Chapter 1 #4
He gasps for air, but he will enter the bowels of hell, shamed and for all to see what a true cocksucker he is. I pry open the bleeding gash in his face and stuff his cock down his throat, shoving it deep down his gullet with two fingers until he gags on his own member.
An impression of his cock is visible where his Adam’s apple is. I slap his cheek with a smile.
I wish to make his death painful, but I know there is no time.
So I do as Skarth taught me and deliver my vengeance as I draw the dagger across Jethro’s throat, ensuring his cock remains lodged deep. I am showered in his blood and watch the life drain from his eyes. He collapses onto the ground, dead, where I wish I could kill him a thousand times more.
But I cannot.
On instinct, I run from the chapel toward my son's chambers.
“My Queen!” Lord Louis cries as I crash into him in the hallway.
But I do not stop.
I cannot because I have made the worst mistake of my life.
Lord Louis’s footsteps sound behind me, but no one can help me now.
When I open the door to my son’s chambers, there are no words for what I see. My three ladies-in-waiting lay in pools of their blood, with their throats cut and eyes forever wide. If this sight isn’t grotesque enough, the two beds where my sons should sleep lay empty, confirming my worst fears.
I feel the blood drain from every part of my body and my heart. My heart will never be the same again.
“No!” I scream, running over to where my ladies lie, their bodies arranged in the shape of a crucifix, positioned this way as some sort of offering to the Lord.
Only one breed would commit such atrocities; a reminder of who sees all.
Dropping to my knees, I grip Bella’s cheeks, begging that she speak, but she is no longer of this world. Julia faces the same fate, but when I hear a pained cough, I see Bianca struggling to breathe.
“Bianca!” I cradle her in my arms, just as she did with my sons, but she does not have long. “Where are my sons?”
Their beds are empty, which can only mean one thing.
The flickers from the candlelight seem to add to the macabre scene. How I wish Bianca could see the sunlight just one more time.
“Th-they took them,” she whispers so softly, I have to place my ear to her quivering lips. “I tried to fight.”
Her eyes drop to her stomach, where her dress is stained red.
“I am sorry, Emeline. I failed you.”
“Shh, you did not. You’re going to be all right.”
“Guards!” Lord Louis calls out, but I frantically shake my head. I cannot lose my composure, no matter how badly I want to reach for Lord Louis’s sword and join my ladies-in-waiting.
“Do not alert anyone to this!”
“My Queen?” he questions, baffled. “We need to find Sune and Loki. Those responsible must be held accountable for what they have done.”
“And they will.” I will not talk of war, as I do not wish for Bianca’s final moments on this earth to be such. “Who ordered this attack?”
I stroke Bianca’s bloody hair, wishing her nothing but peace. “It was…”
Her eyes flicker shut, but I beg that she doesn’t surrender just yet.
“Please, Bianca, please, I beg of thee this one final thing.”
Bianca inhales, and her eyes open with clarity. “Lord Rufus.”
All the saints above, I have been betrayed by one of my own men.
A smile spreads across Bianca’s face. “I see the light, Emeline. It is so beautiful. I love thee.”
And those are her parting words as she leaves this world.
A guttural scream gets caught in my throat as I rock her in my arms. “I will avenge you,” I avow as I look at my ladies-in-waiting. “I will avenge you all.”
Placing Bianca gently onto the floor, I arrange my ladies respectfully and take in the carnage I created because I was reckless for one selfish moment. My sons are gone, and I have no one to blame but myself.
“My Queen?” Lord Louis is waiting for my command.
“Lord Rufus will not risk his family and name. He is still here at court; I am sure of it.”
“But Bianca said he was the one.”
“And he was. But he is merely the messenger.
He gave my children to someone, knowing what that would do to me.
He expects me to retaliate. He expects me to risk the lives of my men as I order them to search for my sons, leaving Northumbria unguarded, which is when he, and whoever he is working with, will strike.
They will overthrow me as Northumbria will be vulnerable.
“I do not know who it is because Lord Louis, there are many who want my throne. We must find them.”
