Viking Love Beyond Time (Time Travel Romance) (65 page)

             
In reply she slipped her own arm round his waist.  “The only way I would leave you again my love is if I flew through the air, because I would neither walk, run, ride, sail or swim away from you”
that should cover all contingencies
she thought, but wondered, if she did have the chance to become Captain Austen again, what her decision would be.

             
The guests were slowly meandering back into the house laughing and clapping each other across the shoulders, whilst behind them a spluttering Thorund was attempting to climb out of the horse trough.  Alodie glanced round.  “Will he be alright Herger?” she whispered.

             
“Alright?  Thorund Thorundson?  Alodie my love you are talking about the man who took a village, single handed” 

             
They entered the hall and re-took their seats “Single handed?  A whole village?” she said, amazement creeping into her voice.

             
“Certainly” replied Herger taking a bite from a chicken leg.  “He once became separated from his ship and came upon a village, they refused him meat and drink so he rounded up every living soul, raped three women and fired all the houses - he was so fearsome no one tried to fight him, they just gave in, meekly - mind, the village was in Gaul which could explain it!”

             
Alodie laughed.  “I just hope he doesn’t come for you again, Herger”

             
“Believe me
min helt
he will remember nothing of it tomorrow, and if he does he will feel only remorse.  Thorund is not my enemy”

             
Alodie glanced up at him.  “Tell me, Herger, you are a powerful man, do you have any enemies?  Apart from the
West Saxons
that is”

             
Herger poured them both a goblet of wine then sipped thoughtfully.  “Only one - Olaf Trigvessen, but he is in
Norway
.  He has a large steading about twenty miles north of Seinshaven.   He raids us from time to time and we raid back - cows, sheep, the odd thrall or two.  We have not for many years come to open combat, but he hates me.  He is the only man, apart from Edric who has just cause, who thoroughly hates me and who I hate in return”

             
“Surely you do not fear him?”

             
Herger laughed.  “Physically, not in the least, but the man is - is not normal, it is said he is a necromancer - a wizard”

             
“Why does he hate you?”

             
Herger drained his goblet.  “It stems from childhood, his father and mine were friends, but the son and I never liked one another.  He is older than me and when we were children he used to make my life a misery, you know the thing, small tortures, but then, when I was ten and he was thirteen, out of sheer spite, he killed my favourite horse”.

             
“What did you do?”

             
“I am a Norseman Alodie, I challenged him to a fight to the death”

             
Alodie spluttered into her goblet.  “At ten?”

             
Herger nodded.  “Our fathers, of course, forbade it and then I did not see him again until my father’s funeral.  I was eighteen by then and, as his father had died the year before, he was jarl of his steading.  It was there that he met my cousin
Brunhilda
.  She was a beautiful, happy girl, seventeen years of age, in love with life and the world in general and I loved her like a sister, there were several local jarls who would have died for her.  Anyway, at father’s funeral Olaf the Black decided that he wanted her”.  Herger looked up at Alodie and gripped her fingers “Olaf is a very handsome man and, when he sets out to be good company and turns on his charm, I should imagine it is very difficult for any woman to resist him. 
Brunhilda
could not.  He must have had her under his spell because he succeeded in doing what no one else had ever done - talking her into going out to the barn with him.  They were discovered because one of Olaf’s karls told her father, an arranged discovery if ever there was one.  I was beside myself with anger, no, more than that, I again challenged him to single combat, but he offered to marry her then and there and her father agreed -  Olaf is very rich, so was
Brunhilda
, and the wake turned into a wedding celebration.  However, I had already thrown down my challenge and for him to back down would have meant his ruin.  He blustered but eventually agreed to fight me the next day.”

             
“What happened?”

             
Herger took a drink and walked over to the window.  “I have no idea.  I awoke with a raging fever and a weakness in the arms.  I could barely lift my head, never mind a war axe, however I turned up at the appointed place and fought him”

             
“You won?”

             
“Barely, and like a fool I spared his life.  I was told later that he had cast the runes the night before.  Our skald, Skallagrim, said he had overheard him calling on the gods to weaken me”

             
Alodie shivered despite the heat in the hall.  “What did he do then?”

             
“Sparing his life was the greatest insult I could have paid him. He left our steading the next day taking his wife with him.  I could tell by her face that
Brunhilda
was already regretting her rashness” Herger looked up, “that was the last anyone ever saw of her”

             
Alodie gasped “What happened to her?”

