The Viking’s Captive Princess Page 2

  ‘How many are there? Is it a raid?’ Dagmar’s voice dropped to a soft whisper as if she feared the unknown boat might hear them. ‘Do we light the beacon?’

  ‘Not yet, Dagmar. Let Ragnfast be the one to make that decision.’ Silently, Thyre vowed to help him make the right choice.

  ‘I’m frightened, Thyre.’

  Thyre patted Dagmar’s arm. Both of them knew the tales of the Viken raids. The most recent had been the daring raid on the fabulously wealthy monastery in the British Isles. The men who had participated were now fêted as heroes in the north countries, but they were also feared. Who knew where their ambition lay? Before her marriage to Ragnfast, their mother had been a hostage of the Viken king. Thyre had been the result of her mother’s time in Kaupang and the reason for her mother’s subsequent banishment to this far-flung estate.

  ‘There is only one boat that I can see but there are still things that need to be hidden, even if the Viken are only here for a short time.’

  ‘But the Viken rarely come here. This inlet is not on any trading route.’ Colour drained from Dagmar’s face. ‘They can’t wish to…’

  Thyre grabbed her half-sister’s shoulders and gave her a slight shake. Now was not the time for self-indulgent panic. ‘Dagmar, you must pay attention. It is important. We have no idea of the ship’s intentions, but we have to assume they will be seeking to raid. If we act properly, we may only lose a few sheep or pigs.’

  ‘You always know what to do, Thyre.’ Dagmar gulped air.

  ‘It is good to be prepared.’

  Thyre’s mind raced. She knew every detail of the plans to survive a raid—where the gold would be hidden, and the grain, where the women would go and hide. The plans had been in place since before her mother died of a fever. A cool head and an even manner solved more problems than a quick temper. Thyre shook her head slightly. The Viken would not find them an easy target, not while she had breath in her body.

  ‘My mind is a blank. What do I do next?’ Dagmar’s eyes were wide. ‘I just wish Sven was here. He knows all about interpreting omens and what they mean.’

  Thyre made a non-committal noise. The other night, the full moon had risen blood red, a potent portent of change and destruction for the Ranrike royal house. According to Ragnfast, the last time such a thing had happened, her mother had died. This time he had immediately ordered several sacrifices so that the farm could remain unharmed, but it appeared the gods were deaf. The Viken had arrived.

  ‘Will you tell my father without me?’ Dagmar put her hands under her apron. ‘You know how he hates bad news. He will take it better from you. You will give him good counsel. I swear I do not know how you keep everything straight, but you do.’

  Thyre drew in a deep breath. ‘You need not worry, Dagmar, I will inform Ragnfast. He always listens to me in these matters.’

  The anxious frown between Dagmar’s two perfect eyebrows eased. ‘You are good to me, Thyre. I don’t know what I would do without you. You are always there to ease my fears.’

  ‘You are my baby sister.’ Thyre held out her hand, curling her long fingers around Dagmar’s slender ones. Dagmar’s hand tightened and she gave a trembling nod. A great fondness for Dagmar welled up inside Thyre. After their mother died, Ragnfast had raged for weeks on end. Thyre had feared for her safety, and she and Dagmar had clung to each other. They might not share as many secrets now, but Dagmar was Thyre’s one true friend and her only beloved sister. ‘Remember when we swore the blood oath?’

  ‘You are right.’ Dagmar’s face cleared and she gave a brilliant smile. ‘We spilled our blood together after Mor died. I had forgotten that we were once determined to be warriors.’

  ‘But I remembered.’

  ‘We greet the Viken with the respect any man should show his neighbour,’ Ragnfast pronounced, using the words Thyre had agreed with him. The household stood on the shoreline waiting, watching the dragon boat draw slowly closer.

  The shields still hung on the side of the Viken dragon boat, indicating that its occupants travelled in peace, for the moment. Peace was a fragile thing where Viken warriors were concerned. The tales the jaarl Sigmund Sigmundson had told about Viken treachery the last time he had visited made her blood run cold.

  ‘The rules of hospitality are very clear in the north and we shall keep them, as we have always done.’

  Thyre heaved a sigh of relief.

