Mark of the Hunter: An Epic Fantasy Adventure (The Lords of Alekka Book 2)

by A. E. Rayne

  Elin slipped an arm around his waist, smiling. She’d woken with an urgency to be gone, wanting to head for Slussfall. The old dreamer in Lundvik had warned that her husband’s heart had been stolen by another, and she was determined to do everything in her power to get it back.

  Reinar squeezed her, nodding at Holgar to get them underway. He saw his mother digging a cloth out of her purse, blowing her nose, and he smiled sadly, hoping he would see her again. He felt like a ship wrecked by a storm, but the sight of those cliffs and that old bridge gave him a renewed sense of purpose, and bending down, he kissed the top of Elin’s head. ‘Wind’s fair,’ he grinned, watching her hair blow around her face. ‘You should have brought a hat!’

  Elin laughed. ‘I like the wind, you know that.’

  And Reinar did. He felt certain about taking her along now, though as he stared at Agnette, his cousin’s words rang in his ears and the worry on her face unsettled him anew. Turning away, he held up a hand to the men and women lining the piers, listening as the oarsmen slapped their long wooden blades down, slicing through the cold water, bringing them up again.

  ‘My lord!’ came a cry from the wall. ‘My lord!’

  Sigurd, whose attention was on his new cloak pin which had come undone already, unhappy with being forced through so much thick wool, looked up at the ramparts, sensing Ludo still beside him. He squinted, eyes narrowed against the sun, hand shielding his eyes. ‘Who’s that?’

  But Ludo had seen perfectly, and he was running the length of the ship as a young boy slipped the mooring line, hopping out onto the pier with a giant leap, heading for the stairs.

  Their bedchamber was grand, Eddeth thought, with a high ceiling and a wide stone hearth, and she felt pleased that Hakon had agreed to keep them together. He was becoming increasingly angry. Strange, extreme outbursts could be heard out in the square, down the corridor, and Eddeth was relieved that they were locked in their chamber all alone.

  Once he’d discovered the reason for the riot and the fire, Hakon had become enraged, wanting to root out the men who had started it all, wishing he could kill Baldur Skoggi for making a mess of everything, though the useless man had succumbed to his head wound, and there was no path to vengeance there.

  He’d sent scouts hunting through the forest, but those men had come back with nothing to report, which only infuriated Hakon further.

  So it was a relief to be locked in their chamber, away from all the drama.

  ‘What have you seen?’ Eddeth asked as Alys joined her by the fire, enjoying the comfort of the fur-lined armchair. ‘Anything?’

  Alys shook her head. Lotta was at sea – she’d seen that immediately – but there had been no sign of her daughter since. Magnus, Jonas, Vik, and another two men Alys didn’t know were hiding in a cave. She hoped they were far enough away from the fort to stay safe, though, at the same time, she wondered how they were going to help them escape Slussfall from such a distance.

  It was snowing heavily, flakes pattering the window, and though it was morning, the sky was dark with clouds.

  ‘What about Reinar?’ Eddeth wondered coyly, dragging her chair closer to Alys, who was holding her hands to the flames. ‘Do you see him?’

  ‘Sometimes.’

  Eddeth nudged her. ‘Why so sad?’

  ‘There’s no point thinking about Reinar. His wife is back in Ottby. There’s no point thinking about him anymore.’

  Eddeth nodded. It was better that they focused on getting out of Slussfall and finding Lotta. ‘We need a ship.’

  Alys looked up. ‘We do. Vik’s a good sailor, I know that. I’ve never liked the sea. It always made me sick as a child.’

  Eddeth laughed, never having been on a sea journey in her life. ‘Oh, I think it sounds like another adventure to me! Imagine what we might encounter up North!’

  Alys didn’t have a good feeling about any of it, but she nodded, jumping as the fire popped, remembering her last sea journey from Ullaberg to Ottby.

  She could still smell the harbour, hear the gulls crying.

  Feel Reinar’s arms as he lifted her onto the pier.

  ‘Holgar! Turn us around!’ Reinar boomed. ‘Get me back to that pier!’

  Elin didn’t understand. She saw Sigurd leaping out of Dagger, following after Ludo. She saw Agnette turn towards the stairs, Gerda too. She couldn’t hear anything over Holgar’s shouts and the crew’s confusion, but she kept her eyes fixed on the stairway, waiting to see if Ludo would return. He’d disappeared up it quickly, Sigurd running after him.

