“He was running an errand for me,” Cook began explaining. “He was in the castle grounds, I don’t worry about him none when he stays in the castle grounds, with all the guards and such walking about.”
I nodded at it her to continue while I gingerly moved the tunic around, trying to get a better view of the gash in his chest.
“He was attacked. He said it was a savage. A large man dressed in animal skins with a crazed look in his eyes. He spoke a strange language, and my boy could not understand him. He said the man just attacked him for no reason. He only got away was because the man was slow, as though he were drunk on mead.”
When Torben returned with the basin and rags, I rinsed my hands in the water. “Dump this and get me more clean water,” I ordered. Then I ripped the tunic away from the boy’s body. He cringed but didn’t move or make any noise. That wasn’t a good sign. He was going into shock.
“Forgive me, Cook, but both of your boys look similar. Which one is this?” I motioned to the child.
Despite the situation, Cook smiled. “This is Evan,” she said affectionately. Her hand reached out and ran across his forehead, and I could see the fear in her eyes though she held it behind her familiar iron will.
I took the towels that Torben had brought me and pressed them to the wound in an attempt to staunch the blood flow, then I soaked one of them in the clean water and squeezed it over the opening and watched as the blood and small amounts of debris flowed out. When the wound finally appeared clean, I laid my hands over it and closed my eyes.
“Damaged cells and jagged skin,
Listen to my words, heal from within.
Mend the nerves and muscle and tissue,
Fix it all so it is like new.
Gather my power and use what you will,
Let nothing slip by and any disease kill.
Prevent infection, wash out any sickness,
Make flee the evil and wickedness.
Heal this child, heal his flesh and mind,
Show him not all who are unknown are unkind.
Let there be no damage or pain,
I, Allete, so speak this and pull power from my name.
I felt the energy flowing from my body and into Evan’s. I felt the blood flowing from his body abate, and the skin begin to knit itself back together, but it wasn’t enough. I wanted to erase the horror that the young boy had faced. How scary it must have been to stand before a strange warrior who was hell bent on killing you. How would a young boy recover from that without nightmares? I hated what he had been through. I could only imagine how Cook was feeling.
Once I was done and I was sure the wound was completely healed, I stepped back and nearly collapsed. Had Torben not been there to catch me, I would have sprawled out indignantly on the floor like a tossed towel.
Cook pointed to a chair. “Rest, child. You have done much, and I am so very thankful.”
“You aren’t scared of me?” I asked her.
She shook her head. “Why should I fear someone with a heart as pure as yours who gives so selflessly of herself? No, I am not scared of you. I am humbled that you would take your time to heal my boy, and I will be forever grateful.”
Torben brought me the bowl of water and allowed me to wash the blood from my hands and then handed me a clean towel. After a half hour of rest and several cups of water, I finally felt that I had the strength to return to my chambers. “If you need anything at all, please let me know. Send your other son to my room and I will be back in a heartbeat,” I told her. I wanted to stay, but she refused to allow that and Torben was not too keen on the idea, either.
We left her small home. Once outside, I took a deep breath of the cool air. It felt good to be outside, free from confining walls. “Would you mind if we walked to the gardens?” I asked him.
“As you wish,” Torben said and walked beside me with Brant trailing just behind us.
“You don’t have to pretend you are my guard anymore,” I told him, finally having the nerve to tell him that I knew about him.
“Perhaps not for your sake, but for the sake of everyone else, I need to appear as though I belong here,” he explained.
We walked the rest of the way in silence. In the garden, I found my favorite spot to sit beneath one of the large trees. Dawn was slowly breaking, and the light from the morning sun was illuminating Torben’s handsome face. He appeared deep in contemplation, and I wondered at the thoughts swirling in his head. I couldn’t feel his emotions as I had before. A sudden sense of loss overcame me. I hadn’t realized it fully at the time, but having the privilege of feeling what he was feeling, with no words spoken between us, was an intimacy the likes of which I’d never experienced before. We sat there in silence, and I considered how frustrating it was not being able to have free access to his emotions when it was convenient to me. I was curious to know if he wondered about what his mother had told me. Did he care about whether she approved of me? I wondered if he would ask me if she’d told me things that maybe he didn’t know.
He chuckled and sat across from me, leaning against the base of a stone statue that portrayed a great bear. He motioned for Brant to keep watch and then set his eyes back on me. “Go on and ask,” he said with a small grin. “I know you’re dying to, so might as well get it over with.”
“Ask you what?” I asked, playing coy. It was ridiculous of me, but I was embarrassed that he read my face so easily.
“My mother came to see you. I can only imagine all the interesting things she shared with you. Not to mention, I am curious as to how she acted. My mother can have a wicked sharp tongue,” he laughed.
I couldn’t help but laugh with him. “She does at that,” I agreed. I paused to gather my thoughts. “When did you find out about the prophecy?”
“A few months ago,” he admitted without hesitation.
“How did you feel about it?”
