by A. E. Rayne
Hakon frowned. ‘Why? Who are you?’
‘You left many of your servants behind, certainly your healers. They thought we could help you.’
‘And did you?’ Stina had returned with the cup, and Hakon took it in an unsteady hand, spilling water everywhere. She helped to prop him up so he could take a drink, and gasping in discomfort, Hakon tipped most of the water out of the side of his dry mouth, over his chest, wetting his beard. ‘Did you heal me?’ He sank back against the furs, exhausted.
Stina took the cup to the table, shaking all over.
‘Not us, but our friend, Eddeth, did,’ Alys said. ‘She’s an experienced healer.’
‘Eddeth?’ Hakon closed his eyes, images of Karolina swirling before him. He saw her smiling, her soothing hands smoothing hair away from his face.
And then another hand, on his forehead.
Eyes springing open, he stared up at Alys, who smelled like honey, he thought, reminded of his step-mother.
‘You’re not feverish, which is good.’
‘I will live?’
Alys hesitated, images rushing before her eyes. She felt confused, lost in them. After days without any insight, now she was being drowned in visions.
‘Alys?’ Stina squeezed her arm.
‘Sorry, yes, it was a strange night. I... I’m not the healer. We’ll find Eddeth... I will. Stina can stay with you.’ She smiled apologetically at her friend, hurrying out of the tent, not sure what she had seen at all.
Elin had cried herself to sleep, and Agnette tried to sneak out of the bedchamber. Gerda had reluctantly taken Liara, who had fallen asleep and needed to be put in her crib, leaving Agnette to fuss around the fire, wanting to keep Elin warm.
‘Don’t go.’
Agnette turned around with a smile. ‘I thought you were asleep.’
‘No, though perhaps I should be? Although, I’m not sure I’d want to wake up again. I...’ Tears came quickly, and Elin shook her head which throbbed painfully. ‘It was too much to hear. Torvig’s my brother. It was too much to hear.’
Agnette sat on the bed, taking her hand. ‘I’m so sorry for you, dear Elin. You’ve had a hard time. Such a hard time.’
Elin nodded, tears leaking into the creases around her eyes. ‘I wasn’t going to come back,’ she whispered. ‘I wasn’t. You know that.’
Agnette leaned in. ‘I know, so why did you?’
‘A dreamer. I saw a dreamer. She sold her visions for coins, but everyone in Lundvik swore by her.’ Elin sighed, rolling over to face Agnette, sniffing. ‘I was trying to decide what to do. I kept thinking I would write to Reinar, or perhaps, come back, and explain things myself. Other times, I felt like sailing away to Osterland or the Fire Lands. Somewhere exciting. Somewhere new. I thought I could begin again...’
Agnette could see the same turmoil in Elin’s eyes that she’d had before she ran away; the same wide-eyed pain and confusion. She patted her hand, trying to soothe her. ‘So you talked to this dreamer?’
‘Yes, and she told me about Torvig, that he was in danger. She told me other things, of course, but I had to come. When I thought Torvig might die, I had to come right away!’
‘Poor Elin. Torvig did it to himself, he did. No one can understand it. It doesn’t make any sense.’ Agnette smiled through the lie, knowing how they all felt about Torvig. It was only Reinar who’d allowed his love for Elin to cloud his judgement. Only Reinar who hadn’t seen the truth.
‘And you’re sure it’s real? That it happened that way, Agnette? You’re sure?’
Agnette nodded. ‘I am. It’s lucky it did, or he would have killed two more women.’
Elin couldn’t believe it. She closed her eyes, wanting to escape Agnette’s words. ‘And this woman? The one who killed him? Where is she? I want to see her. I need to talk to her. I need to...’
Agnette froze, staring at Elin’s closed eyes, sensing her body relax, exhausted, as though she was falling asleep. And she waited, hoping she would, not wanting to answer the question.
Eventually, Elin did fall asleep, and Agnette crept towards the door, hurrying out before her friend could utter another word.
10
Alys found Ivan with his tunic off, Eddeth bent over, slathering a salve over his tattooed back. ‘Oh!’
Ivan was pleased to see her, but catching the concern in her eyes, he frowned. ‘Is something wrong? Is it my cousin?’
‘Your cousin is awake.’