  And finally, backing up to the pier they had only just left behind, Reinar jumped out of Fury, charging after his brother to find out what had happened.

  Eventually, Ludo brought a panting Stina down the stairs, Sigurd stumbling after him. ‘They’ve taken Alys and Eddeth!’

  ‘What?’ Reinar’s heart thumped, his body vibrating as he came closer. ‘Who?’

  ‘Hakon Vettel and his cousin. They took us!’ Stina wanted to cry. She’d ridden into the fort only to hear that everyone had just left for Slussfall, but thankfully, one man had called out, recognising her, insisting that she’d still be able to catch the lord before he left.

  Stina’s companions were just as relieved after their long, fast journey, hurrying down the stairs after her.

  ‘Where?’ Reinar’s guilt grew. ‘What happened?’

  ‘We were a few days into the journey when we were caught. Taken to a camp, where Hakon Vettel was injured. They made us care for him, save his life. They didn’t know who we were, at first, and they were going to set us free.’ Stina shivered, remembering the moment she’d seen Hakon snatch Alys’ arm, yelling at her. She had drawn her horse into the trees with speed, remembering what she’d planned with Eddeth if something were to go wrong. ‘I don’t know how he discovered who she was. But he knew, I heard that. I had to leave. Eddeth stayed. We’d planned it that way.’ And now tears came. All that pent up worry that she wouldn’t get back in time. All the worry about Alys and Eddeth and what Hakon would do to them too. ‘He was angry, so angry.’

  ‘At Alys?’ Agnette was there now, Bjarni beside her.

  Reinar looked angry himself, trying not to imagine what Hakon Vettel had done to Alys. And then Elin joined them, and he tried to clear his face.

  ‘The gods have cursed him,’ Stina said, not recognising the woman who had slipped her hand into Reinar’s, but frowning at her nonetheless. ‘The Hunter came for him, pointed his sabre at him. And more. The gods have surely turned away from him now.’

  Bjarni’s eyes bulged open. ‘The Hunter?’

  The wind tore around them, a sudden gust, and they all had to hold down swirling cloaks and flapping hoods.

  No one spoke.

  Even Sigurd looked uncertain.

  ‘Were they heading back to Slussfall?’ Reinar wanted to know.

  Stina nodded, shivering. ‘Likely they’d be there now, if nothing else went wrong.’

  ‘Alys will have told him about us, don’t you think?’ Ludo wondered, eyes on Reinar. ‘He would have given her no choice.’

  ‘I imagine so,’ Reinar said, peering at Stina. ‘Will you come with us? There’s more I need to know, but we can’t delay.’

  ‘Yes. Please. I need to see Alys, and poor Eddeth. She tried so hard not to blurt out our secrets, though likely Hakon knows all of them now. And if they’re in Slussfall, he’s probably found out about the children.’

  Elin’s ears perked up.

  ‘Children?’ Reinar looked shocked, reality sinking in. ‘Are you saying Alys’ children were at Slussfall?’

  Stina nodded.

  ‘But what was she thinking, going to Slussfall? Slussfall?’ Reinar was wild. ‘Why didn’t she tell me? That was never going to end well. Hakon Vettel was going to Slussfall!’

  Reinar’s voice banged off the cliffs, his anger echoing around them.

  ‘Well, likely you had other things on your mind at the time, Cousin,’ Agnette said gently, inclining her hea
d to where Reinar’s wife stood, looking on with curious eyes.

  Taking a deep breath, Reinar tried to calm himself down. ‘Of course. Well, come with me, Stina. You can sail with us. I want to hear everything you know about...’ His eyes met Elin’s. ‘Hakon Vettel. I want to hear all about what games the gods have been playing with him.’

  Karolina had barely spoken since she’d left the hall with Falla, desperate to find somewhere to be alone. The fort was almost orderly again. The broken tables and stools had been taken away, and wild storms had torn through the square, washing it clean of blood. Charred pieces of wood had been replaced; thatch brought in to shore up collapsed roofs. The traders were back, farmers and craftsmen too, though there was a general sense of unease, an unspoken mistrust now. Guards eyed the men with black eyes and broken noses, wondering if they’d been the instigators. Wondering if they’d helped Jonas Bergstrom escape.

