Brenna was shaken. She looked at Arno hopefully, but he quickly ignored her. He would offer her no help. He would leave quietly while his friend ravished her. She could not let it happen; she would not!
Some of her old spirit returned. She had fought Garrick, and with some degree of success. She would overcome this Cedric also. He would expect her to be his victim, not his opponent. She would have that element of surprise on her side.
She also had her dagger. For some reason, they had not taken it from her. Either they did not imagine she would use it on them, or they thought the hilt of the weapon that glittered on her hip was merely an ornament. Whatever the reason, she was grateful.
Arno moved about the room preparing food. After he set a large pot of soup to boil over the fire, he gathered blankets for Brenna’s bed. These he placed on a rug by the fire and motioning with his hand, indicated she would sleep there. Then he went outside to see to the horses.
Brenna walked slowly to her temporary bed. She felt sick to her stomach with apprehension. On the morrow she would either kill a man or suffer the consequences for trying. She did not look forward to the outcome, whatever it was to be.
The aroma of the soup was tempting. She had not eaten all day. But she was afraid to do so now for fear she could not keep the food down.
Brenna lay down on the fur rug. The rope about her wrists was annoying. She considered cutting it, but quickly decided against taking the chance. It would not do to lose her dagger just for her own comfort. Instead she unsheathed the weapon and placed it under the rug within easy reach. Before Arno returned, she was asleep.
As it turned out, the Viking called Cedric did not return the next day, or the day following that. In fact, Brenna was left alone with Arno for more than a week. Her endurance was tested to the limit those first few days. Every little noise she heard was Cedric returning, even the moaning of the wind.
To help her through those first days, she did not even have the hope that Garrick would find her, for it snowed the first night and for three days more. Now Garrick would not know that she had left no tracks to follow. He would never guess that she had been taken away by ship. He would curse the snow for covering her trail, but it would do her no good, for he would search north of the fjord and never come close to her.
Damn the snow! Damn Cedric and Arno! Damn the woman they spoke of who told them of her! Who was that woman? Did Cordella make good her threat? But Cordella could not speak to these men, nor would she know how to find them. The ugly scene with Morna came to mind.Shewas the only one who would attempt such foul play. But then there were those who felt they had scores to settle; Bayard, Gorm, even Hugh—and especially the Viking she had shamed in battle by wounding him. Any one of those men could have sent a woman to do their foul work in contacting Cedric and Arno.
The second day Arno took pity on her and removed the rope from her wrists. That night, after Brenna was sure he slept, she attempted to sneak away quietly. But he had cunningly left a trap for her just outside the door, a cart full of wood that she stumbled over in the dark. Before she could even get up, he was there, dragging her back into the house. She cursed him in her own tongue, and fought him with all her strength. In the end he subdued her, and after that he kept her tied at night, this time to the iron bar over the round fireplace in the center of the room, so that she could not reach her dagger if she needed it. At least he let her go during the day.
After a week passed, Arno also became impatient. He fretted and grumbled to himself, and this caused Brenna to relax somewhat. Perhaps something had happened to Cedric and he would not return at all. Arno had already shown that he did not want to bring Brenna here, any more than she wanted to be here. Mayhaps he would let her go.
After nine days passed, with still no sign of Cedric, Brenna finally broke down and spoke to Arno. She had nothing to lose now, for since there was no one there for him to speak to, she had no chance of overhearing something useful.
He was preparing bread for their morning meal and quite edgy when Brenna approached him.
“Your friend seems to have forgotten we are here,” she began, gaining his startled attention. “How long will you keep me here?”
“You speak my language well.”
“As well as you,” she replied.
“I was told you were here but a short while. You must have had a good teacher to have grasped a new tongue so quickly. Was it your master?”
“He taught me many things,” she remarked evenly and came closer. “One of which is you cannot keep what you take from another in this land, not without paying dearly for it.”
Her warning struck home and Arno jumped up from the table nervously, as if Garrick was already there to collect her. “Young Haardrad will never know you were brought here!”
“He will in time,” Brenna reasoned hopefully. “He knows the land well and will search every inch of it. And when he does not find me there, he will at last look this way.”
“Nay, he will give up before then.”
“You think so, Viking? What you did not take into account is that I love Garrick Haardrad, and he loves me.” She said the half-truth with conviction. “’Tis love that binds us, and love that will conquer all obstacles.”
Arno sat down and stared hard at her, making her uneasy. “Mayhaps, wench. But ’tis out of my hands. I am only keeping you here for another.”
“You helped to bring me here!” she accused him with a pointed finger. “You stop me from leaving. You are just as responsible as your friend.”
“Cease your prattling, woman!” he stormed. “I liked you better before you found your tongue.”
“You know I speak the truth. Garrick will not forgive this slight unless you release me now.”
“’Tis not my decision to make. Save your arguments for Cedric. You are his now.”
“I will die before I am his!” Brenna spat, thoroughly repulsed, then she lowered her voice. “Cedric is not here now. You can let me go before he returns.”
“He is my friend, wench, the only one I have,” he replied. “I may not agree with what he does, but he has my loyalty nonetheless.”
