TLV - 02 - The Road of the Sea Horse (9 page)

"So we come back once more with naught to show," said the king.

"Enough booty for the men to feel it's worth the trouble," reminded Ulf.

"Oh, yes . . . but my foes will see as well as I that we really failed, and be heartened." Harald stared at Ulf. "Few are they whom I can trust. Do you also plan to return to Iceland?"

"God forbid," said Ulf. "This playing chess with kingdoms becomes a habit."

Harald smiled. "That's well, my friend. You shall see that I'm not stingy when men stand by me. When we get home, you shall be my marshal. No man is better fitted to have the guardsmen in charge or to lead the army in my absence."

"I thank you. But, a man with that rank has certain duties; he himself can't grip gold too tightly."

"I think," said Harald, "that we have been such near friends so long, in spite of that adder's tongue of yours, because at bottom we are the same. You're as greedy as I, Ulf; you only lack a plan in your life. Well, I need a trustworthy chief in the Throndlaw, so you shall also have the rights of a sheriff, and I'll give to you a fief carved from the estates Magnus took for himself. That should make a good income, some twelve marks I imagine. And thereto I'll lay half a shire in the Throndlaw."

The green eyes blurred. "From me and my sons you shall ever have friendship!"

"Ah, yes, your sons. It's long past time you were wed, Ulf, if only to build up your own power with a good alliance. What say you to Jorunn Tho
rbergs
dottir, sister of Queen Thora?"

Ulf scratched his black thatch. "She's not a bad-looking wench, and spoke kindly to me the time we guested at Gizki. But how do you know she will—?"

"Go a-wooing this winter and find out," laughed Harald. "I'll give you an escort of guardsmen and send gifts. Thorberg will not refuse if I know him."

Something oddly like pain crossed Ulf's face. "Well," he said tonelessly, "if wed I must, she's as good as any, I suppose." He sat for a while without speaking, the wind loud around him, and then said, "Harald, I would you were kinder to Queen Ellisif. She—"

"That's enough!" rapped the King. "Heed your own affairs and I'll tend to mine."

"I thank you for your gifts," said Ulf coldly. He got up and went toward the bows.

The ships steered into the fjord and lay to at Nidharos that evening. A crowd had come down to see them arrive. There were cheers, arms embracing as women and children sought their men. A few women searched through the disembarking crews, halted someone to cry a question, then hid their faces and walked slowly back.

Harald noticed a big, richly clad man with a guard of warriors strange to him. This one strode up and bowed. "Greetings, my lord," he said with a burred accent. "I had hoped you would come back ere I must return home."

"I've not met you before," said Harald.

"No, my lord, but none could fail to know you by your height alone. I am Thorfinn Sigurdharson, jarl of the Orkney and Shetland Islands, come hither to offer my submission."

Harald stood rock still, staring at the ugly, sharp-featured man; under the sallow skin lay strength. Thorfinn was known for a mighty chief. At the death of St. Olaf, he had taken his independence of Norway in all but name. Magnus had sent Rognvald Brusason thither to claim a third of the lands, and Thorfinn had fought him for a long time; at last Rognvald had fallen. It was also known that he was a clo
se friend of the exiled Kalf Ar
nason and had given that stubborn lord goodly fiefs. Harald had thought something must be done about Thorfinn Jarl . . . and here the man himself had entered the bear's den.

"Is there any reason why we should be friends?" asked the king. His intent was to gall Thorfinn by thus speaking to him before the whole town; see what came of that, and how real the jarl's offer was.

Thorfinn opened his mouth angrily, but mastered himself. "You are my rightful sovereign."

"Well, then, come with me to the hall. I suppose you are already guesting there?" Harald led the way, the two bands of guardsmen tramping after. Dusk was soaking into the streets, and lanterns guttered in the high wind.

"My lord," said Thorfinn, "best I tell you at once why I have come to do homage, then you'll know that no treachery is planned."

