Viking's Love (44 page)

“
Joran, they came from York, did they
not?” Grogan swore under his breath. “Your father is the only one
who knew we were leaving when the child was born! You have to
consider your father has done this thing. Mayhap when he learned we
were disbanding from him, he was angered by it?”

“
Bah! The old man wouldn’t dare kill
me! No, this was another who had much to gain by taking Allisande
back to Ulsted, and making sure I did not survive this day.” Joran
sneered and kicked the dirt on the floor of the barn and grew
still. “Wulfstan is a friend to the Danes, and he remained in York.
He was privy to all that Ivar planned for Ulsted. It was Wulfstan
who has helped Ulsted! Who else would have? He hates her for
killing his brother and he despises me! He used the Danes to get to
her! Ivar would have run Ulsted through before he gave him his own
grandchild! Allisande is on her way to Ulsted now, I would guess.
We wait and we heal, and we kill that bastard once and for
all!”

“
What is this you say?” Collin flung a
glare at the man he believed would keep his sister safe. “My sister
is now in the hands of that madman? Someone just strolls into a
Viking stronghold and takes my sister?”Joran cringed at his look of
censure.

“
They were Danish Vikings I thought
loyal to my father. Since the taking of York, they were idle and
showed up at my home wishing to farmstead. It is our way. I had no
reason to suspect they were there for any other reason.” Joran
glared at the smaller man. “I will get her back, Collin. Have I not
proven to you that I will not be parted from your sister for long?
Your walls did not stop me!”

“
How do you propose to do this,
Viking?”Collin eyed them all dressed in Viking war gear and shook
his head. “You hardly have the element of surprise in your favor
now.” All eyes turned to him meaningfully. His nostrils flared in
outrage and he vehemently shook his head. “No! I have committed
enough treason this day by letting you hide here, Viking! Besides,
looking as you are, you could hardly pass as Englishmen!” His
sarcastic comment made many of them snicker as they eyed him in his
nightshirt and boots. He glared at them all and stomped out of the
barn and slammed the door shut.

“
Do we have to wear that dress he has
on to pass as Englishmen?”One of his men dared to ask. They all
chuckled and shook their heads as they heard Collin cursing them
from beyond the door.

Joran was appreciative as more of Collin’s
servants tended to his men over the next few days. The English
ships passed by and didn’t see the long ship hidden at the shore.
They were brought changes of clothing. Joran eyed all his men
dressed as Englishman with too-short of pants with a chuckle. They
glared at him as they looked at one another in disgust.

Collin kept them hidden from both his wife
and mother, and reminded them daily that if they so much as lifted
a piece of hay from his barn, he was tossing them off his land.
Joran came to admire the fiery young man. He was much like
Allisande. He smiled knowing Collin would not like being equated
with a female.

Collin was certainly not a small man,
standing at six feet in height. Under his clothing, he appeared to
be wiry with muscle, but by Viking standards he was puny, and
glared up at them when he brought them maps and pointed out the
best means of entering Ulsted by land.

Joran and Collin argued heatedly and finally
the younger man won as he declared they had no choice but to do it
his way. They would take wagons and appear to be merchants when
they arrived at Ulsted. They would enter the keep under that guise,
and before any were aware, they would regain his sister and
nephew.

“
He may be right.” Joran considered
Allisande’s brother’s plan. “It may work. They will be looking for
us to come by sea, not by land.”

Grogan was wary of anything English and
rolled his eyes. “The day we use an Englishman’s strategy to plan a
raid is the day we better quit raiding!”And many of the men began
to grumble and bemoan the fact they let Collin organize the
attack.

“
Have you a better plan?”Joran snapped
in frustration, his worry and concern for Allisande and their son
making him desperate and eyed his men with a glare. “Lockwraithe
did not have to help us, you imbeciles! He does it for Allisande!
He risks much for the men who destroyed and looted his home! It is
not for the love of Vikings he does this now, so quit with your
complaints! We have no choice! I am not leaving English soil
without her and our son! If any of you wish to leave, I will not
blame you. You may take my ship and hope you make it to York to get
to Ivar. I will see you all again in Valhalla.”