Ivan jerked forward, away from Eddeth’s sticky fingers. ‘Awake?’ He grabbed his tunic, grimacing, for though his wounds were not infected like Hakon’s, they still stung. ‘Come on, then!’ he grinned at Eddeth, feeling a wash of relief calm his tense body. ‘You need to come and check your patient!’
Alys grabbed hold of Eddeth as they turned after Ivan, trying to read her mind, wondering what she’d been up to, but all she could see was a jumbled mess of half-finished thoughts, and it left her feeling even more uncertain about what Eddeth might have said and done.
Ivan almost skipped around the fires, encouraging his men to keep working, finishing the big pit already piled high with bodies. They were digging individual graves for Erlan and Alef, Lief insisting that this was no time to breed resentment amongst their remaining allies by disrespecting their fallen lords.
Ivan tried to keep his smile going, masking his anxiety about what had happened, and the sinking feeling he had that was not at all alleviated by the news of Hakon’s recovery. He slipped into the tent with a wink at Njall, pleased to see his cousin awake. ‘You took your time! Having a nice rest while we freeze our arses off out there, were you? We should have stripped away the furs! That would have had you out of bed right away!’
Stina and Rikkard had propped Hakon up, leaning him against a pile of rolled-up furs so he could see and drink, though there was no smile in his eyes at the sight of Ivan. Everything had come back. He’d remembered every moment of their failed attack on Ottby. Of his interrupted fight with Reinar Vilander. Of Mother’s death and their hasty retreat. ‘Hello, Cousin.’
Ivan felt relieved that Hakon looked so alert, ignoring his miserable tone. ‘Eddeth is a miracle worker!’
‘Where is this Eddeth I keep hearing about?’ Hakon rasped irritably, and then his eyes popped open as Eddeth burst into the tent, rushing past Ivan to his cousin.
‘You look well, my lord! I am surprised! That wound was deadly. Too much for most healers, but not for me, it seems!’ She grinned at Ivan, her eyes skipping past him to Alys and Stina, who looked awkward and nervous. And taking a deep breath, Eddeth dropped her shoulders, and leaned forward, gently pulling the bandages away from Hakon’s belly, peering at his wound. The bandages were still mostly clean, and she didn’t want to change them yet. ‘Much better!’
Ivan leaned over her shoulder, squinting. ‘What’s that?’
‘What?’ Hakon started to wriggle, but Eddeth placed a hand on his shoulder, keeping him still.
‘Maggots?’
‘What?’ Now Hakon did wriggle, jerking away from Eddeth, wanting to see for himself. And catching a glimpse of the tiny creatures wriggling inside his wound, he panicked. ‘Get them out! Get them out of me now!’ He grabbed Eddeth by the throat, dragging her towards him. ‘What have you done to me?’
Ivan quickly pulled Eddeth back, out of Hakon’s arms. ‘Stop! She’s healed you! Cured you! Look.’ And pushing the bandage down, he showed Hakon how clean his wound was looking, despite the maggots and the honey and the garlic paste Eddeth had painted all around it. ‘She’s a healer, so if she thinks maggots help, perhaps they do?’
Eddeth nodded, hands around her aching throat, trembling now. ‘They do, my lord. You can see, they do!’
Hakon lay back on the furs, not wanting to catch another glimpse of his stomach. Not wanting to imagine the creatures crawling inside him. ‘How long must they be in there?’ He glared at Eddeth, noticing her properly for the first time. She looked odd, and she smelled terrible, though he was struck by an
immediate thought. ‘You’re not a dreamer, are you?’
Eddeth peered at Alys, who blinked, willing her to stop staring. And realising it, Eddeth swung back to Hakon. ‘The number of people who ask me that! I’m beginning to wonder if I am!’ She sniggered, amusing herself, though she could sense Alys and Stina growing worried behind her, and Ivan and Hakon staring at her curiously. ‘No! The right answer, of course, is no, I’m not. Sadly, my only skills lie with herbs and maggots!’
Hakon didn’t appreciate a reminder of the maggots, and he started squirming again, unable to remain still while those creatures crawled inside him. ‘I’m not sure I can stand the thought of knowing they’re in there. How will I sleep?’
‘Keep them, Cousin, keep them,’ Ivan urged with a grin. ‘Listen to Eddeth. She’ll take them out when we get back on the road, won’t you?’