             
Herger shrugged “who can say?  She was dead within three months.  A riding accident it was said” Herger bit his lip. “But
Brunhilda
hated riding, she was afraid of horses, after having been kicked by one as a child.  However a rumour came back to our steading, it was said that Olaf had openly taken her out onto the cliff top, kicking and screaming, and thrown her over”.  He took a deep swallow  of his wine.  “He had her dowry you see.  He did not need her anymore”

             
Even though Herger was talking quietly to Alodie, it was as if a dark cloud had descended upon the hall and the party started to break up.  On the cooking fire a log cracked and sent up a shower of sparks.  “That’s not all, is it?” said Alodie, quietly.

             
“You are very astute, my love, no it is not all.  When I heard the tale, it was a howling snowy day I remember,  I jumped on my horse and set off to ride to Olaf’s steading, blizzard and all”

             
“What happened?”

             
“The nearer I drew to the place the weaker I became.  With about two miles to go I lost consciousness.  Luckily, some of my karls had followed me and took me home.  I awoke in my own bed”

             
“..........................and was for going back the next day” cut in Jorund Snowhair who had been listening intently to the conversation.  “He is the only man alive who would dare face Olaf the Black, there is not a man in
Norway
who is not terrified of him.  The man is evil, pure evil.  This weakness Herger speaks of, it affects everyone who challenges Olaf, Herger is the only man who has fought him and beaten him and that Olaf cannot forgive.  He is in league with Loki, the evil one”

             
“How did you stop him going back?” asked Alodie.

             
Jorund laughed.  “We got his mother to give him a sleeping draught then carried him aboard
the Freyja
”

             
“Aye” cut in Herger “and by the time I came to my senses we were at sea.  I did not go back for five years.  There will be a reckoning one day though, my love, it was only that I was desperate to be at my strongest when I got back to you that I did not go back after him when I awoke from my, as you so delightfully term it, ‘coma’”

             
“Forget him, Herger” snapped Jorund “stay here, don’t go back to Seinshaven”

             
“I have a feeling that I will meet him one day Jorund”

             
“Aye lad, so have I and so, I believe, does Olaf”

             
Suddenly the door opened and Thorund, dripping wet and naked, head hung sheepishly, walked in and scurrying back to his place, began to pull on his clothes, grimacing as they stuck to his wet body.

             
Alodie yawned and nudged Herger. “I’m for bed, my lord” she whispered.  He turned and nodded to her.

             
“I will be along shortly my sweet, don’t be too soundly asleep”

             
She ruffled his hair.  “Would it make any difference if I was?”

             
He licked his lips and growled.  “None at all!”

             
She grinned and saying her goodnights, mounted the stairs.  She had hardly  climbed into bed, however, when the door opened and her husband appeared, framed like some giant god, in the doorway.

             
Alodie sat up, letting the covers fall, baring her breasts to his view. “Well, my lord and husband, and what will your guests say?  You left rather peremptorily”

             
Herger kicked the door shut and within two strides was over by the bed.  “What my guests cannot understand, wife, is not my leaving now but the reason I did not do so two hours ago!”    

             
The days melted into weeks and weeks melted into months.  As Alodie settled down in Hergersby she began to realise that she had never been so happy in her life.  The days seemed to run into each other like golden honey, each more beautiful than the last.   Her children were a never ending source of joy and as each day passed she grew closer to her husband.

             
At the beginning of July Herger presented her with a beautiful
Barbary
mare, spirited but obedient, which she christened ‘Shadow’ and they spent many happy hours exploring the lands around Hergersby.

             
Awakening one day in early September she stretched and opened her eyes.  Herger was standing, dressed in only his light cotton braeis, in the window embrasure, looking out.  She marvelled anew at the breadth of his back and the play of the muscles under his sun bronzed skin and smiled to herself, he was wonderful, a story book warrior prince and he was hers.  “Good morning my love” she said, sleepily.

             
He turned and smiled “So, the lady of the manor decides to awaken at last”

             
She yawned and stretched.  “What time is it?”

             
Herger glanced back out of the window “By the sun, it lacks four hours to
noon
, I feel like going out for a ride today, will you come with me?”

             
She sniffed in reply.  “Well, I am not sure, it depends”

             
He turned, smiling quizzically “On what?”

             
“Well, the last time we went for a ride we ended up by the side of the river making love”

             
“Very well Alodie, I promise to keep myself under control”

             
“In that case - I don’t think I will come with you!” she quipped.

             
With a growl, Herger leaped onto the bed and pinning her down with the weight of his body gently bit her nose.  “Ow, what was that for?” she asked with a giggle, nipping his shoulder gently with her teeth in retaliation.

