Shield of Lies (10 page)

"Sneak inside and kill him."

"Only to die in the attempt?"

"Won't you join your father and brother in Valhalla?"

"Would that be your hope for Ulfrik? Should he die in an attempt to avenge your death?"

"Is that not what men call glory?"

"So it is. And what if it were your son? Gunnar? Hakon?"

"Enough." Runa turned her head aside as her argument faltered. "You wanted to speak of family?"

Konal stood straighter and Runa turned a stern eye to him, her stomach tightening and her hands cold. She folded her arms across her chest, tucking them underarm to both warm them and conceal their trembling.

"Your son, Aren, has a peculiar look; would you agree?" Konal raised an eyebrow that tugged on the thin flesh of the burned side of his face. Runa did not answer, but folded her arms tighter as she listened. "When I left for home he was a babe, so small and sick that I feared he would not survive. But somehow I knew he lived. He is bigger now, and he reminds me of someone I once knew."

"Stop this, Konal. He is Ulfrik's son."

"Then why should Aren have my father's face? Why should he stand and walk like him? And most of all, why should I know in my heart that the sick child I left behind still lived?" Konal stepped forward as he drove his points, and Runa backed away with her hand falling to her hidden knife. Seeing this, he stopped and wiped his forehead with the back of his arm.

"Forgive my excitement, but I know my own blood when I see it. I have always felt the lives of my kin. Remember how I knew Kell survived the storm that wrecked me on your island? It is a gift of the gods."

Runa's heart beat against her ribs, feeling like it would burst through the root of her neck. Whether she believed in his gift was inconsequential; she believed Aren was Konal's son. She had always carried the burden of that doubt with her, and Ulfrik saw her struggle with it, but never had the words been given voice. Konal stared at her with his chin titled up as if to defy any challenge, though his eyes shimmered with emotion. She spun around to put her back to him.

"You had best control your excitement," she said quietly. "I am none too pleased that you have returned, and further vexed that Ulfrik allowed you to stay."

Runa remained facing the hall. The sight of it made her think of poor Aren, a young child who did not know how to play with others and was liked by so few. Only Ulfrik accepted him, and then only because of Runa. If she ever died, she wondered what would become of Aren. Finally, Konal found his reply.

"He is my son, Runa; the only family left to me in the whole circle of the world."

"And what would you have me do? Ulfrik has chosen to raise him as his own. Did you come this far to insult Ulfrik and claim one of his sons for your own? Or do you have other designs?"

"I only desire to know my son, and be near family."

Runa smiled, but did not laugh. Troubles with Konal ran deeper than Aren's parentage. He had lost a fortune in jewels that Ulfrik now possessed in secret. To this day, only she knew of the treasure and its hiding place. As touching as Konal's story had been, his loss of status and wealth likely hurt him more. Could he have more in his heart than a wish to see his kin, she wondered. Could he be here to dig out treasure he long considered his own?

When Runa did not answer or face him, she heard him sigh then walk off. She closed her eyes and prayed the gods Ulfrik had not let a traitor slip into his own hall.

Chapter 14

Unable to locate Runa in time to respond to the news, he collected his three sons along with Einar, Snorri, and every hirdman in the hall and lining the track to the southern gate. The wind tangled his cloak against his body as he lined up before the dark log gates. The guards atop the walls and at the bar of the gate watched for his signal, which he gave with an impatient flick of his wrist.

Even Gunnar, still sullen from his rebuke, began to smile as the heavy bars lifted and hirdmen dragged open the gates. His other sons stood beside him, but were far more skeptical of the commotion. Half of Ravndal had gathered behind Ulfrik's group.

"His timing's not bad," Snorri said, standing behind Ulfrik. "But how many more visitors are we taking in?"

"This is family," Ulfrik corrected, his own smile broadening.

Wood stuttered along the pounded earth as the gates swung wide. Framed in the rectangle view of the fields and forests beyond Ravndal stood an orderly column of warriors, spears and shields held at ease. At their fore was a strong man in freshly scoured mail that flashed white in contrast to the dark, curly hair that flowed from beneath his helmet. Once the gates had widened enough, he stepped inside.

