"That I would. Curse that man to a dog's death. He has my son, held from me just as surely as you hold Hakon from him. Did that help him understand why I must be reunited with my only kin? Of course not! Instead, he shamed and banished me. Years ago I served him, risked my life for him. I once saved his eldest son's life, and do you know that meant nothing to him? One drunken night and a few loose words and now I am a bandit as low as you."
The frown passed from Throst's face in an instant, but the jab rankled him. Two of the men laughed at Konal's derision, and Throst noted who they were. If he ever got control of these men they would learn better respect, but for now he looked to the sky as if checking for rain and hopefully conceal the flush that heated his face.
"So do you have Hakon still, or is he dead?" Konal continued, picking up a stick to stir the embers of the fire.
"He is alive and well, and in fact I have plans for him that will make me and my men quite wealthy."
Konal paused in stirring the fire and shared glances with his men before turning to Throst. "So you're not satisfied with the silver you nabbed the first time. You plan on taking more than that?"
"Far more, and I am certain he will pay me all I ask. He will have no choice. But I speak overmuch, for while you have been a fair host, you are no ally of mine. At least, you are not yet." Throst smiled and leaned closer. "For what I plan, I will need more fighting strength than I currently possess. Finding you camped here, so obviously abandoned like many who have served that arrogant lord of Ravndal, is a great boon. If you were to join with me, I could offer you a part in my plan and the riches that will follow. But best of all, I could reunite you with your son. As I have shown, I have a way to get at his children."
Konal shot to his feet with such suddenness that Throst fell back and reflexively grabbed the hilt of his sword. The other men crouched as if to spring into action. Yet Konal did nothing more than stand with both fists balled until his knuckles turned white. His fierce face glowed with hate and rage and his yellow teeth were bared.
"Aren is my son and none other. If you promise me my boy, then you will have my sword and the swords of my men at your service."
Throst laughed, a nervous thing he detested for its show of weakness, but his heart pounded at the base of his neck. Konal had exploded like a lightning bolt and could have easily killed him in one stroke. Such explosive power had to be managed carefully, and for a brief moment he wondered whether to enlist this man. Yet Konal's rabid hatred and desire would make him pliable, and Throst needed his men.
"Consider your son as good as restored to your side." Throst did not know why Konal believed Ulfrik's child was his own. He did not know Ulfrik's history and knew nothing of Konal other than his usefulness. Perhaps he was mad. He would learn Konal's details soon enough, but for now securing his oath was paramount.
"Then I will give you my word to serve until that day. But Konal Ketilsson will never again be a bondsman to anyone. We will split the riches and I will have my son, then you and I will part ways."
"It is a fair deal," Throst said as he stood. "Once I hear your oath, then I will take you to where Hakon is kept and you will see that I have the power to grant what you most desire."
Konal smiled wickedly, deep lines forming in the thin flesh of his burned face. "I desire justice, and a good measure of revenge."
Both men laughed and Throst again felt his heart race, this time with the thrill of knowing he had concluded one more step on his path to greatness.
Chapter 28
The thin crescent of the moon did not throw much light and Throst's torch guttered in the night breeze that tore at his face. Winter would be harsh this year, and he vowed to live in a proper hall before it began. On the low hill with the single, thick oak tree, he saw the ball of orange light from a brand. Though certain of being unseen, he still searched over his shoulder for followers. He had made sure no one observed him slipping away, but caution was always necessary. No one could be completely trusted.
The oak had carpeted the base of the hill with dead leaves that rolled in the wind with a sound like rain. He protected his torch from the wind, turning to cup his body around it while the breeze died, then trudged up the hill to meet his contact.
"Throst, my love?" came the sweet voice of the dark shape hidden by the wide oak trunk.
"Astra, it is me," he said, mounting the final steps.
She was a plain-faced girl but with skin perfect and unblemished as polished stone. She wore a heavy gray cloak, hiding her pleasing shape in a lump of shadow, but she threw her arms wide to accept his welcome. Both embraced and were it not for the awkwardness of holding aside their torches they would have done so with more ardor. Her face swam with flickering shadows thrown by the torch and her eyes gleamed with yellow points as she searched him.
