Viking Love Beyond Time (Time Travel Romance) (32 page)

             
What would he do when he came in
Blot Monath
, November, for her?  Would he understand?  He would - he must.  God and all His angels, how could she have doubted him?  That fat trot Gwen had been lying all along, and now she had given herself to Luke Owen.  She put her hands to her mouth and bit her knuckles, then opened the window.  The cool rain-washed air revived her somewhat.  “Rorik, wherever you are, I love you” she whispered then, turning back into the darkness, went back to bed.

*****************************

             
Amund glanced round the room.  “The question remains, what do we do with Herger?” 
             
The object of his query was in a coma and lying on the huge table in Bredond Hall, surrounded by chanting skalds.  “He’s been in this state over two days now and I have heard of similar cases where men lay in this sleep for years and never recover - t’is called the death sleep”

             
“I say put him out of his misery” interjected Guthrum “t’would be what he would want” Amund wheeled round to face him.

             
“I have known that lad man and boy for nearly thirty years Guthrum” he snapped “he could yet awaken - I say we should send him home to
Norway
, let his mother care for him”

             
Guthrum shook his head.  “We cannot spare a ship, nor a man to sail one”

             
“Balls Guthrum, they’re his ships!” Amund retorted, red faced.

             
Bjarnie stepped forward.  “He has been more friend to me than master” he said quietly.  “I will take him home to Seinshaven, to his mother”

             
Guthrum looked at Amund then back at Bjarnie, he shrugged and nodded “Take
‘The Freyja’
and when you return make for
Exeter
”

             
“
Exeter
?” said Bjarnie “Why?”

             
“Thor made his feelings known when he sent his thunderbolt.  We will get past the fyrd and hole up in the strongest fortress in the south.  This time we’ll fight!”

             
Alodie lifted her head from the bowl and grimaced, thinking back to the events of the last few months.  She had begun to worry when she had missed her period in October, when November came and went without her period or, for that matter, Rorik, she knew.  She was pregnant.  She was going to have a baby to a man who had died over fifteen hundred years before she had been born.  It was bizarre - if you thought about it logically you would go mad! The possibility was even opening up of her being her own ancestor!

             
The Vikings had left Bredond at the beginning of October and Alodie, Luke, Oswy and Godgyth had arrived home in time for Christmas.

             
It was Alodie and Luke’s first experience of Yuletide and Luke had spent most of it in his usual drunken stupor.  The festivities had been ruined for Alodie, however, by her ever present sickness.

             
Godgyth handed her a damp rag.  “Here, wipe your mouth on that and then get yourself out for a walk, it’ll clear your head”

             
“Oh Godgyth” she groaned in reply “must I?  It’s so cold”

             
The older woman tutted “Lenten lily - get on with you girl, don’t be so soft, why a body’d think you’d never known winter before the way you and Luke moan about it.  You have to walk as long as you are able, now get your cloak and get out there!”

             
Alodie sighed obediently and taking her cloak from the peg she opened the door.  The freezing air hit her like a brick wall, making her wince.  Neither Luke nor Alodie had ever seen snow or ice and a British winter had come as somewhat of a shock to them both.  Fastening her cloak she stepped gingerly across the yard, her feet crunching on the hard snow.

             
As she walked through the village she waved to various people and stopped at the tiny but neat and clean hut of Griswald, the oldest man in the village, to ask after his welfare.  She was ushered in by his daughter, Mabel, and seated in the best chair, and whilst that lady made a hot tansy tea (sovereign, she swore, for breeding ladies) Alodie chatted with the old man.  He dwelled, as old people do, on the past and after she had drunk all she could of the bitter brew, she made her excuses and left, glancing down as she did so at Rorik’s bracelet, passed off as a present from Aehlswith.  If she had only been with Rorik instead of Luke she would have been truly happy.

             
Her days were spent in a constant state of
qui vive
.  Would it be today he came?  Would he ever come?  Were the bracelet and the letter a love token or were they just another move in his game?  To unsettle the wife of one of the leading warriors in King Alfred’s fyrd would be worth the price of a bejewelled bracelet to a man of Rorik’s obvious wealth, yet as much as her head tried to bring her down to earth, her heart told her Rorik loved her truly and her only chance of happiness was with him,  for up to now her marriage to Luke had been an unmitigated disaster – most of his days were spent seated by the ale barrel and had put on an alarming amount of weight, he was still good looking but starting to look puffy round the eyes.  The only bonus to his drinking was the fact that he was usually too drunk to bother her at nights but she had heard from the occasional hints dropped by the villagers that he was practising
‘droit du seigneur’
with the village maidens whenever he was sober enough to do so.