The tale was simple enough; Harald could have fitted it together himself from accounts brought by men who had been in the West. Thorfinn's friend and ally, Macbeth, lord of Moray, had refused to acknowledge Duncan, the new king of Scotland. Together Thorfinn and Macbeth overthrew and slew him, and now Macbeth was king of the Scots. Folk said he was a good ruler, but he was being threatened by Duncan's son Malcolm, who was supported by the powerful English earl Siward. Open war could not be many years delayed, and Thorfinn did not wish to risk having Harald on his back while Malcolm and Siward attacked from the South.

The submission was the more valuable because Thorfinn had lately brought the Hebrides under him. Harald did not long weigh his thoughts. It would have been more valiant, perhaps, to avenge his old counselor Rognvald, but Rognvald had fallen in fair battle, and here was dominion gained without loosing an arrow. The summer's gloom lifted from Harald, and he said gladly; "This must be considered, of course, but I can tell you now, Thorfinn, that we shall receive your offer well and send you home with honors."

Come, now, he told himself, it was not so little he had: the Orkney realm and the Faeroes, besides the sprawl of Norway herself. Iceland and Greenland did not acknowledge his overlordship, but they were friendly and might in time come to him—even this mysterious Vinland the Good, with its
dark-skinned
Skraelings and limitless forests. Yes, surely St. Olaf watched over Norway, and Denmark would soon drop from the bough if he shook that tree enough. There remained Sweden, England, Ireland, Scotland
...
An empire of all the strong young Northern folk? The thought was dizzying, but as weariness fell off him he was sure he had strength for the task.

Then let the Wends rage and the Germans brawl and the Byzantines rattle dry bones in their golden cuirass; his sons, his kind of people and way of living, would have this earth at their feet!

With a high and joyous leaping in his breast, he entered the king's hall.

His two queens stood side by side to greet him. He scarcely saw Elizabeth; his eyes were for Thora. Tall and proud she stood, with a smile like flame on the wide full lips, eyes aglow and hair in a thick coppery coil. A costly dress of green silk was tight around her breasts, cut so shamelessly low that the great ruby in her massive necklace smoldered over the cleft; her round strong arms were weighted with gold, and an ermine stole was draped about the wide shoulders. The skirt was cut full enough that he did not at first notice the swelling of her. She came forward with the bold stride that was dear to him and said aloud, "Welcome, King Harald!"

He took her hands and the fingers strained against his. Then, reaching up, she pulled his face down and kissed him heartily in the sight of all. This was not a mannerly thing to do, but as he felt how she had grown he forgot it. "Thora," he cried, "are you with child?"

"Yes, already!" she laughed. "The next king of the North."

"Oh, my darling—" he whispered; then, catching himself, he turned to Elizabeth and said courteously, "Greeting, my lady. I hope you are well?"

"Yes," she replied. Her slight form was clad in plain bluish gray, with scant ornament; she had grown pale again, and lost weight; the eyes seemed to fill her thin childish face. By one hand she led her daughter, who was shooting up, fat and healthy though shy of Harald. He lifted the girl and she shrank away and burst into tears.

"There, now," he said with as much tenderness as he could raise. "It's but your old father, home from the wars." He gave her back to Elizabeth.

"You should let the little one get more used to you," said his wife quietly.

"Indeed," jeered Thora. "He should stay home all his days and bounce her on his knee." Elizabeth's lips tightened. Clearly squabbling had been common between the women.

"Enough," snapped Harald. "We have hungry men to feed, besides our noble guest Jarl Thorfinn."

To cover his embarrassment, he spent the whole evening talking with the Orkneyman or listening to the skalds chant of the summer's work. Not till he was alone in the bedchamber with Thora did he let his longing slip. No word was spoken between them for some time, until they lay in darkness resting.

She ruffled his hair and said huskily, "How I've missed you, my beloved! It's been one great hunger, these many weeks."

"How have things gone otherwise?" he asked.

