Chapter Fifteen #2
He unsheathed his sword and urged his horse forward, yelling for his men to follow. Immediately, the defenders of Donaghmoyne started shouting and firing arrows.
The attackers appeared utterly amazed at the cacophony and started to run.
‘Stand and fight like men!’ Turgeis shouted from where he stood, directing the attack.
‘Your men appear to have a problem with that,’ Rand remarked, pulling his horse to a stop. ‘They act fiercely and then run like the cowards they are.’
Turgeis bounced from foot to foot. ‘Come down and say that to me!’
Rand swung himself off his horse. ‘Gladly. Shall we have at it?’
Turgeis advanced a step and then retreated. ‘You’ll regret this.’
‘This reckoning has been a long time coming, Turgeis. Overdue.’ Rand swung his sword. ‘Fight me like a man or prepare to die like the vermin you are.’
* * *
Unable to tear her eyes away, Svanna watched Rand advance towards Turgeis. Sweat flecked the flanks of his horse and his movements were stiff, as if he’d spent a long time on horseback. From the cheers on the ramparts, she doubted anyone else saw the little signs of Rand’s weariness, but she did.
She inwardly cursed. Rand had had a long ride.
He had to be tired. She had Turgeis’s brother as hostage.
They could have negotiated, but she doubted that Rand would have even considered that.
He was worried and frantic about his daughter’s safety.
She wished one day that someone would be that worried about her. She winced, hating that thought.
Far too late for them, in any case. She balled her fists.
Turgeis hastily raised his sword. Steel met steel. Around and around they went until Rand half-stumbled and sweat poured down his face. She knew his muscles must be screaming in agony.
A fierce pride in what he was attempting to do filled her, but she also knew he’d taken more punishment than most men could.
‘Live,’ she whispered. ‘Live because there are many things I want to tell you, many things I want to do with you, many years I want to spend with you. I want to fight for the loving marriage I deserve with you, not a soulless one based on duty.’
She shut her eyes, knowing what she wanted was hopeless and she should have taken the chance to tell him that she wanted a real marriage when she had it.
When she opened her eyes again, Turgeis suddenly pivoted and charged forward. His tired muscles aching, Rand ineffectually swung. Missed.
‘You are pathetic. You always were.’ Turgeis wiped his hand across his face. ‘I can remember you pleading with my father. Pathetic. “I’ve done nothing to her,” you said. You had her, I know you did.’
‘You were there, were you?’
‘I saw how she looked at you when you were in the training yard. How she wanted it, but she wanted it from a real man like me. And she will get it this time.’
Svanna stuffed her hand in her mouth. Turgeis was taunting him. He knew Rand was close to the end.
‘Survive,’ she whispered again. ‘Do what you have to, but survive.’
* * *
White-hot anger surged through Rand, anger such as he had not experienced in a long time, giving him fresh energy. He wanted to live for Svanna’s sake.
He struggled to retain focus. The surest way to get killed or seriously injured was to lose control. Even with his late wife, he had not been in danger of losing control in the way he was with Svanna and those who threatened her. He focused hard on his sword and the way it would swing next.
He waited until Turgeis charged again. He sliced his sword forward and connected with Turgeis’s arm. ‘You are disgusting. You forced yourself on an innocent girl.’
‘She wasn’t innocent,’ Turgeis snarled, bearing his fanged teeth. ‘She enjoyed it. Women always enjoy my attention. If she said differently, she lied.’
Anger washed over Rand, but he knew what Turgeis was up to with his filthy lies. He wanted Rand to suffer and make a mistake in their fight. However, Svanna had been innocent when they married, something Turgeis was unaware of.
Rand raised his sword and gave his battle cry. Turgeis’s lips twisted up into a smile and he charged.
Rand neatly sidestepped the next charge and landed a blow on Turgeis’s upper arm. ‘You are deluded.’
‘Deluded? I am the one getting the better of you. I will take all that once was yours. I will enjoy it. What is more, they will enjoy it as well.’
‘I think not.’ Rand swung his sword with all his might and hit Turgeis’s wrist.
Turgeis’s sword arched out of his grasp. Rand kicked it away, where it was retrieved by one of Rand’s warriors.
Turgeis fell to his knees and raised his arms. He appeared to shrink. ‘I’m defenceless. You wouldn’t kill me in cold blood, would you?’
Rand stayed his hand. Turgeis wasn’t worth it. It had to be Svanna’s decision what she wanted done with her former tormentor. ‘I should run you through, but I won’t. You might still have your uses.’
‘What are you going to do to me?’
‘Turn you over to my wife. She can decide. You had best hope that she has a gentler nature than I. Personally, I would like to feed you piece by piece to the dogs for what you did to her all those years ago.’
‘I… I could be of use to your high king. I know things about the Dubhghaill.’
‘Of that I have no doubt.’
He nodded to his men. ‘Secure the prisoner.’
