Chapter 4
Sitting on his stallion Devil, Wolf the Icelander cut a mighty figure.
Ulf straightened his back, feeling honored to be riding next to him.
He had always aspired to be like his respected grandfather when he grew up.
Now that he was indeed a man, he hoped to make him proud.
With luck, today would be a step in the right direction.
Because today he would do what the man riding next to him had done all those years ago, and free a woman from a life of abject servitude. In fact, he would save two of them.
Ylva and Judith.
Behind them were his uncles, Sven and Torsten, on their horses Gulltoppr and Ghost. His father, being supposedly dead, had, of course, stayed hidden in the village.
There had been an uncomfortable moment when he’d been told his son had been attacked.
At first, he had been too enraged to listen to them and had demanded to see the wound for himself.
But, little by little, soothed by his wife, he had calmed down and accepted that Ylva had done the only thing she could have done.
As they entered the town via the south gate, the four men nodded at one another.
It was time to play the role of the irate, grief-stricken family in case someone was watching out for their arrival.
Ulf did not find it difficult to assume the tense demeanor that would make anyone think he had suffered a heavy loss.
Because, how would he feel if he had really lost his father?
It could all too easily have happened. Had Mildred been more astute and decided to send someone other than poor Ylva, who did not have an aggressive bone in her body, to exact her revenge on her enemy, he might have lost him, or one of his uncles, or his brother, Rothgar.
He might have died himself. He was only alive today because the vile woman had made the mistake of sending the wrong person to kill him.
Had Ylva been stronger or more determined, a ruthless killer without a conscience like this Walstan apparently was, he would not have gotten away with just a cut. Ulf winced as a sudden jolt from his horse caused him to feel the sting of the fresh wound.
Yes, as painful as the cut was, he’d been lucky.
The reeve’s house was soon in view. As soon as they’d passed through the door, the four men relaxed into a more normal attitude. The reeve, who had done nothing wrong, didn’t need to see their scowling faces.
“Wolf.” Elstan seemed pleased to see his friend and shook his hand. “What can I do for you?”
“We need your help.”
“Let me guess. One of your sons again? Steinar? The only one missing from this impressive delegation?”
Ulf smiled at the now familiar jest. Over the years, the man had had to help his father and his two uncles in turn. It was no wonder he had assumed his help would be needed again.
“No. It’s my grandson, Ulf, this time.”
“The grandson. Of course.” Elstan laughed. “Well. I suppose it was only a question of time. Tell Rothgar to hurry if he wants to get into trouble, as I might not be reeve for much longer. The election is next month.”
Wolf shook his head. “I’m sure he has no intention of getting into trouble. And Ulf has done nothing wrong. What happened to him is…rather unusual.”
The reeve gestured to the chairs by the fire, seriousness returning. “Tell me everything.”
“Yesterday morning, I was attacked by a woman intent on killing me,” Ulf started.
The reeve was not a man easily shaken, but this, understandably, caused him to raise a brow. “Evidently, she failed. Thank the Lord. Or Odin, or…whoever is in charge of these matters, according to you.”
Ulf could not help another smile. He knew the man was trying to familiarize himself with the Norse deities since his daughter, Gytha, had married Haakon and settled in the village.
“In this case, my lucky escape has more to do with the kind of woman chosen to kill me. She had nothing against me and never really meant me any harm. She only felt she had to kill me in order to save her best friend from death. Which is where we hope you will be able to help.”
“I’m sure I will. Who had sent the girl?”
“I trust you remember the slave trader who was killed during the search for little Osberga in the summer?” This was not really a question. He would not have forgotten, as it was precisely this investigation that had allowed Gytha and Haakon to fall in love.
“Of course, I do.”
“Well, his daughter, Mildred, has sworn revenge on my grandfather, whom she blames for the death of the men in her family.”
“So now she wants to kill the men in his family and watch him suffer?”
“Exactly.”
Now that he thought of it, she might well intend to kill them off one by one.
There was no accounting for mad people’s whims. For obvious reasons, Ulf had not told anyone about his musings, but he’d wondered why Mildred had not asked Ylva to simply kill his grandmother.