  No one had found Ollo Narp, but Haegel Hedvik’s body had been located in the forest, and there was an assumption that both men had betrayed their lord to rescue the old warrior.

  It made sense of what had happened, and settling upon that as an explanation, the urgent hunt for traitors slowed. Nobody had any information to impart. In the clamour to escape the burning fort, the focus had been on saving lives, not on escaping prisoners. Though some of those had been caught, and a few of them named Ollo as a traitor. It did them no good.

  They were still thrown into the hole.

  Karolina’s attention drifted to those men who gripped the prison bars, reminded of how Baldur had wanted her permission to kill a boy, and she sighed, knowing that if her husband had been there, he would have done it in a heartbeat. ‘I’m glad you’ve returned,’ she smiled, squeezing Falla’s arm.

  ‘You are? But not Hakon?’

  Karolina’s eyes swept the square. Snow was falling heavily, and both women had their hoods up, gloves on. The morning air was bracing, the stench of smoke still strong, despite the wind’s best efforts to clear it out of the fort. ‘Not Hakon.’ Karolina started to cry. She leaned closer, whispering in Falla’s ear. They hadn’t been alone since the army’s return, and she hadn’t been able to reveal her fears to anyone. Hakon’s new dreamer had been confined to her chamber, and Karolina wasn’t sure she could trust her or the strange healer either. ‘Something’s wrong with him.’

  Falla tried to look surprised. ‘Is it? How so?’ She urged Karolina further away from the hall, skirting the market tables, heading for an alley, wanting to disappear amongst the houses where no one could see them.

  ‘He has...’ Karolina felt reluctant to reveal Hakon’s secret, for it was certainly a secret he was keeping, even from her. ‘He has a mark on his chest.’

  Falla froze, dragging Karolina closer, eyes popping open. ‘You’ve seen it?’

  Karolina nodded. ‘He’s been keeping his tunic on all night. Not undressing. Not in front of me. He got up early this morning, no doubt thinking I was still asleep, but I watched him dress. I don’t think he saw me looking. He was sitting down, turned the other way, but when he moved, I saw a mark on his chest. Like a tattoo. It was enormous. It was... almost glowing.’

  Falla glanced over her shoulder, wanting to get back to the hall and find Alys and Eddeth. Looking back, she saw the fear in her friend’s eyes. She was young, with a baby. Pregnant again. Falla understood how she felt. ‘Do you want to stay married to your husband?’

  ‘What?’

  It wasn’t safe to be talking of such things, both women knew, and their voices were breathless whispers.

  ‘Do you love Hakon?’

  ‘No. He scares me. I am... scared.’

  ‘Well, then you must help me, dear Karolina, and I will help you.’ And smiling, Falla slipped her arm through Karolina’s, turning her back to the hall.

  Reinar was conscious of his wife, who stood in the bow talking to Ilene.

  Frowning, Reinar wondered at the wisdom of having Ilene on board Fury. The men were already grumbling to each other, most of them just wishing Ilene was giving her attention to them. Shaking his head, he turned to Stina. ‘And Alys thought he had the mark?’

  Stina nodded. She felt ill. They’d left Ottby in a rush, and the wind felt strong enough to blow them up to Slussfall in a day, though Reinar had told her it was likely to take four.

  Four days.

  Stina couldn’t help wondering what Hakon would do to Alys in the meantime.

  ‘And what did Eddeth say about it?’

  They were standing by Holgar and Bjarni, though they appeared more interested in the pod of whales following them, skipping over the waves.

  ‘She thinks the mark will slowly destroy him. Likely make him mad.’

  That didn’t sound good for Alys and Eddeth, but perhaps it was a boost for their chances of taking Slussfall? ‘Will it kill him?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  Reinar shivered, shoulders up around his ears.

  Four days.

  Elin watched them, listening to Ilene.

  ‘They’re as tight as thieves, always have been.’

  ‘And that’s the woman who says my brother raped her? Stina?’

  Ilene nodded. ‘So she says, but who really knows the truth? The only other people who were in that shed are dead. Who knows what really happened?’

  Ilene didn’t hate Stina, though she’d never been particularly nice to her. But she hated Alys with a passion. Alys, who had twisted Arnon around her little finger, making him stay with her when he so clearly wanted to leave his family behind. Ilene had loved Arnon, she was sure. She had dreamed of becoming his wife for years, and she knew that he’d loved her too. It was Alys who had kept him from being happy. Alys who had forced him to remain with her. He wanted a divorce – he’d told Ilene that, many times – but Alys wouldn’t let him go. She was selfish, thinking more of herself and her whining children than her husband.

