Viking Wrath (14 page)

Aiden raced to her side and, without asking my permission, took a knife and slit the bonds holding her ankles and wrists. She staggered towards me and threw her arms wide. The men at the benches started in silence. The last time she had lurched towards me her intent had been to kill me. I held my arms open. If she wished me harm then it was
wyrd
. She threw her arms around me and buried her head in my chest. She began to sob uncontrollably. Aiden took his cloak and put it about her shoulders. Not one person on the drekar spoke and all that could be heard were the sobs from Kara. I stroked the back of her head as I had when she had been a child and had suffered a nightmare. In that moment she became my little girl once again. It was as though the years had rolled back.

Eventually she stopped crying. Aiden waited with a water skin. She took her head from my chest and looked into my eyes. I could see fear now filled the space that had been hate. "I had such nightmares! What has happened to me?" She looked at her wrists and the red marks from the ropes. Her hand when to the bruise, which was now blackened, on the side of her face.

"You have been to a dark place and you have met Hel. Now you are safe. We are almost home."

Aiden stepped forward, "Here, drink, you will need it."

She nodded her thanks and drank heavily from the water skin. She saw behind us
'Josephus'.
She nodded towards it. "Is my brother aboard?"

"He is."

Her legs gave way and she sat on one of the chests we used for seats. "Elfrida!" She suddenly turned and looked astern. "I dreamed…." She shook her head. "I cannot speak of that dream. I may never dream again. It was horrible and I saw…" She looked up at me and it was though she had a sudden flash of the events of the past month. She stood and threw her arms around me. "I saw you and… I am sorry." Her arms came around me and she cried once more.

From the mast head came the cry, " Úlfarrston!"

"You were bewitched by the High Priestess and she changed you."

She looked from me to Aiden and back, "It is true Kara. The potion she gave you was a way of hiding your power and to take over your mind. I think you were strong and something inside you fought against it but when she returned and took you she gave you a more powerful drug and it allowed her to control and manipulate you. The effects may still be with you but when we bathe in Cyninges-tūn Water and your mother's spirit can speak with you then all will be well."

She looked at me for confirmation, "It is true Kara and I will live close by from now on. This will never happen again. I almost lost my daughter once but I will not risk that a second time." I put my arm around her and we approached the jetty. I saw Pasgen and his people as they came towards us. It looked safe. No one had come in our absence. Looking down the empty benches I thought of the warriors who had given their lives for Kara and for me and would never return. I would honour them and watch over their families for them.

I was the first from the drekar and my arm was around Kara. Pasgen raised his hands and said, "Thank the Allfather that you have been successful!" He looked beyond me as the handful of warriors trudged down the gangplank. He shook his head, "You have lost so many."

"We paid a high price and that is sure. We will need ponies for the women."

"I will see to it."

As he hurried off we turned to watch
'Josephus'
tie up behind us. My son led his wife towards us and the other four women followed. I saw the fear on their faces as they approached us. I smiled, "You need not be afraid. The real Kara, my daughter, has returned to us. The power of the witch has gone."

I saw relief on their faces and Seara, who had once been Kara's nurse, ran to her and threw her arms around her. "My baby! I had thought they had taken you forever!"

Kara looked at me with terror returned to her face. "The nightmares? They were reality?"

"Aye, daughter but they are in the past. We will forget them now." I stared at my son but I saw nothing in his eyes. He would not forget. The chasm was not diminishing; it was growing.

We trudged back to our home in silence. This was ever thus. When my warriors returned from a raid, no matter how pleased we were to be back in the bosom of our families our thoughts were with those who had not returned. As soon as we saw the Water to our right with the reflection of Olaf shining on the Water it became an even more poignant return. For Kara, Aiden, my son and myself it was even more dramatic for we all felt the presence of Erika, my wife.

