11
IT WAS DARK, the sliver of moon overhead giving little light through the thick fir and pine branches at their camp.
Crickets sounded loud in the warm night.
There was an occasional splash in the bog just feet from where they sat, for the most part silent.
Rorik stared into the small fire, his hands stretched to the flames, feeling the blessed heat warm him.
His men continued silent. Theya??d eaten dried fish and apples and hard flatbread. Their bellies were filled, unlike the women who hadna??t even eaten any of the food brought over for the noonday meal.
Rorik had sent two men back to Hawkfell Island to fetch supplies.
He didna??t know how long it would take to find a sign of her.
He had no idea of the direction shea??d taken.
She and Entti. Why had she taken Entti? None of the men had any idea.
Surely she didna??t intend Entti to be a hostage, for the woman was a slave herself.
Just because all the men lusted after Entti didna??t mean they wouldna??t hesitate to kill her if need be.
Mirana must have known she was courting nearly certain death if she managed to escape, yet she hadna??t cared.
She would obviously rather die than remain his prisoner.
She cared that much for that cursed brother of hers.
His mouth tasted sour at that thought. Hea??d made her desperate; hea??d made her consider death rather than remain chained to his bed.
He spat and continued to stare into the flames.
The gods knew he hadna??t abused her, not really.
She had bitten his ankle when hea??d rested his foot on her neck on their voyage to Hawkfell Island.
But she could have fallen overboard if he hadna??t held her still, that or jumped from the warship just to thwart him.
His mind continued in this vein even though he knew he was lyinga??and to himself, which was the worst kind of lie there was.
Hea??d had to whip her but he hadna??t hurt her and she knew it as well as did he.
Hea??d had no choice but to chain her in his sleeping chamber.
She would have caused havoc had he allowed her to run loose.
She would have run all right, all the way to the dock to steal a warship and try to row it by herself, anywhere.
And now she was out there, somewhere, in the darkness, she and Entti, and she had no protection, no food.
Hafter said, looking into the fire, even as he continued to massage his head where Mirana had struck him, a??I had Entti under me. She was smiling and kissing me, her legs already around my flanks. I was just ready to come into her body when the witch struck me hard on the head.a??
a??Youa??re a fool, Hafter,a?? Rorik said, his voice emotionless. His rage, his fear that Mirana was already dead, all that he felt, he would keep to himself.
a??I know,a?? Hafter said and sighed deeply. a??My head is killing me. I have a lump here that does naught save grow and grow.a??
a??You deserve it,a?? Gurd the blacksmith said, and chewed on a cord of dried fish. a??She could have killed my Asta if shea??d had the notion to do it. And then I would have had to kill you for allowing it.a??
a??Aye,a?? said Sculla. a?? a??Twas your responsibility and you failed because you wanted to stick your rod into Entti.
Your lust has brought us all low. Now we must needs track two women, one of them a prisoner, the other onea??well, Ia??d not believed her ruthless and cold as any witch that lives under the earth, but now perhaps I must change my thinking.a??
a??She stole my sword and my knife,a?? Hafter said. a??Shea??s not completely without protection.a??
Rorik cursed. Hafter hadna??t told him that before.
By all the gods, this added a new danger, both to the women and to Rorik and his men when they caught up to them.
He rubbed his fingertips over his throat.
He asked now, a??But why in the name of Odin All-Father did she take Entti?
a?? He didna??t look at any one of his men, merely stared beyond their camp into the dark forest beyond.
a??Aye,a?? Askhold said, shaking his head. a??It makes no sense to me either, Rorik.a??
a??Who can understand the mind of a woman?
a?? Gurd said. a?? a??Tis of no real importance.
We must needs sleep now. We can begin to track them at dawn.
The two of them trekking inland curdles my belly.
Theya??ll not make it far, thata??s certain.a?? He paused a moment, then said, a??I want Entti back.
Now that youa??ve broken the womena??s rebellion, Rorik, I can take her whenever it pleases me and Asta will say nothing about it or I will whip her, just as you said.a??
a??I had not meant that exactly,a?? Rorik said, and frowned at the blacksmith.
He was remembering Miranaa??s words, words that had riled him, had made him shake with anger at her.
