Chapter 18 #4
“Aye, now more than ever!” Ulric said, trembling with the hatred that had grown and festered through the years so that it was now something almost tangible.
“Aye, take what he most desires. Hold her just out of his reach …” He started to laugh.
“Kill her, not kill her. Hold her and see if she carries his child at this point, and let the child be born … then return his son to him, piece by piece. Aye, great Laird Waryk, here is your boy—his heart! Or let him wonder. Take his wife, his legal lady, and make of her a Viking concubine, and let him wonder year after year if he raises his own son, or a Viking’s bastard!
His pope may not allow him to disavow the grandchild of the man he murdered!
Or … capture the lady, bait the great laird.
And if he can be killed, then keep the lady and the isle, and resurrect the power of the Norse jarls here on the coasts!
Whatever comes, I will see that a knife twists into his heart.
His father was killed; he should have lain on the field with him.
His line will end with him, I swear it!”
Han made a strange noise. “For you, Ulric, there is passion and vengeance in this! We must begin to take care. Some of your own men begin to doubt your wisdom. We’re warriors, we fight. Fighting men win, and fighting men die. We fight for gain, to seize land, for power.”
Ulric spun on Han. “Don’t you understand as yet!
Aye, Waryk killed my father, but more, don’t you see!
The wretched Scots were beaten, they were dying one by one, it would have been over before King David arrived.
The ancient MacNee land would have been ours, the MacInnish would have perished, and all the riches would have been ours long ago—”
“Maybe. You must remember, your father was a mercenary with the Norman lord. Would he have proven trustworthy? Will your great friend in this vengeance provide us land and power as he has promised?”
“Aye, his bitterness is greater than mine.”
“But we must take care. We lose more and more men—”
“We will find more and more men.”
“Aye, we call out to the isles, we bring in Danes, Norse, Swedes, younger sons, men who must make their way. They aren’t enough.
We call on the Norman peasantry, on those with bitterness themselves, old Saxons, disgruntled Scots.
Soon, someone will betray us, and when the cause of these skirmishes is known, the whole force of the king’s army will come down on us—”
“We will not be discovered, Han.”
“One day, an injured man will talk.”
“No man will talk when he knows that his death will reward his family, while a betrayal will cause us to slay his sons, daughters, and wife, and further kin.”
Han held silent. Ulric brooded for a moment.
“We need Mellyora MacAdin,” Ulric said.
“The fortress is impregnable. Perhaps, as well, she will accompany her husband when he rides.”
“She will not do so. She fought the marriage. She will be glad of his leaving.”
“But tell me, Ulric, do you really think that he will leave her.”
“He goes to his mistress.”
“I ask you again. You’ve had Mellyora MacAdin within your grasp once before. Do you really believe that he will leave her?”
“He must! And aye, the walls may be impregnable, but if she can be drawn outside the walls … where is Daro’s camp now?”
“Fifty miles to the east, I’ve been told. He has been the guest of the king now on many an occasion, and I believe he is to receive more lands near Stirling.”
“He married Anne?” Ulric persisted.
“Aye, that he did.”
Ulric smiled. “Perhaps I will pay a visit to my little cousin then.”
“And again, I tell you, perhaps Mellyora will accompany Waryk when he rides.”
Ulric looked at him sharply. Then he smiled. “We will have to see that she doesn’t ride with him.”
“And how—”
Ulric suddenly laughed. “Two men will succeed where dozens of berserkers have failed!”
“Are we out to murder—”
“Nay, we’re out to wound a man. And to cast the seeds of doubt and suspicion into the ground!
Aye, the lady will stay. We shall see to it.
” He set an arm around Han’s shoulders. “When you cannot tear down walls from the outside, you must tear them down from within. The more I think about it, Han, the more it seems there is a greater prize than even I imagined here. I will find a way to take the old Viking’s daughter.
To slay the man who murdered my father. I will rule Blue Isle, and pay homage to a Norse king, and make peace with Stephen of England.
David of Scotland will pay to travel his own land.
Aye, I will rule Blue Isle. An old Viking laird, a new Viking laird.
Waryk dead. Not too quickly. I would have him see me take his wife, and know that if she carries his child, I will kill his child very slowly before making the isle and his woman my own. ”
“You’ll need to take care.”
“Aye, Waryk is a fierce warrior, well trained, lethal. I will take care.”
“I did not refer to Waryk. If you try to take his wife, she might well kill you.”
“Indeed. But I’ll never give her the chance. Perhaps there’s even a way to have him die believing that she was the one to betray him. She is a Viking’s daughter.”