“ ‘I will fetch him now. When I return with him, I will see to it that your daughters and their husbands receive the punishment due them.’
“ ‘Ninian is not dead?’
“The warrior shook his head, the gold helmet catching the light of the candle flame, brilliant and dazzling as the midday sun.
“ ‘But who are you? How do you know these things?’
“The Viking warrior said, ‘Rise and be ready to receive Ninian. You will deal with your daughters and their husbands. Beware of Helga. She called forth the demons to kill Ninian. She will try to kill you as well.’
“The king leapt out of the bed. He felt young and incredibly strong, his days of privation forgotten. He wanted to touch the Viking warrior, but even as he walked toward him, the warrior seemed to retreat from him, though the king knew he hadn’t moved. The air was still and warm and the warrior just seemed to grow dimmer until he was a veil spun of the finest silk, then he was naught but a brief shadow, then nothing at all.
“The king stood there, fear curdling in his belly. Then, because he was the king, indomitable and decisive, he yelled for his servants. After he had supped and drunk his fill, he returned to his vast chamber to await the return of Ninian and the Viking warrior.
“He had not long to wait. One moment he was alone, hopeful in his solitude, and the next, there stood Ninian, alone now, dirty as a village urchin and looking healthy as the day he left. His clothes were torn, his knees scraped, but he was smiling, by all the gods, he looked very well indeed. The king dropped to his knees and gathered the boy to him.
“It was a joyous reunion until the king realized Ninian was somehow different. He drew back, tracing his fingertips over his beloved face, and said, ‘Where have you been? What befell you?’
“ ‘I have visited the netherworld that lies beneath the desert sands far to the south and east of here. I stayed with the demon of the desert sands, an odd title, Father, but that is who he said he was. He told me that I would remain with him forever, that I would become his heir. I told him that I couldn’t remain with him, that I belonged here, with you, here with all our people, that I was needed.
“ ‘He would not listen to me. I told him that he had to return me or the Viking warrior would come and hurt him. He laughed, Father. He laughed loudly, then, suddenly, he choked. His face turned blue and he clutched his throat. Then, the Viking warrior was there and he was not laughing. He raised his hand and the choking stopped. He watched the demon regain his breath, then told the demon of the desert sands that even though he was his brother, what he had done was against all their rules. He told him that he had the agreement of all the higher demons and that he would be forced to remain buried in his netherworld for one hundred years as his punishment. The demon of the desert sands begged and pleaded with the Viking warrior, but he just stood there, shaking his head. He raised his sword and the demon cowered away from him and left us alone.
“ ‘Then the warrior held me against him and suddenly I was here, Father, with you.’
“After the king had visited with his son, he gave him over to the servants to bathe him and garb him well. Then he called for his daughters and their husbands. Helga and Ferlain believed they were being called to their father’s deathbed to receive his blessing. Imagine their consternation when they saw him, hale and strong, seated on his throne, garbed in his finest silks. Their husbands, Fromm and Cardle, stood back, not understanding why their wives looked pale and ill. They bowed to their father-in-law, bidding him good day. They remarked to him that he looked in excellent health, contrary to what they’d heard. They trusted he’d come to accept that Prince Ninian was dead.
“The king merely smiled at them and bade them seat themselves on a bench against the whitewashed wall of the huge chamber. Then he said, ‘Helga, come here.’
“She did, forcing herself to smile, but surely nothing was lost yet. So he looked healthy, so perhaps he was resigned to Ninian’s death. She would see to it that he sickened soon enough. She wondered if he had asked them here to announce that now because Ninian was gone from them, Fromm would be his heir. That made her smile in truth now as she approached her father.
“She bowed before him. ‘You look well, Father,’ she said.
“ ‘Aye,’ he said. ‘All of us look well.’
“ ‘We are all very sorry for Ninian’s disappearance, Father. We pray you are not too distraught.’
“ ‘Nay,’ the king said. ‘I am very well, as I told you.’
“ ‘Do you ask us here to proclaim that our husbands are now your heirs?’
“ ‘Oh no,’ the king said. ‘I bade you here to welcome back your brother.’ He called out and Ninian came from behind the thick crimson draperies behind the king’s throne.
“Helga shrieked. ‘It is a demon! A witch!’
“ ‘Nay,’ said the king. ‘It is you who are the demon and the witch, both you and your weak sister. As of this moment, you are no longer my daughters. Your husbands are no longer my sons-in-law. All of you are banished as of this day. Go and be damned, all of you!’
“Helga felt fury wash over her. She raised her arms to the sky and shrieked, ‘Demons, come to me now! Strike down the man and the child! Kill them!’
“But no demons appeared. The Viking warrior was there, standing suddenly before them, radiant and shimmering, as if the sun were shining behind him. Helga cried out and stepped back.
“The warrior raised his sword high, kissed its finely worked iron handle, then said, ‘What is due you, Helga? You are the evil one, Ferlain is only weak, her powers enhanced only by yours. As for you men, you wretched husbands, you are pitiful. What should I do with you?”’
Laren quieted and looked down at her feet. There was utter silence. She slowly raised her head and looked at Merrik. “If you were the Viking warrior, what would you do, Merrik?”
“I would kill Helga and banish the other three.”
Laren smiled. “Do you agree, Oleg?”
“Aye, spit the witch on his sword!”
