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

by A. E. Rayne

  It was too wet to even play dice, and Sigurd peered up at the sky, wanting to see a hint of the weather changing. All he got was a ball of hail in the eye.

  ‘Hail?’ Ludo couldn’t believe it. ‘Hail?’

  Sigurd laughed, miserable and wet and wishing he was sitting under a sailcloth like Elin and Stina and Ilene. He’d seen them earlier, and as the rain filled up his boots, he felt envious, but at the same time, the discomfort was motivating. It kept him on edge, and he found his thoughts coalescing around the idea of killing the Vettels. Of taking back Slussfall for Ake. Of coming home to the cheers of his family and friends ringing in his ears.

  And then leaving.

  He wanted to go back to Varis, to Kalmera. Tulia had no family living that he knew of, but he’d saved some of hers and Amir’s ashes, keeping them in two wooden boxes, and he wanted to return them to their homeland. It felt like the right thing to do. The thought that all he had left of Tulia now was a handful of ash in a tiny box made him mournful, and his attention drifted to his brother, whose heart had been broken when Elin left. Sigurd felt envious, wishing he had a second chance like Reinar. When Elin had disappeared, everyone assumed she’d run away to kill herself – everyone but Reinar, who’d held on to some hope. Yet now he had her back he looked far from happy, far from comfortable either, and Sigurd knew exactly what that was about.

  Alys.

  Alys felt relieved that Salma’s book was still under the bed; surprised to find Eddeth’s grandmother’s book there too, though Hakon had obviously dragged Eddeth out of the chamber before she’d even had a chance to sneeze.

  Alys hoped she was alright, wanting Eddeth to come and see her, for how were they going to get the gates open without her potion? Eddeth had found the spell in Salma’s book, and though Alys could see the symbols to draw, she didn’t know herbs, and she’d only be able to guess at half the ingredients required.

  She needed to escape and find Eddeth.

  To get away before Hakon hurt her. And he would.

  Alys had seen it in his eyes. She’d seen flashes of it happening too.

  Trying to distract herself, she took a seat by the fire, opening Eddeth’s grandmother’s book, hoping to find something she could do to help Reinar on her own, but her mind quickly wandered back to Hakon, and her eyes snapped to the door. Hakon was a danger to everyone around him, including her, and though she’d distracted him for a time with a tale of the gods, it was only a tale.

  Or was it?

  Alys peered down at the book. She hadn’t studied it nearly as closely as Salma’s, but now, stuck in her chamber, all alone, she could hopefully find out more. She smiled, wondering what Eddeth’s grandmother had been like, getting a vision of a woman who looked just like Eddeth. And then Alys blinked, seeing her own grandmother, the woman she’d always thought was her mother. That voice, that face, she’d always believed they belonged to her mother.

  And now?

  Who was she really, and why had her grandparents kept so many secrets from her?

  42

  Slussfall’s tall fortress was ringed by a single stone wall. It was as old as Ottby, with well-defended ramparts and four guard towers that gave a clear view over the harbour to the east, and the forest to the west. It had held strong for nearly twenty years against every threat from above The Rift until the Vettels had captured it.

  Mother had helped, Lief knew. That old witch had been surprisingly useful against stubborn enemies, and now, without her, even he had begun to feel vulnerable.

  Ivan stood to one side of him, Hakon on the other, all three of them staring down into the harbour from the ramparts.

  ‘His wife?’ Ivan felt uncomfortable. ‘You want to kill his wife?’

  ‘Of course!’ Hakon rubbed his thumbless hands together, glee in his voice. ‘Imagine how things will go after that?’

  Lief, who had a wife he very much hoped would live through the Vilanders’ attack, frowned. ‘He’ll be even more motivated, I would think, my lord.’ His voice was a deep-throated rebuke, his eyes cold. ‘I expect you’d feel the same. Just the thought of him hurting yours has you on edge, but if Reinar Vilander actually killed her?’

  Hakon could certainly imagine it, though he dismissed Lief’s worry. ‘A man may try to hold himself together after a shocking heartbreak, but he’ll not be the same. He won’t think clearly, won’t see clearly. He’ll make mistakes, and we’ll be ready to pounce.’

