“Now, Kenneth will tell us about his conversation with the king and Malcolm concerning Elspeth and any other dealings he has had resulting in lining his pockets of late.”
“I will tell you nothing,” Kenneth said.
“You will tell us of your links to Athelstan,” Giric said. “We know you have been meeting in York.”
“How do you know that?” Kenneth asked.
“Because we had you followed,” Giric said.
“You didn’t think to tell me that?” Magnus asked. “I thought the alliance you struck with my brother extended to me.”
Magnus grew more irritated by the minute. They were supposed to be aligned to push Athelstan back if and when he attacked, but it appeared the Scots were not willing to share information that could determine the ultimate outcome.
“You were preoccupied with protecting Elspeth at the time and we didn’t think you needed to know.”
Magnus nodded. He saw everything clearly now. The Scots only wanted the Viking strength of arms, not their insight into strategy in battle. They did not view this as an equal partnership.
“What’s done is done,” Giric said. “We must work together now more than ever. Kenneth you must tell us everything.”
“I do not need to tell you anything,” he said. “And there’s nothing you can do to me to make that happen.” Kenneth grabbed a goblet and a pitcher, sat in a large chair by the hearth and poured himself a drink.
Magnus had had enough of all of them. He strode over to Kenneth, knocked the goblet out of his hands and raised him to his feet by his tunic.
“You will tell me everything that has to do with Elspeth and any arrangement you presumed to arrange for my wife.”
“My sister first!” Kenneth tried to pry Magnus’ hands loose but he lacked the strength. The man was weak in more ways than one.
Magnus shook him hard enough his teeth rattled.
“All right I will tell you,” he said. “I promised the king that if he arranged for Elspeth to marry Malcolm, I would spy for him, but it would cost extra because of the dangerous roads in and around York.”
“How much did he pay you?”
“Five thousand marks,” Kenneth said.
“And where is the money now?”
“Mostly gone.”
“Gone?” Osgar asked. “Christ’s teeth how could you spend so much money so fast?”
“Because he was paying it to someone he owed,” Magnus said. He understood desperation when he saw it and there was only one thing that could make a man so desperate as to make such stupid decisions as this man.
“How can you owe anyone money?” Osgar asked.
“It is a long story,” Kenneth said.
Magnus didn’t want to hear it, but released the man as he told his tale of trying to always live up to his family name and his perfect older brother. Magnus could somewhat relate, but he would never resort to jeopardizing his sister’s safety. His judgement might have lapsed on one or two occasions when he’d taken more than was agreed upon when raiding, but that was different. And he would fully expect to have to pay back anything that was deemed excessive by his brother the chieftain.
This was different.
Kenneth didn’t care who he hurt in the process as long as his personal gain was satisfied in the process. In any case, he’d heard enough. As he turned to go, Giric caught up to him.
“You and I will talk later of our plans for Athelstan.”
“No we will not. I go to speak with my wife and we will leave here at first rise on the morrow. When I share what I have learned with Gunnar, I suspect you will have some explaining to do to him. