The Warlord's Wife (26 page)

Magnus had Klara by the hair before she could draw in her next breath.

“Casper!” she screamed down the hillside.

Magnus punched her in the mouth, launching her off the horse. He snatched Katia out of her arms as she fell, holding his daughter securely around the middle as she clamped her little, strong arms around his neck.

“He-ah!” He kicked his destrier and charged up the hill, headed for the fortress at a full gallop.

He tightened his grip around Katia’s waist as they began to climb the hillside. Aleksi and a dozen riders approached him at a rapid speed.

“Aleksi, a fleet of Slav pirates is over that hill, anchored in a cove. Casper is among them. Have two hundred men circle round through the forest to ensure no man escapes on land. Aaron, take twenty ships and block the bastards in the cove. Kill whoever raises his blade to one of ours, but keep the rest alive. I shall get to the bottom of this.”

“Aye, my jarl.” The men rode off to see after their duties.

Magnus, for once, would not be going into battle. His men outnumbered their enemies three to one and outmatched them in training and weaponry. His wife and child were his priority. He wouldn’t leave their side until he had them secure behind the walls of Tronscar . . . the secure walls that had failed him?

So be it. The only answer was to never leave their side again. ’Twas how he preferred it anyway. Riding at a slower pace, he drew in a deep breath. He could have lost his daughter, his wife. Now that the immediate danger was behind him, the blood-boiling fury set in. He kissed Katia’s sweet-smelling head and closed his eyes to calm himself.

“You did very well, Jarl Magnus,” she said, still trembling slightly in his arms. “Will you teach me to ride a horse bareback as fast as you?”

He clutched the child tighter.

“I can’t breathe, Jarl Magnus.”

“Sorry.” He lifted Katia up and spun her around to face forward. “Hold on to the reins. This will be your first lesson.”

“Thunder likes me, Jarl Magnus. He’s letting me lead him.”

“Lesson two. Pat the horse’s neck, whisper a compliment in his ear, and ask him to take us back to the ship. Your mother will be anxious to have you returned.”

She twisted around and smiled at him. “Ask him? How will he know what I am saying?” Her beautiful green eyes had released all fear. She trusted him. He had earned her trust.

He kissed her forehead. “Give it a try.”

She whispered in the horse’s ear as he nudged the warhorse with his heels and tugged on the mane, his actions unnoticed by Katia. The horse began to trot, and Katia clapped with excitement.

“It worked. He understood me!”

“An excellent beginning.”

As Magnus returned to the Lylasku fortress, his daughter chatted to him at a rapid pace, giving him a full account of her adventures, her hair flapping in his face.

His wife ran to them across the grass.

“Mama! Mama! Did he hurt you? Mama!” Katia called out.

His wife raised her bruised face, her arms stretched out to retrieve their daughter. “Katia!”

With Katia safe in his arms, Magnus lowered himself off the horse and pulled his wife into his embrace, locking the three of them together.

His wife stroked their daughter’s face. “Did I save you in time? My love, did Valto or Janetta hurt you?”

“Nay, Mama. They just shouted at each other. I tried to listen, but the smoke made me sleepy.” Katia scrunched up her nose.

Magnus wanted—nay, needed—to return to the chamber and cut the dead man into more pieces.

“Katia,” Magnus said, “is there any other person here that harmed you?”

“Nay, Magnus.” His wife cupped his cheek and turned his face to hers. “I would never have let that happen. The chief died last night, his wife a few hours ago. This . . . you got here in time. You—” She crushed her face to his, kissing him with a thirst that the sea could not quench.

“Mama, your pretty cloak got all dirty,” Katia said. “Look, someone bled all over it.”

“Blood!” Magnus pulled away from his wife to examine her. “Are you injured?”

“’Tis the guard’s blood.” She held the up the soiled garment. “Oh, my lovely cloak! How will I ever get this stain out?”

Magnus tossed away the soiled cloak and kissed her again.

Count Charles approach the small family as they embraced. “May I escort you to your father’s ship, Katia?” he asked. “I would be most interested in hearing all about your unfortunate adventure.”

“Unfortunate adventure? I have so many new stories to tell my friend Tosha back home in Tronscar! She won’t believe all the things that I have seen.”

Once he had his family safely aboard his ship, Magnus began to see straight. But a small battle still had to be fought and won.

“Count Charles,” he said, “you mentioned that a few pirates owed you a favor. Would they be Slav, by chance?”

The count pinched his brows tightly together. “As a matter of fact, they are.”

“And they hire out their blades to whoever holds the right price?”

“That’s usually how sell-swords work, Magnus.”

“Do they run a scarlet flag with a set of black wings in the center of their sails?”

The count’s bewildered expression brightened to smug pride. “As a matter of fact, they do.”

“Would you care to sail with me around the inlet, Charles? I think I may have just found a convenient use for having pushy in-laws.”

“It would be my honor, Magnus.”