"But it has been too long! When will you let me join you?" She pulled away, and Throst regretted the loss of her warmth and scent. Hiding in caves and ruined halls with sweaty men had heightened his appreciation of a woman's comforts.
"Very soon, my soul, you will live with me in a hall of our own, but for now there is little time to entertain dreams. You have news for me?"
"News of all kinds," she said with an impish smile. "Ulfrik had a falling out with some of his men a few days ago. One of them claimed Ulfrik's youngest was his own, and it led to him and his men being banished."
"And his name is Konal Ketilsson; his face is badly burned." Astra stopped in surprise and he saw the smile grow on her face in the darkness. He told her how he had spied on Konal's camp and then recruited him. "I hoped you could prove his tale, and you have."
"Oh, I witnessed it with my own eyes. Since that day Ulfrik has taken to drink and his wife has become a horrible shrew. They fight every day over his inaction and Ulfrik has taken to sleeping under the table in his hall. His friends don't know what to do, and Gunnar feels cut off from him. It's perfect!"
Throst nodded in deep satisfaction. "A pity he won't suffer like this for long, but I cannot give him too much time to figure out my plans. I have met with Clovis since we last spoke, and as I guessed he did not want Hakon but greatly desires Gunnar. I assume you have captured his attention?"
Astra's voice quaked with barely controlled laughter. "He is hooked like a fish and does whatever I suggest. I swear I could make him fall on his sword if I promised to spread my legs for him."
"But you haven't given him that much?" Throst seized her thin arm without thinking, and Astra drew a sharp breath. Feeling his face warm with shame, he dropped his hand which drew a smile from Astra.
"Of course not, and he's not brave enough to take it for himself. Ulfrik is raising a gutless puppy. He's already a man, but he's not even allowed to piss without the leave of his father. Gunnar hates him for it, but he can't confront him."
Throst grumbled his pleasure at the news. Angry people were so easy to shape, and Gunnar's lust and frustration would lead him directly into Throst's hands.
"It is odd for a jarl's son not to just take his pleasure with any woman he chooses. He may yet find his guts, so be wary of him." He gave her a warning look and her smile twisted in the strange shadows of the torchlight. Astra was not a virgin when he had found her, and sharing women did not matter unless she belonged to him as Astra did. No one should have what is his until he has finished with it, and he was not done with her.
"Do not worry for that. Gunnar has strange ideas about what is right, and thinks he should not force himself on a woman he loves." She snickered and covered her mouth.
"Gods, I'll be doing Ulfrik a favor to rid him of such weakness. It's that strange mercy Ulfrik cultivates which has ruined his leadership and passed onto his son. Neither of them would kill me when they should have, and now they both will regret that mistake. Life is made by the strong and the weak are sent to ruin."
"And though your enemies live in fortresses and wear gold on their arms, you are stronger," Astra said as she drew closer to him. She laced her free arm around his waist and pressed herself closer, the softness of her body thrilling him.
"Control yourself, woman. I'll not be tempted by you now. Both of us must return before we are missed, and you have a task to fulfill for me. When all is done, we will lay together for days on end."
"Promise?"
Throst gently removed her arm with a nod. "You've my word. Now here is the plan."
Chapter 29
The night was a foul darkness, no moon or stars shining, all hidden behind clouds as thick as gathered hay. The frosty cold was early this year, and Ulfrik worried for the winter ahead and securing his son before it arrived. He vowed that Hakon would be returned to the warmth of his hall before winter clenched the land. Now all he had to check the cold was his cloak and the guttering orange flame of his torch. His hand shielded its light, for in the perfect blackness it would be a beacon to anyone watching. He only hoped one man would see it, as any other could bring him trouble.
At the edge of the woods where he had snared Clovis in a trap not long ago, he waited. He had counted the days and trusted to the gods that his plans succeeded. The deceit he had to visit upon every person he loved was a sharp pain in his heart, and he could not be sure of its worth until this night.