A woman would have been an easier target, and she was the person his grandfather loved most in the world.
He shuddered at the thought of losing a woman who meant so much to so many.
Then he forced himself to focus back on the discussion at hand and explained how they had agreed together that faking Steinar’s death was the best solution.
“We think the woman might have posted a man to spy on your house, to make sure someone from the village came to inform you of my father’s murder by a Saxon and demand retribution.
This, more than anything, will convince Mildred that Ylva did indeed kill my father.
It is important that she is satisfied that her revenge has been served, as without this assurance, she will never release Ylva or Judith. ”
“So… You really think the trader’s daughter will keep her word and allow the two women to walk free?” his grandfather asked.
Ulf shook his head. He had not told Ylva as much, but he doubted this would happen.
It didn’t sound like the sort of thing the vile woman would do.
More than likely, she would keep Ylva captive so that she could use her again in her scheme.
Even worse, he wouldn’t be surprised if she had already killed Judith.
“No, I don’t think so. That’s why I followed Ylva last night, when she went to find Mildred,” he explained. “So I know where to go today to ensure everything is as it should be.”
When they had parted ways, he had told her he would go to the cooper before heading back to the village.
In reality, he had tossed a coin to a group of children so that they looked after the two horses while he followed her to a rundown house in the middle of town.
He could have gone inside there and then, but he had wanted to give Mildred a chance to honor her promise to free the women and give Ylva the satisfaction of knowing she had succeeded in saving her friend. But today he would not be as generous.
By now, the Saxon’s spy, if she had one, would have reported seeing Wolf and his sons visit the reeve and he didn’t want the two women to suffer a moment longer than necessary.
Elstan nodded his approval. “That was clever. I would have done the same. The woman cannot be trusted. To tell you the truth, I wanted to investigate her after the death of her father and brother, because Haakon told me she had abused many of the young boys her father sold. But she disappeared and I could never punish her for the deeds.”
“She abused young boys?” Ulf was stunned. Would there be no end to the woman’s depravity?
“Alas, she did.”
He had not heard this from Haakon but it was clear from the way he clenched his jaw that his grandfather was aware of it as well, which explained why he had gone back to the house after killing the men. He’d meant to make her pay.
Ulf’s hatred for the woman who would have forced Ylva to become a murderer flared anew.
“She will pay for that,” he vowed. “Come, there is no time to lose.”
Ylva braced herself when the door to the small room opened. Who was coming? Walstan, back for more?
No. It was only Mildred. She allowed herself to relax marginally. At least Judith would not endure more abuse.
“Up,” the woman ordered, gesturing wildly.
“We have to leave. Walstan just told me that he saw Wolf and his sons go into the reeve’s house, with a face like thunder.
There is no prize for guessing why. I have no doubt he will ask his friend to seek vengeance for the murder of his son. We need to go.”
Though this was what she’d wanted to hear, as it established that she had not lied to Mildred, Ylva could not feel any relief.
She was too worried for Judith, who was lying next to her, immobile, her head cradled on her lap.
The lie had been created to keep her friend from harm and to free them.
Neither of those goals had been achieved so there was little cause for rejoicing.
“We cannot go anywhere at present. Judith cannot stand, never mind walk. Walstan almost killed her last night!” she hissed.
Her skull felt about to explode, courtesy of the blow she’d received, but she would not let that stop her.
“Look at her, look what he did. It is all your fault, you let him do that to her!”
One look at Judith should be enough to horrify anyone. Her face was covered in blood, one of her eyes was swollen shut and her clothes were torn. But Mildred only shrugged.
“The man wanted some well-earned relief,” she said, as if that were enough to justify the assault. “She shouldn’t have fought him. It would have been better for her if she had remained still.”
Remained still. As if that had been an option. Since Ylva had been knocked cold at the time, Judith had told her all the man had done to her. It had made for horrific hearing.
“I’m sorry I could not help you,” Ylva had cried, holding her friend tight. “I should have been there to—”
“You could not have helped. He’s just too strong. And he had hit you, too,” Judith had croaked. “It was better that way. At least you didn’t see…anything.”