The gates were open but Kara's blackened hall, standing alone, was a physical reminder of what had happened. As I looked across the Water I felt my heart sink. My old home had gone too and I would need to build a new one. I turned and said to my son, "Until we build a new hall then Kara will stay with you."

"And you, Father, what of you?"

"I will stay with what remains of my Ulfheonar and we will stay in the warrior hall."

Elfrida put her hand on mine, "Please stay with us."

I shook my head. "There will come a time when I can but not yet. It is too soon." I smiled, "Besides this will add urgency to the building of a new hall!"

The first thing I did was to go, with Haaken, to visit with Cnut's wife and his family. She was the wife of a warrior and she was stoic but I saw the sadness and the loss on her face as she fought back the tears. I think that, like the rest of us, she thought he was invincible. We were all wrong. All of us were mortal. Their three children stared up at me. I looked at the two boys and their sister. "I will be your father until your mother chooses another. Should you need aught then you ask us and when you boys are ready to be warriors then we will train you. Your father is in Valhalla and he watches over you."

Haaken said, "And I will be as a father to you all too for Cnut was ever my friend.

As Haaken and I left I said, "Now you had better go to your family. I will visit my old home."

He looked towards my son's hall. "What about you and Wolf Killer? You need to build bridges."

"He has yet to say he is sorry and the wound is too raw yet."

"I have never known you have a stiff neck, Dragon Heart; do not get one now."

"I am home now and perhaps the Water and my wife will heal the rift."

I used one of the ponies Pasgen had loaned us and rode around the northern edge of the Water. Like so many other things we had had our horses and animals taken from us. The Allfather knew where they would be. It meant we would be weaker for a while. Until we grew a hard shell again then we would be in danger from many enemies. The blackened ring of burned wood and the stark graves were a vivid reminder of what had happened just a short time ago. The earth was still fresh. Nothing grew upon the fresh graves but I knew that nature would soon colonise its top and green life would sprout. As I walked towards my wife's grave I smiled, my sweat hut had survived. When time permitted I would sit there and I would purify myself. I looked across the Water. That would be my new home. I would be amongst my people again and close to my children. That would heal the split between us all. I picked a blue flower from the top of my wife's grave. This plant grew every year and covered the soil in a blanket of blue. As I did so I think I heard her voice telling me to begin to build. She was right. The witch had destroyed but I would build.

I returned to the far side of the Water and set to work immediately. "Sigtrygg, have the young men cut down trees! We begin my hall again."

Sigtrygg whose wife had died some time ago, grinned. Like me he was eager for a new start. "Aye Jarl Dragon Heart. And where shall we build it?"

There was a small knoll just two hundred paces from the wall. Although outside the village it had a perfect view across the Water towards my old hall and my wife's grave. I pointed. "There on the high ground. We will build a ditch. Aiden, help me off with my armour and then lay out the lines for the post holes! When it is finished we will put a wall around it and the old wall. It will make this one easier to defend and harder to take."

Aiden said, "I have had ideas about how to build a better hall which is stronger and easier to defend. The rock here is close to the surface. I will get the men to hack deep holes into the ground and the bedrock. We will used rocks and the sand from the Water. If we build up the earth then it will be higher than your old hall. We can build a double wall and fill it with sand and rocks. With the ditch around it will make it hard to assault."

"Good and I want as much made from stone as we can. It will be like those huts we saw on Ynys Cybi. They had an outer wall and an inner wall too. They were filled with stones. It makes a home sturdier and warmer." I pointed to the Old Man. "And we have plenty of stones."

