Chapter Twenty-seven
There was a knock at the door. Tormod went over and opened it but blocked the way into the room. Ragna took a step backwards into the hallway and he followed her, pulling the door closed behind him.
“How is she?” Ragna whispered.
“Sleeping.” Tormod frowned at his aunt. “What do you think is wrong with her?”
“Tormod.” Ragna sighed and smiled. “It is likely she carries your child.”
“But I have been—”
“Careful? Tormod, I have birthed nine children. Four of whom were conceived when my husband was ‘careful.’” She placed a hand on his arm.
“And have you always been as careful as you should? Lust has a way of making us forget, which is how it should be between a man and his wife. Anything less and you are cheating each other. She is not a passing fancy or a concubine, Tormod. She is your wife.”
Tormod stepped away from Ragna. “No, it is too soon.”
“It is not, she has been here more than two months.” Ragna smiled slyly at him. “And Midsummer Eve is a popular time for babes to make their way into their mother’s bellies.”
Tormod thought back to their coupling after the short battle on the beach at Midsummer and knew he had no defence.
“She is nothing like your first wife, Tormod. No one will be concerned to know your new wife is now with child.” Ragna shook her head. “Perhaps you have been surrounded by enemies for so long you are seeing them everywhere.”
“I have had my enemy in my bed before.” He looked at the ground.
“Tormod.” Ragna waited until he looked up at her. “That was not the same and you know it. Einar’s mother was your enemy, and you should have seen that, but she was a clever and deceitful woman who fooled all of us.”
“My cousins were not deceived by her.”
“And that is fortunate for all of us, but my sons are suspicious of everyone and are particularly overprotective of you.”
“Then they shouldn’t be. It is I who is responsible for them.”
Ragna laughed. “I’m not sure that they see it that way. My sons follow you because you are a good leader, the right man to lead this village. They would not do so if they did not believe in you.”
Tormod heard her words but struggled to allow himself to believe them. “Every time I look at Arne… Every time I see Einar… I am reminded of how I allowed myself to be deceived and the consequences it nearly had.”
“But you have learned,” Ragna assured him. “You will not make the same mistake again. I do not believe you have.”
“And if I have? Who will die this time? All of us?”
“Aside from those who attacked us in the Norselands, the only one who died last time was Ingrid.”
“Arne almost died.” Tormod was unable to meet his aunt’s gaze. “You nearly lost your son because I refused to believe him when he told me she did not love me.”
“But I did not. And if I had, it would have been Ingrid who was to blame,” Ragna said firmly. “It was not you who lay in wait for him at that hut. Ingrid knew her lover and his friends were waiting there to attack whoever followed her.”
“It should have been me.”
“Arne may have nearly died in your place that day, Tormod, but he would do it again. He would be happy to give his life if it meant keeping you alive. You are his jarl and he considers it an honour to protect you.”
Tormod swallowed. Ragna’s words were shifting things in his mind.
“And besides,” Ragna said firmly, “this is no longer relevant. Ingrid deceived us all, but that does not mean Aoife is the same.”
“But what if she is?” Tormod asked. “I forgave Ingrid for lying to me about the child. Let her live even after her family attacked us and Arne—”
“That was a long time ago and in another land,” Ragna said.
“My father told me back then that I did not deserve to be jarl. What if he was right? How can I be jarl when I am so easily deceived? Maybe I do not deserve to rule.”
Ragna smiled and gently squeezed his arm. “You do deserve to be jarl. Never doubt it. Everyone in this village followed you here because they believe in you.”
Tormod frowned. “Perhaps if she is with child, it is the lesser of two evils.”
“Two evils?”
“She spoke of the animals dying,” Tormod said. “Of fire and more death.”
“How odd.” Ragna pursed her lips. “Our animals are well. Perhaps it is nothing more than a bad dream. Pregnancy plays funny tricks on a woman at times.”
“She dreamed about the fire in H?kon’s field as it happened. What if she dreamed about it because she already knew it was going to happen?”
“Tormod. She is not like Ingrid. I am sure of it. You must speak to her and ask her. If she is innocent, she will answer you with no hesitation. Think about how you would make a judgment if it was for another instead of for yourself. Perhaps you will see it more clearly then. But do not base your judgment on the actions of another. Look to the future.”
“I have more than just myself to keep safe,” Tormod said. “I have the whole village to think of, the other settlers who will follow.”
“I know, but I am sure you will come to see the truth as it should be seen. Perhaps your wife can help you. She is carrying your child. Do not let the past cloud your decisions.”
Tormod watched as Ragna went back into the hall, then he went into his room.
Aoife was asleep, her face more relaxed than he had seen it before.
His stomach clenched at the thought that she might be lying to him, but as he watched her sleep, her features relaxed and she appeared even more beautiful than when she was awake.
He sat beside her and stroked her face. She smiled in her sleep and moved towards his touch.
Then he pulled off his clothes and slid into the bed beside her. Tomorrow he would confront her and she would answer him without hesitation and put all his fears to rest. After that, he would put his past with Ingrid behind him and look only to the future.
The next morning he was woken by someone hammering on his bedroom door. He yanked open the door to find his three cousins on the other side. “What is it?” Their expressions were dark.
Ulf pushed his way past him into the bedroom and stood in front of Aoife, his arms folded. “Elisedd came to the village this morning. H?kon’s animals are dying,” he announced, eyeing Aoife. “Just as Lady Aoife said last night.”