They hurried to obey as Turgeis bleated on and on about how he could be of assistance and should not be killed.
Rand picked up the fallen sword and held it aloft. ‘Your leader has surrendered. Surrender now and you will be spared.’
He looked up at his ringfort. A shaft of light broke the dark clouds, bathing Svanna in its golden glow.
Despite what looked to be bruising to her cheek and the circles under her eyes, Rand thought she’d never appeared more beautiful.
She was alive and safe. All the things he wanted to say to her could now be said, but not in front of other people.
Svanna was too private a person for that.
‘Svanna, I have returned! I have brought you a gift.’ He shoved Turgeis forward and hoped that would do to begin with. ‘Yours to decide what to do with.’
‘Indeed you have! I…that is…we were watching and cheering you on!’ Svanna called from the ramparts. ‘Truly marvellous.’
Rand saluted her with his sword. ‘Pleased to have put on a good show for you.’
‘I have a gift for you as well.’
He tilted his head to one side. ‘A gift? What sort of gift?’
‘A hostage. Another son of Drengr. I fear for the tafl board though.’ She tilted her head to one side.
Rand went cold. If Svanna had captured him using the tafl board, he must have entered through the tunnel in the round tower. Rhiannon’s betrayal was total. ‘Is my daughter safe?’
‘She plays in the hall with the rest of children.’ Svanna looped a strand of hair about her ear. ‘Luckily, I considered the problem before the situation turned sour. Thanks to her nurse, I was in the tower when your gift attempted to break in.’
Rand did not bother to blink back tears.
Svanna’s precautions had worked. It could have all ended differently but for his beautifully practical wife.
He wanted to tell her how much she meant to him and how he wanted to start their marriage again as a proper one, but when they were alone without prying ears.
He had to give her a choice, something few had given her in the past.
‘I suspect King Máel Sechnaill will appreciate both gifts,’ Svanna called down. ‘Alive for him to do with as he wills.’
The knot in his back eased. Svanna, ever pragmatic, had not gone for revenge, but for a result that would benefit all living in this country. It was the correct thing to do, but he knew he would have made a different choice.
‘My brother has been taken?’ Turgeis squeaked, turning pale and interrupting the conversation. ‘How is this possible?’
‘A heavy tafl board to the head,’ Svanna called down. ‘Amazing what it can do.’
Rand gave his prisoner a contemptuous look and pretended to count on his fingers. ‘Three brothers. All met with mishap. Careless.’
‘Why don’t you get it over with and kill us?’
‘Because my wife has spoken. It was her decision, not mine. You can thank her that she has chosen mercy.’ Rand motioned to his helmsman. ‘Take him and his brother away. I intend to enjoy my family.’
He walked through the open gates and enfolded Svanna in his arms, burying his nose in her hair and making a memory. He’d left her without telling her how much he cared for her and how much he wanted them to be a family. ‘I’m back. Did anything happen while I was away?’
A shadow of a dimple played in her right cheek. ‘One or two small things, not worth mentioning really.’
He laughed. ‘But I want to hear about them.’
Her brow puckered. ‘Did you find your cousin?’
‘Alive. Although I suspect he may live to regret his choice of wife. Rhiannon is a little more managing than he is used to.’ He shrugged.
‘They and the corpse of the third brother Drengrson travel more slowly.’ He stared up at the sky, knowing that he needed to get his words right.
There had to be a way that he could make a fresh start with her.
‘I owe you an apology, Svanna. Many apologies. You guessed correctly about who was responsible.’
‘Oh, my papa! My papa!’ Birdie barrelled out from the hall and threw her arms tight about him before Svanna replied. ‘I missed you, but Mor Svanna let me stay in the hall. One day, I’m going to be big and brave like she is.’
‘That would be a good thing, little one.’ He lifted his daughter up but knew his chance of putting things right with Svanna was slipping away. ‘Do you think I could speak to Mor Svanna alone?’
Birdie gave a long sigh. ‘If you must…’
‘There are things to be done, Rand,’ Svanna said with a frown. ‘The aftermath must be sorted properly. Indulgence must come later.’
He caught her hand. It trembled within his.
The words refused to come. He had already made too many mistakes.
An indulgence? He knew his late wife would have seen it differently, but Svanna was not her.
He knew then that he loved her for caring about others.
‘Later. We can have privacy then. There are things you need to understand about my cousin and Agthir to help you decide.’
He closed his eyes. He’d said it, letting her know that he knew the full truth and that he was going to give her a choice.
Her smile became forced. ‘The sooner things are accomplished, the sooner we can go forward into our future.’
She slipped away from his grasp, and he knew he had to let her go.
His words must be for her ears alone, and they needed to be perfect.
He needed to find a way to make it up to her for all that she’d endured because of his cousin and his lies.
More than that, he needed to find a way to make her love him and to begin the marriage afresh.
She needed to be able to choose for herself, but he knew her answer could crush his hopes.