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

by A. E. Rayne

  ‘Elin said that’s it. No more sausages.’ And quickly grabbing one himself, Ludo stuffed it into his mouth, burning his tongue. ‘Ow!’

  ‘So what did Alys say, then?’ Sigurd asked, wanting to get back to the dream he doubted was real at all.

  ‘Alys? About what? Alys?’ Ludo’s eyes jumped back and forth. ‘Did she come to you in a dream?’

  ‘How do you know about that?’ Bolli wondered. ‘Idiot like you?’

  Ludo ignored him. ‘It’s called dreamwalking. Agnette told me Alys did it to reach her grandfather.’

  And the mention of Alys’ grandfather rendered them all silent again.

  ‘Jonas is going to kill us,’ Bolli muttered. ‘Vik too, if he finds out.’

  ‘Alys said he’s there. With Jonas.’

  Bolli inhaled sharply, wanting some ale.

  Ludo wasn’t following. ‘Jonas and Vik? Where are they? We haven’t seen them in years.’

  ‘In Slussfall, trying to rescue Alys.’

  ‘Why?’

  Reinar shook his head, getting impatient. ‘It’s a long story, but shut up for now and let me talk.’

  Ludo clamped his lips together, gripping the empty trencher.

  ‘I think we separate here.’

  Confusion.

  ‘We already know we’re going to separate here,’ Bolli grumped. ‘We talked about it. Planned it. You’re going to go around the headland, attack from the north, we’ll take the harbour.’

  ‘No, I mean separate even further.’

  More confusion.

  Reinar dropped to his knees, clearing the sand of shells and bits of driftwood. He drew a long shape resembling the coast, then making a mark for where they were now, he drew a looping line up to the harbour. ‘Bolli, you and Sigurd head for the harbour as planned.’ Taking the stick, he made a bigger loop, eyes on Ludo. ‘Ludo, you hop on board with Falki, head further north where I was going. Come at the fort that way. Keep them busy while Sigurd tries to run them dry of arrows.’

  Holgar peered at Reinar. ‘And us?’

  Reinar looked up at him before drawing another line. ‘We follow Ludo, but when they stop, we carry on. Say four ships. Two hundred-odd men. We head through here, there’s a tunnel, near the caves.’

  ‘Tunnel?’ Bjarni looked surprised. ‘Caves?’

  Bolli nodded. ‘It’s an old tunnel, built long before Sirrus’ time. You have to climb a bit to get to it, but it’s one way to approach the fort. Not everyone knows about it, though likely the Vettels do. The caves are nearby.’

  ‘According to Alys, that’s where Jonas and Vik are hiding. Alys’ son too. We can get them, keep the boy safe, come at the fort from the front.’

  ‘With two hundred men?’ Sigurd looked doubtful.

  ‘They won’t be looking our way,’ Reinar insisted. ‘Because Alys is going to help us.’

  40

  They needed to get out of their chamber.

  Reinar and Sigurd would arrive soon, and they needed to get out of their chamber and gather supplies for the spell to help Alys open the gates.

  Eddeth spun around, eyes bulging with urgency. ‘We can ask Falla!’

  ‘To get the herbs?’

  ‘Of course! She organised the cauldron. She brought me my things. She’ll come if you call her.’

  ‘What?’

  Eddeth grinned, nudging Alys, who sat on the bed beside her, both of them with books on their knees. ‘Still your mind awhile. Stop worrying and fussing and thinking about Reinar and your grandfather and your children. Clear it all away with a giant broom!’ Eddeth boomed, peering at her. ‘Close your eyes!’

  And realising there was no choice, Alys did.

  ‘Now, think of Falla –’

  Alys opened one eye. ‘How do you know all of this, Eddeth?’

  Eddeth frowned, ignoring her. ‘Eyes closed! Now, think of Falla. Falla with those sashaying hips.’

  ‘What?’ Alys’ eyes were open again.

  ‘Don’t say you haven’t noticed! Have you ever seen anyone walk like that? Maybe she has hip trouble? I could certainly help her with that.’

  Alys closed her eyes again, holding her hands over them. ‘Go on.’