Soon the northern part of Cyninges-tūn was filled with the sound of men working. Every young man came to help. Even Bjorn left his anvil and took an axe to hew down trees. It was as though Cyninges-tūn was being reborn. We were rising from the ashes. We all shared the labour as we had all shared the pain of the loss of so many warriors. There were more widows in my town now. Even my son and his men came to help us. Tactfully he worked on the other side of the hall from me but it meant we worked even more quickly. After three days of hard work we had a ditch dug and the posts of the hall in the ground. Aiden had the men who had been miners bring down stones from the Old Man and the lower courses of the hall were built in stone. The slaves we had taken from On Corn Walum meant that we had more to do our work. We had just finished the lower level and the sun was dipping behind Olaf when we stopped work for the day. It would be another glorious evening. I went to the Water to bathe. As was my wont I immersed myself completely in the healing waters of Cyninges-tūn. When I lifted my head I saw that my son had joined me.

He stripped off to join me in the Water. I decided to begin by speaking of subjects where we would not come into conflict. I did not enjoy this chasm which was between us. "How is Elfrida and your unborn child?"

"They both appear well. Seara and the others protected her from the witch."

I sensed something beneath his words. I did not comment on it for I wanted our rift healed. "She is young and she will become stronger because of this."

"She should not have been placed in such danger."

"It was
wyrd
. It was the witch and her plans which caused this. We could not have avoided it."

He plunged beneath the surface and then rose dripping. "It could. If you had not sent Kara to your hall then Elfrida would not have been taken. If any harm comes to my unborn child then I will never forgive my sister."

I could not let that pass. "Take that back, my son. You do not mean it. I sent the women to my hall for protection."

"And my sister allowed the killers in. I do not blame you but I do blame Kara."

I began to become angry but I steeled myself. Anger would help no-one. "She was under a spell. None could have foreseen that."

"She is a volva and she should have seen it."

I could see there was no arguing with him and I began to make my way from the Water. He put his hand on my arm. "I cannot live here any longer."

"You would leave?"

"As soon as the child is born. I came here to ask your permission to build a warrior hall and start a settlement to the south west of where I held the Grize Dale for you. I would build a home on the Kent."

The river flowed down the far valley and emptied just five miles from Úlfarrston. "You would be your own Jarl?"

He nodded, "It is time. Many of the people would follow me I know. The land is good there. It is better for crops than the Rye Dale and we are closer to the sea. It does not suffer the cold as much in winter as Cyninges-tūn."

As we rubbed ourselves dry I thought about what he said. If he were anyone other than my son I would think this was a good idea. It would protect the approaches from the west and the south but it was my son, it was Wolf Killer. If he and Elfrida moved so far away then I would rarely see them. I was used to speaking with my children every day. "You would be in more danger from enemies to the south and the west. If Mercia or the men of Jorvik come then you would be the first place they would see. You may be putting your family in more danger."

"I am happy with that for it will be my responsibility only." We were both dressed, "I would have your permission but I will do it no matter what you say."

"You would go against your father?"

"If I had to."

I shook my head, "I no longer know you, my son. I thought that your disobedience at Ynys Cybi was just the work of the weird Sisters but now I can see that it was not. Brave men died because of your mistake and we almost lost your sister. You have yet to apologise to me and my men for what you did. You may go and you may build your hall. I cannot change what is. You are still my son. Your mother would not allow me to reject you as you seem to have rejected us. You go with my blessing."

"I do not reject you! I am doing what you did at Hrams-a. I am making a home for my family." I said nothing. "I will go with my warriors tomorrow and begin my hall and my walls."

"You will not finish the work here first?"

He shook his head, "Now I put myself and my family first."

My grandson, Ragnar, was born just a moon after we returned. He was healthy and, thankfully, so was Elfrida. She always seemed frail and delicate to me but my daughter reassured me that there was an inner strength to my son's wife. She was upset at the move. She confided in me, as I held my grandson for the first time and we were alone, that she had not wanted to leave Cyninges-tūn. She did not blame Kara for anything which had happened. I was lucky to have Elfrida as my son's wife. I hoped that, through her he would see sense and come back to us.

"I know the hall is almost finished and you will be there in a month or so but you are always welcome here. You know that."

"I know."

"And I would have my grandson know his grandfather. I will not be a distant memory."