  A selfish, selfish wife.

  A husband-stealing wife, she grinned, eyes back on Elin Vilander, realising that the accusation levelled at her for so many years, could now be turned back on Alys herself.

  Alys, the husband thief.

  ‘My brother never hurt a woman in his life,’ Elin insisted. ‘I never saw him mistreat anyone. It just doesn’t make any sense.’

  ‘Well, Alys is a known liar. She hid that she’s a dreamer from everyone. Even her own husband! Perhaps she planned to kill your brother all along? Tulia hated him. I saw that. They were always arguing. Perhaps they trapped him in that shed? Cornered him? Tried to kill him? And when it all went wrong, they needed an excuse.’

  Elin didn’t know what to believe, but she’d always believed her brother.

  Torvig could never be a rapist. He wasn’t a murderer.

  ‘And what are they planning now? That’s what we should be thinking about, Elin. What are they planning now...’

  36

  Night intensified Hakon’s fears.

  He sat in his bedchamber, fire blazing in the hearth, Lief silent opposite him, Ivan twitching on his right.

  Hakon’s chest felt as though a branding iron was being pressed down on it. He could almost feel his skin sizzling. Teeth gritted, he tried to will the image of that dark mark away. He didn’t look at it. He never touched it. He didn’t know the shape of it, the colour or texture. He didn’t want to know anything about it, except how to get rid of it.

  Alys was no help.

  She’d dreamed that the Vilanders were at sea, but the mark?

  How was he going to get rid of the mark?

  ‘There are few places better to defend from, my lord,’ Lief said, desperate to break the silence. ‘We will be ready. They have ships, but we have walls.’ He had spoken to Falla, who’d revealed Karolina’s news about the mark, and Lief felt disturbed. Confused. He could sense that they all felt much the same, but for very different reasons.

  ‘And what about Jonas Bergstrom?’

  Ivan rolled his eyes, not wanting Hakon back on that trac
k again. Clenching his jaw, he turned to his cousin. ‘He’s long gone now, and we’ve bigger problems than an old man who’s got nothing to do with the enemy that’s about to sail into our harbour!’

  Lief was surprised by Ivan’s outburst.

  So was Hakon. ‘How do you know they’re not working together?’

  ‘Everyone we spoke to said Jonas Bergstrom came to get his grandson. They said Ulrick had taken him as well as the girl. He’d come to get them back. That’s nothing to do with you. Nothing to do with Slussfall. And it’s certainly nothing to do with Reinar Vilander or Ake Bluefinn, both of whom want us dead!’ Ivan almost jumped out of his chair. His frustration was boiling over, mingled with fear and terror and regret and tiredness. He blinked, grabbing a piece of cake from the low table before them, wondering when the servant would return with more wine.

  Lief sensed that he needed to cool things down. ‘We must turn our attention to what’s coming, my lord,’ he said, braving Hakon’s intense eyes. ‘Ivan’s right. Jonas Bergstrom is a distraction we don’t need right now. A path we shouldn’t venture down.’ The old man was no friend of his, but Hakon needed to stop obsessing over him. He was one man. One. And they had an army on the move, wanting to kill them all. He blinked, thinking of Falla, of Borg and the baby to come. They were his family now, and Lief felt conscious of making the right decisions to keep them safe. He tried not to look at Hakon’s chest, though the call of that mark lurking beneath his gold-trimmed tunic was demanding.

  Hakon wanted to scream. Everyone was against him, yet he needed Lief and Ivan on his side. He’d already lost Dagfinn, Njall, Ulrick, Rikkard, Baldur. Even Ollo Narp was gone. All men he’d leaned on in one way or another.

  Not forgetting Mother.

  He felt alone. Exposed. Afraid.

  Dragging up his head, he growled. ‘Fine, I accept that. Jonas Bergstrom is nothing. We’ll turn our attention to the Vilanders now. All of it. I’ll take Eddeth out of Alys’ chamber. She needs to be alone so she can focus on dreaming. That Eddeth’s always talking, always muttering. I doubt my dreamer gets much sleep with her blabbering all night long.’