“Out!” Tormod grabbed Ulf by the shoulder and marched him towards the door.
“I need time to speak to my wife. Wait for me in the hall. Do nothing until I come.” Ulf opened his mouth to argue but Tormod slammed the door on him and leaned against it.
He watched Aoife’s face carefully as she pushed herself to an upright position then he sat down beside her, causing the mattress to shift.
She groaned and hugged her knees, trembling. “How are you feeling?”
Her eyes closed for a moment, then opened again. “I’ve been better.”
“What will you do with me?” Her voice was small and tired. She sniffed, then held herself stiff and straight and reached for the drink before taking small sips.
Tormod stood and paced to the small chink in the wall. Outside the fire crackled in the centre of the village. A number of people stood around it drinking, but there was tension in every one of them as their gazes were regularly drawn towards the hall.
“I am sorry,” she said at last.
“What for?”
“For whatever I have done to displease you.”
“What do you know of the animals dying?”
There was a long silence while he continued to stare outside. He had hoped his marriage would mark the start of better fortunes, but everything seemed to keep going wrong. He looked at his wife to find her watching him.
“Only what Ulf told us.”
“Last night. How did you know?”
“I told you, I dreamt about it. I saw cattle falling to their knees and dying.” She shivered. “A huge pile of them, burning.”
“You have been out at H?kon’s farm every day.”
“At your suggestion. Do you think I am to blame for this?”
“You were sick yesterday and now the cattle are sick today. Perhaps those things are linked?”
“If they are, then did you consider that maybe I am not to blame, that perhaps I am also a victim?”
Tormod frowned, then grunted in acknowledgement.
“I have visited H?kon’s farm at your bidding, tried to do everything you asked.
I have worked with Magda, taught her my language, and tried to learn yours.
Every day I have walked over there.” She stopped and waited until he looked at her.
“I have looked after Elisedd, I said I would care for your son, I have willingly shared your bed, but it’s not enough, is it?
I am sorry I am ill, perhaps for being with child when you don’t want another child… at least not with me.”
He searched her face for any trace of deception and found none. “That is not—”
“Tormod!” Ulf shouted from the corridor. When there was a loud banging on the door Tormod tutted, then stood up and strode towards it. “One moment,” he shouted, then leaned against the door and turned to face her. “Whatever you know, you must tell me now.”
“I don’t know anything!”
“What is killing the animals? Is that why you are sick or—”
“Ragna thinks it is because I am with child.”
“And you?”
The pause before she spoke told him that there was more to be said. What was she not telling him? Why was she hiding some of the truth from him? Despite Ragna’s words, he felt a leaden weight gathering in his belly at the thought he’d been deceived again.
“How would I know? I am newly married, I have never—” She looked at the ground.
“Why were you beaten?”
“What?”
“Why were you beaten? Why were you sent to the abbey?”
“I told you why.” She met his gaze once more and sounded sincere, but still his suspicion lingered.
“You said that you became ill at Alt Clut and that was why your family left.”
“Yes.”
“And now you are sick again when something strange is happening. And there are the dreams as well.” Tormod stared at her. “Why would your family have you beaten for warning them and saving their lives? Why? Why won’t you tell me?”
Aoife put her head on her knees and sobbed. “I-I… I’m sorry.”
Tormod punched the door behind him and turned his back on her.
Tormod had no idea whether he blamed Aoife for the problem or not. He pulled open the door, unsurprised to find his cousins waiting there.
“Well?” Ulf asked, coming into the room and staring at Aoife. “What does she know?”
“My wife says that she knows nothing.”
Ulf scoffed.
“I will go and see for myself,” said Tormod. “And then I will decide who is to blame.”
“Let me come,” Aoife said.
“But…”
“You should bring her,” Arne said from the doorway. “She knows more about the plants and animals here than any of us.”
Ulf whirled around. “And what if she is the cause?”
Arne shook his head and rolled his eyes. “She is not the cause, Ulf.”
“I have done nothing!” Aoife said, pushing herself unsteadily to her feet. “You blame me and accuse me and yet refuse to believe me when I speak the truth.”
“Aoife…” Tormod began.
“No! I dreamed of the animals; I don’t know why. Can you control your dreams? I have done nothing wrong. Why won’t you believe me?”
“I believe you.” Arne’s voice made them both jump.
“Leave us,” hissed Tormod. “This is between me and my wife.”
“No, it is not. This affects us all,” Ulf said.
“Aoife has knowledge none of the rest of us yet have and I, for one, am not willing to ignore that just because of your pride,” Arne interjected. “If you don’t wish Aoife to go, then I will take her. We will leave as soon as you are able.”
Taken aback, Tormod faced his wife. “I believe what you have told me,” he said after a moment. Her head shot up and he saw the surprise on her face. “But I don’t believe you have told me everything. Tell me the truth. All of it.”
She pursed her lips and shook her head.
“Why can you not tell me the truth?”
“I am afraid.”
“Afraid of what? Me? I will not harm you for telling me the truth.”
“Can you promise that?” Aoife asked. “Can Ulf?”
Tormod frowned. “Yes.”
Ulf’s expression remained blank.
She almost smiled, then the fear returned. “You don’t know what the truth is yet.”
There was silence for a long moment. He could see it in her eyes, in the way her mouth started to move, there was more to be said.
“I know nothing about why the animals are sick,” she said.
Ulf scoffed.
Tormod’s heart sank and a coldness descended over him.