The Viking's Captive Page 14

  I placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a tight squeeze. I couldn’t stay to comfort or tend to her injury. I had to check the other huts. There would be time for mourning later, and hopefully, time for healing—both physical and spiritual. I was off and running again, trusting that a clansman would find Freya and provide a splint for her leg. The woman was a powerful shieldmaiden. I knew she would be okay.

  Hut after hut, I hoped to find my clan members alive. Hut after hut, I was met with silence and disappointment. When I came to the last house in the village, which was barely standing, I glanced up the hill to where my mother’s hut was. It stood untouched, at least on the outside. I would have to have a check later, after I took care of any survivors. Turning back to the task at hand, I entered the building and began yelling as I walked, moving slowly, hoping to hear an answer. “Is anyone in there?”

  “Torben, we’re here!”

  The sound came from outside. I went back out and ran around to the rear of the dwelling. There, I saw several of my clan members emerging from the dense shrubs and bushes.

  If the fires had crushed my spirit, their broken faces and hopeless stares shredded me. They were covered in cuts and bruises. Black eyes and split lips were on every face. My stomach dropped. Their clothes were torn and tattered, especially those of the women. I’d held it together as best I could until then, but when I saw the last child walk out, I hit my breaking point. It was Savy. She was thirteen, barely entering womanhood, and her vacant eyes told me exactly what had happened to her. Her father was a warrior under Magnus’ command, and her mother had died of illness two years prior. She was practically grown in many ways, yet still such a child. The girl’s face was purpled with bruises, and her simple, straight dress was torn up the middle, revealing much of her legs. Blood ran down them.

  My stomach rolled, and I felt the blood in my veins heat like lava. “Cathaaal!” The bellow was long and loud, wrenched from the deepest part of my being. My arms stretched out, one hand gripping the hilt of my sword as I collapsed to my knees. I roared to the heavens. I roared for anyone to hear the battle cry in my voice. There was a promise in that cry—a promise of bloodshed and torture, revenge and death. A promise for Cathal and his men. A reckoning was coming, and there wasn’t a power in the heavens or on earth that could stop it. I would not let this horrible crime go unpunished. When my voice faded away, my head hung and my arms dropped to my sides. I felt like I was going to retch, but there was no time for that. Evil had laid waste to my clan, and my kinsmen needed someone to help them pick up the pieces.

  As I stood, I slid my sword back into its sheath. When I glanced behind me, I saw that my men had gathered a handful of survivors. Brant and the others had found seven people who hadn’t died from their injuries. Rush was bandaging them up as best he could.

  Freya’s leg had been splinted. She’d found a long tree branch and was using it as a crutch, shambling over to us. She grimaced with each step, and I marveled at her resolve. Another shieldmaiden, Babs, had taken the child and walked next to her. They moved past me to Rainah, and Babs held the girl’s body out to her mother. “I tried to protect her,” Freya said. “I am sorry I failed you.”

  Silence fell over the group. Rainah took the child in her arms as tears streamed down her face. After several long moments, Rainah spoke.

  “You did not fail, shieldmaiden. Thank you for bringing her to me. Her spirit will be at peace in Valhalla, and I will see her again someday.”

  Freya turned to look at me, her jaw set in grim determination. “I respect you as my general, but you need to tell us where the hell you and Magnus have been.”

  She was angry and rightfully so. The warriors of Clan Hakon had left their loved ones defenseless. We’d followed a madman on his errand of folly, and the complete destruction of our clan was the result. It was a just reward.

  I felt hollow inside. Should I have stood against Magnus sooner? Had my love for Allete blinded me to my duty to my clan? I had no easy answer to those questions.

  “And who is this strange foreigner that travels with you?” She pointed at Thomas, who’d been tending the wounded along with my men and was now standing amongst the group.

  “I will explain everything. You have a right to know why your loved ones are dead and your homes are destroyed. But first, we must see to the souls of our fallen. We must send them on to Paradise. Then we shall tend to our injured and secure shelter for everyone. When our immediate needs are met, I will call a clan meeting.”