  ‘Alright, think of Falla, see everything about her. Bring her into your mind. The colour of her hair, the sheen of it, like raven’s wings it is! The dress she was wearing, the sound of her voice. And when you have a full picture of her, when you see all of her in your mind, start talking to her. Not out loud, though, just push your thoughts towards her. See her face, see her mind, and push your thoughts in her direction.’

  Alys’ mind skipped immediately from Falla, to Karolina, to her baby son, and right back to Reinar, who she saw holding a knife up to them both.

  They didn’t linger on the beach for long, and after kicking sand over the fires, Reinar and his men headed back to the ships.

  Looking at his wife, he realised that he was running out of time to decide what to do with her. He caught a glimpse of Stina too, worrying about them both.

  Elin turned back to him, sensing his eyes on her. ‘What?’

  ‘Just wondering what I’m going to do with you.’

  ‘Do?’

  ‘To keep you safe. I have to keep you safe.’

  Elin walked back to him, boots sinking into the soft sand. ‘And you will, don’t worry, I trust you.’

  Reinar inhaled sharply. ‘You’ve got your knife, though. Still know how to use it?’

  ‘Of course. Torvig taught me when we were children. You remember that?’

  Reinar nodded, seeing her resemblance to Torvig and not liking it. ‘Well, keep it on you. Be prepared to use it, Elin. Don’t hesitate either. If someone’s threatening you, someone you don’t know, stab them.’

  Elin grinned. ‘I will, though I doubt I’ll need to. Not with you by my side.’

  She would argue about any plans he made for her, Reinar knew, but there was no way he was letting her anywhere near Hakon Vettel’s archers. He would keep both her and Stina well away from the fort.

  The afternoon air already felt cooler, the sun heading down, and though it felt like they’d only just arrived at the beach, it had been hours. Reinar scanned the horizon, searching for those missing ships, to no avail. He tried to remember who’d been on them, who was missing, but there were too many men under his command now and he couldn’t.

  ‘We head for Slussfall!’ he cried, voice roaring over the wind. ‘To end the Vettels for good! Every last one of them!’ It was what Ake wanted, but Reinar still couldn’t imagine how he was going to kill that child.

  And yet, if he didn’t?

  He held up a hand to Sigurd, who was jogging across the sand after an impatient Bolli, big grin on his face. His eyes were sad, though, Reinar noticed, as he turned them on his brother.

  ‘Maybe we can swap with Sigurd and Bolli?’ Holgar grumbled behind him. ‘Not sure I want to face Jonas and Vik.’

  They’d been discovered by some of Ollo’s men, all of them once loyal to Sirrus Ahlmann too. They knew Jonas and Vik. They’d suspected where they were hiding.

  Eight of them.

  Vik welcomed them into their cave, though he felt on edge. How many others knew of the caves, and who could they trust?

  Ollo seemed happy for the company, and the help hunting, fishing and finding firewood. The new men were more use than Leonid, who was nervous and clumsy, getting in everyone’s way.

  Magnus felt as anxious as Vik. ‘But what if they tell someone?’ They’d walked down to the stream, looking for supper. ‘Do you trust them?’

  Jonas shrugged. ‘Nothing we can do about it now. But if they give us any trouble, they’ll soon come to regret it. That’s the thing about reputations, Magnus. People know who you are, what you’re capable of. Makes them less likely to do something stupid.’

  Vik laughed. ‘You think we’re still as good as our reputations?’ He walked with a stick he’d fashioned into a spear, eyes on the stream rushing past them, high and cold
-looking.

  ‘I do. Why not? We’re still here, aren’t we, so why not?’ Jonas was worried and impatient, doubts about waiting for the Vilanders growing by the day. They were trusting the word of a strange woman Vik had met in the forest. How did they know for sure if any of what she’d said was true?

  He could almost see his wife then, smiling at him. And sighing, he turned to Magnus. ‘They’re in the forest because they’ve had enough of their lord.’

  ‘So they say,’ Vik grunted, slipping down into the stream, bracing himself for the cold water to come. ‘But we still need to stay alert, Jonas.’

  Jonas nodded, thinking the same. ‘Sirrus’ men made their own choices at the time. Ollo said he’d started forgetting things, making mistakes. They thought he’d gone a little mad, though it’s no excuse for betraying him.’

