Chapter Five
‘You are going to do what?’ the Queen croaked from where she lay in the makeshift hospital, when Svanna confessed what she had done late that afternoon. ‘Have you lost your mind? Svanna, you are taking an unacceptable risk. You barely know the man. Halfr mentioned the way he treated Maer.’
Despite her injuries, her voice had lost none of its intensity.
Svanna concentrated on straightening the furs that covered the Queen, rather than answering straight away.
The heavy scent of incense combined with the dust from the dried herbs hanging from the rafters clogged Svanna’s mouth and nose, making it difficult to think straight, but she knew she had to get this encounter right.
‘It makes the most sense for everyone concerned if I marry Lord Randolfr. Something more tangible for him than simply exchanging arm rings with Halfr to demonstrate the alliance will be respected.’ She forced her voice to sound matter-of-fact, even though her heart hammered.
Her scheme had to work. Once Turgeis realised she belonged to Rand and Tara, they would leave her and, more importantly, Islay alone.
That salute that Turgeis had given as he left still sent chills down her spine.
‘Where is the wisdom?’ The Queen stared up at the rafters rather than fixing her with her gaze. Svanna took it as a hopeful sign. ‘What will it accomplish? How will it help Halfr or me?’
‘Someone must make the hard decisions, including how to stem the exodus of kings before they swear the oath of allegiance. I refuse to allow all your hard work these past few months to go to waste.’ She balled her fists until they ached, trying to control a sudden rush of anger.
‘Particularly as Turgeis is involved. I suffered much at their hands. I refuse to allow their power to grow until they threaten Agthir again.’
She stopped her words before she spilled out more of her secret. It was the closest she’d come towards explaining what had happened to her that day and why she feared Turgeis.
The Queen made a clicking noise at the back of her throat and shook her head. ‘Svanna, I know they made you uncomfortable back in Agthir, but you can be impulsive. It will be a long time before they can threaten Agthir. Trust Karn and Maer to protect our country.’
‘They believe Turgeis and his brothers to be in the east. Agthir will be in peril if I…if we fail to act.’
‘What do you know of Lord Randolfr? Lord Sigmund has his reservations about the man. He refused to meet him before the attack.’
‘Lord Randolfr rushed into a burning building to save your life.’
Astrid’s lips curved upwards. ‘There is that.’
Svanna leant forward. ‘We must strengthen alliances and quickly or Halfr will lose everything he has worked so hard to build here,’ she said, forcing a bright smile.
‘Three of the petty kings have slipped away before the morning’s tide turned, preferring to return to their halls without swearing obedience to Halfr. ’
The Queen put her hand over Svanna’s. ‘But marriage for you? I promised Maer that I wouldn’t allow you to be used as a political counter ever again. You have gone through too much, my dear. Maer is right about that.’
‘Not your choice, but mine. Maer will understand the difference.’ Svanna sat up and hugged herself. ‘Tell her that if she asks, won’t you?’
‘What are you not telling me? I can hear you trying to hide things from me, Svanna. Did he seduce you? Were you caught in flagrante? At your age and with your status, no one in the North will think less of you, Svanna. Only on Islay are they closed minded about such things. Return to Agthir straight away if you fear gossip.’
‘Seduce me?’ Svanna’s mind skittered around the second lingering kiss they’d shared and how she had wanted it to continue. ‘He has done nothing to dishonour me.’
Astrid’s gaze seemed to pierce her soul. Svanna forced her head to remain high. Eventually Astrid sighed and closed her eyes. Svanna allowed her body to relax.
‘Whose idea was this?’ Astrid asked, not opening her eyes. ‘Please tell me it was the Northman’s and not yours.’
‘My idea. I refuse to allow Turgeis to threaten Agthir or Islay ever again. We need to act while there is time.’ Svanna tried not to think about seeing Turgeis leading the attack and how he’d saluted her.
If he’d had his way, she’d now be one of the Disappeared.
She knew that and knew what would have happened to her in the process.
There would have been no intervention from Tippi or anyone else.
He’d finish what he’d begun all those years ago.
A shiver went down her back as she remembered the way he’d used to whisper about how he was going to use her body once she belonged to him, whenever he thought no one could overhear him.
And she’d never complained to Astrid because she’d suspected Astrid would have endorsed her nurse’s view that Svanna bore the blame for going off on her own.