  Several of the women took charge of the children while the rest of us gathered the bodies of our kinsmen that hadn’t been consumed by flames. Typically, we would have built floating funeral pyres and set them adrift on the sea, but there were too many and that would take too long. Time was of the essence. I would soon have to set out after Cathal to avenge the devastation he’d caused my clan. It was important to honor the dead properly, but the best honor would come when I made their killer pay for his crimes.

  We built one large funeral pyre and placed twenty-six adults and twelve children on it to be committed to Valhalla. The rest had already been burned to ash in the destroyed homes. I lifted the torch and tossed it onto the center of the pyre. “May they find rest in the halls of our ancestors,” I said as I watched the flames consume the offering.

  My men were already giving orders to the remaining able-bodied clansmen and women. By my count, there were only fifty-two of us left. Cathal had taken out nearly half of the men and women in my clan that weren’t fighters. Apart from the eight shieldmaidens and two warriors we’d left behind, none of the others had been trained in combat.

  Rainah took the injured survivors to a makeshift tent that had been erected out of a large piece of cloth tied to several trees. She did the best she could with the superficial wounds, and then she treated the women who had been brutalized. Caring for others seemed to distract her mind and keep her tears at bay.

  The rest of the clan began building a temporary long home out of thick fabric and animal skins. Large trees that had fallen over in past storms were used as posts, and ties were made from straps of leather. I had them put it up in the center of town, while others brought water to douse the remaining fires. Nearly a day had passed since we’d arrived back home before we finally had a stable living situation.

  “There is some meat left in the underground storeroom and vegetables in the root cellar. Cathal’s men didn’t find them,” Siv said.

  “Good,” I replied. “Amund and Kjell, go gather what you can. Brant, get a fire going.”

  While they took care of those things, I made the trek up to Hilda’s hut to see if the inside was salvageable. I wondered why Cathal hadn’t burned it to the ground but couldn’t come up with a reason that made sense.

  When I entered, there was little resemblance to what it had been before. The entire place had been ransacked. Table and chairs crushed, bed ripped apart, all of her herbs and healing supplies broken on the ground. The only thing in its original place was the pot in the hearth. I walked toward it, stepping over and around the chaos, and chuckled. Inside was a torch, soaking in the liquid that had been in the pot. So, they’d planned on torching it. I imagined they’d tossed the torch behind them as they left, not bothering to look back, but the dumb arses had tossed the torch into the pot and the flame had been extinguished. “Thank the gods for small mercies,” I muttered. His mother loved her home. At least, after all she’d been through, she still had a home to come back to.

  An hour later, the remaining clan members had eaten their fill and sat on stumps gathered around the campfire. Hadar, one of the eldest men still alive in our clan, stood up and regarded me.

  “Torben, you among us hold the highest position in the clan. Therefore, you are the acting jarl. Do you accept?”

  “I do,” I answered.

  He nodded and then looked around at the others before turning his face back at me. “You will remain jarl until such a time as Magnus returns or you prove too weak
to act as our leader.”

  “No,” I said, “I will remain jarl regardless of whether or not Magnus returns. I intend to challenge him for the right to lead this clan.”

  Whispered muttering spread throughout the group. Freya sat across the circle from me, staring at me long and hard. She was flanked on either side by the seven other shieldmaidens. There was a hungry look in their eyes—a lust for bloodshed. They wanted revenge.

  “Why do you challenge Magnus now?” asked Freya. “What has happened?”

  I sucked in a slow breath before answering. The clan would follow me if I bested Magnus in single combat, but I needed more than that. If we were to thrive as a people, we needed to follow our leaders for their strength of character as much as their physical strength. I wanted them to follow me because they understood I had the best interests of the clan at heart, not because I was the strongest warrior among them. Strength would only take us so far. We needed unity.

  “Months ago, we sailed to the English beach,” I began.

  “Aye, we knew of Magnus’ plan to raid the English,” began Astrid, a strong, raven-haired shieldmaiden. “But why have you been gone so long?”

