by A. E. Rayne
‘He does, so he won’t kill her, but he will hurt her.’ And tossing his empty ale cup onto the table, Ivan headed for the doors, wanting some fresh air.
Jonas was tense, distracted.
Vik could tell.
So leaving Magnus to finish his supper inside the cave, he headed outside to join Jonas, who had wandered down to the stream. ‘You alright?’
Jonas nodded without turning around, enjoying the soothing sound of the babbling water. For some reason, it reminded him of Eida, and he felt both comforted and sad.
Then he felt Vik’s hand on his back, jolting him out of his dream.
‘It’s confusing, I know. What’s happened. What’s coming.’
Jonas shrugged. ‘It is, though Eddeth is confusing herself, so maybe she doesn’t have the right of it all? She seems to think there’s something between Alys and Reinar, but after he captured her? How can that be? And what were those boys doing trying to become slavers? Not in some foreign land either, but in Alekka!’ Jonas felt irritable, and scratching his head, he peered at Vik. ‘And what about Reinar’s wife? Where’s Elin?’
‘We can’t know any of it, not yet. But if Alys is going into Reinar’s dreams, trying to help him, there’s a good chance Eddeth’s right about things.’ She was an odd creature, Vik thought with a grin, and hopefully, a useful ally. ‘But it’s not that, is it? Something’s been eating at you for days. Days and days, Jonas. I’ve spent too much time with you over the years to be fobbed off like some stranger. Secrets don’t help anyone.’
Jonas froze, hairs rising on the back of his neck. ‘Don’t they?’ He turned to Vik with sharp eyes. ‘I’m not sure that’s true. Secrets can keep you safe. Protect you from those who want to hurt you. Who seek to kill you.’
Vik shivered, seeing the odd look in Jonas’ eyes. ‘What do you mean? What secrets?’
Elin smiled at Reinar, enjoying the feel of his arms resting on her lower back, wishing they were lying in their bed, fire crackling, keeping them warm. ‘When will we be there?’ It was dark, and she had no idea where they even were. She hoped Holgar, who was leading their tiny fleet of ships, had some clue.
‘Soon, I hope.’
They stood behind Holgar, who was barely blinking as he squinted into the murk, looking for familiar shapes. He’d sailed to Slussfall many times over the years, in all sorts of conditions, including in the dead of night, though he was an older man now, his eyesight not what it once was, and he felt a tightness in his chest, hoping he wouldn’t miss the mark he was aiming for. There was barely a hint of a star and no sign of the moon, and he had one man hanging from the prow, another leaning over the bow, eyes alert to any danger. Hopefully, they’d provide enough warning.
‘And what will you do once we get there?’ Elin wondered.
‘Climb,’ Reinar grinned. ‘We will climb.’
44
Men could be stubborn creatures, Falla knew, but she’d always possessed the skills to bend them to her will. It wasn’t hard. They might be stubborn, but they were also predictable. It had never been hard to get what she wanted. Though Lief was proving far less pliable than she’d ever imagined. She knew he loved her, and he would love the child she was carrying, and perhaps one day, even his stepson. He would do anything for his family, she was sure, but break his oath to his lord?
Falla was beginning to realise that Lief might never do that.
But he was not her only hope, so slipping out of the hall, deep-red cloak swathed around her, she hurried towards Ivan. He hadn’t gone far, so she found him quickly, slumped on a bench, eyes on his boots, head in his hands.
Sitting down beside him, she gave him a fright, and Ivan turned to her in surprise, never expecting Falla to seek his company. She’d always sneered at him and dismissed him and brushed away his every hint of interest in her.
But now?
‘Your cousin is a problem, Ivan. Your problem.’ Falla edged closer, her voice a deep murmur. ‘You must do something about him before it’s too late.’
Ivan was disappointed, and he moved away, bored with hearing the same thing from everyone he talked to. ‘Lief sent you, did he?’
‘No. Lief is as stubborn as you. As pigheaded a man as I’ve ever met. He wouldn’t listen to me, but I hoped that... perhaps you might?’