             
“For being the most desirable creature this side of Asgard and for bewitching me so that I cannot concentrate on my numerous duties, now get out of bed and get dressed immediately or I’ll turn into the sort of husband who would make Olaf the Black kind by comparison!”

             
Alodie laughed and cuffed him playfully on the chin.  “I am not worried,  my love, I think underneath that iron hard exterior beats a heart of softest mush!”

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

             
The day was glorious, summer’s last fanfare.  They spent hours trotting their horses though verdant green valleys, eating their noon time bread and cheese under the cool shadows of a waterfall and then, skirting a field ripe with nodding ears of corn, they wended their way home through the beautiful wood which filled the western part of their valley.

             
The day was filled with laughter and as they rode slowly, side by side, hand in hand, Alodie felt that if she became any happier she would burst and a worm of fear began to wriggle inside her, fear that everything was too perfect and something would happen to ruin their idyll.

             
At length, Herger pulled his horse to a halt and dismounted, tethering it to a hoary old oak tree.  He sat down with his back against the trunk and motioned with his hands.  “Come and love me my lady” he whispered.

             
She grinned “again, my love?”

             
“Again and again until I am put into my ship and burned” he whispered in reply.

             
Alodie did not dismount, but patted her horse’s neck.  “I think, my lord, if you have too much of me you will grow tired and wish for a change, I will have to begin to ration my favours”

             
Wordlessly, but with a slow smile, Herger got to his feet and striding over to Alodie’s horse he swept his arm around her waist and swung her, with one fluid motion, from the saddle, then lifting her above his head deposited her in the branches of the oak tree, eight feet from the ground.  Alodie shrieked and wrapped her arms around the trunk.

             
“Herger Sigvardson,  get me down this instant” she yelled.

             
He laughed and rubbed his hands together.  “Lady, you get down from that tree only one way”

             
Alodie tightened her grip on the tree trunk “which is?”

             
“Naked, throw down your clothes - rationing indeed!”

             
Alodie giggled.  “There is more chance of Hell freezing over than seeing me naked in a tree - I am the lady of Hergersby not a wood nymph!”

             
Herger held up his hand.  “Hush - what is that I hear?”

             
Alodie cocked her head to one side.  “I hear nothing”

             
“Ah, then it must be the devil loading up his sleigh - you can start with your kirtle”

             
She laughed - “Herger, that and a shift is all I have on, the heat is intense!”

             
“And it is getting hotter all the time my lady - you will feel cooler naked - I am waiting”

             
Alodie looked down at him.  “After you my love” she said, primly.

             
With a wry smile Herger shrugged off his sleeveless jerkin and began to unfasten his braeis.  A breeze was soughing in the branches above her and somewhere nearby a lark was singing its heart out, she glanced up, yes, there it was, its nest was a couple of branches above her, if she stood up just a little more she would be able to see into it.

             
So intent was she on the bird that she did not hear the thwack of the arrow which entered Herger’s shoulder and transfixed him to the tree and was only shaken out of her reverie when she was knocked backwards as the oak rocked perilously. She shrieked and grabbed the trunk, the lark’s nest spilled pieces of straw and the bird itself flapped away, squawking angrily.

             
Shaking, Alodie glanced down.   Herger was groaning and holding his hand to his shoulder, blood was pouring from the wound in great red gouts and running down his arm like a river, pooling on the grass, turning it crimson.

             
Then from the trees in front of them came a tall blond man, almost as tall as Herger although leaner, dressed completely in black, holding in front of him a drawn bow with an arrow quivering against the taut wire.  He grinned, wolfishly, showing white teeth, and beckoned toward the trees.  Alodie watched, horrified, as at least twenty men, similarly dressed, some with bows and arrows, some with swords and spears, approached them.

             
The leader stood and stared at Herger for a few seconds, seeming to revel in his agony, then glanced up to where Alodie crouched in the tree and called softly “come down my lady, I know you are up there and I am impatient to see the beauty I have heard so much about”

             
Grimly, Alodie flicked the top from her psi gun and sprang nimbly down from the tree.  The man laughed.  “You see, Herger, she could have got down any time she wanted.  The perfidy of women, I think she just did not want your body”

             
Herger groaned. “Olaf Trigvessen, I might have guessed”

             
The man swept a low bow to Herger.  “Of course, Raven, who else?  Are you feeling weak enough yet?”

             
The stricken Viking looked up and bared his teeth in a parody of a smile. “Even at my weakest I can best you, scum” he croaked.