The Vikings were silent as they debated his
words. He knew they would not dare leave him to face Ulsted alone.
Grogan looked at him angrily and said nothing. They were all
mourning their fallen friends and he knew that took precedence
before anything else right now. When Collin returned he spoke with
him quietly. The man considered his request and shook his head.

“
A funeral pyre now at all times,
Viking?” Collin eyed the glowering Vikings and looked irritated.
“The fire will alert the village! None but my most trusted
retainers and servants even know you are here! What you ask could
mean discovery from my people. Many of them are still mourning
those who died here at your hands! What you ask is beyond
arrogance, Viking!”

Joran folded his arms across his massive
chest, and eyed the smaller man until he squirmed and the
Englishman glowered and stomped away. Joran grinned as he peeked
through the barn door later and saw a bonfire being erected in the
center of the meadow.

The serfs and villagers were piling debris
atop of the pile for most of the day. Under the cover of darkness,
the remaining Vikings retrieved their dead from the ship and gave
them their funeral rites. The fire blazed nearly one hundred feet
high as it took them to their eternity feast in the hall of
Odin.

The twelve Vikings stood and remembered the
men they fought beside as they watched the bonfire burn. Collin
watched them from the battlements and had to admit a grudging
respect for the way the Vikings honored their dead.

He lied to his people and claimed that a
fever infected the keep, and all their rubbish had to be burned.
They didn’t give his request much thought. Keeping Meghera and his
mother oblivious to what was going on had been far more
difficult.

Meghera wanted to light the damn thing! He
chuckled when he thought of his child-wife and stiffened. She would
no doubt be fascinated by the fire, and watch it from her window in
her room. He went back down the stairs to the keep and sought her
out. He knocked upon her door. When she didn’t answer, he frowned
and opened it. She was gone.

He cursed under his breath and stormed down
to the hall. He hurried out of the keep and ran to the meadow. The
damned child had seen the fire and went to investigate. All he
needed was her targeting the Vikings with her damnable gifts!

Joran listened as the funeral rites were
said. His men all prayed to their Gods as his fallen achieved their
passages. The warriors were walking back to the barn when they all
saw the small blonde girl standing in the middle of the meadow
blocking their path.

Joran frowned as he noted her paling
features. He cursed when she looked to be panicking. They all
feared she would scream and alert the villagers. By her fine
garments, he could only assume this was Collin’s child bride
Allisande told him of. She pointed her finger at them and she
appeared to be concentrating. He paused as he saw her chanting.

“
Meghera!” Collin screamed as he ran
across the meadow to stop her. “No! Meghera, do not do
it!”

It was too late. Joran watched in stunned
disbelief when a blue spray of fire sprang from the girls hand
towards them. His men all hit the ground as the flame passed over
them to hit a tree in the field beyond and it burst into flames.
Collin was shouting at her as he ran to them, and stood in front of
Joran, and waved his arms.

“
Meghera! They mean us no harm, you
must stop!” He shouted and was breathing raggedly as he skidded to
a stop in front of her. “They are not here to attack
us!”

The Vikings remained upon their knees as they
gazed at what they believed to be a Valkyrie, a legendary messenger
from Valhalla who carried the dead back to the great hall of Odin.
Joran knew differently, but could only stare in shock at what he
had just seen.

Collin was trying to push the girl to go back
to the hall but the child’s curiosity got the better of her. She
ran around him to stand in front of the huge Norsemen, grinning ear
to ear as she took in their size and coloring.

“
They are Vikings? How wondrous,
Collin! I never thought to ever see one up close without being
murdered by them!” She clapped her hands and giggled as the
warriors stared at her somberly. “But what are they doing here,
Collin? Why did you not let me burn them? Are they not our
enemies?”