  After his initial explosion of incredulity, Ragnfast had agreed to her plans. Now, all the gold and silver and the furs were hidden; the tapestries had been taken down and stored. The majority of the livestock remained on the summer pasture, so it was possible that the Viken would think theirs was a poor farm, rather than a prosperous estate. Thyre remembered the ruse working once before, when she was a little girl and Dagmar was little more than a babe in arms. Then the Viken had come and her mother had dealt with them, sending Dagmar and Thyre to the hiding place in the woods.

  ‘But King Mysing decreed all Viken ships are fair plunder…or so the jaarl Sigmund proclaimed the last time he was here,’ cried a voice at the back. ‘What have the Viken ever done for us except burn our lands and take our wives?’

  Thyre kept her back resolutely straight. She did not need to see Ragnfast’s face to know how he’d react. He disliked the young jaarl and his ideas about how to solve the problem of the Viken plundering their coastline. He had rejected her first suggestion of lighting the bonfire to alert Sigmund to their potential danger.

  ‘Sigmund and his cronies may have broken frithe with the Viken King Thorkell, but I haven’t,’ Ragnfast thundered. ‘I remember the days, the days of our old king, King Mysing’s father, when Ranrike prospered and the markets overflowed with goods. Ships sailed to Ranhiem rather than to Birka or Kaupang. Now it is all bloodshed and plunder. My taste for bloodshed vanished a lifetime ago.’

  ‘Dagmar, are the horns of drink filled properly?’ Thyre asked, seeking to draw Ragnfast back to the present difficulty. Dagmar held up her horn of ale. Thyre was pleased that Ragnfast had agreed to her suggestion of ale rather than mead. It was only one ship, not a fleet. The Viken would understand. He was likely not high enough status to warrant a better drink. And this way he would think them a poor homestead rather than a prosperous estate. ‘The other women and I can follow Dagmar after the Viken captain has the first drink.’

  ‘It is a good idea, Thyre,’ Ragnfast said. ‘We do not have the men to provoke him. A soft word and a timely fluttered eyelash can do much, as your mother used to say.’

  ‘Thyre, that is your second-best apron dress,’ Dagmar whispered. ‘And your face is far too solemn. What is there to worry about? Greeting warriors is supposed to be a happy occasion. We should honour them.’

  ‘I have had more than enough swaggering boasts from Sigmund’s warriors. I wonder if the Viken will be any different? All brawn and very little brain is my educated guess.’ Thyre pasted her smile firmly in place. She remembered her mother’s stories of her time as a hostage in the Viken court, about how fights broke out at the least provocation.

  What excuse would the Viken use to destroy this farm? And what would they say if they knew who her natural father was, that her mother had disobeyed the time-honoured custom of children conceived in this way? She had not sent her newborn daughter to be killed by the Viken king and had instead prevailed on Ragnfast to accept her as a true Ranrike woman and member of his family.

  ‘Thyre, I think I forgot to put the weaving frame away.’ Dagmar’s voice broke through her reverie. ‘Do you think I should go back? That bit of cloth is nearly done and I was particularly proud of the raven pattern.’

  ‘I already put it away.’ Thyre struggled to keep the doors of her imagination closed. ‘With so many warriors, it would have been in the way. You know how clumsy they are with their feet.’

  ‘You are a love. You always know just what to do.’ Dagmar patted Thyre’s arm. ‘Think positively. Who knows—you may find a mate amongst the Viken? They are supposed to be
wealthy.’

  Mate, not husband. The words were unmistakeable and ill-chosen. Thyre made her face into a bland mask. She was well aware of her limited options without Dagmar’s thoughtless reminder. It was unlikely that any warrior would make an offer for her. She had no family, no land, nothing to make a true warrior desire her for a wife.

  She gave a wry smile. Ragnfast had held true to his promise to her mother and let her manage the estate, but she also knew he would not provide a dowry. She refused to be just anyone’s concubine. Royal blood ran in her veins. She deserved better. Her mother would have approved of her decision to stay unwed rather than to marry beneath her. In her dreams, Thyre longed to find the one man who would cherish her in the way her mother had been cherished by Ragnfast. Some day, she wanted to meet a man with whom she could exchange loving glances in the way Ragnfast and her mother had exchanged glances. In the end her mother had discovered love with a man who treated her as an equal, rather than as an accessory, a pawn, or a stepping stone to the throne of Ranrike. In order to marry her mother, Ragnfast had taken an oath of loyalty to King Mysing, vowing never to claim the throne in his wife’s name, or to permit any of his children to make a claim.