Escaping his own fortress had been difficult, and how his enemy's spy managed it remained unknown. At last he had to confide in one lone man to allow him in and out. To his chagrin he had revealed more to a barely known bondsman than his own wife. As he huddled against the cold, keeping the torch as close as he dared, he thought of how he tormented Runa. She did not deserve to suffer as she did, thinking her husband had given up to ale rather than fight. Yet no one could know his plan, and least of all her. His heart told him somehow the spy worked through her in ways he did not know. Nothing more than a thought, but one he would prove this night.
Once the cold and boredom had sapped Ulfrik's will, a single orange light bobbed between the trees. He revealed his torchlight to it, and the corresponding torch made directly for him. As it grew closer, his free hand gripped his sword hilt and he widened his stance. Then the approaching torchlight halted and a raspy voice hissed from the darkness.
"Lord Ulfrik? Is it you?"
Relaxing, he stood looser and dropped his hand from his sword. He drove his torch into the soft earth, and placed a rock to brace it. "None other. Come, be welcomed."
The torch raised higher to light the final distance as the man approached. At last his bulky shape billowed out of the darkness and the man stepped into the light.
"Welcome, Konal," Ulfrik said with a smile, opening his arms to receive his friend. He fixed his brand next to Ulfrik's then embraced his lord in greeting.
"It is all as you had expected," Konal said as he stepped back, a satisfied smile deepening the folds of his face. "Throst found me and was desperate to take me in."
Ulfrik's heart raced and his arms trembled. A dryness filled his mouth, and he did not understand the fear suddenly overtaking him. His first question was harder to ask than he had imagined. "Is Hakon well?"
"He is surprisingly well," Konal said with a smile. "He is tied and guarded always, but Throst's sister cares for him. I've been not more than three days in his company, but I've not seen him mistreated. Mind you, he has bruises and scabs, and is thin and scared. But his will is strong and he is defiant. Throst had me strike him to show my contempt for you."
"And I trust you did what you must?" Ulfrik winced at his question, strangely hoping Konal passed the test.
"I belted him like a man, and cursed both him and you to unending shame in Nifleheim. No one doubted me, least of all Hakon. But he took it better than a man, and he defied me to do worse and again claimed Odin had his one eye upon him."
Ulfrik's pride swelled at the thought his son's bravery. "Perhaps the All-Father watches him, but I put no faith in Odin for protection. The gods' ways are strange. Yet if it gives him power to fight, then it is good."
"I promised him Odin only watched for him to die," Konal said, his voice smaller.
"You have played your role convincingly, maybe too convincingly. You had some surprising words for me the night we began our ruse."
"Not more than we had planned," Konal said, but Ulfrik detected a waver in his eyes even in the strange shadows thrown from the low torchlight. Still, Konal had taken considerable risk and shamed himself in public to make this a success. Ulfrik trusted him, and whatever he imagined he put aside.
"Runa is quite distraught, with our fight and the gossip swirling about her."
"And what of Aren? I had hoped for him not to see our act."
Ulfrik shrugged and rubbed his chin. "Nothing ever bothers that boy. He has no serious temper."
Konal opened his mouth as if to counter Ulfrik, but then fell quiet. "He is better raised in your hall, Lord Ulfrik. I am poor and cannot offer him the future that you can. You have cared for him since birth, and raised him without question as your own. You are a greater man that I ever will be, for I would not have owned your child. That you will allow me to remain near him when this is done, I am ever grateful."
Ulfrik waved aside Konal's statement. "We chat like we're in the mead hall during a summer night. Reveal all to me and let us make our plans. I mean to have Hakon back and Throst in chains. We've little time to waste tonight."
Ulfrik frowned as Konal described how they had camped in Throst's hideout, and he cursed not following Einar's intuition. Then he told of Throst's alliance with Clovis. Mention of the scheming Frank imparted a deeper chill to Ulfrik's core. Konal further revealed the plan to capture Gunnar and turn both him and Hakon over to Clovis for a minor fortune in silver.
"And I have discovered the traitor; you'll not like who it is. Gunnar has been the unwitting fool for Throst's lover, Astra. She plies Gunnar for information and relays it to Throst, and she will lead your son to his doom."