Collin raked a hand through his raven hair
and eyed her grimly and met Joran’s look of incredulity. He pushed
her back towards the keep and bade her go back to bed.

“
But I have such questions to ask
them!” She was jumping up and down. “Where are their ships? Where
are their swords? Why are they all so big? Is it what they eat that
makes them grow so large? Why are they all on their knees,
Collin?”

The Vikings all had their heads down and
appeared to be paying homage to his wife, all except Joran, who
grinned as he saw Collin trying to convince the girl to go to bed
without success. The Englishman gazed at Joran morosely. He could
see the man was upset they had seen what the girl was capable of
and feared they would hurt her.

“
They are visiting, sweetling. This is
Allisande’s Viking, Joran.” Joran could see the man’s distress and
wondered at it. The small girl looked up and him and craned her
neck and she smiled up at him and held out her hand. He took it
without fear, Collin noted in relief, and released it quickly, and
stepped back from her a safe distance.

“
It is wonderful to meet you at last,
Joran Ivarsson.” Meghera gazed at her husband in confusion as he
pulled her away. “That was quite rude of you, Collin! They are our
guests!”

“
Go to bed, Meghera!” Collin said
testily and she pouted as he pointed to the keep.

She smiled brightly up at Joran and called
out to the other Vikings. “I apologize for trying to burn you all!
Joran, you must all come have supper with us on the morrow, as I
have many questions to ask you.” She said it as if inviting a band
of Vikings to supper was a normal occurrence, and lifted her skirts
and skipped back to the keep.

“
Would you care to explain what that
was she did with her hand?” Joran asked in a voice filled with awe.
Collin cringed from the man’s look of fascination. One did not see
one throw fire from their fingers every day. He couldn’t avoid
giving him some sort of an explanation. “Is she a witch? Or is she
a fairy? She looks like a fairy.”

“
I do not know what she is!”Collin
snapped angrily and eyed the Viking with narrowed eyes. “You will
kindly forget what you saw here tonight, Viking! Meghera is not
evil, I do know that much, nor is she one of your damned goddesses,
so will you tell your men to get up off their knees?”

Joran turned and told his men to get up. They
all complied, looking stunned as they stared after the fleeing
Valkyrie. Grogan looked stunned when he came forward and for once
could say nothing after what he witnessed. His men were all
muttering and staring up at the sky. While his men were waiting to
see Meghera charging across the sky in her chariot, Joran faced
Allisande’s brother with a frown.

“
You should take her and go into
hiding, Collin of Lockwraithe,” Joran said gravely and leveled him
a look that clearly said he couldn’t protect Meghera from
discovery. “She has great power and there are those who would seek
to use her. I do not know what she is, but she is dangerous to you
and your people if your king or some other powerful man discovers
her here.”

“
Do you not think I know this?”Collin
hissed and glared at him. “It is your fault! Had you not taken my
sister in your raid, I would not have been forced to wed an heiress
to gain the ransom. Now I am married to a child whose tantrums
could light the countryside on fire, or create a tidal wave to wipe
out our village, and it is your fault, Joran Ivarsson!”

“
My fault, is it?” Joran snarled
angrily and placed his hands upon his hips. “I believe you can
blame your sire for that! Had he not tried to cheat Ivar, we would
not be standing here right now, none of us!”

“
This fighting does us no good.”Collin
muttered in despair. “What has been done cannot be undone! I only
wish to regain my sister and be done with this Ulsted business once
and for all! When this is over, you must take Meghera with you to
Norway. You must hide her! You are right of it, for I cannot keep
her safe here. It is too dangerous for us all. They will kill her
if they discover she can do these things!”

“
You want me to hide your wife for
you?”Joran asked in disbelief and shook his head. “If I take her
back with me, Vikings will be lining up in their long ships in my
fjord to see the Valkyrie come to life! No, you must do this,
Collin. You could seek out the Picts, for they have long believed
in such sorcery. I will not endanger my people. If Ivar gets
knowledge of this, it could be disastrous!”