  ‘I am not looking for anyone. I love it here. It is safe and secure. And if I did, he would have to be more intelligent than those Viken warriors. Can you see the biceps rippling on the leader? Definitely more brawn than brain.’

  Dagmar put her hand on Thyre’s sleeve and whispered in her ear. ‘Love can just happen, as it did between Sven and me. One day, I glanced up and there he was, all silhouetted in gold, his cloak slightly drawn back, and I knew that he was the right man for me.’

  ‘I am not you, Dagmar—in love one day and the next out of it.’

  ‘You mean the warrior from Gotaland last summer who wanted to buy Far’s lumber and thought to get a better price by seducing his daughter? That was nothing. A pure girlish fantasy. I have quite forgotten why I shed all those tears.’ Dagmar sighed dramatically. ‘I have sworn to be true to Sven. I want him to know that should I bear a child, it will be his.’

  A warning twinge went through Thyre. Child? That was fantasy. They knew that Dagmar’s monthly flow had come since Sven had left. Dagmar was given to dramatic statements, but there was something in her eyes. Exactly what had Dagmar sworn to Sven? Dagmar should know that she had no right to swear anything without her father’s consent. It could only lead to heartache. Silently Thyre cursed Sven for being so selfish, and for Dagmar’s fear in telling her father.

  Once the Viken had departed, she would discover more about this oath. Unless it was made with Ragnfast’s consent, it was empty words.

  ‘The dragon boat has landed! The Viken have arrived!’ The cry echoed up and down the beach.

  Thyre pressed her lips together. Dagmar appeared normal enough, smoothing her skirt and biting her lips to make them appear ripe cherry red—all the actions she normally took. Thyre hoped her concerns about Dagmar were just wisps of doubt. Perhaps another warrior would capture her fancy, and her oath to Sven would become a distant and unwelcome memory.

  Up close, the Viken dragon boat showed signs of battering from the storm—a broken oar, a battered prow and loose ropes—but nothing major. Not like the poor Ranriken ship whose remains were still scattered over the shore. Had it been hunting this Viken one? And if so, what had this Viken ship done? Which other farms had they attacked? Thyre shifted uneasily, weighing the possibilities, but knowing they had no choice but to offer hospitality.

  The Viken warriors splashed ashore. The leader disembarked first, without a helmet or a shield. A gesture of peace, but also of arrogance, Thyre thought. He could have no idea of Ragnfast’s strength, or the defences of the farm.

  The Viken’s golden-brown hair shone in the sunlight and, despite the jagged scar running down his right cheek, his face held a certain grace combined with raw power. He looked like a man unafraid to face the future.

  His vivid blue gaze lingered on her for a heartbeat, tracing her form. She looked directly back at his face, rather than blushing and looking away as custom demanded. He gave a nod, and turned towards where Ragnfast stood, as if that brief instant had never been.

  ‘We are grateful for the warm welcome after the rough seas of last night.’ The warrior made an elaborate bow. Ragnfast’s face reddened slightly and his chest puffed out at the courtesy. ‘We are returning to Kaupang after a successful voyage to the markets of Birka. Last night’s storm caused some damage to my trading vessel. It must be repaired before I continue on.’ His steady gaze met Ragnfast’s, and his words sounded more like a thinly disguised command than a polite request. He held out a stick covered in thick runes. ‘We come in peace.’

  ‘We have no quarrel with the Viken, nor do I seek reassurance from your king.’ Ragnfast barely glanced at the stick before he handed it back. Thyre bit her lip and wished she dared grab it. She highly doubted the truth of the warrior’s words. If they were peaceful, why had the Ranriken ship been wrecked? Sigmund had promised that Ranriken ships only defended. They never attacked the more skilful Viken ships.

  ‘What is your name, Viken?’ Thyre asked, making sure her voice was firm and clear.

  ‘Ivar Gunnarson, jaarl of Viken, my lady.’

