Chapter 2 #2
“Mildred only needs to hear that you died. That’s all we need, for her to think I have done what she wanted me to do, to think that Wolf is a broken man because of the loss of his grandson.
Even if she realizes the truth afterward, it will not matter.
Judith will be free. And this time we will make sure to disappear for good as soon as we are released. ”
It was the perfect solution. If Ulf and his family accepted her plan, it could work. But why would they refuse?
Maybe because you just tried to kill one of them and they don’t care about what happens to you or Judith?
“How do you suppose we achieve this?”
“I’m not sure, but there has to be a way. There has to be.”
Ulf eyed her up and down as if deciding whether to trust her or not. “It sounds to me as if you are simply trying to make me release you so you can escape punishment for what you did.”
“I swear I’m not!” Well, she was trying to make him release her, but only so that she could go and save Judith.
There was no answer.
And just like that, the fight went out of Ylva. Her gamble hadn’t paid off and she didn’t have any other ideas. It was over. She would be punished for what she had done and Judith would die. There was no way to prevent it.
“In spite of everything, I’m glad I didn’t kill you,” she whispered, feeling a fat tear slide down her cheek. Tied as she was, she couldn’t wipe it away, but she didn’t mind. She deserved all the misery she got for what she’d done, and anyway, she wasn’t crying for herself.
He knelt in front of her. “No need to cry. There’s no harm done. You didn’t truly hurt me.”
To her shock, he wiped her cheek clean. And then he did something that surprised even her more.
He freed her.
At first, when he seized the bloodied dagger Haakon had deposited on the table and walked over to her with the blade pointing her way, Ylva thought he would use it to get his revenge on her.
She screwed her eyes shut, ready for the blow that would put an end to her miserable existence.
The blade that should have killed him would instead serve to kill her. Perhaps it was only justice.
“Please, just go and free Judith when you’ve killed me,” she begged, doing her best not to tremble. “I accept your punishment for what I did to you but please, save my friend. She is innocent, she has done nothing to deserve any of this.”
She felt Ulf stop in front of her. This was it. Ylva held her breath.
A heartbeat later, the rope holding her arms in place slackened. Ulf had not used the dagger to kill her but to free her.
She blinked and looked up, only to be met with the bluest pair of eyes she had ever seen, staring at her. Ulf had knelt in front of her once again and was skewering her with a look she had difficulty interpreting. Then she understood it was fury.
On her behalf.
“We will get Judith out of this, don’t worry,” he growled. “And Mildred will pay for what she did to you both.”
It took Ylva a while to understand that her plan had worked and Ulf would help her. When she did, everything within her loosened.
“Thank you.”
“Come. We’ll go speak to my grandfather. He will know what to do.”
Ulf walked next to Ylva, his body in pain and his mind in disarray.
He didn’t fear she would try to hurt him further or run, as neither of those options would solve her problem. She needed to save her friend, and for that she needed his cooperation.
Not for a moment had he thought to doubt her story.
There had been too much anguish in her voice, too much pain in her eyes, too much dignity in her attitude when she had explained who she was and what had happened to her for him to even think she was lying.
She had apologized to him before stabbing him.
At the time he had thought it odd. But he knew now that she had been truly sorry—and why.
Her story was one of woe such as he had heard his grandfather tell too many times.
This Mildred had to be stopped from killing Judith and hurting anyone else in the future.
His grandfather would know what to do. Which was lucky, because Ulf didn’t have the first idea how to get out of this situation.
The timing of Ylva’s attack had been perfect—inasmuch as such attacks could be described as perfect, of course—as he’d only come back to the village a week ago after a fortnight spent in Ipswich.
For the last few years, he had traveled the length and breadth of the county, trying his hand at different trades, only to conclude that none of them held any particular appeal.
He still had to find out what suited him, but he now had a feeling that whatever it was he ended up doing, it would be here, in his native village, surrounded by the people he loved.
“Here,” he told Ylva when they reached the hut everyone knew. “Are you ready to tell my grandfather everything?”
“Yes.”
Despite the answer, she appeared unsure. “What is it?”
“Will he not…hate me for trying to kill you? I would, if I were him, so I can’t even blame him.”
He couldn’t help a smile at this answer proving he’d been right to trust her. She was not worried the formidable Icelander would hurt her but hate her. A true villain would not care about something like that.
“My grandfather only hates despicable individuals. You’re not one of them, so no, he will not hate you.
He will listen to your story, I swear.” And he didn’t doubt he would want to help.
His quarrel was with Mildred, no one else.
“That’s what he’s done ever since he arrived in the village, all those years ago. ”
“Very well. Let’s go.”
He knocked on the door.