  Ivan felt tense, every word tumbling out of his cousin’s mouth putting him more on edge. ‘Reinar Vilander isn’t fool enough to keep his wife where she can be killed, Hakon. Why would he do that?’

  Hakon didn’t want to hear it, and turning to Lief, he sought a different opinion, though Lief didn’t have one.

  ‘Ivan’s right, my lord. He’ll keep his wife well out of range. She’s not a warrior that I’m aware of. He won’t risk getting her anywhere near trouble.’

  Hakon felt irritated by both of them, his eyes wandering to the harbour. ‘Well, he’s risked her already, bringing her along! And he’ll be too distracted by what’s happening around him to keep her safe.’ Thoughts of vengeance, temporarily held at bay by his life-threatening wound and the terrifying journey through the forest, came rushing back, and Hakon saw his father’s headless body, lying in the snow. ‘We’ll do everything we can to target her. I’ll ask Alys to find her, tell us exactly where she is.’

  ‘If you keep going to see Alys, Cousin, you won’t give her any chance to dream for you. And besides, it’s distracting. We’ve more to worry about than Reinar Vilander’s wife.’ Ivan twitched irritably, thinking about Alys locked in that chamber. At Hakon’s mercy. ‘We haven’t got enough arrows. The fletchers are doing all they can, but if you don’t want us to damage the ships, we can’t sling boulders or fire at them while they’re on board.

  Hakon dismissed his cousin’s fretting, chest burning now, mind skipping ahead. If he was to impress the gods, he had to make bold decisions, leading from the front with decisive strokes. And closing his eyes, he could almost see Thenor nodding his head in approval.

  ‘Hakon?’ Ivan wanted to scream. It was proving impossible to keep up with his cousin, though Ivan knew it was his job to try.

  ‘We will end the Vilanders, and burn Ake’s men to ash, once they’re ashore. This can’t be some neverending tug of rope, making incremental steps. We must crush our enemies with an iron fist! Every strength we have must be utilised. I demand it of you both! Keep thinking. Keep planning. The fort is secure, so that is not where our attention needs to be. It must be on how to make this the most one-sided victory in the history of Alekka!’ And wheeling around, Hakon walked away from them both, heading for the guard tower, wanting to have a word with his fletchers.

  Ivan and Lief watched him go, neither speaking.

  Eventually, when Hakon had disappeared inside the tower, Lief turned to Ivan. ‘Falla is worried,’ he admitted. ‘Without Mother here, guiding your cousin, she feels concerned.’

  Ivan didn’t speak. His attention remained on the harbour, watching a merchant ship unloading its goods. More furs, he thought absentmindedly. Antlers too. He’d been to The Murk many times over the years. It was such a mysterious, dark, dangerous place. Though, he realised, he felt no safer here, with the gods after them, and his cousin on the edge.

  ‘I’ll go down to the harbour, take a look around, see if there’s anything else I can think of,’ Lief suggested. ‘We don’t have the ships to attack them by sea. All we can do is wait for them to come to us.’

  Ivan’s silence continued, but he nodded, worrying about where his cousin had gone.

  Hoping it was to the fletchers.

  The rain had cleared, though the sky remained gloomy. Eddeth didn’t notice as she bounded past the woodturner’s hut with Falla and Karolina. They were both struggling to keep up with the healer, who had a habit of racing ahead, forgetting they were with her.

  ‘We must be on our way before the rain comes down again! Wi
lf’s a good horse, but he does hate bad weather!’ It was a risk, Eddeth knew, trusting either of the women. Falla leaned towards being self-serving by nature, and though Karolina was desperate to get away from her husband, she was also afraid of what he might do to her if he discovered her disloyalty. And yet, Eddeth had taken them into her confidence, for she’d realised that the best way to help Reinar on her own was to put the guards to sleep. And now she needed to find some henbane and hemlock.

  And besides, she’d promised to visit Vik.

  ‘I won’t come,’ Karolina said, blinking at Eddeth, who had finally slowed down, dropping back, conscious of the weight of the saddlebags slung over her shoulders. Between Falla and Karolina, they’d found enough food to feed a small army, and Eddeth had stuffed her saddlebags full. ‘It would create too much suspicion.’

  Falla agreed. ‘Well, as long as you don’t reveal where we’ve gone. Or why.’