Ulfrik strode forward, his arms outstretched. "Toki, you miserable bastard! Welcome!"

They clasped arms then embraced as brothers long-parted. His oldest and dearest friend had been gone six years, sent to rule Nye Grenner in Ulfrik's stead when they had still been struggling to breach Paris. Now the two examined each other as warriors did, looking for new scars or missing parts. Toki appeared as he always had, but for missing a few teeth and a spray of gray in the roots of his black beard. Toki gently slapped Ulfrik's cheek.

"You've had a few near misses, I see, but you've kept both eyes. You look well and strong." Toki pulled back and scanned Ravndal. "And you're as powerful as rumor claims."

"But it is good to see you, brother." Ulfrik hooked his arm around Toki's shoulder and turned him to face the others waiting for him. "And I'm not the only one glad to have you here."

Toki's astonished face took in all the changes time had wrought in his absence. Gunnar struggled to maintain a dignified stance as he clearly wanted to leap into his uncle's arms like he had done as a child. Hakon was only in swaddling when they had last met, and Aren was not known to him.

"Is that over-muscled boy Einar and the snow-haired man leaning on him Snorri? That proud young warrior can't be Gunnar, can it?"

All pretense of dignity fled and suddenly Toki was swamped with his old friends clamoring to greet him. Ulfrik stood in the middle, experiencing a lighthearted happiness he had long forgotten. No matter Toki had brought thirty people with him that would be challenging to feed in winter, for now he let himself go with the joy of the reunion.

"Where is my sister?" Toki asked, his face suddenly grave.

"Runa went to fetch wool or some such chore," Ulfrik explained. "We will certainly find her back at the hall. Be warned; sitting in the hall all day has made her as feisty as a mother hen."

Toki instructed the rest of his column to enter and all shifted aside to allow the group to assemble. Soon the gates closed and the bars dropped back in place. Ulfrik examined the crowd and took heart that most were warriors. A group of women sheltered Halla, Toki's wife, in the center, but she had only come forward to offer an insincere greeting that bordered on insult. Despite being engrossed in talk with Snorri and the others, he caught his wife's shameful display with a sharp bark. Ulfrik played it down, knowing the real conflicts would begin once Runa and Halla met again. Many good reasons kept Ulfrik away from Nye Grenner, but the bad blood between Toki's wife and his own had been chief among them.

They took a leisurely walk to the hall, where Ulfrik gave a history of all that had happened, starting with the recent battle with Clovis and working backward to when Toki had departed. By the time they arrived inside the hall, Toki had a general sketch of events from the last six years.

Runa met them at the door, and Ulfrik feared her reaction upon meeting Halla, who now walked with slaves and servants and two young girls who Ulfrik knew were her daughters from the platinum white hair they shared with her. However, Runa only had eyes for her brother, and the two embraced as if reunited for the first time. She was courteous to Halla, which gave Ulfrik a breath of relief. Inside the women had set aside their baskets of wool and moved their looms to the wall and were flitting about the hearth to prepare a welcome meal.

They passed the afternoon swapping news and stories, and of all the happy voices in the hall none was louder than Ulfrik's. For a moment he forgot the troubles of rulership, the pressures of holding and expanding territory, the thanklessness of enforcing law, and the duties of being a gold-giver to hundreds of men. With Toki at his table again, he returned to a simpler time where wind flowed through his hair and sea spray misted his face as they sought fortune together. Only by evening, when the second meal of the day had been completed and the autumn sun fell behind the horizon, did Ulfrik finally ask the question no one had dared yet to ask.

"Why have you come?" Ulfrik's question drew sharp looks from everyone at the high table. Only Hakon's squabble with his younger brother distracted attention, and Runa hushed the boys as she added her own question.

"And why have you come with so many men?"

"Men are needed for rowing and for security. It's not a light undertaking," Toki answered. Halla, who sat at his left, turned from her children and peered at him with as much interest as the others. "I came because I've heard so much of the prosperity and peace here. I wanted my daughters to know their family."

Ulfrik studied Halla's face reddening as she stared at Toki, and immediately recognized she had been told something else to convince her to make the journey. She made a better showing of her temper than Ulfrik had expected, sitting back on the bench and returning to her plate without a comment. Still, Toki had more to share and he would not do it before everyone.

