25 #2
Ingolf began to laugh. Mirana saw that the mead hea??d drunk had not only given him more confidence than was wise but that it also loosened his tongue.
He said, a??Ia??ve seen you with your new slave, my lord.
Aye, a pretty one this time, so very pretty.a?? He laughed louder when Einar merely looked at him, a brow raised in question.
Ingolf belched. a??Nay, it isna??t Sira you want,a?? he said again, and Mirana knew that his drunkenness had made him forget who and what his master was.
He looked over at a beautiful young girl, sitting quietly and alone, pointing a shaking finger at her, and laughed and laughed.
It was the last sound he made. Einar rose in a single fluid movement, quickly unsheathed his knife and slipped it into Ingolfa??s heart. Just one swift movement inward then a slight twist upward. Ingolf stared at him, then sighed softly, and sank to the floor.
No one said a word. The air in the vast room seemed to have been sucked out. There was no sound, even the dogs were quiet. It was a terrifying silence, a disbelieving silence.
Mirana had despised Ingolf, had come to fear him on the four-day journey back to Clontarf, but to see him struck down as if he were naught more than a rabid animal, of no account at all, made her gag.
If nothing else, he was loyal to Einar. Hea??d drunk too much mead, spoken too much, and now he was dead.
Simply dead. Hea??d said something about a new slave, nothing more.
Hea??d laughed. Why had Einar killed him?
Just because Ingolf had laughed at him? Just because he knew Einar had another new mistress?
She looked at her half-brothera??s serene expression, aye, serene save for his green eyes that gleamed with a ferocious light.
She was frightened, very frightened. She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes.
Einar said, a??Get him out of here. We dona??t wish his spirit to remain with us. He was foul in thought and his spirit would be no different.a??
She didna??t watch the men remove Ingolfa??s body. She looked at Sira. To her astonishment, there was a smile on her mouth. She was staring at Einar and she was smiling. She leaned slightly forward so that her radiant hair fell over her breast.
The men went back to their drinking. The women couldna??t seek out their beds until the men stopped their drinking, which it didna??t seem they would do for a good many hours yet.
It was some time later when Einar called out, a??All of you, my brave men, the best warriors in all Ireland, listen to me.
Some of you know my wondrous news, others dona??t.
I said nothing until my dear sister was returned to me.
Now all of you will learn of it. Our King Sitric wishes to wed her.
Aye, our family will be allied with the royal family.
Her sons will rule Ireland. It will be done soon now, the first day of fall.
We will all benefit from this alliance, doubt it not.
We will all add riches to our coffers.a??
It was done. She wasna??t surprised. She looked at Gunleik.
He looked pale and ill. He would help her, he had to.
She realized suddenlya??with a clarity and certainty that left no room for doubt in her minda??that if she told Einar she didna??t want to marry that old man, that she was already married, that she wasna??t a virgin, he would stick his knife into her heart.
Hea??d killed Ingolf with no hesitation, and the man had really done naught to anger him.
But if she told Einar the truth, she couldna??t begin to imagine the depths of his rage, or his disappointment.
He would surely kill her for ruining his grand plans.
She didna??t doubt him capable of it for a moment.
She held her tongue. She couldna??t plead or beg, although she imagined he would be amused by it.
There was much toasting and cheering. She noticed the women looking at her. They werena??t cheering.
Sira was smiling and drinking the sweet mead Mirana had made the previous summer.
Einar continued speaking to his men, his closer friends, those men who hadna??t drawn back when hea??d so swiftly and easily killed Ingolf.
Those same men were now drawn close, listening avidly to his plans of greater wealth and power and how they would all profit.
For the most part, they were simple men, strong men, fighters all of them, but wealth and power and slaves beckoned to the most honorable of them.
Finally, Einar turned to her. He clasped her hand tightly in his and drew it up to his mouth. He kissed her fingers. She didna??t move, didna??t draw back, remained still as a statue.
a??I trust this will please you,a?? he said, looking at her directly.
a??Nay,a?? she said. a??It doesna??t.a??
The flash of rage was in his eyes, then gone so quickly she wondered if it had ever been there at all, but she knew that it had. She had to go carefully. Shea??d tested the waters and escaped, this time at least.