The jarl turned to his wife and kissed her hard before gently shoving her away toward the hatch of the hold. “Perhaps you wish to rest and bathe below deck. Your uncle and I will not be long.”

“My uncle—what is happening, Magnus?” Lida asked.

“All is well, wife. There is only a small matter of a battle to extinguish.”

“Can’t someone else go? I—I can’t let you go—I was so scared—”

“You did very well, Lida,” he whispered. “I am very proud of both my brave girls.”

She lowered her eyes and unclenched her fist from his armor. He relished that she had taken such a possessive hold on him.

“Do what you must,” Lida said. “I pray you be careful, Magnus.”

“As you wish, my love.” He kissed her temple, released her, and marched off his ship, leaving instructions that no one was to board the vessel in his absence.

They sailed over to the cove in the count’s ship, flying his colors and banners high. The count ordered the horns to announce a coded message, and the small battle waging at the mouth of the cove halted at once.

An hour later, One-Eyed Ivan and his crew of kingdomless men were sailing south in search of a new patron. A single vessel remained in the cove, a sleek, fast ship that was penned in by Magnus’s ships. Klara and her sons were aboard, awaiting their fate.

Magnus called out to Aleksi on the ship next to him. “Do not risk one Norrland life in capturing them. Whoever raises a blade to your men, strike them down. Whoever remains, chain and stow them with the livestock. I want them returned to Tronscar to be tried before all.”

Aleksi nodded. “What of Axel, Roffe, and Hakon? They are not on board—”

Magnus raised his hand to silence him. “My thanks, Aleksi. You are wise to advise me. Before Klara and her dogs reach Tronscar, we shall smoke out the traitors who worked with her to bring death and war to their countrymen.”

As Dag and Casper and their men surrendered, Klara continued to order them to arms. Once they were all chained and loaded aboard a ship, Magnus ordered that the witch be gagged out of pity for the crew that would be escorting her home.

The skies had cleared and the wind settled, but a cloud of discontent still hung over his men. The exuberant euphoria of victory had been swallowed up with the rancid stench of betrayal.

Magnus’s soul was troubled by the fact that so many of his men had turned against him to follow Klara.

His wife and daughter waved from the bow of his ship, their golden hair shining brighter than the sun, lifting his chin and filling his chest with pride.

Rejoining them, he folded them into his arms, holding both close. He turned to his daughter. “Katia, I must ask your permission for something.”

She smirked at him, petting her dog. “I will probably say yes. You saved my mother, so I owe you forever now.”

“May I burn down your grandfather’s house?” he requested formally.

She thought about it for a moment. “Aye, but leave the village. I have a half brother who has six half sisters. He will need someplace to live.”

Magnus looked to his wife for an explanation. Lida told him that during their days of captivity, they had met a boy and his mother inside the fortress. The boy was named Urho, after his father. He was the same age as Katia.

Magnus ground his teeth. His wife did not need more pain added to her burden.

He cupped her cheek. “I—” He didn’t have words to comfort her.

“Never mind all that.” She patted his chest. “’Tis long in the past. We need to be underway to collect our sons. I beg you, Magnus, can we leave this instant?” his wife asked.

“We shall travel without rest. I will have them back in your arms in less than a day, wife.”

“They are not in Tronscar. They were not safe there. I do not know where they are,” she whispered with a new, rising panic. Fresh tears were welling up in her eyes.

“Who took them?” He clung to her a little tighter.

“Your brother. We had no one we could trust, Magnus. Please believe me, ’twas the hardest choice of my life. Valto had an order signed by the bishop, demanding the return of Katia to the house of Lyyski.” His wife spoke with increasing speed. “Axel and Hakon said that the order must be upheld, that it was the law, and since Katia was not your daughter that she must go with them. Hök said that hiding the babes was the only choice. ’Twas so hard to let them go, Magnus. I need them.” Lida could no longer speak.

“And you shall have them.” Magnus pressed her head to his chest.

“Hök said that only you would know where they are,” she said.

“My love, I know where they are. It will take longer than a day, but we will leave this hour. They are safe. It was very wise of you to send the boys to safety while you protected our daughter.”

Katia giggled. Both Magnus and Lida frowned. It did not seem like the time for laughter.

“You called my mother ‘my love,’” she giggled. “’Tis all right, Jarl Magnus. Mama calls me that all the time.”

Magnus kissed his wife again. She melted into his embrace.

“I shall return. Stay here.” He pulled away, but Lida did not obey. She had not released her fists from his clothing.

“Oh, Magnus.” She kissed him harder, softening.

If he did not break away from their embrace, he risked ravishing his wife in front of his crew. “I must leave instructions for the men to secure the prisoners and burn the hall. I will need to reorganize my men before we return north. ’Tis three days’ journey to reach our sons.”

She instantly let him go and gave him a little shove. “Hurry, then.”

He chuckled, enjoying the small, feisty display.

