“Get on with it,” said Thoddun. “I have other things to do.”
Flokki said, “Finishing off this wretched puddle of wolf blood isn’t a problem. The bitch’s retinue isn’t under argument. It’s the Lord Ragnar we need to discuss.”
“He was a friend,” scowled Skallagrim. “He was my friend.”
“He marched into my private chamber with a trail of armed men at his back,” said Thoddun. “He threatened a guest. He led a small rebellion and turned it into a major insurrection.” Thoddun had taken over Flokki’s chair of state and was sprawled across it, one leg slung over the high carved arm, the other leg stretched before him. His chin was sunk into the collar of his shirt. The fire had flared into a small furnace and was behind him, lighting him like a sunset, the front of his face deep in his own shadow.
“He didn’t lead anything,” said Skallagrim. “He followed the she-wolf.”
“A wolf elder doesn’t follow a bitch,” said Skallagrim’s neighbour. “The male orders.”
“Tell that to any pack, and they’ll snigger behind your back. Yes, the dominant male leads but only because the bitch backs him.”
“Which is why I despise pack animals.”
“They live longer than lone wanderers.”
“Untrue. Mandegga didn’t. Ragnar won’t.”
“He tried to raise a new Althing,” yelled someone from the back. “All wolves. He tried to lead a new code of law. He tried to over-rule all of us.”
“He’s a fucking traitor,” said Karr. “Fucking wolves.”
“I’m a wolf too,” yelped a junior. “And I didn’t join him. Don’t deny all the wolves. We’re not all traitors.”
Thoddun said, “There were three traitors to my rule, who rose against the Althing and this community. Ragnar is the only one remaining. Orm had every right to challenge me, and I answered his challenge. Any Second has a right to claim. If he hadn’t Shifted in the end, I’d have kept him alive.”
“Shouldn’t have Shifted,” nodded the Flokki. “Against all the rules. We all cheat, but that was stupid. Orm never used to be stupid.”
“There was chanting,” said a lesser member.
“The wolves again,” muttered Karr.
“Orm’s treachery wasn’t his challenge,” Thoddun interrupted them. “His crime was collusion with the bitch, and rousing the humans against us. So if he’d survived the challenge, he would have faced the court.”
General nodding, bearded shadows of accord. “And be found guilty since he was guilty. And been sentenced to death.”
“Just as well it went as it did then,” said Skallagrim. “He died quick. Punishments for treachery aren’t so sweet.”
“The bitch had it easy too,” said Flokki. “She should have been dismembered.”
“She damn near was. Did you see the carcass?”
“Her treachery was secondary,” said Thoddun. “She had no status here. But yes, if she hadn’t died as she did, in the end no doubt I’d have ordered her dismembered.”
“The chanting was wrong,” muttered the junior. “Orm was confused. Being wounded, hearing the chant. He could help but Shift.”
“Everyone cheats. He would have Shifted anyway once he knew he was losing.”
Ragnar had said nothing at all. He looked tired. He had been sometime in the dungeons. Prisoners were rarely fed. Thoddun looked him over without sympathy and spoke to him directly. He said, “Treachery of an Althing elder is considered more heinous.”
Ragnar nodded. “I made my choice,” he said. “I accept the verdict.”
Thoddun roused himself, removing his leg from the chair arm and sitting forwards. “What was your choice?” he said. “You’d chosen the law all your life. Why follow the pack now, instead of the law?”
Ragnar bowed. “My apologies, lord. The pack’s in my blood. Pack law is also law. We’d never had a pack leader here since the lady Mandegga was exiled. To the wolves, her return made her dominant.” He lowered his eyes. “I could not entertain a community dominated by a human. Forgive me. I knew that was imminent.” He stared up again at Thoddun. “If you release me now, my opinion would be identical. I will never take orders from a human.”
“I’ve no intention of releasing you,” said Thoddun. “Traitors die.”
“A dominant human? None of us are enthusiastic,” said Skallagrim. “But none of us want rebellion. Lord Thoddun created the community here. We couldn’t accept another leader.”
“Cheers for the Fourfold,” roared someone.
