“I see.”
He drew a deep breath. “Ingunn must be wedded. She cannot remain at Malek.”
Helgi remained silent in her surprise.
He looked at his mother, and felt her love flow through him. Unquestioned love, he thought. There was nothing he could do, nothing he could ever say, that would change that. He gave it up without a whimper and told her what had happened.
“... Zarabeth is now lying on my bed, on her belly, her back raw from Ingunn’s whip. My house is a battlefield. Ingunn must go. She has changed, somehow. But perhaps you have already seen some of it. She loses control; she speaks rashly, without restraint. You must bring her here until Father finds a husband for her, since he has dismissed Orm’s claim.”
Helgi looked clearly at her son and nodded slowly. “Aye, I have seen it, but she is your sister. Why have Ingunn leave Malek? She is your sister, after all, and has seen to your household for five years now. Why not bring Zarabeth here? She will be a slave here for me. I will even buy her from you so that she would never be your responsibility again. That would bring you peace again, would it not?”
He stiffened and Helgi smiled into the distance, knowing this would be his reaction. “Very well, Magnus, you want the woman with you. You love her. Despite all she has done, you love her.”
He said slowly, his brow furrowed, “I truly do not know if she poisoned her husband, Olav. I would have sworn that she could not have done it. There is a gentleness about her, you see, a caring that would make such a deed alien to her nature.” He shrugged. “But Olav’s son and his wife... they swore and swore, and there were others as well.”
“Possibly paid by the son. Did he not gain all the dead father’s wealth once Zarabeth was removed?”
“Aye, ’tis true. The son, Keith, is weak, and his wife is a bitch. But I do not care now, not really. Even that man in Hedeby, the one she tried to entice into helping her escape, he—”
“What?”
He repeated himself. His mother looked thoughtful.
“I cannot imagine wanting to escape a known entity with one that is entirely unknown. You said the man was a coward and ran when he realized you were her master?”
He nodded.
“Then why would she want to entice him? Zarabeth is a fool? She did not realize he was a coward?”
“She is not a fool.”
“Good. It seems to me, Magnus, that the man blamed her so you wouldn’t kill him.” Helgi smiled up at her son. “You will keep the woman with you. I will speak to your father this very evening about Ingunn. ’Tis a pity about Orm, but your father reviles him now and holds him in distrust. He would never consent to his having Ingunn.”
“I had heard that he was set upon by outlaws.”
“Nay, ’twas he who killed another man, a freeman, a man of worth. He wanted the man’s silver and he took it. There is no doubt. If Orm’s family were not so powerful, there would be retribution, but alas, there will not be any.”
“Why not? Cannot the man’s family bring it to light at the next meeting of thething? Were there sufficient proof, the least the family could have would be danegeld for a man’s life.” He laughed then, a bitter laugh. “I paid much for Olav’s life, I can tell you. ’Twas nearly as much as I was prepared to pay for Zarabeth’s brideprice.”
He heard his mother draw in her breath and cursed his loose tongue, but it had always been so with his mother. He spoke freely with her and the habit was too strong to break just because he was beset.
“You knew I had planned to marry her, for Horkel told you, curse his eyes. But she refused me. I returned to take her and found that she was about to be killed for murdering Olav, her old husband.”
“I wish to speak with the woman. May I, Magnus?”
He gave her a look that was so wary that she hugged him to her again. “You really cannot continue like this, you know. Ingunn is jealous of her and will continue to be. Mayhap she would truly harm her. I would not trust her.”
“She is a slave! There is no reason for Ingunn to hate her.”
Helgi, ignoring his words, repeated what she had said: “Mayhap Ingunn would truly harm her. I would not trust her.”
“I threatened Ingunn if she dared touch Zarabeth or Lotti again.”
Helgi smiled at his simplicity. “Your life will continue in unpleasantness until you have resolved everything. Ingunn will not ease her hatred of the woman. I will speak to you again after your father has come to a decision. Take care, Magnus, and strive to be fair.”
He nodded and took his leave. An hour later he had returned to his own farmstead. He entered the longhouse and immediately made his way back to his chamber.
The small room was empty. He felt his belly twist, turned around, and bellowed, “Ingunn! Where is she?”
