Her stomach churned with bitter gall as she realised why Oddmund had come back alone. It wasn’t solely to warn her of Agnar’s attack, it was to take Astra from her. Then, with Astra under Sven’s control, it wouldn’t matter if Skadi lived or died against Agnar, he would have had a claim to her throne that even the petty Kings could not dispute.
Oddmund’s reply only confirmed her fears. He grumbled bad-temperedly, with a bloody cloth pressed to his nose. ‘I came as quickly as I could! I told you Agnar would be quick to take the island! Curse that little bitch, I think she broke my nose!’
Skadi vowed to do more than break Oddmund’s nose when she got a hold of him.
Agnar had been right about Sven and Oddmund. The sickening realisation that she’d been fooled yet again by a man she trusted was enough to make her want to howl at the moon.
Was any man honourable?
Was Agnar?
Sven threw his horn at Oddmund, who was able to lean out of the way before it struck him. ‘Insolence! Agnar is making greater defences and lookouts every day. Any longer and I would have been forced to leave empty handed. It shouldn’t have taken you this long to grab a little girl! And I would not have had to come at all, if you and Heimdall had obeyed me from the start! Do you have any idea how difficult it was to get here? To find this damn beach for a start and then climb up this ridge in preparation to meet with you?’
Oddmund gave a scornful snarl. ‘I could hardly leave Thrudheim with the struggling Princess over my shoulder! I had to wait for the right opportunity!’
‘We make our own opportunities!’ snapped Sven. ‘I have been building towards this moment for nearly twenty years. I won’t let Agnar snatch it away from me now!’ He took a deep breath. ‘But I suppose they’ll be too busy searching the mountain to find us easily. The tide is coming in—soon our boats will be lifted and ready to set sail.’
Skadi would never understand the self-assurance and arrogance of some men. But at least it had worked to their advantage. Sven had no idea Oddmund had been followed and Oddmund was still unaware of Astra’s guidance in helping them find her. Which was a good thing, because she was safer that way. As they approached, she noticed a small shadow that she’d presumed was a boulder shift slightly.
Leaning forward, she managed to see the bundle more clearly. Astra was wrapped in her cloak, with her hands and feet tied. Skadi couldn’t see much of her face because of the hood of her cloak, but one of her braids was visible. The hair tie was missing and the white-blonde braid was beginning to unravel.
She’s alive!She fought to stop herself from running to her. She glanced towards Agnar, who nodded with understanding when she pointed out Astra.
Agnar gestured to Vali and the other warrior to move around from the right. Skadi motioned to Brenna to join her on the left and Agnar headed a few feet forward, then stopped and waited for them to get into position.
Despite Sven having captured Astra, he still didn’t seem pleased with the situation. He glanced over the cliff edge and gave a bad-tempered huff. ‘Let’s go.’
‘Do you think this will work? Agnar might be grateful to lose the girl,’ said Oddmund thoughtfully and Skadi flinched.
Sven gave a loud snort. ‘It would not serve him to lose her, not yet at least. He has proclaimed to all that she is his heir. To deny it now will only show the petty Kings and Skadi that he cannot be trusted. This little Princess is the key to Thrudheim. With her in my possession I can claim I rescued her from Agnar—that he threatened her safety. Combined with a sea blockade and no delivery of grain, Thrudheim will fall quickly. Mark my words, this island will officially be under my command by spring. The Queen will be opening her gates, just as easily as she opened her legs for thatUsurper, you’ll see! Now let’s move!’
Oddmund nodded. ‘Someone strap the Princess to me. She wriggles and fights like a demon and I can’t have her doing that while I climb… Or we really will be here until dawn!’
Panic quickened Skadi’s steps and she hurried towards Astra, Brenna crawling close behind her.
There was a snap of a branch to their right, and the group of men stopped suddenly and stared into the trees opposite. ‘What was that?’ hissed Sven.
Skadi and Brenna had now made it within a few feet of Astra. They stilled and hunched low as Sven barrelled over to the campfire. He raised a lit torch from it and they huddled low in the undergrowth.
Thankfully, Sven didn’t see them and he strode away to peer into the forest. Skadi wasn’t sure if the snapped twig had been deliberate, but it had pulled the men away from them for a moment. She and Brenna pushed forward until they were just behind Astra, hidden behind a huge rock.
‘Astra, it’s Moma,’ she whispered, but there was no reaction. Skadi reached out from behind the boulder with one hand. She was almost able to touch the cloth of Astra’s cloak, but had to jump back when the light came sweeping back towards them.
‘There’s nothing there!’ grumbled Oddmund. ‘It’s unlikely they will find us. The Queen and her servant were too busy behaving like eager lightskirts to notice the Princess was missing! They’ll think I’ve fallen down some ravine somewhere. The Queen is too arrogant and stupid to imagine I would ever betray her.’ Oddmund pulled Astra up and it was then Skadi noticed there was a gag around her mouth. ‘Tie her securely.’
Rage filled her and she tasted iron in her mouth.
Meanwhile, half of Sven’s men were beginning to climb down the cliff. The first one pulled on the rope tightly to check the tree it was wrapped around was secure. Skadi watched as slowly the group of warriors reduced to a more sizeable number and Astra was tied to Oddmund.
Her hand flexed around her sword and she prepared herself for battle. She glanced back at Brenna who gave her a pained look, but was ready with a small rock and knife in hand. Skadi absently realised that Brenna also felt guilty about Astra’s kidnapping…had she been with Vali? The thought surprised her, but how had she been any better? Besides, Astra washerdaughter, her responsibility.
She understood why they had to wait to narrow the odds in their favour. The more men that went down, the fewer men between them and Astra. But Astra was now securely tied to Oddmund’s back and was approaching the cliff edge.
She had to act now, or risk losing her daughter for ever.
Just as she was about to stand, she heard the soft wet thud of an axe splitting flesh and bone. A warrior on the outskirts of the camp dropped backwards, Agnar’s little axe protruding from his head. It was the only war cry they needed and each of them burst out of the darkness as Sven, Oddmund and their remaining men drew their weapons.
Skadi sprinted forward, her sole focus on reaching Oddmund, who had immediately placed himself in the centre of the group and was unfortunately the closest to the rope.