“The human’s not so bad,” muttered Karr. “Give her a chance. Doesn’t seem bossy. Isn’t giving orders.”
“Doesn’t pretend dominance. Even if. Strictly speaking, she is.”
“How can a human be dominant amongst us?”
“I understood the human isn’t officially dominant yet,” said Flokki. He turned to Thoddun. “My lord? You said you intended -”
“Take it as official from now,” Thoddun said, with a curt nod. “I had her attend the challenge for that reason only, to show the crowd. So it’s done. But I’ll confirm to you all now, she won’t be giving orders. She’ll follow mine. You’ll all give her preference but whether you give her respect is up to each one of you to decide over time.”
“We certainly never respected the she-wolf,” muttered Karr.
“And if the human does order us, do we obey?” demanded Skallagrim.
“You’ll use your fucking brains,” scowled Thoddun, “what little you have of them. And you’ll keep to the fucking point, and rule on Ragnar’s guilt and sentence. We’re here for that, not to discuss my choice of woman.”
A general scuffling of discomfort reorganised the benches. “Well, he’s guilty,” mumbled the junior wolf from the back. “What can we argue? He knows he’s guilty.”
“The punishments have been laid down for years,” said Skallagrim. “There’s no argument. I admired Ragnar. I liked him. Respect too! But we follow precedent.”
Flokki stood forwards beside Thoddun, straightened his shoulders and switched to a voice appropriate for the bloodiest announcements. “Then I proclaim the agreement of the united Althing. Punishments according to precedent. Grade two for the condemned elder Ragnar. Grade five for the two leading wolf jarls. Grade seven for the remainder.”
“Letting the jarls off fucking easy,” muttered Karr.
“Mandegga was the leader of their pack before they even arrived at my gates,” said Thoddun. “The dominant female commanded their obedience. They had no choice.”
“But the she-wolf was ruled subservient on arrival,” insisted an elder.
“No transanima accepts a whipping for following a subordinate,” said the Althing wolf. “I didn’t follow her.”
“She didn’t invite you to,” Thoddun smiled. “And although I denied her status here, without dominance as my mate, that didn’t make her subservient to her own retinue. She still led her pack. Her jarls were obliged to obey.”
“So, that’s agreed, and the lesser punishments apply for them,” said Flokki. “Any more damned complaints? Petty arguments, endless bickering? I’ve announced the punishments, I’ve called for blood, and I’ll rule on it now. We don’t require any vote, and we don’t require any more pissing time wasted either.”
It was Kjeld who brought the cart, with six bears and two wolves following, each already Shifted. They had been waiting in the adjacent hall. Their presence had been ordered long before the Althing ruling finally reached the appropriate decision. The wolves, with some self conscious sniffing, stood between the bears. Faithful to the community, but required as witnesses to the death of their own kind, they knew it as a test. The bears towered over them; white silken statues. Kjeld began dutifully unloading the cart. “T’would be easier,” said a younger Althing leader, stepping forward obligingly to help Kjeld, “if we done the lesser grade stuff first.”
Flokki frowned. “It’s not proper. Mind you, proper or not, there’d be less blood and it would be easier.”
Skallagrim was scandalised. “Absolutely not. What will the court ask next? Flouting precedent and doing everything backwards?”
Ragnar glared at Thoddun. “I object. I demand my rights.”
“Impatient?” yelled someone.
“Hierarchy’s important to the wolves,” the plump junior interrupted. “Ragnar can’t wait on the lesser jarls. He’d be shamed. He has to die first.”
“I will not stand and watch inferiors take their turn before me,” said Ragnar, glaring at Thoddun. “Grant me the seniority due to me, my lord.”
Thoddun nodded, “We’ll keep to the law.”
Skallagrim stiffened. “As for the law, you’ve officially announced the human dominant now, my lord. As dominant female, she should be here. That’s precedent too. She should witness the punishments.”
“Forget it,” said Thoddun, leaning back again in the chair, the private smile lost within his high collar. “I won’t have her here. I’m not asking anyone’s advice on this, and it’s fuck all to do with the Althing. The only other person needs be present is my new Second.”
