31
EINAR STOOD QUIETLY beside the sleeping woman.
He was brooding and he didna??t like it.
There was no reason for it. He did as he pleased, always, and now he wanted her.
His loins were tight and he ached and he wanted her now.
It didna??t matter that she was a virgin and that she was a cousin to the king of Norway.
None of it mattered. She was a slave, his slave.
He thought then of Lella, alone in the storage shed, unless some of his men had decided to rape him.
Or some of his women, he thought, and smiled at the notion.
He stared down at that hair of hers. Hair so bleached of color that it was silver in the dim light, spilling over the sides of the box bed, nearly to the floor.
She was beautiful, no doubt about that, and he did need sons, many sons.
Even though he looked young and strong, he was gaining in his mana??s years.
Aye, he needed a wife in order to have heirs.
Why not wed her? He could control her, he didna??t doubt it.
She was vicious. He liked that. He also liked that if he disliked any of it, he could strike her and see the viciousness turn to fear. Of him.
But first he would take her. It mattered not if she wished to keep her virginity safe until her wedding night.
Her wishes mattered not at all. Aye, once hea??d tested her, assured himself that she would please him, he would marry her and she would breed his heirs.
He would continue to do just as he wished to.
He would remove poor Lella from the storage shed on the morrow, a long enough time to punish the boy for his imprudence.
He rather liked the notion of the two of them living together, each hating the other, each vying with the other for his attention and his affection.
Of course there would be others in the future. He smiled.
He thought of Mirana and knew another surge of relief.
Hea??d been worried, he admitted it to himself.
Not frightened, no, not that, but concerned that she would not behave as hea??d counseled her to.
But it appeared that shea??d chosen wisdom and life.
Shea??d chosen to be a queen. Shea??d pretended to virginity.
If she hadna??t, if the old king had wondered at all about her vaunted purity, he would have raised an alarm, and both Einar and Mirana would be dead now.
But there had been no alarm raised. Nothing.
Mirana wasna??t stupid, and Einar was profoundly grateful that she wasna??t.
He wished only that hea??d had the chance to touch her, to know her as a woman before the old king had come to Clontarf.
Einar shrugged. He was a man who didna??t dwell on the past. It couldna??t be changed or altered.
Only the future was important. And thus this sleeping woman.
He leaned down to shake Sira awake.
In that instant, a thin rope went around his neck, digging into his flesh, breaking through the skin, tightening even as he struggled to get his hands beneath the rope to ease the awful pressure, even as he tried to yell, even as he tried to jerk about to face his assailant.
The rope tightened more, twisting and gouging in very strong hands, unknown hands, and his flesh shredded and he felt the stickiness of his own blood.
He felt the blackness coming closer now, so close that he knew he had just moments before he was unconscious, just moments beyond that before he was dead.
Had the old king discovered the truth? Surely not. But who was trying to kill him?
He kicked back with all his strength, struggling as hard as he could against the blackness.
He heard a grunt of pain but the rope merely pulled so taut that Einar would have screamed with the pain if hea??d been able to.
He wanted to give in to the blankness, to end the unbearable agony, and soon he did.
He slumped back against the man who held him.
Rorik smiled as he eased Einar onto the ground.
a??Bind him securely,a?? he said low to Hafter.
a??And stuff something in his mouth.a?? Rorik then turned to Sira.
He stopped, for Hormuze was bending over her, and he was touching her hair.
He realized that Einara??s struggle had been silent, utterly silent.
He stared down at his hands. Einara??s blood was on his palms.
Suddenly, Sira bolted upright. She stared into the face of a stranger, then saw Rorik standing behind him and opened her mouth to shriek, but Hormuze was faster. He smiled at her and struck her jaw with his fisted hand.