“I was shocked, naturally. We have never had a foreign queen,” he explained. “My people have always believed other races to be beneath them. We have always been the better warriors. I am still unsure how they will accept you.”
“Do you still believe others are beneath you?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Not after meeting you. You are every bit, if not more, worthy than a Norsewoman to be my queen.”
My insides quivered at the mention of me being his queen. It felt so real when he said it, and I had to admit that I liked the way it sounded. Part of me really wanted to be his queen, wanted to be his, but another part of me dreaded the idea of leaving my family. How could I possibly leave them? But that was the way of it, wasn’t it? Young girls grew up, were courted until one of their suitors met their father’s approval, and then they married and left the home to start their own families. It made sense, but it did not make it any easier.
“I did not expect to like you,” he said as his face grew serious. “I did not have any idea that I would be able to love you.”
My pulse picked up, even though he’d said the words before, it was still so new and I really liked hearing him say them. But then I considered exactly how he’d worded it and wasn’t sure if I should be offended.
“I just mean that I didn’t know what to expect. I had assumed that all princesses were spoiled brats, but you surprised me.”
A single brow rose on my forehead. “Spoiled?”
He shrugged sheepishly.
“I will admit that I have met my fair share of spoiled princesses. I, however, was not raised to take what we have for granted. I also know that wealth cannot make happiness. Happiness is something we choose, regardless of the circumstances in which we find ourselves. I cannot deny that I have had a tough time finding happiness over the past month as I have dealt with Cathal. In the beginning, I truly wanted to try and find the happiness in the situation, and I feel like I’ve failed at it. But then there was you and you became a bright spot in the darkness that had become my days. I can’t imagine how much worse this could have been had you not been here.”
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“Well, you fought against this bright spot pretty hard,” he said. His voice was full of frustration but not of anger.
“Could you blame me?” I asked. “I didn’t know how we could possibly have a relationship as a princess and a guard.”
“And what about now?” he asked.
“I still don’t know how it is going to work, not because I don’t want it to, but because we are both so very strong-willed.” I took a deep breath.
“But you love me?” he asked.
The bluntness of his question gave me pause. I had already told him I did. But then, just as I needed to hear the words from him again, perhaps he needed that every bit as much as I did. “I do,” I said with a small smile.
He scooted closer to me until I could feel his warm breath on my face. “I can’t walk away from you, Allete,” he said in a deep, sure voice. “Now that I’ve met you, and I see what an incredibly beautiful person you are, inside and out, I know that I do not want to face life without you. Bond or no bond, I am yours. I want you to marry me, as soon as we reach your new home. I want you to become my wife.”
He ran a finger across my lips and I found myself leaning into his touch. “We barely know one another.”
He chuckled. “You were on the way to the altar with a man you’d never even met, princess. I don’t think that is a fair argument.
True enough, I thought. “How will your clan feel about you taking a foreign bride?”
“Those who trust my mother will not question it. Those loyal to the jarl are on their way out of this life; they just don’t know it yet.”
“You’re going to kill them?” I asked with wide eyes.
He shook his head “I won’t have to. If Magnus moves when I think he will, your father and Cathal will take care of that problem for me. There was a time that my jarl was a great strategist, but his greed and madness have made him careless and impulsive. He is going to get himself and all those who follow him killed.”
“And you will be taking his place?”
Torben nodded “That is what the gods have decided for me. I don’t know exactly what it will look like or how I’m going to change things, but I do believe that you will play a huge part in it.”
“Me?” I asked as I pointed to myself. I didn’t see how I could possibly make any difference to the health of his clan.
“Yes, you. You are strong and humble. You are smart and innocent at the same time. You have great compassion and discipline. You are a mighty warrior, Allete.”
His words made me feel so much more special that I truly was. I wanted them to be true. I wanted to be this woman he saw, but all I felt like was a teenager on the cusp of adulthood, scared of facing the future and afraid of death.
Little Evan was brought to my mind as I thought about death and how all beings face it eventually—some sooner than others Evan was so very young and had his whole life in front of him. It angered me that there was someone out there who thought they had a right to take another’s life. “Was it a Viking that attacked Evan?” I asked him.
Torben nodded, and his lips tighten. “I heard the description Cook gave. It sounded like it was Magnus himself. That would surprise me. He isn’t usually one to wander too far from camp. He prefers to hold court in the center of his warriors, sending others to do his bidding. If it was Magnus, he could be growing even more unpredictable.
“Why would he attack a young, defenseless boy? Is he truly that evil?”
“Power will do things to a man. It will change him from the inside out. It twists him and makes who he once was become unrecognizable to those around him.”
I thought about his words and realized they applied to more than just Magnus. Cathal too had been corrupted by power. I didn’t know at what point in his life he had been changed, or if it had simply started at an early age because of an example set by his parents, but it was more than apparent that he lived for power. Sitting there with Torben, talking about the future I could have, I knew without a doubt that I could not settle for Cathal. There would be no way to find happiness in life with him.
