Chapter Fifteen
Rand urged his horse forward towards Donaghmoyne.
Its flanks were flecked with sweat and mud.
Any other time, Rand would have stopped miles ago and rested, or at least changed horses, but not today.
He kept the horse going onwards until he felt that he had never been out of the saddle.
Far more than the need to see his daughter, whom the nurse would keep safe, his need to see Svanna and hear her reasoned and calm views drove him.
He wanted to apologise for seeming abrupt and discounting her and then confess how he truly felt about her.
His group of men trailed behind, barely keeping up.
The landmarks—the twisted oak, the bog on his left and the small pond—had all become more familiar.
Normally, his heart lightened with each new sign of his approaching home, but this time the sense of foreboding only increased.
There should be cattle in that field and sheep in the next, but the fields were empty, as if someone had given the order to prepare for war.
His horse stumbled. Rand reached and patted its neck.
‘Keep going. My family is in danger. I know they are.’
‘My lord. We need to rest. Our horses are far too tired. Donaghmoyne can hold out for days.’
‘No one in their right mind would attack, but I suspect our opponent isn’t.’ He pulled his horse up. ‘Can you hear that?’
The men listened.
‘Someone is trying to batter down the gates!’ one shouted.
‘My lord, we are but a handful.’
‘Who would bring that large an army this far north?’ Rand said, trying not to panic.
Svanna and Birdie would be safe if they stayed within Donaghmoyne’s walls.
The defences he’d strengthened would hold and there’d be no need to use the secret passage from the round tower.
A sudden paralysis gripped him. Rhiannon knew the passageways.
She could have told Turgeis about them, and Turgeis would exact his revenge.
He’d inadvertently put Svanna in danger.
Despite all the promises his head had made, she’d burrowed deep in his heart.
He had to ensure her and Birdie’s survival.
‘My lord, what should we do?’
‘We don’t know who attacks or why.’
‘I had to ask, my lord. My wife and children are there.’
Rand knew he would have to make a choice—either to go in via one of the tunnels or to seek to draw the attackers off. On balance, given that the cattle and livestock were most likely inside, he had to assume Svanna had some warning and had acted. What had he done to deserve a wife like that?
That brief spell of being a true family clung to him. He knew he wanted that with all his heart and had to discover a way to convince her that they could have a proper marriage.
‘Increase our pace. We will rescue them.’
* * *
Svanna directed the archers to launch another volley of arrows.
Thus far, the arrows had failed to deter Turgeis’s men, who were now using a fallen tree as a shield and starting to ram the gate with greater vigour.
All she could do was watch and pray that somehow Rand would return and be able to rescue them.
Somehow. But she also suspected that he’d have too few men to break through on a frontal attack.
If he tried that, he could be cut down. Fear for him clawed at her throat and insides, but she drew on years of hiding her emotions to keep that fear contained.
‘My lady, Birdie’s nurse is demanding to see you.’
Svanna looked at the warriors manning the barricades. ‘Can you hold out?’
Their leader fitted an arrow and shot one of the attackers in the leg. The ramming ceased. ‘I believe so.’
‘Send word if anything changes.’ She hurried down and into the great hall, which teemed with people.
Birdie immediately ran to her and hugged her hard, exclaiming again and again that she’d come back. Svanna picked the little girl up and placed her on her hip.
‘My lady, I must protest.’ The nurse bustled up, resembling a wet hen. ‘Birdie should be in the tower. Lord Randolfr left orders…’
‘Lord Randolfr left me in charge.’
‘Please, come with me. Let me show you that the round tower is safe.’ She lowered her voice. ‘Birdie doesn’t like crowds, my lady. Neither do I.’
Svanna sighed and knew she’d get no peace until she’d viewed the tower. ‘I will go, but Birdie remains here where she is safe.’
Svanna gently removed Birdie’s arms from her neck and handed her to a woman who promised to entertain her along with her own daughter. Svanna indicated to a warrior that he should keep watch.
The nurse curtseyed. ‘Thank you, my lady. You will see no danger exists.’
They crossed over to the tower. The sounds of the battle were strangely muffled, but it did not appear to be intensifying.
Svanna nodded to the warrior guarding the entrance to the tower, and he allowed them in. The main room was eerily silent compared to the busy chatter in the hall.
‘Birdie will be fine here,’ the nurse said, gesturing about her. ‘She can sleep. She will come to no harm here, if you take my meaning. I want to be able to look the King in the eye when he comes, see.’