***

From the deck of her husband’s ship, Lida watched the fire consume the thatched roof of Lyyski hall, covering the forest in a billowing cloud of black smoke. As beautiful as it had once been, the great house would never be missed. It had become infested with vicious enemies. Sadly, sometimes the only solution for such an infestation is to burn it all down and start fresh.

***

They traveled alone across wide, barren fields of short grass and rocks on horseback. Her husband explained he wanted to ensure the secrecy of Hök’s kinsmen hence the reason for leaving all the warriors behind on the ships.

Lida’s confusion grew when he said this. She had imagined the northern realm to be full of savage beasts and cutthroats, but her husband had only laughed, and said that was exactly what his father had hoped the southern realms would always believe. He explained that the Sami and Seal peoples of the north did not understand war or gold or the concept of owning land. They were a people of the land, as rooted here as the evergreens that boldly grew against all odds of severe climate. They were a people of peace. They had no use for rulers or clergy, but rather lived by the simple laws of nature.

A collection of animal-skin huts speckled the horizon as Lida and Magnus’s horses trudged across a field. Far off in the distance, Hök stood on a rounded hilltop, waving. Her heart leapt into her throat. Her husband increased his speed, reaching his brother first. He swung down from his horse with Katia in his arms and locked his brother in a tight embrace. A large bundle was strapped to Hök’s back, two small faces peering over his shoulder.

Lida vaulted off her horse and ran the last few feet. Both babes were smiling as they were released from their pouches.

Lida and Magnus swapped babies back and forth, kissing, hugging, and stroking each one to make certain that they were real and as happy and healthy as they appeared. It had been a fortnight since she parted from them, longer for her husband, and it had felt too long. Much, much too long.

After a satisfying meal of reindeer stew, Lida lay down on the bed of furs with their sons and nursed them. Although she had tried to keep her milk from drying out, she was not able to give them much. Ylva helped fill them. The women settled into a soft-spoken discussion about every small detail of the journey north, every smile, every cuddle, and every sleepless night.

Magnus and his brother took Katia on a short walk to give the women some time alone.

“Would you like to meet our father, Katia?” his brother asked.

“I know this is a trick. He is dead like mine is,” Katia said bluntly, rolling her eyes.

“If he were dead,” Hök said with a song in his tone, “how would he grow so tall and shelter so many flying creaturer?”

They stood under a mighty ash tree that did not fit the barren landscape. His brother sat down and leaned against it. Magnus followed.

“Wow!” Katia looked up. “We will have to bring the boys when they are older, Jarl Magnus. I will tell them about this tree but they will want to come see it for themselves,” Katia said as she spun around, her head back, looking up.

“We shall bring them,” Magnus assured her.

“Do you think he sees you better here?” she asked.

“Our father?” Magnus asked.

“Aye.” She sat down next to him.

Magnus picked her up and settled her more comfortably on his lap. “I am not sure. Hök believes so, but my father speaks to me all the time. He taught me how to make decisions and swing my sword. I hear him in my ear warming me, correcting me. I do not need to come here to remember him.”

“My half-breed brother—” she started to say.

“Katia, that word . . . that term is not honorable,” Magnus said, correcting. “People use that word to separate, to judge, to hate.”

“Oh.” She furrowed her brow. She walked over and sat next to Hök, taking his hand in hers. “I am sorry. I heard Klara and Janette and a few of the other servants call you that. I thought that was just your title.”

His brother smiled at his daughter. “I know you do not use it to be cruel. My mother was Sami, my father of the Swedish tribe. I am half of each, but consider myself a whole person.”

“I am half Finnish, half Danish, I have found out. Jarl Magnus does not like the Danish even though he is half himself.”

“Pity us both, Katia,” Magnus chuckled.

“I have a half brother the same age as me,” she continued. “But meeting him did not make me feel closer to my father at all.” She sighed loudly.

Magnus said, “You are trained by your mother. You will always hear her. You will know me and remember my instruction for the sword and hear Hök for his instruction with useless tongues.”

Katia pulled out Magnus’s ring and twirled it around her finger. “You said this means I am your daughter. But does that mean you have to be my father, or does it mean you want to be my father?”

Magnus pulled her to his lap again. “I want to be your father. You are the daughter of my heart. Your great uncle Charles took a scroll with my seal to the bishop. I have asked the church to rename you Katia Magnusdotter, from the house of Tronscar. No one will ever take you from me again.”

She twisted her lips. “Will it be odd if I call you Father?”

Magnus twisted his lips to mimic her and looked away. “Nay, I do not think that sounds odd. Does it sound odd to you, Hök?”

His brother arched his brow, twisted his lips as well, and frowned until she laughed. “Very odd, Katia. This old grouchy bear is not father material.”

“Aye, he is.” She threw her little arms around Magnus and kissed his cheek.

The three of them headed back to the Sami village, and at first light, the newly formed family of seven departed. Magnus was surprised, though his wife was not, that Hök insisted on escorting Ylva safely back to Tronscar.