“What are you thinking about?” Torben asked.
“That I need to go begin getting ready for this dreaded ball.”
His jaw clenched, and he nodded. “And don’t forget to pack. After the ball, we will speak with your father and mother and then we will be on our way.”
Home was the word he left unspoken at the end of that sentence. Although we were headed back to his home and for good reason, he was sensitive enough to understand the pain that I would feel leaving my own land.
“How are you holding up?” Dayna asked as she helped lace up the back of my dress. It was the dress Cathal had given me, with the alterations my mother and sisters and I had added. I was ready for the night to be over and it hadn’t even begun.
“I’m just ready to get this started so we can be done,” I admitted.
“There’s something else bothering you,” she prodded.
Yes, there was. I had yet to tell Dayna everything that was happening between Torben and I. I needed to, but I dreaded telling her I was leaving.
“You might as well tell me because I won’t leave you alone until you do.”
“You might want to sit down for this,” I finally said with a sigh.
She sat on the bed and I took the seat across from her. Dayna’s feet dangled from the side and she began to gently kick them, reminding me of how she used to do that very thing when she was much younger and much smaller. The years had flown by, and now I was leaving my home forever.
“After the ball tonight, I will be leaving with Torben,” I said and felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders. There was still so much to tell, but it was a start and that was what I had needed. From that moment on, everything poured out of me. I paused a few times to answer her questions, but Dayna listened quietly in rapt attention.
“That is all,” I finally finished over half an hour later.
“Well,” she said, straightening her dress as she stood from her perch on the bed. “I suppose I had better get Lidia to come help you finish getting ready. I need to go pack.”
My eyes widened. “What?”
She grinned at me. “You didn’t really think I was going to let you go on this grand adventure without me, did you?”
“What about Father and Mother? And your home here?”
“The kingdom isn’t going anywhere, Allete. We can always come back and visit. I was already determined to accompany you to Tara. This will be no different. Besides, Lizzy will still be here. That’s what middle children are for,” she winked. “The oldest goes off to do her duty for the family, the youngest rebels and does whatever she wants and the middle child picks up the slack.”
“You can’t come.” I tried being bossy instead of reasoning with her. Reasoning had never worked on Dayna.
She laughed. “I always find it adorable, sister, when you attempt to tell me what to do and then always seem surprised when I do not obey.”
I wanted to growl at her. “I’ll tell Mother to put Clay on you as your guard this evening.”
She waved me off as if it was a meaningless threat. “Clay refuses to come near me. The last time he was ordered to guard me, I told Cook he didn’t like her meatloaf. She wouldn’t let him eat her cooking for a month. He has learned not to mess with me.” She reached the door, and I realized I was out of time and out of threats. “And it’s not just you I need to keep an eye on. Don’t you remember what I told Brant? How can I make good on my threat to snip, snip if I’m not there to witness his indiscretions?
She waved her fingers at me and shut the door behind her. I wouldn’t lie, I was secretly ecstatic over the thought of having Dayna with me, but I also felt selfish. She couldn’t really understand what it was going to be like living so far away from our parents, in a strange, possibly hostile land. But, for some reason, Dayna had always felt it was her duty to protect me, as if she was the elder sister and I was
the younger.
Lidia entered a few minutes later and finished what Dayna had started. By the time the dreaded knock came, I was ready to chew off every finger nail I had and then start in on my toes.
When Lidia opened the door, I had to force my eyes to stay on Cathal and not seek out Torben. I could feel him there, tense and ready to pounce on anyone he perceived as a threat, namely Cathal.
“Good evening, my bride,” Cathal said in a deep, rich voice. “You look,” he paused and I could see him taking in the alterations we’d made. His jaw clenched, as did my own to keep from smiling. “You look stunning,” he finally finished.
“Thank you, my lord,” I curtseyed, but didn’t return the sentiment, no matter how true. Cathal was stunning, but he already knew it and did not need me to remind him.
As I took his offered arm and walked past Torben, I felt him brush his hand discretely against my side and took comfort in knowing he was right there with me and would be no matter what.
Watching my love walk beside a serpent masquerading as a king was like stabbing myself in the heart. I hated Allete being so close to him. I hated knowing that I’d have to keep even a little distance between us tonight, especially after the disturbing news I’d received earlier that day.
After I’d dropped Allete in her chambers, Amund had come to inform Brant and me that Magnus would be making a major move tonight. He and a large group of his men would be infiltrating the banquet dressed as English guards. I had no idea how Magnus expected to pull it off, but then, mad men sometimes seemed to be capable of things that normal men were not.
As we entered the grand ballroom, my eyes immediately began to scan my surroundings. I kept close to Allete, as close as Cathal would allow me without causing a scene. Brant was just as alert as me, but I didn’t miss the way his eyes continually drifted over to Dayna. He would be ensuring she was safe, and I would not fault him at all if he dropped his guard position to protect her if need be.