Eddeth nodded vigorously. ‘Oh yes, I will. If you can keep them in there tonight, you’ll be jumping out of bed come tomorrow!’
Hakon didn’t take his eyes off her. ‘You may go. All of you. I must speak to my cousin now.’
Eddeth breathed out a loud sigh of relief, creeping back towards Alys and Stina, who were quickly heading out of the tent, not wanting to be stopped.
Hakon didn’t notice. Ivan, however, turned his head, eyes on Alys’ rear end, head cocked to one side.
‘So, you’ve forgotten Falla, Cousin? Finally? I was unconscious that long?’
Ivan laughed. ‘Not that long, but no, Alys is hard to miss. Worth a look, I’d say, unlike Eddeth!’
Hakon grimaced, reminded of the maggots again. ‘What’s been happening? Any sign of Ake?’
‘No sign of Ake. He hasn’t followed us that I can see.’
Hakon felt relieved, though slightly disappointed. He didn’t want to return to Slussfall a failure, though that looked likely now. ‘Where are we?’
‘Somewhere between Solstad and Reppa, I’d guess. In the snow. Stuck in the forest.’
Hakon yawned. ‘Feels like I’ve been asleep for weeks. I had so many dreams. Such strange dreams!’ He closed his eyes, working hard to ignore the maggots.
Ivan poured himself a cup of water, sitting down on a tree stump. ‘About?’
Hakon frowned, bringing the memory of Alari back to his mind. ‘Nothing that makes any sense.’ He peered at his cousin, wanting to change the subject. ‘You don’t look like you’ve slept at all.’
‘I... we had an interesting night while you were sleeping with your maggots. An army of vatyr attacked the camp.’ Ivan started shaking his head and couldn’t stop. ‘I’ve never seen anything like it.’ Reaching up, he touched the back of his head, still throbbing. ‘The damage they left behind was real enough. We’re still cleaning it up.’
‘What?’ Hakon sat up abruptly, almost screaming in pain, explosions of light bursting before his eyes. He slumped back, taking a breath, teeth gritted. ‘What do you mean?’
‘They killed Alef and Erlan, many of their men too. Just ripped them to pieces. Some of our men were killed as well. We lost a few hundred altogether by last count. They were in here too, according to Njall. Pulled the tent down. Luckily he was here to stop them.’ Ivan saw the horror in his cousin’s eyes, and he kept going. ‘I don’t know why they came, what they wanted, what it all means, but we have to leave. As soon as you’re able, Cousin, we have to get out of here.’
Hakon just stared at him, Alari’s voice screeching in his ears.
Neither of them spoke.
Alys, Stina, and Eddeth had edged away from Njall, whose sharp eyes followed them, ensuring that they remained nearby. He’d taken Alys’ swordbelt off her, leaving it with their horses, still trying to piece together what had happened in the tent.
‘What now?’ Stina wondered, gripping Eddeth’s arm. ‘Will Hakon be well enough to travel soon?’
Eddeth nodded. ‘Yes! It’s just what we wanted. They will leave us behind.’
Alys didn’t look so sure. She saw Lief and Falla coming towards them, and smiling, she turned away from Eddeth. ‘Your lord is awake. He’s with his cousin.’ Alys watched disappointment flash across Falla’s face, resignation on Lief’s. Neither of them looked especially pleased.
She saw a sudden image of Reinar, and irritated, she blinked it away.
Lief eyed the tent. ‘That’s good. Good news,’ he said dully. He was too exhausted to summon much enthusiasm, though it was surely better to have a path to follow now.
‘I’ll tell Hakon you’re here,’ Njall said, disappearing inside.
Lief turned to Falla. ‘I won’t be long. Perhaps you can show the women where they can be of most use? After last night, there’s still a lot to do.’
Falla wanted to go to bed for the rest of the day and be left in peace. Though quickly remembering that her bed was a meagre mound of furs inside a shelter of branches and leaves, covered by cloaks, she thought better of it. ‘Well, the sooner you get everyone back on their feet, the sooner we can all get out of here and go home.’
Eddeth looked thrilled. Though the night had terrified her, and the sight of the bodies was horrifying, she also felt exhilarated, for they were now walking amongst the gods; the gods who were watching, deciding which threads of fate to pull next. She winked at Alys, knowing for certain that the dreamer was going to be at the centre of it all.
