The Viking (14 page)

*

Inside the cottage, Macoran took a seat opposite Jirvel at the table. “Others have noticed how ye avoid me.”

“What did ye expect? Did ye hope I would pretend nothing was wrong? Ye and I are not the only ones who know what happened on our wedding day. Even yer wife suspects there be something between us.”

“Agnes dinnae suspect.”

“She came here.”

“What?
…When?”

“It was on a night when ye stayed away too long. She knocked on the door, entered, looked for ye and then left.”

He put his head in his hands. “I have hurt her too. She be as unhappy as we are.”

“Impossible…
unless she loves ye finally.” Jirvel quickly stood up, turned her back to him and walked to the far corner of the room. “My brother wants me to go home and I am considering it.”

“Ye
cannae. I will not let ye take my Kannak from me.”

“When did she become yer
’s? Save when she was ill, ye have never held her, nor have ye kissed her tears away.”

He went to Jirvel and put his hands on her shoulders. “Ye had a husband, remember? Ye
cannae know how I longed to hold her and kiss her tears away. If I had, it would only have complicated our lives more.”

He was right and when she felt him put his arms around her, she closed her eyes and did not resist. “I have had a great deal o
’ time to think these past weeks and I realize the fault be not wholly yer’s. We were to be married the next day and I saw no harm in it. I went to yer bed willingly and I would do it again were we given that night back. Kannak be the only good that came from our love and we must do what be best for her.”

“And what do ye deem that to be?” He had his eyes closed too and when he opened them, there was more light in the room
, than there should have been with the door shut. He let go of her and turned around. There in the doorway stood both his wife and Kannak. His wife folded her arms in a huff, but Kannak turned and started to run.

Jirvel covered her mouth
and softly cried out, “Kannak!”

“I will go after her;
‘tis time I set at least this much right.” Macoran paid no attention to his wife, walked right past her and headed up the path after his daughter. But when he reached the courtyard, she was already out of sight.

*

The hunt for fresh meat had been fruitless. All the men found were carcasses of red dear the wolves had gotten to and when Stefan came back to the cottage, Jirvel was in a dither, rushing around collecting their things.

“What is it, what has happened?”

She barely glanced at him. “We are taking Kannak home.”

“Now? But
‘tis not yet spring.”

Jirvel stopped packing and closed her eyes, “Ye might as well hear it from me. Kannak be the daughter o
’ Macoran and she just found out. She has run away, Macoran has gone to find her and I am beside myself with worry.”

“I will find her, I know where she goes.”

*

Stefan spotted her right where he suspected she would be, at the top of the hill watching the ocean waves. He cleared his throat to let her know he was there but he needn
’t have bothered. She heard him coming.

“I hate them, I hate them both. They lied to me. I am Macoran
’s daughter and they did not say.”

On the path not far below, Macoran stopped to listen.

“I see, and this be how the daughter o’ a laird behaves?”

“The daughter o
’ a laird, who has never once confessed me. I am bound by no good form to him and I will behave as I see fit.”

“Think, Kannak, they did not marry and if he confessed ye, he would bring shame upon yer mother. As angry as ye are, I
cannae believe ye would want that.”

“Then I am never to know him? All my life I wanted a father who loved me and still I
cannae have him?”

Stefan moved to stand beside her, put an arm around her waist and then pointed. “Do ye see that far rock?” He waited for her nod and then continued. “Beyond that, in the waters o
’ the sea, be where my father be buried. His name was Donar and he was the commander o’ a whole fleet o’ Viking ships. He died the day ye found me.”

She turned to look into his eyes. “Ye never said a word.”

“I could not speak o’ it till now.”

She put her head on his shoulder and welcomed his comfort. “Did he love ye?”

“Very much. The other Vikings came to kill and to steal, but my father only wanted us to run away and build a new life for ourselves here in Scotland.”

“What happened?”

“We were running up this very hill when he took an arrow to the back and died. Do ye remember? I took yer horse and left that night.”

“Aye.”

He gently laid his head against the top of hers, “I came back to bury him but his body was gone. I stood where yer standing now and watched Macoran give him a Viking burial fitting my father’s rank. It was a very good and honorable thing for him to do and I have always been grateful. My father be dead but yer’s be still alive. For that ye must be grateful as well.”

Kannak started to cry, as much to relieve her anger as for Stefan
’s loss.

“Do not cry, wee bairn. Yer father be a good man and he loves ye, I know he does. Perhaps someday he will manage to tell ye that.”

“I want to go home.”

Stefan finally realized he was there and glanced Macoran
’s direction just in time to see him inching away. “So does yer mother. She be gathering our things as we speak. Who knows, maybe the stallion has come back.”

Kannak wiped the tears off her cheeks and giggled. “Will we finally give him a name?”

“Ye said so yerself. He be a gift from God and deserves a better name than any we can give him. But we will think on it. Kannak, afore we go back I will have yer pledge.”

She lifted her head to look at him and wrinkled her brow. “What sort o
’ pledge?”

“Yer mother took me in when I had
nowhere to go and no family. I will not have ye hurting her with yer words o’ anger. What happened could not have been avoided.”

“Ye
cannae know that.”

“True, but there must have been something that kept them apart. Ye have seen the way they ar
e. They love each other still.”

She decided he was right and tried to smile. Then she reached up on tip-toe, kissed his cheek and started down the path. “Ye are a good brother, Stefan.

For months, he thought of himself as her brother, but somehow hearing her say it this time bothered him. He was beginning to realize he wanted to be more to her than a brother.