  ‘I... I couldn’t. I don’t know.’ That was true enough, though the small information Karolina did possess would be enough to get Falla and Eddeth in serious trouble. But both women were trying to help them all, and Karolina felt strongly about doing everything she could to keep them safe.

  ‘That’s the right answer!’ Eddeth winked, turning into the stables after Falla. ‘And your husband is no dreamer. He’ll believe what you tell him if you flutter your eyelashes enough!’

  Karolina nodded, wanting to cry. She’d seen Hakon’s chest, more than once now, and she knew what that mark meant. Falla had told her that Hakon had murdered Rikkard, and in the back of Karolina’s mind, she wondered if it was because Rikkard had seen the mark.

  The thought of that terrified her.

  ‘And besides,’ Eddeth muttered. ‘I’ve known Reinar Vilander since he was a boy. He’s a good man. There’s no chance he would try and kill you or your son. No chance at all!’

  The day was running away from them, icy rain pouring down unabated, and Reinar was sure that soon they’d all be too cold to even hold a bow in their hands. He certainly couldn’t stop shivering. And trying to take his mind off the rain and the cold, he attempted to focus on their plan.

  Alys’ plan.

  And if it worked, and they got into the fortress, what would he do then?

  With Hakon and Ivan Vettel dead, what would he do then?

  Ake’s words echoed constantly, like a warning he couldn’t ignore.

  Though he wanted to.

  Elin left the sodden shelter behind and came to join him, slipping an arm around his waist. He looked down at her, smiling. He knew what it felt like to lose the ones you loved – the pain was indescribable – though Reinar was not concerned with breaking Hakon Vettel’s heart.

  Rain ran down his face, soaking his beard, and taking it in his hands, he wrung it like a cloth.

  He wasn’t concerned with breaking a dead man’s heart.

  But could he break his own?

  Could he live with himself if he killed the baby?

  Yet then there would be no more Vettels. No more Vettels to ever threaten Alekka again. Reinar closed his eyes, wanting the rain to numb him until nothing existed but Ake’s words. ‘Don’t run from this, Reinar. I demand it of you, as I would demand it of your father if he still commanded this old fortress. I trusted him, put my faith in him, and now, I put it in you.’

  Eddeth’s grandmother’s book was full of interesting stories, and once Alys had deciphered its odd ways and untangled its jumbled order, she began to enjoy reading it. Though, after a while, she started to see the gods differently, and instead of feeling comforted by the thought of them watching over and protecting her, she became increasingly disturbed. They appeared to be locked in the very battle she’d described to Hakon, which unsettled Alys even further.

  Looking up suddenly, she wondered if the woman’s voice she often heard was Alari. It was an evil, threatening sort of voice, taunting her, trying to scare her. And if Alari’s goal was to thwart Thenor, it was likely that she would see Alys as her enemy, just as Hakon’s dreamer had.

  A knock on the door had Alys jumping out of the chair. Thoughts scattering, book clutched to her chest, she panicked as the door opened, Ivan walking in with a basket. He looked similar in so many ways to his cousin, though it was hard to dislike Ivan.

  Alys smiled in relief.

  ‘You were expecting someone else?’

  ‘I was, but I’d much rather see you.’

  Ivan was pleased, placing the basket on the small table by the window. ‘Something to eat, from the kitchen. There’s a jug of wine too. Thought it might help to pass the time.’

  ‘What? Getting drunk?’

  ‘Why not?’ Ivan winked. ‘A jug of wine for you, and the Vilanders to distract my cousin, so he doesn’t come near your door.’

  ‘And when he defeats them?’ Alys didn’t want to let Ivan off that lightly. ‘Surely you don’t think I can keep him distracted forever?’ Memories of her dreams flickered, and she peered at Ivan. ‘Do you know a woman called Mirella?’

  ‘Mirella?’ Ivan was surprised. ‘Why?’

  Alys shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. ‘Just something I dreamed last night. I saw Hakon as a baby, as young as his son is now. There was a woman with his father. Mirella, he called her, but I didn’t understand who she was. Not his mother.’

  ‘No, his stepmother.’

  Alys froze. ‘Stepmother?’

