“No, once I have dressed and eaten will be time enough,” Tormod replied. “Let him start to truly fear us before we question him.”
“Or it may give him a chance to escape,” Ulf retorted.
Tormod stared at his cousin for a long moment. Ulf’s gaze did not waver, and Tormod knew he had every right to doubt his judgment, but as jarl, Tormod could not let such doubt stand unchallenged. “Surely he will only escape if Björn has failed in his duty to chain him.”
“I can assure you he is well secured,” Björn said.
“We need to keep our heads clear and discover exactly what is going on. If Cadell has broken the terms of our alliance—then we shall respond in kind
Ulf held Tormod’s gaze for a minute longer, then nodded. “Very well.”
As he passed Ulf, however, his cousin put a hand on his shoulder, halting him.
“Did we not already hear enough? Lord Cadell has deceived us. His daughter is worthless. He doesn’t care if she lives or dies. Her presence here does not protect us.”
Tormod didn’t look at Ulf. He clenched his fists, struggling to stop himself from lashing out at his cousin, making him withdraw his words. But he couldn’t. Ulf was right. In one way.
Tormod turned to Ulf and met his gaze full on. “My wife is not worthless.” He realised as he spoke the words that he truly believed them.
“Your wife…” Ulf left the words hanging for a moment, then dropped his hand from Tormod’s shoulder. “Let us pray to the gods that you are right.”
Tormod closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, trying to calm the red rage that had descended over him at Ulf’s words. Hetried to persuade himself that his cousin’s words had not affected him as much as they had. And pushed away the thought that what he felt for Aoife went beyond mere convenience. He couldn’t love Aoife. He wouldn’t allow it. It was safer for everyone if he didn’t.
Tormod opened his eyes and looked around at the small groups of warriors and villagers who were still discussing the battle’s aftermath. All of them were armed, and Tormod sensed from many of them the dejection that the battle had not even reached them. The Britons had not made it past their first line of defence. Still, if this were a sign of what was to come, then it would not be long before the whole village was needed. By then, he needed to ensure that Aoife was seen as one of them, not as Cadell’s daughter. If Aoife carried his child, their jarl’s child, then she would be protected. At least working on that issue would not be a hardship.
“Ulf!” Tormod wasn’t sure what to say. He rubbed a hand down his face. “You are right. We need to rethink our alliance with Lord Cadell.”
Ulf’s face held an equal mix of triumph and relief. “We have been fooled by Cadell. We need to plan our next move.”
A chill ran through Tormod’s veins. He knew his cousin had tried to take the edge off his criticism by saying ‘we’, when Tormod knew fine well that this was his fault. He had been fooled. And not for the first time.
“We need to decide what we do with the prisoner and…” Ulf broke off, holding Tormod’s gaze.
“And my wife?” Tormod was torn between knowing that his cousin was right, and hating him for it. “My wife is innocent.”
There was a lengthy pause before Ulf said, “You are sure?”
“Yes.”
It was enough. It had to be enough. If Ulf was going to challenge him on this, then better that he should know now. He was relieved when his cousin nodded.
Tormod took a deep breath, remembering Elisedd’s stories about life at Car Cadell and Aoife’s sense that her father himself, might be in danger. “But if Lord Cadell needs our help, then we must also honour that,” said Tormod. “I believe that may be why the maid sent her son here, sent Elisedd here. After all, who would send a child into an enemy camp unless what is at home is something far, far worse?”
Ulf frowned, but seemed to be seriously considering Tormod’s words. “We have many questions to ask the prisoner. But Tormod, you need to deal with the prisoner in a way that reassures our people. Keep your wife away from theThing.”
“These men came to kill all of us. My wife included.”
Silence. He couldn’t tell whether Ulf believed him or not.
“I don’t think we’ll ever convince some of the villagers of that,” Ulf said. That, at least, was one less thing to worry about. “Not unless you can get the prisoner to admit it. And then…” Ulf ran a finger across his throat.
Then the prisoner would be guilty of trying to murder the wife of a jarl and Tormod would have to have him executed. In one way, he had no objections. In another… He wondered how his wife would react. They had already killed five of her countrymen last night. Those countrymen who had attacked their village had done so with the intention of killing Aoife as well as the Norsemen. If things had gone differently, they might well have succeeded. He knew she had heard the men in the boat. She knew they had been ready to kill her themselves, but their prisoner was the one man who had queried that order. Killing him would achieve little.
Ulf marched off before Tormod could reply.
“Ulf is right,” Björn said. “There are many who are worried.”
“Worried?” Tormod bristled. Their suspicion of his wife was unwarranted, but not everyone would see it that way.