             
“We shall see, Herger” said Olaf with a cold laugh, which sent a shiver down Alodie’s spine.

             
The man turned his attention to Alodie, she had to admit to herself that he would have been handsome, very handsome, if it were not for the cruelty in his eyes.  “I see rumour did not lie my lady, you are the fairest of the fair, what sons we shall have” he hissed.

             
Herger gritted his teeth.  “Lay one finger on her Trigvessen and I will personally tear off your head!”

             
Olaf shook his head and tutted.  “No wonder the lady hides up the tree Raven if you think sons are begotten by fingers” leered Olaf.  Then, with a snarl, he walked up to his captive and kicked him in the ribs.  Herger arched against the arrow and with a scream of pain his head slumped to his chest.

             
Alodie did not pause for a second.  Spinning round and aiming above their heads she hit the button - a blinding ray of light spat out as three trees disintegrated and the glade filled with smoke.  For a moment there was silence then pandemonium ensued.  The frantic scolding of birds and screaming of frightened horses combined with the screams of terrified men to fill the glade in an almost unbearable cacophony.  Alodie put her hands to her ears and fell to her knees as horses and men brushed passed her, a flying hoof just missed her head and she rolled into the bushes, shivering and hoping against hope that her Herger was unharmed.

             
After what seemed an eternity the noise abated and Alodie inched open her eyes, the glade was deserted, apart from herself and Herger.

             
With a groan Alodie climbed to her feet and loped back over to where her husband was pinned, taking his knife in her shaking hands and pulling him toward her she severed the shaft just under the arrow head where it had entered the tree, then gritting her teeth, pulled it out.

             
He moaned and slumped forward.  Cutting her shift just below the waist Alodie ripped a length from it and bound and padded Herger’s wound, autodoc would do the rest.  Then, taking a cup from his saddle pack , she filled it with water from the stream and splashed it in his face.  “Come, my love, no time to sleep now” she said softly, shaking him.  Autodoc, she was glad to see, had stopped the bleeding almost instantly but he was in shock.  With a moan, Herger shook his head and looked up.

             
“Olaf, where is he?”

             
“Gone, my love, now get up, we have to get home”

             
“How?  Why did he go?”

             
Alodie put her shoulders under his good arm and he staggered to his feet.  “Get on your horse Herger, no questions now”

             
Obediently Herger tottered to his horse and, with great difficulty, mounted.  Both animals were terrified with the explosion but had been tethered so had been unable to run away.  Alodie climbed onto Shadow and taking Herger’s horse’s reins in her hand she urged both mounts into a shambling walk.

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

             
The journey home seemed endless.  Herger was shaking and by the time they got back to Hergersby the sun was descending behind the hills and he was fighting to stay in the saddle.

             
Stumbling from her horse Alodie ran into the house and soon Bjarnie and three other Vikings had Herger dismounted and tucked up in bed.

             
“Are you sure it was Olaf the Black my lady?” asked Bjarnie as they sat at the table a few moments later, “it hardly seems likely, he very rarely noses out from his steading and has never gone a’viking in his miserable life”

             
“Blond hair, quite handsome, but evil visaged, not as well built as Herger but almost as tall, dressed completely in black”

             
Bjarnie groaned and hit his head with the heel of his hand.  “Loki’s balls it
is
him” he snapped his fingers and pointed to a karl who had been sitting at the end of the table eating an apple.  “Treble the guard in the house Haardrad” he ordered, the man jumped to his feet and ran out of the door, Bjarnie turned to the other soldiers and began to bark instructions “I want half the men in the village to man the walls tonight - Cnut, ride out north to the outlying farms and warn them, Ragnor, you go south, Erik west and Sven east, anyone who wants to come into the village or send their wives and bairns to safety may do so” four heads nodded and within seconds horses were galloping out of the courtyard.

             
Bjarnie got to his feet and walked toward the fire-pit, unlit now due to the late summer heat.  Then he turned and looked at Alodie.  “I do not like it my lady.  Why did he leave? Why did he not kill Herger or take you both prisoner or something?  That black necromancer hates Herger like poison, there’s nothing he would not do to harm him” He beat one hand into the other in frustration.

             
Alodie shrugged.  “I have absolutely no idea Bjarnie - a previous engagement perhaps?”

             
Bjarnie sighed and ran his fingers through his red hair.  “You are taking this very lightly Alodie, believe me the man is a pure evil.  I fear no man alive like I fear him. I saw him once, with my own eyes, fly in the air above me and shoot flames from his fingers, flames that kill men from a distance”