Palni will insist I lay the sword and go.’
‘And our betrothal?’
‘We both know why we contracted it. Look, I’ve a son waiting for me. I promise if you allow me to help I won’t take silly risks.’
‘I won’t use you as bait for a trap. I could not look your son in the eye if I did.’
‘I realise that. Alff has refused to fight you openly, so we need to retrace your steps on that day and see if there are any clues. What would be the most direct route to Hangra Hill from here?’
He stared at her in astonishment. ‘You’ve hit on a point that I’ve failed to consider. Why was I up on Hangra Hill in the first place? Alff said I stormed off to go hunting with a crossbow, but I never go that way.’
‘Do you think you staggered there after being hit, or had you gone there for some other purpose?’
‘It is an area where several estates come together. Hangra Hill is owned by no one. There is a move to start holding a thynge there—a local assembly—so all our differences can be settled amicably.’
‘Your attacker could be another jaarl or one of his supporters, then.’
Kal concentrated. The muffled voice rose up in his mind again—tyrant. It was personal. He should know the voice.
‘It’s someone from here. I’m certain of it.’
‘If we retrace your footsteps and discover nothing new, we could consider setting a trap.’
‘Perhaps more rumours of the golden hoard? Or would we then just catch Haddr looking for it again?’
‘You don’t think Haddr could be behind it?’
Kal concentrated on the board. ‘Why would he be? He commands no respect in the felag. He owes me a life debt for Basceng. Besides, if he is the culprit, why did he not attack me when we were at the charcoal burner’s cottage? Someone else must be involved, but I need proof. I don’t want to make another mistake.’
‘I want the culprit found before I leave,’ said Cynehild.
She put her hand over his and he tightened his fingers about it. He wanted to swoop and carry her off somewhere to keep her safe, but if he did that he would be denying the bravery which made him love Cyn.
His breath caught in his throat. He loved her. But how could he ask her to stay? Particularly when she’d made it so clear that she would leave once her brother-in-law and his men arrived and return to her old life—a life which included not only her son but an entire community...
* * *
Cynehild carefully measured out the ground, keeping her head down, eyes focused, walking in tandem with Kal. In a few weeks’ time the new ferns would have unfurled and the grass would have grown long, but for now she could follow the trail of broken dead ferns and the occasional set of footprints in the thick mud at the side of the barely visible path.
Kal had pointed out several which he knew were his from the way his left heel was worn. But there was a set of footprints which led back towards the hall which were not his.
It made the most sense that Kal had initially gone this way if he had headed directly towards Hangra Hill on that fateful day.
‘It shows that we are on the right track,’ she said, when he knelt beside another set of footprints.
‘But there is no way of telling how old these are, and the rain will have washed most of the other prints away. What are you hoping to find?’
She glanced up at the clear blue sky. ‘I’ve little idea,’ she admitted. ‘I keep going back to the fabled hoard. Perhaps your enemy thought the rumours were true and you were going on your own to get it?’
She couldn’t explain her unsettled feelings for him, and how she’d started hoping that Brother Palni would take even longer to come. Once he and Moir arrived, they would force her to leave and she didn’t have an excuse to stay. Begging Kal to make their betrothal real, so she and Wulfgar could live here with him as a family, was not part of their deal.
Her men trailed along behind them, keeping a respectful distance. Both had refused to stay in the compound when they’d discovered what she intended. They had argued with her that she ought to stay behind, but she’d refused. In the end, with Kal on her side, they’d agreed—on the condition that they would actually be able to do their appointed task of guarding her.
‘It seems odd that you went so far away from the hall unarmed...particularly if you were meeting someone else,’ she mused.
‘I have a vague memory of hunting. I wanted to spend time on my own after quarrelling with Alff. I needed to think because it was the anniversary of my wife’s death.’
‘You must have been thinking about her when you were hit.’
He gave a half-smile. ‘I must have been. I’d decided that nothing I could do would bring her or our son back. That I needed to start living again and find a new wife.’
He needed a wife.
Cynehild carefully turned her face away.
That need had not vanished. After she’d left he would have to marry. Maybe he would fall in love with some other woman and make her his bride, but she knew she didn’t want that. She wanted him to love her and only her. Yet she couldn’t find the words to tell him that.
She pushed the thought to the back of her mind.
Something glistened in the sunlight a little way down the cliff. ‘There is some metal down there.’
She started to go after it, but Kal held her back. ‘Let one of your men get it. No need for you to take the risk.’
‘But—’
He put a finger on her lips. ‘You were the one to tell me I needed to be able to accept help. Now I’m asking you to do the same thing. You don’t need to keep proving your courage to me, Cynehild. You’ve proved it time and time again.’