“And we will.”
I strip off my offensive garment as Lord Louis turns his back, but my modesty is the least of my concerns. Once I am dressed, I wipe the blood from my face and hands, which are shaking uncontrollably. I need to focus, for this is not how a queen would act.
“Escort me back to the grand hall.”
“Emeline.” Lord Louis addresses me this way only when circumstances are grave and he wishes me to listen. So I know he understands the dire situation we find ourselves in.
“Please.”
Lord Louis finally concedes. “Was Lord Gunter’s arrival a coincidence? Or a distraction?”
Truth be told, it can be either.
Were he and Lord Rufus working together, and when I laughed in the face of the proposal of marriage, they took my children as collateral, knowing I would do anything to get them back? Even accepting Prince Ludwig’s proposal.
We exit the room, and I instantly fall into my role as queen. When we pass the chapel, I grip Lord Louis’s wrist. “Send your most trusted men in there. See if they can uncover who he was.”
He doesn’t ask questions and merely nods.
“I served you, my Queen. You were fucked…in every possible way…you Viking whore.”
I was nothing but a fool not to pay closer attention to him. His armor bore no crests. He could be anyone’s man. The term he used, however, reveals that he knows more than he should.
I have not divulged my past, and after a while, most forgot or perished. Only a remaining few remembered I once saved a Viking who was to be put to death, and the things I did to save him. And that I betrayed my fellow men to save the Northmen.
I knew this time would come. I just thought Skarth would be with me when it did.
We enter the great hall, and as expected, I see Lord Rufus sitting at my table, sipping my wine. A woman is sitting in his lap, whispering something into his ear. His fat belly wobbles as he laughs, and I vow to cut the tongue from his mouth before feeding it to him.
We make eye contact, and I see that he is most surprised I am here. This merely confirms his guilt. But he soon recovers with a smile.
It takes every shred of strength I have not to cut the head from his shoulders for all to see.
“Lord Gunter remains,” Lord Louis says softly. “It is not him?”
“He could have sent his men. I do not know. The man who does know sits at my table happily as he believes he has won, which is why we cannot kill him…yet. He is the only one who knows where my sons are. I suspect he has been in contact with the monks who care for my brother’s children.
No doubt he wishes them to take the throne so he can control them, unlike how he can with me. ”
Lord Louis nods. “I fear you may be right.”
“Send men to the monastery. Check on the children.”
“If they are well, my Queen?”
I know what Lord Louis asks. The easiest way to eliminate a threat is to kill it. But I cannot condemn my two nephews to death. They are nothing but children.
“Even in death, my brother still haunts me. When will this end, Louis?”
“It will end when you end his bloodline.”
“I cannot do that, for then I would be no better than my brother.”
Lord Rufus watches me closely. He knows something is amiss.
“I will take great pleasure in killing Lord Rufus, however.”
“Are you certain this is the right course of action?”
“It is the only way to keep my children safe. Do you forget whose blood courses through their veins? They are half Saxon, half Viking. They will not cower in fear. They are smart and will bide their time until I find them.”
“But we do not know where to look?”
Lord Louis is right.
I walk toward the table, eyes locked with Lord Rufus. “Aye, we do not…But I know who does.”
Lord Louis gasps. “My Queen, no. If anyone were to see—”
“He is the only one, Louis, for they are his heart and soul as they are mine.”
There is only one man who can help me. One man I trust with my life because he will sacrifice everything, just as I will, to find them, because they are ours.
Time stands still, as does my heart, as I confess my sins aloud. “I must find Skarth the Godless.”
I never thought I would ever say those words again. But something means more to me than my kingdom—and that is my sons.
I steal a cup of wine from a passing guard and raise it high.
No one seems to notice, for they are drunk on food and wine.
But Lord Rufus watches me, which is why I salute him the only way I can because he needs to know I am coming for him…
I will hunt him down and burn this kingdom I love to the ground if I must, because I love something else more.
With a maniacal smile, I whisper, “Skol.”