             
Luke did not try to hide his disdain for the villagers and they in turn loathed him and were dreading the day when he became lord of the manor.  With Oswy he was always most polite and obsequious but as soon as the older man left his presence Luke started his little cruelties to the servants, although he treated Alodie herself with consideration and seemed to be looking forward to the baby.

             
Leaving the village behind she walked into the forest.  The thick snow which had fallen during the last few days had covered the path but Alodie had walked in the woods so often that she knew the route.  A squirrel, out hunting a mid-winter snack, skittered down a tree and ran in front of her.  Alodie smiled delightedly, she had never imagined such a diversity of animal life - even in the depths of winter wild creatures abounded and the ground in front of her was criss-crossed by a multitude of small footprints.

             
After walking for about half an hour she reached the point where the path was split in two by a large oak and, beginning to feel tired and cold, she decided to turn back.  She paused and was catching her breath when she heard a peculiar snuffling, whining sound coming from the back of the tree.  Curiosity getting the better of her, she peered round the trunk, only to come face to face with a huge, black wolf.

             
Alodie was not really afraid, not at first, the creature was obviously hungry, his prominent ribs and swollen belly showed the evidence of his need to find food, but she was equally determined that she was not going to be the wolf’s dinner.

             
Gingerly she backed up, but the wolf, growling in his throat, followed her pace for pace.  Logic dictated that the canine must be very weak, could probably be overpowered, and anyway if the worst came to the worst she always had her psi gun but she felt sorry for the creature and did not want to shoot it.  Suddenly, however, she slipped, her feet went from under her and she fell with a gasp into a large snowdrift.  With a growl the wolf leaped onto her and, for a terrible moment, she felt claws on her shoulders and teeth snapping at her throat.  She screamed and pushed at the creature as she scrabbled backwards but the beast was desperate and Alodie was weakened by her pregnancy.  The wolf snapped again at her, his foam flecked mouth bedecked with huge tearing teeth and its lolling tongue covered in slime, his foetid breath almost making her retch.

             
In desperation she grabbed at its muzzle with her hands forcing the wolf’s mouth shut but near starvation had strengthened the animal’s resolve if not his body and he forced Alodie’s hands apart.  She instinctively covered her throat.  It was too late now even to reach for the psi gun because b
y
the time she had fired it the wolf’s teeth would have met round her windpipe and anyway, at this distance ‘stun’ would probably blind her for life.

             
The beast was on top of her now, his great paws pushing Alodie into the cold earth.  Was this the way it was to end then?  How ironic, to survive a black hole with a highly volatile cargo which could easily have wiped out life on Earth, to escape from a Viking attack, and after all that to end up as the prey of an extinct carnivore.  It did not seem right.  If looked upon in a certain light it was almost laughable, but Alodie had never felt less like laughing in her life.  Suddenly, as she was preparing herself for the end, she heard a whooshing sound and with a yelp the wolf collapsed limply on top of her, a quivering spear protruding between the animal’s shoulder blades, crimson blood dripping out onto the white snow.

             
Alodie closed her eyes, she felt drained, the wolf’s weight on her chest was suffocating.  “For the love of God is it you Alodie?” said a familiar voice.  The beast’s weight disappeared and she opened her eyes to look into the concerned face of Edric of Lamporth.  “Are you hurt?  Quick Brent, pass me your cloak”

             
Alodie smiled weakly as Edric’s strong arms slipped round her shoulders and she was pulled shivering to her feet.  “Steady Alodie - drink this” he said firmly. She spluttered as fiery liquid was forced between her chattering teeth, it burned a path down into her stomach but stopped her shuddering.

             
“Jesu, Edric what’s that?” she asked, putting her hand to her mouth.