‘Have I?’
‘Allow your men to help. Neither of them is wearing a skirt, to start with.’
She nodded and directed her men to retrieve the object. They quickly went down the bank, which was far steeper than she’d considered, and she was pleased she’d delegated the responsibility.
‘I hope it’s worth it,’ she said.
‘Whatever it is, it shouldn’t be there.’
Her men brought up a small eating knife and handed it to Cynehild.
‘Is it your missing knife?’ she asked.
Kal frowned, turning the knife over in his hands several times. ‘It is one I haven’t seen for a long time—not
since Ribe,’ he said finally, securing the knife into his belt. ‘And I’m certain it was not here when I walked up to Hangra Hill.’
‘And you know it?’
‘I know who it used to belong to, and that person is dead.’
‘Your wife?’
‘No, her ex-brother-in-law. Toka’s first husband. I can remember hearing that he had collapsed and died about the time I left with the Great Army. He had a son from his first marriage.’
‘How old would he be now?’
‘More than twenty, I believe.’ Kal put his hands on his thighs and gulped several quick breaths of air.
Cynehild pressed her fingers together. Once again Kal had pushed himself too far, and he would continue to do so if she wasn’t here to stop him. She wanted to be there at his side, ensuring that he could cope. Once Brother Palni returned she would find a way to delay leaving until she was certain Kal had improved.
‘Proof, if you needed it, that you were attacked by someone from your household rather than by a villager. Whoever it was hurried back towards the hall. We will go back there now.’
* * *
‘Give me a little time,’ Kal said.
His hand closed about the knife. The simple act of holding it had the memories of that day flooding back. He’d been hunting. Alone. He had not taken his favourite sword, but he had taken a crossbow. There had been a stag whose life he’d spared because he’d shed his antlers. And then blackness.
‘Did you see any antlers when you found me?’
‘Antlers?’ Cynehild shook her head. ‘Blood on the ground, but no antlers. We can go back and check if you like.’
‘I didn’t kill a stag because he dropped his antlers. I was going towards them to pick them up when someone hit me from behind. They accused me of being a tyrant and the voice echoes in my mind.’
‘Having seen your hall, and the people there, I don’t think you’re a tyrant. I do think someone wants you dead, and now you’ve survived they want you to be off balance and seek to punish the people of this land, not look towards the obvious culprit amongst your own men. They want you to become a tyrant in truth, and provoke a rebellion against you. They wanted to strip everything from you.’
‘Everything points towards Alff, except he was ill. He has pointedly told me that he did not accompany me and blames himself because I stormed off without my usual escort. You have seen his yellowish colour; it’s clear he’s been genuinely unwell.’
‘Did he say what you had quarrelled about?’
‘He didn’t—but he became a changed man when he married Toka.’
Cynehild tapped a finger against her mouth. ‘He has not risen today. Toka complained about it when I went into the main hall to see if I could help with the weaving. She refused my offer, saying I wouldn’t understand the pattern.’
‘Toka likes to stir up trouble.’
‘Could she inherit the hall? If you died and then Alff?’
‘She doesn’t have a child.’
Kal concentrated. That stepson of hers would be a warrior now...
‘It’s unlike my cousin to be abed this long,’ he said.
‘Whoever your enemy is, they may wait until I leave to try again.’
He raised her hand to his lips. ‘Then stay, Cyn. Stay for ever. Become a peace-weaver in truth.’
She withdrew her hand. ‘We agreed—until my brother-in-law arrives. My son—’
‘I would like to meet Wulfgar. Get to know him.’
‘Lord Icebeard! Icebeard!’
Haddr’s shouts echoed on the wind. Kal stiffened, but then dismissed the notion. Haddr was loyal to him. He’d been part of the felag since its inception—one of the first to swear fealty. He might have lusted after treasure, but he lacked the ambition to lead.
‘Up here. Is there something wrong?’
Haddr climbed up the slope. ‘Your cousin, my lord. He is dying—coughing up blood. He calls for you.’
Kal froze. ‘Alff’s dying?’
‘Lady Toka sent me to fetch you.’ Haddr struggled to catch his breath. ‘I’ve been running around like a mad person ever since. I was about to go back to the cottage when I spotted Lady Cynehild’s cloak.’
All colour had drained from Cynehild’s face. ‘Is there no hope?’
‘He complained of feeling most unwell yesterday evening. Lady Toka discovered him this morning and she suspects poison. People are saying how Lady Cynehild kept going to the infirmary and mixing up potions.’
Cyn took a step backwards. ‘I went to see my men.’
Haddr gave a shrug. ‘You know how rumours get started. And there are more rumours of an army advancing from the East.’