‘My dear brave girl. What did your nurse and I create? We wanted to keep you safe from them, but this?’
‘Halfr must bind Tara and its high king to him if he wishes to stop these attacks,’ she said instead, putting it in terms Astrid would find harder to object to.
Marriage to Rand would ensure she finally had some measure of permanent protection from Turgeis.
And she could be the right sort of stepmother for that little girl, one who would look after her interests, and not simply treat her as a leftover from an earlier relationship like her own stepmother had done until Astrid had stepped in with her offer.
But she doubted that Astrid would see those reasons as valid.
‘More than ever. It will strengthen his hand with any reluctant petty king. I know how hard you and Halfr worked.’
Astrid made a cat’s paw with her hand. ‘Those kings need Halfr, his sword arm and his eye for strategy. They do not want to become vassals of the Northmen.’
‘Maybe, maybe not. Someone collaborated. Someone knew when the church service would begin. Two kings failed to attend.’
‘Suddenly we need a kinship alliance with Tara to ensure their loyalty? Please, Svanna, it might be so, but Randolfr made Maer unhappy. She discovered him entwined with another woman.’
‘The woman who became his wife. Maer and Rand had a flirtation. She laughed about it to me, even if I wasn’t aware of his name. She married Karn and they are very happy.’
‘How do you have kinship with Islay? Remind me again.’
Svanna returned the sceptical look with a steady one. ‘Technically, you are my foster-mother and, under Gaelic law, it makes us kin.’
Colour infused Astrid’s cheeks. Her good hand plucked the fur which covered her, sending it slithering to the rush-covered floor. Svanna bent to retrieve it.
‘He hasn’t formally asked.’ The Queen’s words were barely a whisper. ‘I doubt he ever will. Unlikely to. He may need…a peace-weaver, someone who can give him an heir.’
‘You do him a disservice.’ Svanna tucked the fur more firmly about Astrid. ‘He maintained a vigil beside your bed, shooing me away.’
Astrid’s eyes widened. ‘He did? I treated him badly when Agthir fell, you must understand. I couldn’t make any other decision for my country or my daughter. For both my girls.’
‘Marriage between you two is something both Maer and I desire.’ She gave Astrid a hard look.
Astrid struggled to sit up. ‘Are you proposing this marriage of convenience for my benefit?’
Svanna clasped her hands together until her knuckles shone white. ‘Rand is correct—an alliance with Tara will help in the present circumstances and the high king demands a kinship alliance. Only a fool would deny that.’
‘But you as a counter again? I thought you wanted to leave that behind.’
‘My choice is to be useful instead of merely existing.’ And she would be useful. She’d have a chance to have her own household and to raise a child, but she didn’t dare admit such dreams aloud when Astrid was so ill.
A single tear trickled down Astrid’s cheek. She wiped it away, muttering about potions. Svanna struggled to think of the last time Astrid had openly wept.
‘The smoke was stronger yesterday than you might think,’ Svanna said, handing her a clean cloth to wipe her eyes. ‘My eyes have been streaming off and on ever since.’
Astrid’s lips turned up into a watery smile. ‘This Randolfr who saved my life. The one you say you will be marrying. Do you like him rather than tolerating him?’
Svanna carefully rearranged the fur. Astrid was coming around to her way of thinking.
‘You live, thanks to him. The life debt needs to be repaid. He requires a kinship alliance to satisfy his king. The calculation is that simple. But yes, I believe we can forge a productive partnership. As you did with the late king Thorfi and the king before that.’
Astrid made a cat’s paw again and batted the remark away. ‘We are speaking of you, Svanna, not my compromises. You’ve spent a lifetime doing others’ bidding, including mine. Your mother wanted more for you than fetching and carrying for someone like me.’
‘Rand understands the necessity of a political marriage. He buried his heart with his wife, but he has a daughter who must need a mother. I can be that mother.’
‘I’m fond of you, Svanna. I, too, know what a political marriage entails. The loneliness can eat into your soul. My first marriage could be hard. Harder than my second one.’
‘Maer is the rash one. Always I pride myself on being sensible and taking a long view. Feelings of mutual regard can develop with time and effort.’ Internally, her heart screamed that she was settling too easily for far too little, but she silenced it.
Love was far too expensive a commodity and she’d settled for a friendship of sorts.
With Rand’s heart buried, he would agree to her suggestion to make the marriage platonic. It would satisfy both their purposes.