Enough violence and death. Enough pain and suffering. Enough misplaced allegiance. She had never seen so much brutality in one place. There was nothing for her husband to prove. She knew he loved her. He chose her over Lauga, killed Brian, and sought to avenge the deaths of his tenants. Randvior was no longer the soulless sinner in her eyes. His fierce loyalty astounded her. She had put all her faith in the right man. But now she wanted peace. Not for herself, but for the safety of her child.
Undeniably shaken, she knew unfinished business remained between her husband and his mother.
He spoke to the crowd again. “If there are others amongst us who wish to stand with my mother, do so now!” Randvior prowled. Searching and stopping—looking for signs of faithlessness on the faces of his tenants and guests. No one seemed safe at the moment.
Lauga stayed silent.
Aud and his men pushed the offenders toward the main doors. Women cried out and ran to Randvior. Four dropped to their knees in front of him, blocking his path.
“Favor us today kind master, spare our husbands. They were hypnotized by your mother’s promises of wealth and prestige if they served her well.”
“I am fresh out of mercy and tolerance. Let this serve as a severe warning.” He flushed with obvious displeasure. “Aud, do as I commanded.”
Guards removed the hysterical women from the room. Randvior headed for his seat, but checked on his father first. Anundr pointed at Noelle.This is it… he’ll find out I’m pregnant before I have a chance to tell him myself.With all the misery, she didn’t want to share this joyous news yet.
Raising his brows, Randvior asked, “Are you sick, Noelle?” He palmed her forehead. “You look thinner and pale.”
“She’s with child,” Unnr revealed without hesitation.
Noelle straightened. Her friend had spoken without batting an eyelash. Everyone within earshot waited breathlessly for the jarl to react. A private matter had just been made public. Noelle fisted her hands in bitter disappointment. She had envisioned a quiet evening curled up on his lap, with her head resting over his heart so she could feel it skip a beat when she told him. She wanted to seeandfeel his joy.
He stood dumbly in front of her and thumbed perspiration from the tip of her nose.
“Thank you for providing me with clarity of purpose.” Without another word or acknowledgement of her condition, he sat.
He raised his arms and the droning of voices subsided. “I am ready to rule on my mother’s case.”
Before he spoke again, Randvior stared at the ceiling. Her heart ached for him. No matter what he decided, Randvior knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that his mother was guilty. She couldn’t begin to imagine what it felt like to face the woman who gave birth to you in such grim circumstances.
“Because the Thing does not convene until late spring, I am entitled to act as judge. By my mother’s own pathetic admission, she plotted many times to kill my wife. And now she has deepened her culpability by striking out in front of everyone in this room. She has not denied the allegations linking her to the Christian rebel Olaf Haraldsson. Rarely have I seen a more corrupt person.”
He acted more the avenging angel than judge. Sitting so close to him, Noelle could feel the heat radiating from his powerful body. Although her child was little more than a flutter inside her womb, she had held out hope that Lauga would be a part of their lives someday, if only for the child’s sake.
However, it would never be…
Randvior pronounced her sentence in one word. “Banishment.”
As tragic as a death sentence. She’d fare better facing the hangman.Aud braced Lauga’s wilting frame against his body.
Randvior’s voice blared as loudly as a war horn. “You will no longer call me son, and I shall never again refer to you as my mother. You are without family or friends, and no longer have roots in these lands—no kinsmen will ever shelter you. Odin will blot the sight of you from his eyes.”
Noelle clutched her husband’s hand. He spread his feet wide, dropped her hand, and folded his hands behind his back, looking as impenetrable as a fortress. His threatening stance elicited murmurs from the crowd.
“You will never see the next generation of Sigurdssons grow and prosper. Be gone from me before I change my mind and have you hung beside your fellow traitors.”
Those were his final words. He turned his back on Lauga and so did every man, woman, and child in the room. Only Noelle faced her.So this is what it feels like to have your life erased.Despite Lauga’s horrendous crimes, Noelle’s heart ached for her.
“Why do you gawk at me girl?” Lauga hissed.
She sucked in a breath and held it before she could bring herself to answer.
“I pity you,” she said at last. Lauga’s eyes revealed the immeasurable depth of her hatred.
“I don’t need your pity, nor want it. I am free now.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Tidings