Einar said slowly, a??You will be a queen. You will have everything you wish. You will have endless jewels and slaves. You will breed two or three sons, then he will leave his age-spotted hands off you. Mayhap even his rod is age-spotted. Does that happen to old men? I wonder.
a??Even though we havena??t the same father, I still honor Audun. Through my efforts, you, his daughter, will be a queen. I do suggest that you quickly produce a male child, else the old king just might have your lovely throat slit and another virgin fetched to his bed.a??
The truth prodded at her, but she was too afraid and too wise in her half-brothera??s ways to speak the words.
a??As will you,a?? she said and shrugged as if she didna??t have a care. a??He is an old man. Mayhap he will die soon.a?? She paused and tried to make her eyes glitter as his did. a??Mayhap I will assist him to his just rewards.a??
Einar laughed. He released her hand. He drank deeply.
a??Aye, I like the sound of that, but you will have to take care, Mirana.
It is strange, but you have changed,a?? he added, frowning a bit.
a??There is a difference in you. I will learn it quickly enough, for I know you well, dona??t I?
a?? Still he frowned, then he shook it off, for the mead was thick in his blood and in his brain.
a??Tell me what Rorik Haraldsson did to you.
Did he mistreat you badly? Dona??t lie, Mirana.
Emund and Ingolf already told me all of it, including your paltry falsehoods to them about being wed to this Rorik.
They said Sira told them how vilely you were treated, both by his hands and at the hands of his family.
Sira told them how he hated you so much he even whipped you.
Did it hurt, Mirana? How did he whip you? a??
She wanted to vomit. a??You have said many things, Einar. What do you wish to know first?a??
He frowned at her, and leaned closer. a??Tell me about the whipping.a??
She said calmly enough, a??One doesna??t like to be whipped. You whipped me, remember?a??
a??Aye,a?? he said, and there was remembered pleasure in his voice. a??You deserved it. Tell me, did he hurt you?a??
a??It hurt.a??
a??Did he strip off your clothes?a??
a??I dona??t remember.a??
a??Of course you do. Did he strip you naked and have one of his men hold you whilst he wielded the whip?a??
She could only shake her head, knowing she was showing weakness in front of him and that it wasna??t wise. But he was drunk, surely he would leave her alone tonight. a??I dona??t wish to speak of it more, Einar. I am very tired, surely you can believe that. May I seek my bed now?a??
He brooded, obviously displeased with her answers to him.
a??You keep things from me, Mirana. I dona??t like it.
Your tongue is as sharp as always, but at the same time you are different.
Mayhap it is your weariness that allows these evasions, this mockery Ia??ve heard in your soft voice.
I suppose it has been hard for you, this captivity and your long voyage back to Clontarf.
But I wish to know more of this whipping he gave you before I let you seek out your bed.
Be certain that I will avenge you; that is why I wish to know.a?? He leaned closer to her, his eyes on her mouth.
a??Tell me and I will make this Rorika??s death longer and more painful than any before.a??
Very well, she thought. a??He hurt me badly, Einar. He stripped me naked and threw me to the ground. He had one of his men hold my hair away from my back. He tied my wrists to a stake. He beat me until I was unconscious.a??
His breathing was coming fast now. By the gods, shea??d given him too much, shea??d made a mistake.
Shea??d gone too far. Her tale hadna??t excited fierce protectiveness in him toward her.
No, shea??d excited him surely, but her words had brought him pleasure, a dark ugly pleasure.
His nostrils flared and his eyes gleamed with a light that terrified her. a??Did he touch you afterward?a??
She shook her head as she rose quickly. She said loudly, a??I am glad to be home.
You are all my friends and you wish me well, my dear brother most of all.
Tonight, I sleep safely.a?? Then she quickly turned on her heel and left the hall, praying that Einar wouldna??t come after her and perhaps whip her to see if he could best what shea??d told him Rorik had done.
No, he wouldna??t do that, now he could not afford to, for there was the king who wanted her.
Nay, he would whip another, an innocent, just because shea??d taunted him and excited him with a lie.
What if Emund told Einar what shea??d said of him? He wouldna??t kill her for there was too much at stake. But what would he do? She wondered now as she had many times before what was in his mind.
He was staring after her. Sira was looking at him. There was no smile on her lips now.