  ‘Course it’s no excuse for betraying him!’ Vik doubted that all his bellowing would get them any fish, and he closed his mouth, inclining his head for Jonas to take Magnus away.

  Which he did.

  ‘So we’ll keep alert,’ Jonas reassured his great-grandson as they walked further downstream. ‘Wait it out.’

  Magnus didn’t feel reassured. ‘But what will happen to my mother? What will they be doing to her? And what about Lotta?’

  Jonas knew that in life, you had to be like a tree. He reached up, placing his hands on the trunk of the spreading oak watching over the banks of the stream. A tree this big could feel the wind, but not be knocked down by it. And taking a deep breath, Jonas smiled. ‘We’re not leaving your mother behind, Magnus. Not this time. We’ll get Lotta, but only once we’ve saved your mother.’

  Falla came to the door, once again convincing the guard to let her in. The young man was one of her many admirers, and he’d barely lifted an eyebrow as she’d bustled past him.

  ‘The women need herbs,’ she’d whispered. ‘They need to prepare for what’s coming. To help the lord.’

  The guard had seen a cauldron, books and saddlebags pass through the door, and now there went Falla again with two overflowing baskets.

  He shut the door with a sigh, eyes darting up and down the dark corridor, hoping Hakon wouldn’t come along.

  ‘You’ve done well!’ Eddeth exclaimed as Falla stepped into the chamber, red-faced and ready to lie down. She saw the fire, and dropping her baskets to the flagstones, she hurried to it. Warming her hands before the flames, she turned with a sharp look in her eyes. ‘I’m helping you to help myself,’ she admitted. ‘I wish for my husband to be a lord, and me to be his lady.’

  Alys froze, seeing where this was leading.

  ‘I was a lady once, wife of an old lord of a tiny island. But Lief is nothing like that blathering fool. Nothing like my second husband, either. He’s a patient man. He’s not cruel, though he’s not soft either. He does what needs doing. He would make a good Lord of Slussfall.’

  ‘And you think I can guarantee that?’ Alys was puzzled.

  ‘I think you will, or I’ll tell Hakon about your plans.’ Falla had thought it through. She wanted Hakon gone, but these women were loyal to the Vilanders. She was no fool. They would help the Vilanders get rid of Hakon and then what?

  She didn’t want Lief to die, or for him to become a prisoner, lost to her.

  Eddeth was by Falla’s side in two heartbeats, finger wagging. ‘Don’t threaten us, Falla Gundersen!’ she growled. ‘We’re your friends! Here to help you! Maybe you don’t know what it means to have friends, being the way you are. Maybe all you’ve done your whole life is play games, wanting to claw out some better existence for yourself? Likely you’ve never had a true friend. But friends don’t threaten each other. And they don’t turn on each other either!’

  Falla stumbled, frowning. ‘Friends?’

  ‘Of course we’re you’re friends!’ Eddeth was smiling now, all anger gone like the sun returning after a sudden downpour. ‘And we’ll help you. Willingly. We’ll try to save you and your husband and your boy. Not because you’re threatening us. Not because we’re scared of you!’ She snorted, then sneezed.

  Falla blinked in surprise, never having been spoken to like that before, except by Mother, who’d been no friend of hers. She’d only wanted someone to do all those tasks she couldn’t be bothered doing herself. The old woman would have happily killed her if it had helped her get what she wanted, Falla knew.

  Alys nodded. ‘I can’t promise you anything, but you must convince Lief to help us. If he tries to kill the Vilanders, they can hardly reward him.’

  ‘And Ivan?’

  Alys felt sad about Ivan. ‘He won’t abandon Hakon. He can’t. They’re family. They need each other. But Lief... you can work on Lief.’

  Falla nodded, smiling.

  She could most certainly work on Lief.

  Just a sliver of moon was visible in a sky scattered with stars as Hakon walked across the square with Karolina.

  He had rushed around the fort all day, feeling as though he was being chased. It was an odd sensation he couldn’t shake, unable to stay in one place long enough to achieve anything. He had run from the armoury to the fletcher’s to the blacksmith’s. He’d been down at the piers, ordering his men to pull their one remaining warship out of the water, storing it in the sheds, though he’d failed to order them all locked to protect those that were halfway through or nearing completion. He had checked the gates but forgotten to mention the idea for barricades he’d had in mind when he left the hall.