She laughed, but there were tears in her eyes. "Then you will have many opportunities to come and visit. It is not far. You know that."

"I know that but the cold draws on and if we have another Wolf Winter then he will grow up and see me as a stranger."

She shook her head. "No, Jarl. I will tell him of his grandfather the great Dragon Heart. He will not forget you."

They did indeed leave a month later. His hall and fort were finished as was mine. I think he was disappointed in how few of my people went with him. He had less than twenty families and most of those came from his own oathsworn. A further fifteen younger, untried warriors also went. I gave him sheep, pigs and cattle for he would starve otherwise. We had lost horses when the witch had left us but, mercifully, our herds and flocks remained. He took his drekar and moored it in the Kent. It was as though he was building a wall between us. Kara was the most upset of all. He could not keep his coldness from her and she wept each night before and after he left.

The settlement seemed emptier even though so few had left us. However, we soon had more people who wished to settle in our home. Many were people who were not Norse. Some of those who came from Úlfarrston envied us our lives and wished to join us. I found myself wandering around the homes of my people, old and new, just speaking with them. I had lost my son, his wife and my grandson. I had lost warriors and it made those who remained even more precious to me.

With so many warriors now settled close to the Kent in Elfridaby we did not have enough men to defend a serious attack. Sigtrygg and Haaken visited the farms and other settlements seeking those warriors who wished to fight alongside us. We had no shortage of young men who were keen to share in the voyages and adventures we seemed to enjoy. Some, a few, might become Ulfheonar but others would row in my drekar and fight with us. What none of them had, was armour. They would not just be given a mail shirt. They would have to earn it. Our last foray had cost us not only men but armour, horses and weapons. I had had to pay Bolli to repair
'The Heart of the Dragon'
. We would be weak for some time. Sigtrygg had risked my displeasure when he had advised me not to visit my wrath upon the men of Gwynedd until we were stronger. I saw the wisdom of his words.

One advantage of living amongst my people again was that I was able to see how to improve our lives and to make them safer. My new hall was built partly of rock and stone and partly of wood. I had a ditch dug around three sides and connected to the Water. We had a stone lined ditch. If all else fell then my people could find refuge in my hall. I had three small wooden bridges constructed over the water filled ditch. If we were attacked then they could be drawn up and used in the hall.

I also initiated training for all of the men who lived by the Water. If we were to be attacked again then we would need every warrior we had. I enjoyed working with the men of the settlement. They were keen to be part of the defence of their homes and even more they saw it as a chance to work with other warriors like Haaken and myself. The stories of our voyages were the stuff of legend. It helped to take my mind off the absence of my son, Elfrida and young Ragnar.

Kara and her women moved in with Aiden and me. I missed the quiet I had had and I missed the space but I happily traded it to be close to my daughter again. Aiden helped to heal her. The potions of the priestess had had an effect and it took some time for her to regain her powers. They came back slowly. It was the power of the Water and my wife's spirit which did it. I was patient. I had nearly lost her. I had lost my son. I now knew what I wanted.

The winter, that year, was benign. We had snow and we had ice but their icy grip on the land was short lived and lasted only for the time of the month of the long nights. We used the time of the snow well and I made a new leather belt for Ragnar's Spirit as well as a fine scabbard. It did not do to offend the gods by covering their gift in a shabby sheath. I also spent some time making a shield to replace the one which lay off the coast of Aberffaw.

At Yule we were visited by Siggi and Trygg. They spent most of their time at sea. They were the life blood of both us and Úlfarrston. The trade they brought made us rich. The iron and copper mines produced much ore and we traded both the ore and metal products to many places. Once a year they travelled to Miklagård. It was a long journey but we had contacts now and the rewards were great. The spices and fine cloths they brought back reaped huge rewards at the markets. They were also bringers of news. They told us of the outside world. We were an insular people. We raided and we fought. Siggi and Trygg were our acceptable face to the rest of the world.