*

Macoran had one more woman to deal with and as soon as he arrived he marched into the keep, went up the stairs to her bedchamber and took a firm hold on both of his wife’s shoulders. “Ye dare spy on me?”

“Ye have been unfaithful with that lass for years. Do ye deny it?” She tried to get out of his grasp, but he would not let her.

“I do, but if I were unfaithful, whose fault would it be? Ye dinnae welcome me to yer bed.”

Agnes laughed a cruel, guttural laugh. “As if ye wanted me to. I had to ply ye with strong drink just to conceive my sons.”

“Fortunately for me, I dinnae recall that night. But dinnae change the subject. I will not tolerate yer spying and yer punishment for doing so it this – ye will not see yer father this year.” She gasped and he knew his words hit the mark. “Furthermore, if ye breathe a word o’ what ye heard, I will bring shame down upon ye the likes o’ which ye have never seen. I will swear ye have committed adultery, set this marriage aside and gladly send ye and yer sons to yer father forever. Do ye hear me, Agnes?” She reluctantly nodded and at length, he let go of her and stormed out of her bedchamber.

Macoran went back down the stairs, poured himself a goblet of wine and sat down at the table. “What mud I have made of everything.”

*

Agnes was furious and slammed her door. For years she hoped Macoran would set her aside and at last she had the perfect way to accomplish it. How she would love to shout the news about Kannak from the highest window for all the world to hear and force him to set her aside. But after her mother passed, her father caught his young bride with another man and killed them both. Then he let it be known adultery was not to be to
lerated by anyone in his family…not now and not ever.

How very cruel life had been to her. And now Agnes could not even go home for a visit. It was slow in coming but fina
lly, she thought of something…poison. But where was she to get it? She had no one to trust, not among the Macorans. Perhaps if she were pleasant and if she could keep her sons out of trouble, Macoran would change his mind and let her visit her aging father. Aye, there was plenty of poison to be had at the Brodie hold.

CHAPTER XII

Stefan let it slip that he was indeed the missing Viking and wondered what Macoran would do, but Macoran did not come out of the keep before they left, no warriors came to take him
away and he assumed he was safe…at least for now.

None of them spoke during their ride home and although he could not be certain exactly when, Stefan realized he must have turned sixteen. The cottage looked no worse for wear, most likely because both William and Stefan had been there to check on the place every time the weather permitted. Stefan used his flint and dry heather to start a fire in the hearth and went to fetch water. Jirvel used her broom to clear away the cobwebs and sweep out the mud they tracked in while Kannak put the food away and then shook their bedding and made their beds.

They remained silent even during their evening meal and then washed their bowls in the bucket of water and put them away. At last they sat back down at the table and there was nothing left to do but talk or go to bed. Kannak opted to do the latter and stood back up, but Jirvel took her hand. “We will say all there be to say and be done with it.”

Kannak puffed her cheeks. Her real parentage was all so new, she had not thought it through and the last thing she wanted to do was talk about it. But she saw the look in Stefan
’s eyes, remembered her pledge and sat back down at the table.

“It was on our wedding day that the Brodie warriors came and surrounded the village. They far outnumbered our men, were ready to f
ight and we were terrified. If…yer
father
had not done what he did, the men would have been killed and the lasses and wee ones carried off.”

“What did he do?” Kannak asked.

“He offered himself instead. Laird Brodie had a daughter no lad was ever likely to marry and yer father knew it. An unattached daughter be an embarrassment to a laird charged with matchmaking. Macoran agreed to marry her in exchange for the lives of his people.”

“On yer wedding day? How could he?”

“How could he not?” Jirvel saw the tears welling up in her daughter’s eyes and handed her a cloth. “I have sheltered ye, Kannak. Ye do not understand there are evil lads in the world who force a lass for sport. They beat her, shame her and dinnae marry her. Yer father saved us from lads like that.”

Kannak thought about it for a long time, trying to take it all in. Then she suddenly began to giggle. “Agnes be so unsightly.
‘Tis a fitting punishment for him.”

Jirvel smiled then too. “The poor dear. And she be married to a lad who will never love her. Her fate be perhaps worse than ours.”

“But if she died, would he…”

“Dinnae even think such a thing. I have had enough pain and I will not add that guilt to it.” She took the cloth back and wiped the last of her daughter
’s tears away. “All I ask is that ye dinnae blame him. Yer father did not do this to hurt ye.”

“I will try, for yer sake.” She got up, kissed her mother
’s cheek and headed for bed. But when she got to the doorway, she turned back. “I have seen a sea monster, Stefan.”

“When?”

“Just afore ye found me on the hill. It jumped out o’ the water and I swear it saw me.”

“What did it look like?”

“A fish…an enormous fish with a huge mouth. Ye have won the wager and I will take ye to see the hidden castle come warmer weather.” She turned back around and went to bed.

Jirv
el took hold of Stefan’s arm. “‘Tis dangerous and we are forbidden to go there. Talk her out o’ it, she listens to ye.”

*

After the noon meal of the next day when Stefan opened the door intending to fetch a bucket of water from the river, he was shocked to find Macoran seated on a horse in the courtyard holding the reins to a second horse. He had not heard a sound. He worried that he was about to be taken away, but Macoran was alone so he relaxed and stuck his head back in the door. “Laird Macoran be here.”

Immediately, Kannak and Jirvel came out and as she always did, Jirvel glared at him. “Why are ye here?”