He laughed. “So, you still believe that you are the one who controls?”
She said nothing. Then she leaned forward, splaying her hands wide on his chest. She kissed his mouth, then his chin, his throat, downward to his chest. She raised herself, felt him swelling within her again, and grinned as she came down on him very slowly. She raised herself again, then came down on him even more slowly.
Merrik’s eyes nearly crossed. He moaned. His hands tightened about her hips as it began again, only this time, after letting her do as she wished, he lifted her off him and came over her, to cover her and stroke her and kiss her until he was deep inside her once again, and he brought her again to pleasure. He held her, feeling the sweat on her soft flesh, the giving of her, and he managed to forget for a while longer that Helga had been there, watching.
Merrik sat with Otta and Rollo in the private chamber set apart from the great hall. He and Laren had dined with Rollo, then Rollo had sent Laren to await him in his chamber. Now Otta was to tell Merrik about the court of King Charles.
Merrik listened carefully to Otta as he said, anger lacing his voice now, “There are factions in the court, and I wonder still how the king controls them.”
“Wonder not, Otta,” Rollo said and laughed deeply. “The king acts stupid, it’s that simple. He looks blankly from one set of opinions to the other, and smiles and nods, as vacant as a longhouse at the night of the summer solstice. I thought you understood that.”
“I understand that he is stupid, but it is not a ruse, sire. Sometimes he is lucky, that is all, just lucky.”
Rollo stared at Otta, surprised that he dared to gainsay him, but then he only shook his head, looked bored, and rose. “I will leave you two together now. I wish to have Laren continue the story of the mighty Danish king, Gorm, and how he lost his life only to gain immortality as a god.”
Otta watched Rollo leave the chamber. He looked troubled. Merrik said nothing, but he wondered. Did Rollo really have no interest in this? Were his old man’s wits gone begging? Was it true what the man had said? Had Rollo hired him and his friend to kill Merrik?
No, he couldn’t, wouldn’t, believe it. It made no sense. And what about Fromm? An accident? Merrik doubted it. There were so many strange currents running here, emotions smothered then let loose, so many things he didn’t know, couldn’t begin to guess. He leaned back in the chair, his arms on the beautifully carved posts, and listened to Otta drone on about a king Merrik would never have a bit of interest in. He was no closer to discovering who had been responsible for Taby’s and Laren’s abduction. His wounded arm began to throb.
He slowly opened the thick narrow door to Helga’s tower room and looked inside. It was a strange chamber, octagonal in shape, strange scents lying strong in the still air. She was standing beside a long bench that held numerous pottery bowls and glass containers. She looked up and smiled at him.
“I have waited for you to come to me.”
“I have been told that you allow no man here in your tower chamber. However, I did not believe you would forbid me to enter.” He paused as she smiled more widely at him. “You looked at Laren and me. I do not like that. Why did you do it?”
She only shrugged, not at all alarmed by his show of male anger. “I never take a man before I know if he is sufficient to fulfill my needs. You are, Merrik Haraldsson, indeed you are.”
“Did you take men before Fromm was killed?”
“Fromm,” she said, and then repeated her dead husband’s name yet again and then a third time. “Fromm. We were wedded for many years. He wanted a child so badly, and I did as well, for I saw my son as Rollo’s heir after William. But my belly never swelled. Rollo and Fromm blamed my potions for it, but that isn’t true. Then, just when I gave up, I became with child. Poor Ferlain had just birthed the fifth of her eight dead babes. The gods know that I feared for my babe as well. He moved strongly within me, my beautiful son, but I held silent, not telling anyone. I was afraid to.”
“What happened?”
“The babe came from my body much too early. I was out collecting herbs and roots in the forest to the north of Rouen when the cramps began. There was so much blood. I never imagined there would be so much blood. I buried the little scrap of a babe there, in the depths of the forest.”
“Why do you tell me this, Helga?”
“I didn’t pay those men to kill you. I have always wanted to tell someone about it.” She looked away from him, staring into the distance, yet there was no distance, for the chamber was close with fall warmth and the smells of the potions held in the pottery bowls and basins. “It was after that I began to make potions that enhanced my beauty, that brought youth back to my flesh. I wish to take you as a lover, Merrik Haraldsson. You are strong, I admire your man’s body. Many men care not about a woman’s pleasure. You do, for I saw what you did to Laren, and she, ah, she didn’t even realize that what you do is different from most men. She doesn’t appreciate what you give her. I want you. What say you?”
“I cannot think of why I should agree. I am one of Rollo’s heirs. Surely it would be dangerous for me to betray my wife and Rollo’s favored niece by plowing your belly, as soft and white as it may be.”
“On the other hand,” Helga said very quietly as she set down a slender glass goblet on the bench top, “it is possible that I will give you more pleasure than a man dreams of, that I might even be able to tell you who was responsible for Laren’s abduction two years ago.”
Merrik looked at her for a very long time, saying finally, “I can take your white throat between my hands and squeeze until you tell me those who are responsible.”
“Aye, you could,” she said.
He walked slowly toward her. She smiled at him and pulled the high top of her gown away from her neck. “Come,” she said. “Kill me.”
24
“MY LORDMERRIK! Don’t,” Otta yelled from the doorway. “Don’t hurt her!”
Merrik merely smiled down at Helga, then slowly turned to face Rollo’s minister. “You move silently, Otta,” he said easily. “Perhaps you were waiting outside? For a signal? Perhaps you hoped to find me on top of her rather than my hands itching to close about her throat?”
“You mock me, Viking,” Otta said, and came into the room, his pace slow, for he wasn’t a fool, and he knew that a man like Merrik Haraldsson could erupt into violence in an instant of time. “I am not a spy. I did not know you were here with Helga. I merely wished to see her.”
“You see her,” Merrik said, smiling, a cruel smile that made Otta want to leave, and very quickly.