  Ivan nodded, lifting the items out of the basket onto the table, annoyed that he’d managed to spill the wine. ‘Jesper loved Mirella, almost more than himself, which is saying something!’ He grinned, placing the wine jug on the table. ‘They were together before Hakon was born, from what I’ve heard, but Mirella ran away, and Jesper married Hakon’s mother, Arina. He didn’t love her, he just wanted sons, though he ended up killing her and marrying Mirella after all. The Vettels have a way of getting what they want... in the end.’

  Alys hadn’t moved. Hadn’t spoken. Her thoughts jammed together, not allowing her to make any sense of them, knowing that she didn’t want to.

  ‘How about a cup of wine?’ Ivan asked, eager for one himself.

  ‘So you knew this Mirella?’ Alys turned to him, clearing her face.

  ‘Of course.’ Ivan picked up a fig, offering it to Alys, who shook her head. ‘After Jesper killed my father, I went to live in Orbo with him and Mirella. She was like a mother to me.’ He felt sad then, still not sure why she’d disappeared so suddenly, or whether she was still alive.

  Alys felt displaced, as though the ground beneath her was crumbling away. She saw her grandmother’s face, heard her grandmother’s voice, and she tried to convince herself that she didn’t know what any of it meant.

  Eddeth had no idea where she was going.

  Alys had tried to give her directions to the cave she’d seen in her dreams, though she’d struggled to explain the landscape in great detail, and Eddeth was lost in the forest, each tree and path looking just like every other. She hadn’t imagined the cave would be that far away from where she’d bumped into Vik the first time. She smiled, remembering the handsome warrior.

  ‘Not sure why you’re smiling,’ Falla grumbled. ‘We’re going around in circles! It will be dark soon, and we’ll be lost in here.’ They’d stopped twice so she could vomit, and her mood was as sour as the taste in her mouth.

  ‘I’m smiling because I’m thrilled to be away from that fort!’ Eddeth said happily, and it was true. She hated feeling imprisoned, though guilt dulled her enthusiasm when she thought of poor Alys, who still was.

  ‘Well, you won’t be happy soon when we’re trapped in this forest for days!’

  Eddeth’s smile brightened again, certain she could see a hint of stone in the distance. The trees were bunched tightly together, not indicating a path in that direction, but Eddeth’s hunch strengthened in her mind, and she turned Wilf towards it. ‘Come on! The quicker you stop grumbling, the more inclined the gods will be to help us. They don’t like grumblers, you know, not at al
l!’

  Falla frowned, grumbling some more, hoping Lief wouldn’t send men out looking for them. Hoping that Eddeth would find those caves before she had to vomit again.

  And then a man leaped out from behind a tree, brandishing a sword.

  Falla bit her tongue, yelping in horror, her horse skittering about urgently beneath her.

  Ollo grabbed the bridle, one of his men seizing Eddeth’s horse before he could bolt, though, in the dense maze of trees, he wouldn’t have gotten very far. ‘And where are you ladies off to, then? Not the sort of place to forage for herbs.’ He eyed Falla with a raised eyebrow, knowing whose wife she was.

  ‘We’re not hunting for herbs!’ Eddeth declared loudly, scattering a couple of black woodpeckers into the air. ‘Well, not any longer. We’re hunting you and your friends, of course! We come with news!’ She looked around eagerly. ‘And where is Vik?’ Eddeth had made Alys tell her all about Vik. ‘Where is Vik Lofgren?’

  And hearing the commotion, Vik came to see what was happening, smiling at the sight of Eddeth on her nervous old horse. ‘So you finally came?’

  ‘I did!’ Eddeth chuckled, brushing hair out of her eyes which sparkled brightly. ‘For I have news about our friends. Alys has seen them coming. Today!’

  Low-lying clouds submerged the coast, but every now and then they caught glimpses of where they were, and it had them on edge.

  The rain had stopped. Now their wet bodies were just slowly freezing, battered by an icy wind. Still, it kept them wide awake, thoughts rushing past them at speed, each one of them trying to remember what they needed to do. Reinar hoped he’d anticipated everything that could go wrong. He tried to think of anything he could do to make their success more likely, though Slussfall had been built to make everything hard. Shoulders aching with tension, his eyes drifted to the ships sailing along in Fury’s wake. Everyone appeared alert now, men standing, weapons ready. The sun was somewhere, lost behind the thick clouds, heading for the sea.