It had to be Brother Palni with Moir’s men.
Kal pressed his lips together. Haddr appeared edgy, as he always did before a battle. Someone wanted Cyn to take the blame for Alff’s illness. He had to put her somewhere he could keep her safe.
‘Why leave it so late to raise the alarm?’ Cynehild asked. ‘If he was so unwell last night, it strikes me as odd that Toka should not have spoken to us before now, rather than waiting until after we’d left the hall.’
Haddr fingered his sword while his eyes darted everywhere. ‘All I know is that my lord needs to know what is happening.’
‘I see.’ Cynehild’s jaw jutted forward. ‘It seems very convenient, that’s all. I’ll return with you, Kal, and examine the patient. I know a thing or three about herbs. And Alff was ill before I ever arrived at the hall.’
‘I hadn’t considered that!’ Haddr said, his mouth dropping open.
‘These riders who have been sighted—they will go to the hall,’ Cynehild continued.
Kal disliked his sense of foreboding. His enemy had made a move, but he needed to get Cyn to safety before she was put in mortal danger. If her family thought he’d done that to her he would never stand a chance of properly wooing her.
‘That won’t be necessary.’
‘Not necessary? Why?’
‘You need to go and wait for your brother-in-law and the monk,’ Kal said in a low voice, and willed her to understand what he was saying—what he was asking her to do and why. ‘Someone is trying to implicate you, Cyn, in whatever illness Alff has. Anger can quickly build. Keep away for now and allow me to deal with this alone.’
* * *
Annoyance flashed through Cynehild. Kal was behaving precisely as every other man in her life had, treating her as though she had no mind of her own. He wanted her to leave because he did not think she could contribute any more.
‘It has become my fight,’ she said. ‘I care about what happens to you, Kal.’
His face became carved from stone and his brow lowered. In that instant she realised why he had such a fearsome reputation.
‘Cynehild. Obey me.’
‘Shoulder to shoulder,’ she whispered. ‘You promised.’
‘That was then. This is now. Promises can be altered. You need to keep your mind on your responsibilities and on who waits for you back in Baelle Heale.’
Her duty to Wulfgar. Cynehild clenched her fists. Why was Kal being so obtuse? Other than the rumours that were flying around about Alff being poisoned, nothing had altered.
‘I never, ever forget my duty to my son.’
‘Icebeard, we need to go...before your cousin dies.’
Kal lowered his voice to the merest whisper. ‘I once told you I’d never allow you to become a counter in this game I’m playing with my enemy. Stay safe.’
Cynehild shook her head, trying to lose the buzzing noise. Kal had decided his enemy had made a move against Alff. He was trying to keep her safe, but he was going about it in precisely the wrong way. He needed her ears and eyes.
‘Let me help you.’
‘Brother Palni gave orders that you were to remain at the cottage in the woods
, so he and your brother-in-law will go there first. Meet them there and then bring them and the men to me. We may have need of them.’
He started off down the slope with Haddr following in his wake. Cynehild watched him go. Arguing with him would be futile. He’d made up his mind—he was going after his enemy alone. The king piece in tafl was finally making his move. Except this wasn’t a game between two, and she still had a part she intended to play. If herbs were involved, there was one person who would know the likely poisoner.
‘My lady, do you know the way to the hut?’ her men asked.
‘We’re not going back there. We are going to see Luba. She has questions to answer.’
Chapter Sixteen
Kal quickened his footsteps, leading Haddr away from Cyn. He willed her for once to do as he’d requested and to wait at the hut, either for him or for her brother-in-law. She’d be safe there. When he had finished, he would go and confess his feelings for her.
However, his chest ached at Cyn’s unspoken accusation that he’d betrayed her by excluding her from his plan. He couldn’t explain and risk her not going to the relative safety of the hut, or Haddr understanding what he intended to do.
He glanced at the young warrior. Despite remaining injured, Kal reckoned he could defeat him in a fight. But he needed to ensure Haddr did not realise that he’d worked out the younger man’s part in the attack.
‘Are you coming? There is no time to lose.’
Haddr balanced on the balls of his feet, as he’d done when they’d been waiting for the Saxons to attack, and as he’d done as a young boy, when he’d waited for Toka to finish speaking with her sister.
Kal put a hand against a tree trunk and feigned weakness. ‘I don’t want to go too fast. My head still pains me.’
‘That blow to the back of your head was really strong.’
‘Not strong enough to kill me. You always did lack a certain strength in your arms, Haddr.’
Haddr skittered to a stop. ‘Have you lost your mind, Icebeard? Everyone knows you are different now because of that woman. I have ever been a faithful member of this felag.’
Betrothed to the Enemy Viking Page 22