Chapter 14 #3
Steinar waved to Colbán, the signal they had agreed upon, and silently crept toward the longship where Catrìona had seen the woman. The king’s captain and Angus approached from the other side. As Steinar neared the guarded ship, he heard a conversation in Gaelic.
“He means to ransom the girl,” said one with a husky voice.
“Might have at one time,” said another in a lecherous tone, “But I think he’s changed his mind.
Ivar would have her for himself. She’s the mormaer’s daughter, after all.
But ’tis going to be a cold night once the sun is down and I could do with a woman’s warm flesh. What say ye we sample the goods?”
“A fool’s thought,” said Husky. “For that, Ivar would unman ye. He might share the plunder, but never the women he takes. Besides, this one is still virgin. As long as he thought to ransom her, he did not touch her. He would know if ye were to take her first.”
Seeing Colbán and Angus move into position, Steinar gave the signal and the four of them bounded over the sides of the ship. Steinar drew his sword as his feet touched the deck, the steel hissing as it left the scabbard.
Husky and Lecherous leapt to their feet, yanking their swords free, the sound of sliding steel ringing in the air. Three men had been sleeping, but quickly roused to grab their axes and long knives.
“We come for the girl,” said Steinar. “She is not your master’s to take. She is a Gael and one of ours.”
“Ye’ll not have her,” said Husky, who Steinar now saw to be a large muscled Northman with long scraggly hair and beard.
“As you wish,” said Steinar, drawing his short sword from his hip to add to his raised sword.
The one Steinar had dubbed Lecherous—a thin weasel of a man—lunged at him from several feet away. Before his blade struck, Niall let fly his arrow. It sank into the man’s neck. The Northman made a choking sound and slid to the deck clutching the arrow.
“One down,” said Niall with a smile.
Rhodri would be proud, but Steinar could not allow the youth to remain in the fray. The remaining Northmen charged toward them as Steinar shouted to Niall, “Go to the prow! ’Tis a better place to shoot.”
The youth obeyed as Steinar fought off the enraged Husky. The Northman swung his sword, slicing through air as Steinar stepped to the side, avoiding the bulky Northman’s blade.
“Ye look like a Dane,” said Husky, “but ye do not fight like one.”
Steinar heard the sounds of swords clashing behind him. “You face an English rebel in King Malcolm’s service,” he said as he beat back the man’s sword and took a slice out of Husky’s unmailed sword arm. “The last man you will see before death.”
With an oath, the Northman backed off and leapt over the side of the ship and ran into the woods. To his master, most likely.
One was dead and one had fled but there were still three to dispose of.
The battle erupted into a clash of metal and men’s grunts as the three remaining Northmen, like cornered animals, fought Steinar, Angus and Colbán.
The sun was beginning to set and it became more difficult to see.
The ropes and tools left on the deck made the footing treacherous and, more than once, Steinar had stumbled.
Still, each man fought on, seeking mastery over his opponent.
A shriek from inside the tent when a Northman stepped on it told Steinar the lass was inside and afraid. “Stay down, Deidre!” he shouted, hoping she would draw comfort from his use of her name.
For a time, he and Colbán fought back to back until one of the Northmen lunged toward Niall who stood in the prow nocking another arrow. Steinar raced across the deck and blocked the sword aimed at Catrìona’s brother. The Northman turned from the archer to engage Steinar and the fighting continued.
* * *
The sounds of battle erupted all around Catrìona, echoing in her ears as they had on the day the vale was attacked, the same sounds she had heard in her dreams. When Deidre screamed, she could be patient no longer.
I must get Deidre to safety.
Bracing herself for what lay ahead, she cautioned Giric, who stood at her side. “Do not board the ship. You must promise.”
“Aye,” the boy said reluctantly. “I promise.” But he picked up some rocks and followed close on her heels as she left her hiding place and ran to the side of the longship where the fighting raged.
She could hardly blame the boy for wanting to be of use, for she did not like standing idly by as those she loved fought her enemies.
Surveying the deck from where she stood, she saw the fighting stretched from midship to the prow. Assuring herself the king’s men lived and Steinar and her brother stood strong, she scrambled over the side and hurried toward the back of the tent. “Deidre!” she hissed a whisper.
Her handmaiden emerged and flew into Catrìona’s arms. “Oh, mistress,” she sobbed. “You found me!”
“I never gave up,” said Catrìona. “Come, we must get you away before we catch one of those swords.” She pulled Deidre toward the side of the ship, thinking to drag her to safety, when one of the Northmen, seeing them escaping, plunged toward them, his sword flashing.