Ivan had been obsessed with Falla Gundersen from the moment he’d first seen her, but now, even with her sitting beside him, the sweet smell of her freshly-washed hair seducing him, he felt oddly deadened to her charms. ‘Because you want Lief to be the lord here? Is that your hope, Falla?’
His voice was mocking, and Falla felt insulted, though it was true. ‘My hope is to save the life of my son and my unborn child. As is Karolina’s. We both fear what Hakon will do. She’s seen his mark. She sees him unravelling before her eyes, threatening and murdering people. Yet those in power do nothing. You see what a danger he’s becoming, and you do nothing! We are helpless to make you both see the truth. We can’t leave this fort, yet we fear the danger that’s growing within it!’ Falla took a breath, lowering her voice again. ‘You do nothing,’ she hissed. ‘Nothing to keep us safe.’
‘From Hakon?’ Ivan bent to her. ‘He’s not our enemy.’
Falla heard a bird cawing from the ramparts. A raven, she guessed, thinking of Mother. ‘Your enemy is often standing right in front of you, Ivan. Right in front of you, with everything you’ve ever wanted. Open your eyes before it’s too late.’ Falla was tempted to place a hand on his knee, but she thought of Lief waiting for her inside, and she stood. ‘You’re different than your cousin. I imagine you’ve always been different. And now is your chance to prove it.’
Sigurd hoped that their ships were completely hidden by the fog. He could barely see Dagger’s mast, though often the moon would show itself, revealing where they were. He hoped it was where they wanted to be. Reinar was long gone, followed by Ludo, who would work on distracting the Vettels when dawn came.
If they waited that long.
Sigurd grinned, holding a cup of ale in his shaking hand. ‘Cold enough for you?’
Bolli had taken a break from the tiller and was wobbling beside him, stretching out his back. ‘You say something about the weather now, and that’ll be that.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean Ulfinnur is always listening to idiots predicting the weather. You say one word, and he’ll decide to have a little fun with us, I guarantee it. Thunder, lightning, more rain!’
‘Whose side do you think they’re on, then?’ Sigurd wondered, sipping his ale. ‘The gods?’
‘No idea!’ Bolli snorted. Being a sailor, he was an overly superstitious man. Every cloud or drop of rain, every swell of wave or absence of wind was a sign from the gods, and he didn’t want to presume what they were thinking.
Not out loud, at least.
‘Hopefully ours,’ Sigurd said, listening to the rhythmic slap of water against Dagger’s hull. ‘But we’ll know soon enough if they are.’
Bolli mumbled, trying to take his mind off his griping belly.
They were nervous.
Sigurd heard whetstones scraping down blades, low chatter in the distance.
‘They’ll expect us. Alys will have told them we’re here. They’ll be ready for us,’ he said darkly. ‘Know that, Bolli. We’re here to fight for Ake. To kill the Vettels. To take back Slussfall and avenge Sirrus’ death.’ He thought about Alys and Eddeth. ‘And if the gods think what we’re doing is worthy of their help, then they’ll give it to us. But we’ll do it either way. There’s no choice. If Hakon defeats us, he’ll move on to Ottby, then Stornas. He’ll have our fleet, kill our families, take Alekka. There’s no choice now.’
Hakon held his goblet aloft, flames glowing on his face, eyes glistening as he surveyed the packed hall. Slussfall was strong, so strong. He felt its stone walls enclosing him like a mother’s embrace.
He couldn’t remember his own mother, who had died when he was not much older than his son, but hi
s stepmother had cared for him as though he was her own. She had been kind, he thought, missing her for the first time in months.
He saw Ivan slink back into the hall, quickly taking a cup from a table, filling it with wine, and Hakon smiled, remembering how close they’d always been. How rewarding it would be to defeat the Vilanders with Ivan by his side.
‘We’ve been blessed by the gods!’ Hakon began, quieting the murmuring hall with his booming voice. ‘Ake has sent us the prize of a great fleet! We would take years to build so many ships, and yet they have come to us! They wait out there for us!’ Hakon could almost feel his enemy’s approach, though no bell had been rung in warning. In the murky night sky, he doubted any man could see what was lurking out in the harbour, though Lief had assured him that many were trying to.