  Thyre froze as the murmur rose behind her. Ivar Gunnarson. Ivar the scarred. Even here in the back waters of Ranrike, they had heard of him and his fellow Viken jaarls who had braved sea serpents to cross the Atlantic and had returned with a vast treasure from Lindisfarne. They were said to be some of the luckiest men alive, basking in Odin and Thor’s favour, Ivar particularly. It was his prowess with the sail and ships that enabled the Viken to cross the sea. And he had fought the Ranrike before, killing Sigmund’s brother. Now he was here, formidable and capable of wrecking the same destruction on her home as he and his companions had on Lindisfarne.

  She stifled a gasp as Dagmar began to trip forwards, holding out her horn of ale. Her earlier plan to serve ale to show they were not a prosperous farm had been shoddy and wrong. She should have thought about the pitfalls and how easily a jaarl could take offence.

  Sour ale was unlikely to bring about anything but war. It would give them the pretext for burning the farm to the ground. She had to act before the jaarl tasted it, realised the intended insult and destroyed them all.

  Thyre raised her hand, signalling the danger to Dagmar, but Dagmar was oblivious to the potential disaster. Her smile became more flirtatious as she held out the horn to the Viken jaarl. Thyre forgot to breathe. Dagmar hadn’t seen her warning.

  Ivar Gunnarson took the horn from Dagmar’s grasp and slowly lifted it to his lips.

  Chapter Two

  Thyre covered her mouth with her hand, unable to do anything but watch in horror.

  Everything froze and time slowed.

  Thyre wanted to run forwards, but her feet appeared rooted to the spot. A thousand images of burning and destruction rushed through her brain. And the worst was that she knew this mess was her fault. Would he draw his sword? She had to do something. There had to be a way of preventing bloodshed. But her mind refused to work, refused to find the necessary answer.

  Just as the horn touched the Viken jaarl’s lips, Ragnfast reached out and joggled the Viken’s elbow, sending the contents spilling over the ground and the jaarl’s leather boots.

  ‘Clumsy woman,’ Ragnfast swore, breaking the spell. ‘She should take greater care.’

  Thyre’s lungs worked again. Ragnfast had realised the danger and had averted it. They might still be saved if everyone kept their head. She darted forwards and whispered in Dagmar’s ear as Ragnfast began to call upon the gods to forgive this clumsy woman and her unintended insult. At Thyre’s words, Dagmar stopped her furious exclamation and her mouth formed an O.

  Thyre gave Dagmar’s shoulder a pat. Her heart stopped racing. The jaarl appeared to accept the incident was an accident, but she would have to speak to Ragnfast about the enthusiasm of his denunciation.

&n
bsp; ‘My daughter will be suitably punished,’ Ragnfast said after he had finished calling on the entire legion of gods and goddesses to witness his shame.

  ‘Woe is me, what shall I do?’ Dagmar intoned, getting into the spirit of the thing.

  ‘Her beauty more than makes up for any clumsiness.’ The jaarl inclined his head, but his hand remained poised over his sword’s hilt.

  Thyre fought against the urge to roll her eyes. Dagmar’s golden loveliness captivated every man she encountered. The gods had truly blessed Dagmar at her birth.

  She glanced up and the jaarl’s vivid blue gaze caught hers again. His lips curved upwards in an intimate smile as if he knew who was responsible for the mishap. Thyre blinked and the look vanished.

  ‘Quickly now, daughter, go get some more mead,’ Ragnfast said. ‘Don’t keep the jaarl waiting.’

  ‘Mead?’ Dagmar squeaked. ‘But I thought—’

  ‘I will get it, Ragnfast. I know where it has been put,’ Thyre said firmly. ‘The barrels were moved when I supervised the spring cleaning. I would not want to inadvertently give offence to the jaarl.’

  Dagmar demurely lowered her lashes. ‘Thyre knows where everything is and I get muddled so easily.’

  ‘Very well, Thyre, but go quickly. The Viken need their proper refreshment.’ Ragnfast waved his hand.

  Thyre walked away from the Viken group, her stomach knotting. Her legs wanted to collapse, but she forced them to move unhurriedly as if nothing was wrong. After all the omens she found it impossible to rid her mind of the thought, ‘destruction was coming’, just as it had once before to her mother. She clearly remembered her mother saying that she must wear her best dress and prettiest smile if ever the Viken came to call again and that it might save her. What had her mother thought when she had first met the Viken king? Had she been attracted to him straight away or had that come later?