"Oh, not badly, I suppose, though the highborn ladies are not overly polite to me. They know I'm your favorite, so now they turn to Ellisif." Thora snorted her scorn. "Let them! Am I a crofter's wife to gossip about what somebody said to somebody else?"

"There has been trouble between you two?" he asked slowly.

"Well, two women could never live under one roof. Each will ever have her own way of doing things. And it rasps me the way she must put on airs because she's a Russian princess. My folk were kings when hers were landless Swedish Vikings."

"No more of that," said Harald. "I've too much to do already, without being plagued by women's fits."

"Oh, well, let Ellisif mope about with her heathenish icons and those priests you got for her. I have you." Thora's arms stole about his neck.

He felt a dim guilt, almost as if he were letting a murdered friend lie unavenged; but the urgent warmth of her, pressing against him, drove it from his mind.

2

Between harvest and the first snowfall, Harald summoned a Thing of the Throndheim men to lay before them his proposals. This proved to be a great assembly, swarming over the field: a racket of voices, a whirlpool of faces, a little town of gaily decked booths, the shaggy presence of many horses. It was held with both old and new ceremonies; Mass was heard and the lawmen recited the laws; a full day passed before business could start.

Harald mounted the platform when they were ready and addressed the gathering. He wished to announce the honors he had given Ulf Uspaksson and the submission of the Orkneys; he meant to go back to Denmark next year with a force as large as he had had this time; he planned a stone minster in Nidharos, dedicated to Our Lady, as
a new
shrine for Olaf's holy remains; a town was needed on the Oslofjord; to do all this, and much more, he wanted increased taxes, but every sensible man could see it was for the good of the whole country.

Einar Thambaskelfir trod weightily forth. As the mightiest of the Throndlaw sheriffs and the chosen spokesman of the people, he was a man to listen to with respect, and Harald noticed more silence for him than there had been before. Gray and strong, his seamed face bitten into angry lines, he took the word:

"My lord, you bring fine news about the islands, though no surprise to most of us. Some might say that a lucky turn of Western affairs brought this about, but I shall not dispute your statecraft in the matter. As for the power given your henchman Ulf Uspaksson, this is your right and we have many other chiefs of no small power. The Lady Church is doubtless a holy work, even if some feel that Nidharos has enough churches already. However, my lord, when the Throndheim folk must pay scot to benefit the Southerners, with this town of yours, and when again our land must be emptied to make war in a foreign country, it is well to stop for thought.

"There is no threat to us from outside which we cannot meet with a levy when needed, and indeed many folk mislike paying to support your standing forces at their present size. There are no few suits to be brought at this Thing against royal guardsmen who stayed behind this year. Most of them are from other shires, and they have proved an overbearing lot. Some feel that the king has already too much power, and goes too recklessly forward. Eirik Blood-ax was driven from the land, Haakon the Good was forced to acknowledge our old laws and freehold rights, the Eirikssons had scant help in their time of need because they had been too haughty, and Haakon Jarl was abandoned for Olaf Tryggvason because he also found power a heady drink.

"Rather than that the realm again suffer such troubles, I feel it wiser that we abide by ancient usage. Let not the king claim more than is lawfully his; let him not keep a guard so large that folk groan to support it; let him not engage in adventures which may increase his own domains but cost his people blood and gold. Let him ride the land like a good horseman, not so furiously that the steed must either throw him or burst its heart.

"It is the will of the chiefs and, I think, all sound men, that the king abide by the laws and give himself more to building up his own realm than tearing down someone else's. I thank you, my Lord."

Those who were nearby saw Harald pale and bite his lip; but he answered mildly, "How can the kingdom be strong if the king is weak? How can we build up the realm when no one is willing to work at it, when shire is selfishly divided against shire and it is more to be a Thrond than a Norseman? How can we have the respect which is necessary to peace if we womanishly give up our rightful claims? God has made me king, and I must serve as a king." His voice roughened: "This is my will, and let those go against it who dare!"