Shea??d asked him if hea??d been faithless, demanded to know if he approved married men bedding other women in front of their wives.
He didna??t approve, but damnation, he couldna??t dictate to his men, couldna??t demand they not bed Entti.
Mirana had been right, damn her. The women had few choices; theya??d punished the men with inedible cooking and hea??d threatened to whip them for it.
a??Asta will obey me,a?? Gurd said. a??She is a good wife. She must obey me, her husband.a??
Aye, Rorik thought, that was the crux of the matter, but still, it didna??t settle well with him.
Mirana laughed softly. All men were gullible. Shea??d proved it yet again. Even mighty Rorik, ah, shea??d fooled him and his damned men.
She and Entti had cut the second warship adrift and settled down in the other one.
Now they were quietly rowing toward the mouth of the estuary.
It was just before dawn. Shea??d wanted to leave hours before but knew they couldna??t possibly navigate in the sea and they couldna??t take the chance that Rorik would send men back to Hawkfell Island again.
They would see that the other warship was gone.
Thus, Mirana and Entti had spent their night within twenty feet of Rorik and his men and theya??d heard all their talk.
Gurd, Mirana had decided, needed more lessons in how to properly treat Asta, a woman of whom she was very fond, a woman filled with laughter and joy and kindness.
She hoped the bonds hadna??t hurt either Asta or Old Alna.
Shea??d had to take them by surprise because she couldna??t depend on them agreeing to help her escape.
If she had asked them and they had agreed, then she would be endangering them, for she imagined if Rorik were to discover that the women had helped her escape, he wouldna??t have shown much kindness to them.
He might have had them whipped. He might have done even worse.
She and Entti had watched the other warship return to the island, both Asta and Old Alna aboard. Shea??d said a silent good-bye to them both. Theya??d watched it return with more men and provisions. And theya??d waited.
a??I doubt theya??ll come back this way,a?? Mirana said now in a low voice, pitching it to the night sounds surrounding them.
There was the soft slap of the water against the sides of the warship, the occasional sound of a frog or cricket, a slithering sound near the side of the longboat that made Miranaa??s flesh pucker and crawl.
Once, something long and solid had bumped against the longboat and Mirana had had to stifle a yell.
a??Nay,a?? Entti said, satisfaction in her husky voice. a??They believe we fled like empty-headed females through the salt marshes deep into East Anglia itself. Theya??re fools to believe us such empty-headed fools. But they are naught but men, after all.a??
Mirana smiled at her new friend. Entti was no simpleton, she thought again as she turned to look at Enttia??s vague outline in the darkness.
What a wondrous surprise that had been when shea??d snuck up on Hafter and Entti had stared up at her, and smiled and nodded, bringing Haftera??s head down to hers, holding him tightly against her chest, wrapping her legs around his flanks, so Mirana could slam the rock against his head.
a??There is still grave danger,a?? Mirana said. a??It would be foolish of us to be overly confident. By all the gods, Entti, I dona??t know. Perhaps you were safer staying on Hawkfell Island. You were not abused. The women were kind to you, they protected you.a??
a??Aye, they were,a?? Entti said, a??but the act was growing more and more difficult.a?? She fell silent as she drew again on the oar, her motion steady and smooth.
a??You believe pleasuring one man after the other not to be abuse, Mirana?
They had endless appetites, and a few were animals.
They believed they were doing me such a favor, giving me such joy, the rutting stoats.
Hafter was different, but still, the chance to escape, the chance to be free once again, it is worth all the danger to be rid of even him.a??
a??And Rorik?a??
a??I never bedded Rorik. I tried to gain his attention, but he kept to himself.
I had hoped that if I bedded him, he would keep the others away from me.
But it never worked. I realized that he felt sorry for me, for my simpleness, for the innocence of my mind.
I believe he thought to bed me would be like bedding a helpless child.a?? She laughed softly.
a??I wasna??t wise. I decided to play the lackwit shortly after the Vikings captured me.
I decided I could bear the men bedding me, that I would be able to suffer it and keep my mind and soul free of them, but it became more and more difficult, as I told you.
I would rather die now than return to Hawkfell Island.
I would rather die than be a whore again.a??