“And now we have two,” he said as he reached them and slowly brought the edge of his sword to her neck, stopping just short of her skin. “Ivar will be pleased.”
She froze, afraid to breathe.
Beside her, Deidre cried, “Nay!”
Suddenly, behind the Northman loomed Steinar like a vengeful god. The sword held to her neck flew away with a blow from Steinar’s short blade. Dropping his sword, Steinar grabbed the Northman’s long hair, drew back his head and sliced across his neck.
Blood spurted onto Catrìona, the smell of it nearly making her retch.
“Go!” shouted Steinar and picked up his sword, turning to confront another.
Catrìona dragged Deidre to the side and they scrambled over the gunwale to the ground.
As she looked back, she saw Colbán trip over a body on the deck, leaving his shoulder open to a Northman’s blade.
He grunted as it sliced through his tunic and he sagged to the deck.
Steinar ran to defend him against the killing blow, but before Steinar could reach him, an arrow whooshed through the air and lodged deep in the Northman’s chest.
From the prow, Niall shouted, “ ’Tis two!”
* * *
Steinar could feel his leg weakening from his many stumbles on the deck, now slippery with blood and strewn with bodies of two Northmen.
Colbán was wounded and unable to lift his sword.
The two remaining Northmen breathed heavily as they plunged their swords toward Steinar and Angus but the two fought side by side, battling the Northmen back.
Niall, unwounded in the prow, nocked another arrow.
’Twas then the Northmen’s dark-haired leader made his appearance, leaping onto the deck of the ship.
“You would dare take what is mine?” He waved his sword slowly back and forth in front of Steinar.
Even in the gloaming, the steel glistened.
Beside the man called Ivar stood the one Steinar had dubbed Husky, returned now that he had his master to fight with him.
“She is not yours, Ivar,” said Steinar. “Do Thorfinn’s sons know you took her in your attack on the Vale of Leven?”
“They know naught of it. And there will be no one to tell them once you and these few with you are dead.”
Ivar’s arrival had brought a pause in the fighting and distracted the Northman fighting Angus. Out of the corner of his eye, Steinar saw Catrìona’s guard seize his opportunity and plunge his sword into the man’s belly, piercing through his body.
Angered, Ivar and Husky attacked with vengeance, the third Northman joining them, three swords against two.
Steinar had been in worse scrapes but he was tiring and liked not the odds.
Ivar was skilled and fresh for the fight.
But Steinar’s determination to kill the man who had destroyed Catrìona’s family gave him new strength.
From the side of the ship, rocks flew through the air to pelt their Norse adversaries. Out of the corner of his eye, Steinar glimpsed Giric raising another rock. “Get him out of here!” he yelled to Niall.
Niall dropped from the prow and came around the side to grab the boy from his perch.
Steinar and Angus fought on, managing to hold off the three Northmen. It took all of Steinar’s strength to keep Ivar at bay, slicing his sword through the air in rapid strikes while dancing to avoid the Northman’s skilled blade.
An arrow flew through the air, piercing the chest of Husky, sending him to the deck.
“ ’Tis three,” came Niall’s cry.
“This one,” Steinar said, his tone full of scorn as his eyes narrowed on Ivar raising his sword, “is mine.” Blocking the sword’s blow with his own sword, he sent up a furious attack that backed the dark Northman to the side of the ship.
“And this one is mine!” yelled Angus as he swung his powerful sword at the man he fought. “Fer my lord, Cormac!” he shouted, cutting off the man’s head in one powerful stroke. The Northman’s body crashed to the deck, his head rolling to hit the side of the longship.
Steinar sheathed his short blade and gripped the hilt of his sword with both hands. “Now ’tis only you that remains,” he said to Ivar, disdain dripping from his words. Faster than the Northman could follow with his eyes, Steinar sliced across Ivar’s chest, leaving a long line oozing forth blood.
Ivar looked down at the widening streak of red, stunned.
Mayhap he has never been wounded. A weakness Steinar did not have, for he was not afraid to take a blade. With all his strength, he swung and caught Ivar across the throat just as the Northman looked up.
* * *
Relieved the last of the Northmen had been dispatched to Hades, Catrìona leapt over the side of the ship and ran to Steinar, flinging herself into his arms and kissing him with wild abandon.
“Oh, Steinar!”
From behind her, Angus coughed. She turned to see her guard standing there with a disapproving look and blood coating his tunic.