She sagged back onto the bed.
a??She is beautiful,a?? he said to Rorik. a??Such hair Ia??ve never before seen and I have seen my share of Viking women. Ah, but her hair is splendid. It is like silver silk, an odd thing to say, but ita??s true. I will have her and that magnificent hair of hers will grow black overnight.a??
a??Let us out of here then,a?? Rorik said. a??Gunleik, are we still clear?a??
a??Aye, Lord Rorik. The men are sodden and snoring loudly.a??
a??You werena??t asleep, Gunleik,a?? Rorik said. a??Nor sodden, and I thank the gods for that and your unexpected presence outside the fortress.a??
Gunleik shrugged. a??I was worried about Mirana, yet there was nothing I could do.
Einar isna??t a fool. He knew the direction of my thoughts, knew that I was ready to go aboard that heathen barge, and thus stayed with me until just a few moments ago.
He struck down Ivar to keep me here, and bound the lad.
I thank you, Lord Rorik. Now, let us out of Clontarf before one of the warriors awakens.a??
Rorik smiled at Gunleik, a man he knew would be loyal to him and then to his sons and daughters. a??Aye, leta??s away from here.a??
He hoisted a bound and gagged Einar over his shoulder. a??Hea??s heavy,a?? he said. a??The murdering savage.a?? But there was joy in his voice, joy and triumph.
Hormuze had quickly bound and gagged Sira.
However, she weighed just as much as he wished her to weigh.
He was pleased at it. A pity about her hair.
But he would allow her to return to her silver hair sometime in the future, if she obeyed him with grace and surrendered to him in all things.
When she awoke, she would very likely shriek when she saw herself.
But he would be there to explain everything to her, to tell her what she would do and how she would do it.
Aye, unlike Mirana, this one would enjoy being a queen.
She would enjoy having a man stronger than she.
And he would beat her witless if she ever dared to set herself against him or his wishes.
Gunleik saw one of his men stagger to his feet and weave toward the closed doors of the longhouse.
He was obviously going out to relieve himself.
Gunleik waited, then quickly unbound Ivar and motioned him to follow.
Gunleik quietly followed the man out, Ivar on his heels.
He spoke to the man, then gently, as the man turned to away to relieve himself, he struck his left temple with his knife handle.
He quickly turned back and motioned to Rorik to follow.
Mirana waited with Eze just outside the fortress walls in the deep shadows.
She was furious with Rorik, but she understood some of what he felt, and had thus contained her ire.
Had he not said that he wanted her to fight beside him?
Ah, but not this fight. This, hea??d said to her, was his fight, and his alone.
Besides, she must stay with Eze and protect her.
An afterthought, she knew, and had wanted to kick him.
When she saw him, she nearly cried out with relief. Then she saw Gunleik, and she smiled. Thank the gods he was still with Rorik. Without him, she wondered if Rorik would have succeeded in getting Einar and Sira out of the fortress. But there were both of them, unconscious and bound.
When Rorik had leapt out of the shadows and brought Gunleik down, his arm snaking out of the darkness to go around his neck, Mirana had stayed his arm and his strength. a??It is Gunleik,a?? shea??d whispered. a??Hea??s coming for me. Hea??s coming to the barge to save me.a??
Once Gunleik had regained his breath, Mirana hugged him and told him what had happened. Then shea??d stepped back, saying little as Rorik and Gunleik had weighed each other and assessed the othera??s strengths. Then Gunleik had nodded. Now they were safe, thank the gods.
Mirana saw now that Ivar was on Gunleika??s heels, looking a bit dazed, but nearly whole.
She stared toward Rorik, who was carrying an unconscious Einar over his shoulder.
Shea??d known for so very long that Rorik must kill Einar, but when the moment had come, shea??d known terror so deep shea??d nearly choked on it.
But she also knew that she couldna??t dissuade him or attempt to use his love for her to stop him.
She had no right to try to change his mind about her half-brother.
He had to avenge his people, his wife, and his babes.
What would Rorik do now?
They left Eze and Hormuzea??now King Sitrica??with an unconscious Sira.
Shea??d come awake and Hormuze had poured a liquid down her throat to make her sleep.
He was now very calmly mixing a potion of nut meats and borla roots and a purple plant that Mirana couldna??t identify.
Soon he would dye her beautiful hair a dark, dark brown.