“What’s the Stone of Destiny?” Chessa asked.
Brodan’s voice dropped to a whisper. “It looks like a simple slab of sandstone, but it was the pillow on which Jacob, the son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham, had his dream about the angels and the stairway to heaven.”
“You’ve become a Christian, Brodan?” she said, not recognizing these names, but hearing the awe in her brother’s voice.
“Aye, Chessa. I’ve told Father that I want to live on Iona and practice the old ways.”
“Oh,” she said. He was only eight years old and he believed he’d already found what he was meant to do? He’d always been a serious child, older than his years, but he’d loved fishing with her. She remembered theglaileyfish they’d caught that had been served that one night at the evening meal to Cleve in Dublin. “Father is all right, Brodan?”
“Aye, he is the same. Mother had another boy. I told father that with four other sons, he didn’t need me. He said he would consult the stars. He told me later that the signs were good, that I would be safe.”
“Ever the sorcerer,” Cleve said. He looked up to see Cullic, King Sitric’s personal bodyguard, stride forward to stand beside Brodan. He still had the coldest eyes Cleve had ever seen and his skin was even darker after their journey from Dublin. Cullic gently placed his hand on Brodan’s shoulder, saying, “We will remain here for three days, then the prince wishes to journey to St. Andrews. We have been told that a new abbey has been founded. The bishop there will become the leading man in the Scottish Church.”
“Aye,” Brodan said. “Iona is the old and the abbey of St. Andrews is the new. I wish to worship at both.” He seemed to struggle with himself for a moment, then blurted out, “I have heard also that the monster in Loch Ness was seen by Saint Columba. Surely it can’t be evil, not if that great man saw it. Have you seen it, Chessa?”
“Aye, I did, just once. It has a very long neck and a small head. It appeared, then quickly sank beneath the water again. Kiri has seen the monster many times. She says it isn’t a monster, but rather a mother with children.”
“Kiri?”
“Cleve’s daughter. Ah, here she is. Kiri, sweeting, come and meet my brother, Brodan, from Ireland. He wants to know all about Caldon.”
The eight-year-old stared down at the small girl and looked immeasurably depressed. “You’re telling me that this little girl has seen the creature?”
“Her name is Caldon,” Kiri said.
Brodan sighed. “How can this be possible? How can this be just? Little girls have imaginations that bubble over like stew pots.”
“Trust me, Brodan. Not this little girl. Now, brother, come into our new farmstead and bring your men with you. We will prepare a feast that will even make Cullic belch.”
The Spaniard didn’t smile, but he nodded, then turned about to give instructions to his men.
A light drizzle fell, graying the air, a soft sweet sound against the roof of the longhouse, bringing the mist to hover over the hills and sink slowly down to sit upon the dark waters of the loch. Chessa loved the rain for it stopped as suddenly as it began, bringing forth the sun to shine down upon the lush green. She left the front oak door open so that smoke from the fire pit could escape. The small hole in the roof never allowed enough smoke out at any one time. At least here in Scotland, they didn’t have to worry about freezing.
Not an hour later the drizzle stopped and the sun shone over the loch. Chessa left the longhouse for the privy. She patted the small curve of her belly. “Will I make even more trips to the privy for you when it is winter and cold and snow is blowing off the loch? Does that ever happen? I wonder.”
She was humming softly to herself when she left the privy and walked to the barn where Varrick had sent hay to feed the animals for the winter. It was dark inside and smelled of cow and goat, of closely packed grain and men’s sweat. When the hand came over her mouth and her arms were pinned to her sides, she froze, her first thought: Varrick.
But it wasn’t Varrick. “Don’t move, Chessa. I don’t want to hurt you.”
27
“KEREK,” SHE SAIDthrough his fingers. “I’ve missed you.” He loosened his grip and slowly turned her to face him.
“Aye,” he said, looking down into her face, “I have missed you as well. You’re more beautiful than I’d remembered, Chessa, but you look tired. You’ve had to work too hard. You need more slaves, more families. The farmstead looks sturdy, I doubt outlaws will attack it. I’ve watched you now for three days, waiting to find you alone. There are always so many people about.”
“What do you want, Kerek? Why are you hiding like a thief? This is our new home. Cleve calls it Karelia. We’ve all worked very hard, aye, that’s true enough, but it’s worth the work, for it’s our home. Why didn’t you just come and greet us like a friend?”
He sighed. “I wanted to but I couldn’t. I don’t want this, Chessa, truly, but Turella believes it the only way. She sent me. Ragnor is now king. Olric died from a piece of meat one of his concubines hadn’t chewed well enough. He choked to death with many looking on. It is said that Ragnor tossed a bone in the air once his father had fallen face forward into his plate and said that he wanted his father’s concubines and now they would chew his food.
“He plans to attack Hawkfell Island and take Utta. You might believe this is his boy’s bragging, but I know it isn’t. He will do it. He won’t listen to Turella. He blames his mother for Isla disappearing, and since he doesn’t know where she is, he claims his mother killed her. Thus, he says he will settle for Utta after he’s taken Hawkfell Island. He was mistreated there, he yells to all, thrown into the water to drown, given no respect as the prince of the Danelaw. Now that he’s the king, he will show them. He will kill all of them or make them slaves. He does mean it, Chessa.
“You’ll not credit this but he truly mourns Isla. He talks about her breasts, surely, for he is a man, but he liked the way she treated him, so easily, and yet with the respect due him as the prince of the Danelaw. He liked her eye patch more than anything else, I think. He wanted to remove it to see what was underneath.”
“If he had he would have seen Cleve’s golden eye.”
“Neither Turella nor I told him this woman he desired above all others was really Cleve, come to York to rescue you. Thus, Princess, we are back to you. You are the only one he ever heeded. He fears you, aye, don’t interrupt me, you know it’s true. He would never admit to it, but he does fear you in a strange way that I don’t understand. Turella believes you would hold sway over him where she no longer can. You must come back to York with me. You must take him in hand. You must control him.”
“No, never. He would kill me, Kerek. I would never have control over him. It’s nonsense, all of it. Please, you must stop this now.”