  “Several reasons. First, we didn’t go directly there. Magnus had us sail in the opposite direction before we finally turned toward the English land,” I said. “I believe, as well as do others in our clan, that our jarl has become paranoid and unstable.”

  “Are you saying he isn’t fit to lead?” Freya asked.

  “He is not.” I shook my head. “He’s going mad, which brings me to the second reason our raid took much longer than it should have. Magnus wanted to strike at the English when Cathal, the Taran king, was visiting the English palace. Cathal was to be married to an English princess, Allete, and there were to be presents and a dowry exchanged. Magnus thought to win twice the spoils of battle in one war. I felt his course of action needlessly rash and cautioned against it, knowing we would have to contend with two armies rather than one. Unfortunately, Magnus would not be dissuaded.

  “In order to take the English by surprise, Magnus commanded we infiltrate the English palace guards. This took some time and effort. In the end, Magnus took the Princess Allete and her sister hostage. Rather than bring them back here, where he knew both kings would search for him, he fled to his brother’s clan. Cathal was the one who attacked our clan. He was searching for his betrothed.”

  “Bloody hell,” Laken, another of the shieldmaidens, muttered.

  “So, Magnus is to blame for this?” Freya spat, throwing her hand back to indicate the mess that used to be our village.

  I nodded.

  No one said anything for several tense moments. I could feel their anger against Magnus growing. I wasn’t trying to stir them up against Magnus, really. He’d done that on his own. But if they focused their hatred on him, they might not press me for more details about the princesses.

  “And now I shall introduce my travelling companion. This is Thomas Auvray, the stolen princesses’ cousin. When I set out after Magnus, we found that Cathal, or possibly Magnus, had burned all the ships, both English and Viking. I had to come across land most of the way to reach you. Thomas knew the land, so he offered to aid me if I would help him rescue his cousins. As you know, an enemy of our enemy is our friend. Magnus and Cathal are our enemies. Thomas and the English are also their enemies. Thomas’ help was invaluable, and I owe him a debt. I wouldn’t even have made it back as soon as I did without his aid.”

  The clan still eyed him warily, but I could see respect and appreciation in their eyes. They seemed to accept his presence, for now.

  “And how do you know Magnus is hiding amongst his brother’s clan?” Hadar asked, bringing us back to the topic at hand.

  We’d reached the point of the conversation I’d been dreading. I didn’t know how to tell the clan about the prophecy without Hilda to authenticate it. While we were both well-respected, she was the clan Oracle. If she gave the prophecy, it wouldn’t be questioned. I wasn’t so sure they would trust it coming from me alone.

  “I considered going after Magnus, but chose to come back here. I knew Cathal would be coming here, and I feared what he might do.” I hated beginning my reign as jarl on a half-truth, but I couldn’t yet tell them about my supernatural bond with Allete. Pausing, I stared long in the eyes of each and every clan member. “I ask your forgiveness, brothers and sisters, for putting my own desires above the well-being of my clan. I’ve felt for some time that the gods have destined me to lead Clan Hakon, but I have hesitated to challenge Magnus for fear of splintering the clan. I didn’t want to act until the time was right. I fear my hesitation has cost us dearly.

  “Magnus was a fool to kidnap the princesses,” I continued. “When he made that decision, I saw my path clearly. The time had come for me to confront him, but he fled. I had no choice, I thought, but to pursue him. It was my own pride and hunger for power that led to this decision. For that, I was wrong. I should have come straight here to aid in the clan’s defenses, rather than chasing after Magnus. If I had been here sooner…”

  My voice trailed off as I surveyed the desolation of our village.

  “Magnus is at fault, not you,” Freya said. “We’ve all questioned his leadership, but I don’t think anyone realized just how far into madness he’d actually fallen.”

  “What do we do now?” Taina, another shieldmaiden, asked.

  “Do we go after Magnus?” Talia, Taina’s twin offered.