The cheers were muted, despite the bountiful supply of food and ale his men and their wives had consumed. Hakon thought distractedly about a siege, and whether the Vilanders would be able to mount a sustained attack that would drain the fort of its resources. Though his thoughts felt contrary to everything he wanted to say and dismissing them with speed, he smiled. ‘And once we have a fleet again, we’ll be unstoppable!’ Hakon frowned, seeking out Ivan and Lief, knowing that he had to remind them not to burn the ships. They needed every last one of them.
Just not the men sailing them.
‘And once we dispatch the Vilanders, and hang their heads from the gates, we’ll take to the sea, and be at Stornas before winter truly sets in!’
To most in the hall, it felt as though winter was already here. Snow had been falling on and off for days now, and no one felt particularly enthused by a winter attack on the great walled city of Stornas.
Ivan could sense the lack of enthusiasm in the hall, and feeling bad for his cousin and worried about what he might do, he lifted his own cup, raising his voice. ‘And once we cut off Ake’s head, we’ll head for Ottby and capture that fort too! Alekka will be ours!’ He tried so hard to reflect the hunger he saw in Hakon’s eyes, but thinking of Alys and Falla and Karolina, it was a struggle. He peered at Hakon, who was frowning, searching for his wife.
She had gone to bed, he remembered.
And his thoughts turned to Alys.
Alys could feel the pull of her grandfather. He was unhappy. Worried. He walked beside Vik, both of them far ahead of her, but she knew him well enough to read his mind and body. He walked through the moonlit grove as though the weight of the world rested on his broad shoulders.
She followed them.
And suddenly Jonas stopped, turning with a heavy sigh. ‘Mirella was a problem.’
Vik was confused, not expecting that. ‘A problem? Your Mirella?’
Jonas nodded, shoulders tense. ‘Eida wanted her to go to the temple in Tuura, to learn how to be a dreamer. It’s what dreamers in her family did.’ Jonas’ voice became halting. He hadn’t approached the subject in years. He’d rarely discussed Mirella with anyone but Eida. ‘I didn’t want her to go. She was our only child. The only one left.’ There had been others, but none had lived past their first birthday.
Vik nodded. He remembered how reluctant Jonas had felt about sending Mirella away.
‘But they both wanted it, and it made sense. She was a dreamer, and it made sense for her to learn how to use her gifts. So I took her. We both did. We left her there, in Tuura. She was only thirteen years old.’ Jonas gripped his hands, looking up, staring straight through Alys, who watched with eyes peeled open, limbs tense. ‘Something was wrong, though.’
‘Wrong?’
‘In Tuura. Eida hadn’t seen it. She couldn’t. They hid what they were doing there, even from dreamers. Tuura was being taken over by a sect who followed a dark god, and they turned my Mirella into one of them.’ Jonas almost sobbed, still feeling that little body in his arms, her blonde head resting against his chest as she promised to see him soon. She’d been excited about going, but nervous, knowing how much she would miss them both. Jonas sensed Vik’s confusion. ‘She came back to Torborg, eventually, but she wasn’t the same. We didn’t recognise her. Eida couldn’t see through her secrets and lies. Nor could I. She just wasn’t there anymore. To this day, I don’t know what they did to her, but the Mirella I knew was gone.’
Vik didn’t know what to say.
He couldn’t believe Jonas had kept so much from him.
‘She did strange things. She stayed in her chamber and wouldn’t talk to us. She was... casting spells,’ Jonas admitted. ‘We tried everything we could, but she locked Eida out of her mind, and me out of her heart. She wouldn’t listen at all. And then she ran away.’
Vik remembered. He’d helped Jonas search for her. Eida had been beside herself, wasting away with worry, unable to find her daughter in her dreams.
‘She was only seventeen.’
Alys froze, shocked to think that she too had run away from Jonas when she was seventeen, breaking his heart all over again.
‘But she came back.’
Jonas nodded. ‘Three years later, she came back. Three torturous years later, she turned up at the cottage. Just one afternoon. It was summer, late summer, and the heat was intense, I remember. Eida and I had been swimming in the stream with the dogs, all of us soaking in there for hours.’ The dogs knew someone was there before we did. I remember them bounding out of the stream, charging for the house, so however successfully Mirella had hidden herself from her mother, she couldn’t fool them.’