  No wonder everyone was starting to look at him as though he was mad.

  Was he going mad?

  Hakon held Karolina close. She was wrapped from head to toe in fur, yet she shivered as they walked, trembling against him. Snow was on the ground, but not in the air, though it was achingly cold, breath smoke streaming from mouths and noses. ‘You have nothing to fear from the Vilanders, Karolina,’ Hakon insisted, twisting his head left and right, trying to determine what was masked by the shadows. ‘Nothing at all.’

  Karolina could only nod. She felt trapped and frightened, and not sure whose side she wanted to be on.

  ‘Alys will help us,’ Hakon assured her, squeezing her waist. ‘And the gods will help Alys. That’s what Mother said. The gods give dreamers the visions they need to help us, to show us the way. And you know how much Thenor wants to help the Vettels. He wants me on the throne! He sent me a dreamer!’ Hakon kept saying words, as though the mere act of saying them would make them true. As though by saying them often enough, to enough people, he could convince everyone that they needn’t fear what they saw with their own eyes, or heard with their own ears. They would believe him, because he was Hakon Vettel, Lord of Slussfall, their lord.

  The man destined to become the next King of Alekka.

  Alys stood in the shadow of the tree, watching her mother chase her grandfather’s dog, who had stolen her boot. Digger. Alys remembered him. He liked to steal things and bury them. Usually bones or branches. Sometimes boots. Never food. When he stole that, he gobbled it down right away. Alys grinned, wondering how her grandfather had managed to choose such an appropriate name. Or perhaps it was her grandmother, she thought, glancing around.

  Summer at the cottage was always beautiful. Flowers of every colour bloomed, a cornucopia of scents wafting through the air. The birds made homes in the rowan trees fencing the house, and the noise was cheerful and busy from dawn till dusk.

  Digger ran into the bushes, disappearing, and Alys heard the splash as he launched himself off the bank, into the stream.

  She heard a laugh from behind her, and turning, she saw Jonas with his shirt off, sweaty from chopping wood. He was going away, she guessed, wanting to have everything ready for her grandmother.

  He’d always been preparing to go away.

  As a child, it had terrified Alys, who never knew if she would see him again.

  ‘I’ll get him!’ Jonas laughed, flinging his axe into the tree round he was chopping on.

  Alys turned around, wondering where her gran
dmother was; there was only her mother and grandfather in the garden. And turning back, she saw her grandfather slip his arm around her mother’s waist as she grumbled about how sweaty he was, protesting as he leaned in to kiss her.

  On the lips.

  Alys froze. Disturbed.

  She squinted, stepping forward, wondering what was happening.

  Jonas had forgotten all about Digger and the missing boot. He was too busy kissing her mother, who slapped him on the rump, sending him on his way.

  ‘There’ll be no cake for you if you don’t get my boot back!’ she laughed, cheeks flushed.

  ‘My sweet Eida, light of my life, you can trust me!’ Jonas grinned, disappearing into the bushes.

  Eida?

  Alys didn’t understand, too stunned to move, ears buzzing like she was standing in a field of beehives.

  And then the woman turned around, walking back to her, taking her hands. ‘We wanted to keep you safe, Alys. For if anyone knew the truth, they would have taken you, used you, killed you. We wanted to keep you safe, my darling, here, at the cottage, with us.’

  ‘But...’ Alys shook her head, shivering. ‘I don’t understand. Who am I?’

  Jonas ran a hand over Magnus’ hair, settling the boy back to sleep. He’d had a nightmare, waking with a shout, on his feet, wandering around the cave. He was still mostly asleep, and it hadn’t taken Jonas long to relax that shuddering body again.

  ‘He’ll want to come with us, you know,’ Vik whispered beside him. He was poking the fire, hoping to keep the flames breathing, just enough to warm his toes. ‘When the Vilanders come, he’ll want to go to the fort.’

  Jonas glanced at the boy, knowing Vik was right. ‘I would, in his place. If they had my mother, I would.’

  Vik nodded. ‘Me too, though we can’t let him come.’

  ‘No, but he won’t take it well,’ Jonas grinned. ‘He’s as stubborn as me.’

  ‘I agree. Must take after Alys’ side of the family.’