Skallagrim looked sour. He pursed his mouth and nodded primly. “As your lordship says.”
“As for the new Second,” Thoddun continued, “I won’t work with any bastard who gets on my bloody nerves, and I won’t trust someone who’ll contradict my decisions as soon as I’m out of the damned way. We’ve a war on our doorstep and I won’t have my time wasted by another challenge to my rule just yet. I’m appointing Lodver.”
Flokki looked up in surprise. Ragnar sniggered. “A wolverine?”
“Better than a pissing wolf,” muttered Karr.
“A fair choice,” said Flokki. “He’s a double. An honest Threefold. I’m in agreement.”
“I don’t give a shit about your agreement,” said Thoddun. “I’ve chosen him.”
“I like Lodver. He may be small,” shouted Karr, “but he’s as strong as an ox. Fuck, he’d eat any wolf for break-fast.”
“One wolf wouldn’t be enough for his break-fast,” said another elder. “Hel. He already eats us out of supplies every summer.”
“A glutton! For Second!” sneered Ragnar. “And a human for dominant female. I’m happy instead to face an honourable death.”
“Neither honourable, since it’s a traitor’s execution,” said Flokki loudly, “nor pleasant, my wolf friend. And as soon as Lodver gets here, I’ll see it carried out.”
Lodver had been waiting some time for his entrance, goshawk patience, creating dark wolverine shadows. He had known he was the king’s choice for Second even before Orm’s death. He had been patient about that announcement too. Supervising executions and punishments of the community’s first insurgents was a neat way to begin an official position.
There was, however, a break from precedent. A messy high grade execution was easier handled outside on the open snow. But the weather was foul. Late winter’s fervency blustered beyond the castle walls with thunder and blizzard. The dizzy snow storm had escalated into falling black ice. Gales tore the melt waters off the glaciers and froze floating ice islands back into solid white land. Lightning struck the sea within the castle’s open grottoes. From the caves men watched darts of light dancing from the black sky to the black waves in a sizzle and spit of blinding silver, drifting out in an echo of smoke across the water.
They prepared the Althing hall. Large enough and empty enough for floggings and hangings, the hall was adequate if not preferential. Most of the transanima enjoyed storm chill but the weather had moved beyond pleasure. Executions executed in comfort laid little foundation for future legend, but favoured efficiency. Thoddun wanted it done and the business of the community moved towards a war council, so they lit the torches along the inner wall, filling each iron sconce to the ceiling beams with blazing light. They built the fire up into a high brilliance. The wood crackled, smelling of pine smoke and the musty perfumes of magic. Kjeld unloaded the instrument cart, laying each item in a shining line beneath the torch flares. Then he left. Lodver stood quietly in the shadows on the other side.
Thoddun did not move from the chair. He slung his leg again over the high arm and rested his elbow on his knee. His chin remained sunk into his collar. He watched the proceedings from beneath heavy lids and did not speak. Beneath the torches and beside the instruments of punishment, Flokki stood. Behind him the Althing benches were moved back and the empty space was accordingly widened.
Ragnar walked alone to the centre of the hall. He bowed to Thoddun, then to Lodver, and finally to Flokki. The six bears flanked, then circled. Lodver strode quickly to face him, bowed, and took his left hand, clasping it tightly in his own. Then he wrenched it out, straightening the arm.
Ragnar did not resist. Lodver lifted the short handled axe, swung it quickly and with one thudding blow, struck directly through Ragnar’s left wrist, severing the hand. He repeated the same immediately to Ragnar’s right arm.
A dignified death leaves a dignified reputation. Ragnar had planned on silence but the pain was greater than he had expected and he screamed. A scattering of blood swept its own path around him, a wide circle of crimson sweeping through the torch light, across Lodver’s face and body, and across Ragnar’s open, screaming mouth. His raw stumps hung at his sides, pooling blood at his feet, isolated as an island within his own wretchedness.