Vik glanced around, hearing a noise, but it was only a forest cat, slipping through the thorny bushes, twitching vole in its mouth. ‘But she didn’t stay long, did she?’ It was so long ago now, and Vik was struggling to piece his memories together.
‘No, just long enough to leave us her baby. Just long enough to give us Alys.’
Alys’ mouth dropped open, wanting to hear everything, and then a noise, and a hand, and she was back in her chamber, Hakon Vettel standing over her.
Aldo had left Eddeth’s cottage with his instructions, promising to return when the fort was under attack so they could get to work. Eddeth shivered with excitement, ignoring her fears, hoping she could find a way to get Alys out of her chamber before anything happened to her.
She laid everything out on the table, running a squinting eye over what she’d prepared, wringing her hands, stomach rumbling, regretting that she’d shared so much of her soup with that slouching boy.
Flying powder.
The bowl of potion.
A cup of licorice tea.
Her knife.
Eddeth picked it up, turning the blade, watching the flames catch the edge, pleased with how sharp it looked. And taking a deep breath, she slipped it into its scabbard.
Could it all be that simple, Reinar wondered, eyes on the cliffs?
They were slick and steep, not safe to climb in the dark, though to get to Slussfall’s main gates in time they had little choice.
He turned back to Elin and Stina. ‘You’ll be safe with Nels.’
Elin was annoyed at being left behind. ‘I was always better at climbing trees than you, Reinar Vilander,’ she grumbled, but she stayed where she was as Holgar headed past them with a spluttering torch in one hand, hoping the wind wouldn’t rob them of their only source of light.
Bjarni slipped over as he approached, falling onto his knees.
‘You alright?’ Reinar laughed, holding out a hand.
And jumping back to his feet as though nothing had happened, Bjarni nodded, ignoring a sharp pain in his right knee. ‘Fine. Just fine.’
Berger followed after him with Ilene, who was hanging her shield over her back. ‘Will they be waiting for us?’
‘In the tunnel?’ Reinar shrugged, wanting to take a moment alone with Elin. ‘Hopefully not.’ He tried to smile, feeling tense and impatient. He didn’t like to put anyone in danger, though Alys had seen that this was the place to come.
He hoped she was right.
‘You’ll be careful, won’t you?’ Elin pleaded as Reinar took
her in his arms. ‘I don’t want anything to happen to you.’
‘I will, I promise. I’ll send for you as soon as it’s safe.’ He didn’t know what he was saying or thinking, he just felt the urge to leave, hearing the grunts and groans as his men started to climb. But feeling Elin’s hand on his chest, he bent his head and kissed her. ‘I love you, Elin. I always have, always will. I’ll come back to you, I promise.’ And kissing her again, he closed his eyes, seeing Alys’ face.
Alys backed up quickly, smelling wine on Hakon’s breath, sensing the tension in his body, and something else she wanted to ignore entirely. ‘What is it? Has something happened?’ She pulled the fur over her green dress, trying to cover herself.
‘Happened?’ Hakon grinned, teeth white and gleaming. ‘Aren’t you the dreamer, Alys? Is there something you want to tell me?’ He moved quickly, crawling onto the bed towards her.
Alys shrieked, wide awake now. ‘Stop! Hakon, stop! Don’t do this!’
‘This?’ Trapping her between his powerful body and the headboard, Hakon smiled. ‘You’re a beautiful woman, Alys. A powerful, magical woman. Why wouldn’t I want to have all of you? Claim you! Not just your dreams, but every part of you.’
‘The attack!’ Alys tried, twisting away from his pawing hands. ‘I need to be dreaming about the Vilanders. The attack! I was in a dream, I...’
Hakon grabbed Alys, trying to pull her dress off her shoulders. It was torn at the seams, he could see, old and faded, and smiling, he tore it some more, ripping the green fabric.
Alys yelped, not needing to read his thoughts now. ‘But I need to dream!’ And then Hakon was yanking her down the bed, holding her flat with one hand, drunkenly pushing down his trousers with the other. ‘Help!’ she yelled, kicking her legs, trying to move. He was drunk but surprisingly strong. ‘Help!’