Svanna frowned. The room appeared untouched. The tafl board stood in a corner, next to the small loom, signs of normality amidst the chaos of war. The trunks and stools remained where she had last seen them. ‘There is at least one escape route here.’
The nurse reluctantly nodded. ‘Only the family knows.’
‘Not blocked, like I ordered.’
‘That warrior wouldn’t allow us to stay. Why should I tell the warriors? Lord Randolfr might choose to come back that way if he saw us being besieged.’
The fear clawing at her subsided. Rand had a way in. He’d arrive, and she’d see him again…
‘Only the family knows, including Rhiannon,’ she said, hoping to banish the thought.
‘Rhiannon would never do anything to harm Birdie, my lady.’
‘Not intentionally.’ Svanna held out her hand. ‘But I worry. Show me. I’m Rand’s wife.’
‘I suppose so.’ The elderly woman pointed to the far wall. ‘The fourth stone moves and there is a long tunnel. Built by my late lady’s great-grandfather.’
As Svanna watched, the stone appeared to move.
‘See!’ The old woman positively radiated with glee. ‘I suspected Lord Randolfr would come in this way.’ She rushed over to help, moving the stone. ‘Thank the gods you have arrived, my lord!’
Rand failed to emerge. Instead, the middle of Drengr’s sons poked his head out of the hole. He appeared as surprised as the nurse was to encounter her.
A cold calm settled over Svanna. She looked about for a weapon, anything, but her limbs appeared frozen.
‘You remain a wolf’s head.’
‘Ingebord?’ he said, his eyes widening with shock. ‘Why are you here, not the little girl?’
The nurse’s scream echoed throughout the tower, freeing Svanna from her paralysis.
Svanna grabbed the heavy tafl board and slammed it into his face, knocking his helm sideways. The man’s face registered shock. Svanna brought the board heavily down on his head, breaking it in half. He gurgled and ceased to move.
‘Good,’ Svanna muttered, tossing the boards to one side. ‘Next time, use the front door instead of sneaking in.’
‘You kill him?’
‘No, his lungs fill with air.’ She dragged the unconscious man into the room. ‘Hand me the loom. I can use the braid to tie him up. And get help!’
The nurse needed no further urging and ran to get the guard. Three rushed in with drawn swords.
‘Shall we dispatch him, my lady?’
‘No,’ Svanna said, from where she stood guard.
Thinking strategically instead of emotionally was vital.
As much as she might like to see him breathe his last, he was too valuable as a hostage, particularly if she had to bargain for Rand.
‘Only living hostages are worth something. Tie him up properly. Put him somewhere secure but uncomfortable. Keep a guard on that hole in case anyone else tries.’
She went out into the courtyard and put a hand over her eyes.
Her entire body started to shake. She’d bested a son of Drengr and had not given way to violent anger.
She wanted to collapse in a heap, but more than that she wanted to know where Rand was and that he was safe.
She knew then she’d sacrifice everything for his life.
She froze. Strategically instead of emotionally seemed to work for everything except Rand.
‘My lady?’ the nurse said, curtseying low and interrupting Svanna’s thoughts. ‘I was wrong. I’m sorry. Your quick thinking saved everyone.’
‘Thanks to you, we have an important hostage.’
The nurse screwed up her face. ‘I suppose so, but I remain sorry. I thought Birdie would be safe here.’
‘Horsemen are coming, my lady,’ came a shout from the ramparts. ‘At speed.’
Svanna scrambled up onto the ramparts. Her one consolation was that they were unlikely to be late-arriving supporters of Turgeis. ‘Do we know who they are?’
‘Not yet, but Lord Randolfr would come in through one of the tunnels, not risk a flanking movement.’
Svanna narrowed her gaze and looked at the lead horseman.
Every fibre of her being knew Rand must be the lead horseman.
‘But then you would be very wrong. Rand is risking everything to rescue us. We need to give him a chance.’ She slammed her fists onto the ramparts.
‘Redouble your efforts. Use every arrow. Make a lot of noise. Turn their attention to us. Give him a chance.’
* * *
When Rand glimpsed the besieged Donaghmoyne with the black clouds towering over, it appeared to be a vision from one of his nightmares, the sort that always plagued his sleep when he was away.
He’d known this day would arrive when he would have to fight for his home.
What he’d failed to realise was that he would also be fighting for the two most important people in his life—Birdie and equally Svanna.
His family. His mouth dried. Svanna belonged to him in a way he didn’t want to think about, but he needed to ensure his family and particularly Svanna were safe.