  “We need to go after the bloody bastard who did this,” Babs said, motioning to the destruction around us.

  I held up my hand to stop the conversation from getting out of control. Emotions were high and the clan wanted blood, which I understood. I wanted revenge myself, but the situation called for strategy. Rashness had gotten us into this mess. We couldn’t rush after our enemies without a plan unless we wanted to be completely wiped out.

  “Cathal is powerful and strong. You all have seen firsthand what he can do. I had the chance to observe him closely when we were hiding amongst the English. Cathal is smart, capable, and ruthless, with a kingdom’s resources at his disposal. I don’t know that we can go against him on our own,” I admitted. “But that’s not the most important issue facing us at the moment. Our clan is wounded. We need to heal and rebuild our strength. I am ordering immediate warrior training for all who are able. A clan is only as strong as its weakest link, and no one in our clan is weak.”

  There was a rumble of agreement.

  “Freya,” I said, “you’ll train the women.”

  “Aye,” she said, her eyes glinting.

  I motioned to my own warriors, the men who would follow me into any battle and had proven it time and time again. “My men and I will train those men who are left that can wield a sword. In between training sessions, we hunt and rebuild.” I took in the faces of my clan members and saw what I was hoping for. Determination. They’d been beaten but not destroyed. They still had the will not only to live on but to thrive. “From now on, we will post watchers at night. Until the threat of attack by Cathal and Magnus is gone, we need to remain extra vigilant.”

  “How many watchers shall we post?” Freya asked. The woman had the strategic mind of a general, and I knew she was already concerned with executing the details of the plan. When the time came, I would call upon her as my hersir.

  “Considering we’re all sleeping so close together, I think four should do it for now. Once we’ve rebuilt and spread back out, we’ll increase the number.” I pointed to Brant and Amund. “You two take north and south.” Then I pointed to Freya. “Pick two of your shieldmaidens.”

  “Babs and Astrid can take first watch,” Freya said.

  “Permission to kill and ask questions later,” Babs said. Her voice held a hint of jest, but her eyes said otherwise.

  I shook my head. “I want to punish the dogs that did this as much as you do. But first, we need information, which means anyone we see needs to be captured.”

  S
he gave me a nod, though she didn’t seem particularly happy with my answer.

  I stood and raised my voice. “Clan Hakon, heed my words. I am Torben, your new jarl. From this day forward, I promise to serve this clan with every ounce of strength in my body. I pray the gods give me wisdom to lead this clan such that the prosperity of all within it increases a hundredfold. I promise to deal with all clan members fairly and justly. And if any member be in need, he must only ask and everything I have is his.” I raised my fist into the air. “For the glory of Clan Hakon!”

  “Clan Hakon!” they shouted in return, Brant’s voice booming above the rest. A babbling of excited chatter erupted as the men and women began to rise, talking, embracing, and clapping each other on the backs.

  Brant started toward me, but Babs stopped in front of him, cutting him off.

  “You’ve been gone a while, warrior. How about we get in some practice on rebuilding this clan?” she asked, her voice full of suggestion. She moved close and leaned into him, pressing her ample breasts against Brant’s chest. I knew from Brant’s boasting the two had shared a bed many times in the past, but neither viewed the other as a potential mate.

  My eyebrows rose as I looked at my lieutenant and stifled a laugh. Brant’s eyes were wide with panic, as though he’d just stepped into the path of a stampeding elephant. His eyes darted around wildly, searching for an escape route. I crossed my arms and watched, curious to see if Brant had been honest with Dayna about ending his hay-rolling ways.

  Brant rubbed the back of his neck as he took a step away from the shieldmaiden, then he finally looked down at her. Unfortunately, he was staring down into some of the best cleavage Clan Hakon had to offer, exploding out of the top of Babs’ low-cut leather tunic. “I know we’ve, uh… been involved in the past, but—”

  “Yeah?” she interrupted, reclosing the distance between them. She raised her knee up and began rubbing it on the inside of Brant’s thigh.

  “I can’t really—”

  “What do mean you can’t?”