Too upset and restless to stay in bed for long, Elin had dressed, heading to the stables to check on both her new horse and her old horse, and she was busy brushing Milka when Reinar found her.
‘Are you sure you’re well enough to be up?’ He remembered the crumpled figure he’d picked out of the snow only hours earlier. ‘It’s not warmed up all day.’
Elin’s swollen eyes briefly met his before returning to her gentle grey mare. ‘What happened to Milka? She’s injured.’
Reinar dropped his head, eyes on his hands which he’d clasped in front of his cloak, feeling awkward. Elin was his wife, but so much had happened since they’d last seen each other. It was as though they were strangers, meeting for the first time. ‘She fell in a hole.’
‘You were riding her?’ Elin was surprised.
Reinar looked up, staring into her curious eyes. He remembered those big eyes, and he smiled. ‘No, not me. I don’t think she would have appreciated that.’ He held out his hand for Milka to snuffle. Her leg had not broken, though keeping her in the stables while the snow was terrorising the fort would aid her recovery.
‘Who was riding her, then?’ Elin’s voice was sharp.
Reinar froze, though denying the truth would only get him in trouble eventually. ‘One of the women we took as slaves. The dreamer.’
It was Elin’s turn to freeze. ‘Oh?’
Reinar quickly changed the subject. ‘How are you feeling? Agnette said you’d rushed out of the hall without a word. You need some food inside you. That journey could have killed you.’
Elin was dismissive. ‘I’m not hungry. Ask Sigurd if he feels like eating. Grief makes you ill, not hungry, Reinar, though perhaps you’ve forgotten?’ She wanted to hurt him because she felt hurt. Because she was in pain.
‘I haven’t forgotten.’
Silence.
Reinar stepped closer to his wife. ‘Will you stay? Here? Do you... want to stay?’ His eyes sought hers, though Elin would not look at him. Her brother was dead, and she felt broken-hearted and sad. Exhausted too.
She sighed. ‘I don’t know.’ And then she turned her face to his, hands remaining by her sides. ‘You are poison, Reinar Vilander. You kill what you touch. Your luck is gone. I’m not sure what I –’
‘No!’ Reinar grabbed her hand, wanting her to hear the truth, to see the change in him. ‘No, it was a curse! Eddeth discovered that it was all a curse!’
‘What?’
‘All of it, everything that happened, there were symbols carved into trees in the forest. It was a curse.’
Elin’s mouth hung open. She couldn’t close it.
‘It was Hakon Vettel’s dream
er. She cursed me. The entire fort. Everyone!’
‘You’re sure?’ Elin was stunned. ‘All of it?’
Reinar nodded. ‘All of it. She cursed us, but now she’s dead. And the curse is lifted. We burned all the trees. It’s gone, I promise.’
‘The dreamer killed our babies?’
Reinar blinked. ‘I think so... yes. She was trying to weaken us, destroy us. Destroy me.’
Elin burst into tears, the pain of the last year rushing out of her like a waterfall. ‘I didn’t want to leave, I didn’t. Reinar!’ And she fell into his arms, a sense of relief rendering her limp. ‘I never wanted to leave you, but I was so scared about what would happen next! I couldn’t... I couldn’t go through that again!’
Reinar pulled her close, feeling the familiar contours of her body as she shuddered against him. It was everything he wanted. To know that she was safe. Home. With him.
Yet he felt empty. As though he wasn’t there at all.
Hakon was just as eager to get to Slussfall as Ivan, already talking about how they would regroup once they were safely inside the fortress; how they would plot another attack on Ottby in the spring.
Ivan left him resting, with Eddeth working hard to convince Hakon to leave the maggots where they were, and he headed across the camp, eager to check on the wounded. He quickly found Alys and Stina working on their hands and knees, bent over a trembling man, who lay on his stomach as they tried to stitch up the great slashes down his back. The man was in shock, shaking so much that Alys was having trouble keeping him still. ‘You’ve been busy.’
Stina tied the last piece of thread, snipping off the end with a knife, and she started trying to make the man more comfortable. They were exposed out in the forest, with little more than rudimentary shelters for some, and none at all for most. She grabbed a cloak, draping it over the man’s legs.
Alys stood, wiping hair out of her eyes with the back of a bloody hand. ‘We’ve dealt with everyone now, I think. They only just found this poor man in the forest.’