"Never a better reason," Ulfrik said, extending his hand to the girls. "Two beautiful maidens to brighten my hall, what more could I ask?"

The oldest girl flashed a smile, and he saw the familiar twist in it that had passed from Toki and Runa to her. The younger girl melted behind her sister and blushed. Their reactions drew laughter all around, successfully diffusing the tension. Ulfrik nudged Runa, and she responded with a nod.

"I must check on the servants, but please sit and enjoy the evening." She stood and dragged Hakon away as he whined in protest, whereas Aren followed without interest in anything beyond his mother. In the same moment, Gunnar approached the table. Ulfrik smiled at him, but Gunnar ignored it. Instead he asked to sit with Toki.

"Actually, Toki and I have much to discuss and were going to step outside. Is that your girl trying to hide in the crowd? Have her join you at the high table. She'd like that, I'd bet. Introduce her to Halla. She can be her guide while she settles into Ravndal."

The recognition he offered to Gunnar's girlfriend brightened his son's face. "I'm sure she would like that."

"Excellent idea," Toki said to Halla, who shrugged and stumbled with a weak smile. "Get to know the girl while I speak with Ulfrik. We won't be long."

Once outside,they walked down the black boards of the main road and past the last of the townsfolk settling into their homes where lamplight glowed orange around the door frames. Soon, those lights would extinguish as the fortress settled into slumber. They strolled a short distance before Ulfrik renewed their talk.

"You have spoken much today, and you've spoken nothing at all. I have not summoned you, and you and your crew do not seem in distress. So answer me truthfully. Why are you here?"

Toki rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. They both stopped walking. Having removed his mail surcoat, he now wore only plain clothes and a gray wool cloak and seemed far less grand than he had in the morning. Somehow he seemed smaller and less sturdy without leathers and mail padding him.

"It's as I said. My daughters do not know their family and it is time they met you."

"I'll let you consider that answer again," Ulfrik said, a wry smile on his face. "I will not judge you, old friend."

"But you should judge me," Toki said and met Ulfrik's eyes. "I have defied your orders to remain in Nye Grenner until your return."

"You think overmuch. Fate's hand is at work, and it is time for our threads to intertwine again." Ulfrik clapped Toki's shoulder and he chuckled. "Do you remember our first meeting?"

"When you broke my nose with your shield? Not something to forget, is it?"

They laughed together and Toki's posture relaxed. "Well, that day I knew Fate drew us together and I was not wrong. Today you arrive at the moment when I've lost a fair portion of men in battle with Clovis. Is that not Fate's design made clear? You were meant to come and that is all. But I want to know what the gods planted in your heart to get you to return to me."

"The song of battle," Toki said without hesitation. "Each night when I close my eyes I hear the clash of shields, the clang of weapons, the battle cries and the screams of the dying. All my life I have lived in the heart of the fight, shield and sword against my enemies and only blood and pain to give or receive. But I haven't feared for my life in six years. Nye Grenner and the islands are at peace with all the ambitious men gone to Valhalla. I've become a farmer, and I can't stand it. I cannot risk dying in my bed. My fate is to stand at your side, with my brothers, and destroy our foes and claim glory that I can carry with me to the feasting hall when I am finally slain."

Ulfrik smiled approvingly, feeling the strength of Toki's words and drawing satisfaction from them. "Noble reasons, every one. You will find no end of enemy here. I've been seven years in this land and the Franks are the most stubborn people I've met, as unbending as their blades. But they are weak and divided. You'll remember Odo from Paris? Now he is their king, but only to the peoples of the west. The Eastern Franks have a different king. If we keep hammering, soon they will have a third in Hrolf. The gods want us to take this land, and by the right of our strength we should possess it. The Franks are not wise enough to recognize this. So, my friend, you will battle droves of foemen and your sword will grow dull in hacking them back from our borders. Welcome to Frankia, and welcome back to my side."

They clasped arms and Ulfrik laughed in delight. "You bring me thirty warriors in my time of need. Fate is kind to me for a change."