             
“Metheglin - drink of the gods and much frowned upon by our Holy Mother Church” he answered brightly, then turning to one of his followers, a freckled red haired lad in his early teens, he motioned to the dead wolf “Brent, that wolf’s pelt is so mangy it’s probably no good for anyone, but take it back to the village anyway” he directed “some poor wight may find a use for it  - Alodie, are you feeling well enough to ride behind me back to the hall?”

             
She nodded “I - I think so Edric, thank you, you saved my life”

             
“Lives, by the look of you” cut in Aelfric “looks like young Luke wasted no time”

             
Alodie smiled at the grizzled old warrior who had appeared at her side with the spear which he had obviously pulled from the body of the wolf.  “Here, lad, this’ll need cleaning” he said, throwing it to his son who caught it with one hand and passed it on to this servant.  Edric then turned back to Alodie.

             
“We had better be on our way Alodie, we have urgent business with Oswy and Luke, they are needed in Winchester as soon as possible” with that he lifted her, as though she were a child, and deposited her in front of him in the saddle. “You are still no weight” he observed quietly as he gee’d the horse into motion.

             
He breathed deeply, the perfume of her honeysuckle scented hair assailed his nostrils and with some embarrassment he realised he was beginning to become aroused by her nearness, he had never known such a desirable woman.  Friend or not, if Luke had not been able to persuade her to marry him he had had every intention of asking  for Alodie himself. He had never, if the truth be told, thought that Luke was worthy of her.

             
“What’s wrong, Edric?” Alodie asked as they rode along “Why do you need Luke and Oswy so urgently?”

             
Edric snorted “The Vikings have proved false as I knew they would.  Instead of going back to
Mercia
they have dashed westward, with their thrice damned ship army - we think they are making for
Exeter
, His Grace the king is rounding up the fyrd to chase them.  If they manage to hole up in
Exeter
we’ll be besieging the place for months”

             
They were leaving the forest and looking up at the sky, Alodie noticed it was ominously black.  She remembered that the storms Deoli had forecasted for December had never materialised, perhaps she had been a couple of weeks out, perhaps Mindbank had managed to hold the ship together in freeze longer than it had estimated.

             
Alodie stiffened slightly as she felt Edric’s hand rubbing against her leg - she moved it.  “Spoilsport!” he laughed in reply.

             
“You’re supposed to be my husband’s best friend Edric of Lamporth” she retorted.

             
“I am, my love, I’ve just save his wife’s life have I not?”

             
“That does not give you the right to - er take liberties milord!”

             
He laughed again and she smiled despite herself.  Alodie could not help wishing that it had been Edric with whom she had had her marriage of convenience, he was the friend Luke could never be, she respected and trusted Edric.

             
At last they arrived back at the hall to be met by a panicking Godgyth who berated Alodie soundly for riding a horse until she heard the reason. “Lord a mercy, frightened by a wolf!” she crossed herself “I pray it has no effect on the babe”

             
She was helped down from the horse and bustled inside where Godgyth tutted over her skinned knuckles and soon had her in front of a roaring fire sipping the ever present tansy tea whilst she dabbed her cuts with marigold balsam.

             
Oswy and Luke arrived home from the hunt only ten minutes later and within quarter of an hour were ready to ride.  Godgyth was sniffling but Alodie felt relieved, at least she would be able to get to sleep on a night now and have the bed to herself, it would be bliss.

             
Luke pecked her on the cheek as he mounted his horse.  “I will write to you my love” he said in Saxon.

             
“I will live for it my lord” she replied primly, as the courtesies demanded.

             
“I am taking ninety men Godgyth”  Oswy announced “that leaves only thirty to guard the vill, but with the Vikings making for
Exeter
you should be safe”

             
“Worry about yourself, old man” she sniffed “we’ll do very well here”

             
Oswy smiled fondly at her then turned to Alodie “And you my dear” he said kindly “look after my grandchild, or as near my grandchild as makes no difference” he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.

             
“I will my lord” she said quietly and her eyes filled with tears, she really was very fond of  Oswy.

             
Feeling a pair of eyes burning into her she looked up.   Edric was staring at her with such a mixture of love and desire that she began to blush and looking down at her toes she bobbed him a curtsey, noticing almost absently that the snow had begun to fall yet again and the wind was getting up.

             
“Get inside you two” ordered Oswy and clicking to his horse moved the troop off toward the gate.