Lodver proceeded without interruption. As Ragnar crumbled, Lodver swung the axe again, aiming low. The axe hummed like a great iron wasp through the warm air, slicing neatly through Ragnar’s left ankle as he stood. The man tumbled to his knees. Losing control, he began to sob. His face rested on the ice. Hot tears melted a puddle beneath his cheek. His blood, pumping heavily, steamed with a thin blue vapour.
Thoddun nodded. “Permission to Shift,” he said quietly.
Ragnar was doubled over and retching. He heard Thoddun’s words. He tried to express his thanks but could not speak. He began to Shift. Lodver stood back and let him complete. Pain made it slow. The wolf emerged in a shuddering heap, its crippled paws nursed beneath grey heaving fur. The Shift’s sensuous delight was scarred by pain, but the relief was huge across the tear stained jaw. Ragnar’s eyes softened, not into the angry hunger of the wolf, but into a blessed deliverance. Taking up the channel eased the agony, but the wolf continued to whimper. It could not stand. Just one paw remaining, it huddled wretched and blood splashed. It lifted its head from the ice and gazed at Thoddun. It opened its throat to howl, but had neither strength nor breath. It sank back and lay still.
Thoddun nodded again, speaking softly. “The final stroke,” he said.
Lodver crossed the hall and accepted the curved iron from Flokki. He returned to the remains of the wolf, and bent over it, expressionless. With two quick cuts, he castrated the beast and dropped the small, dripping wedge of testicles beside the creature’s nose. He stepped back.
“From the count of ten,” called Flokki. Measuring his pace, he counted out the numbers. The wolf was dying quickly. Its body twitched but did not curl into surrendered subservience. Bleeding massively from the four wounds, its whines became tired and guttural. As Flokki spoke the final number, the bears moved forwards and completed the execution. They ripped the small grizzled body apart. The blood soaked deeper into the ice in a faint steaming cerise. The bears licked it clean. Lodver nodded to the silently watching wolves. They bowed their heads and padded back into the shadows. The bears moved away, bloody muzzled.
Thoddun had not moved. Now he straightened, stretching his shoulders, but remaining seated, remaining patient. Ragnar’s death touched all those who had known him. The scent of carnage was rich in the hall and the splashes on Lodver’s tunic and hands caught the torch light, flaring renewed into life.
Finally Thoddun spoke again, very quietly, leaning to speak to the young man at his right. “See to it,” he ordered, “that what remains of Ragnar is carried out with some care, and added to the fire outside. I will conduct no funeral of honour, but he deserves the p
yre, and must be given the chance to make his own way to the After-death. Valhalla will welcome him.”
The man left at once, while Thoddun turned back to the business at hand. “Arnar and Rolf,” Thoddun said. “Execution, grade five.” And the two seniors of Mandegga’s jarls were marched to the centre space. They stood and shivered on the blood stains, where the ice dried into a sheen of pinkish translucence.
The six great white bears came again, and faced them. One of the jarls looked up hopefully at Thoddun. “Permission to Shift, my lord?”
“Denied,” Thoddun shook his head.
“Kneel,” commanded Lodver, and obediently both men knelt and lowered their heads. The bears removed each head with one effortless swipe of the paw. It was quick. The men’s skulls smashed easily, spurting clotted blood and brains. The bears dragged the corpses out into the corridor beyond the closed doors. The growling and snarl of contented, well fed bears drifted from passage to court.
Thoddun stood. “Very well,” he said. “I have no need to be present for the final punishments. Grade seven floggings; rod and rope, then exile. Lodver takes charge. Flokki as Althing witness, Skallagrim for the precedence of law. Kjeld on call in case of resistance, should any prisoner need convincing or restraint. I have other things to attend to.” He nodded to Lodver. “Carry on.”
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
Thoddun returned to his room. He found Skarga struggling with one of his combs. She looked up at once and smiled up at him through the tangles. She thought he seemed in some way different. She said, “You look tired.”
Thoddun frowned a moment, then marched over and took the comb from her fingers. “I’ve spent what seemed like a moon’s quarter finishing business, and you’re still getting dressed.”
“I was trying to mend my clothes.”
Stars and a Wind- The Complete Trilogy Page 52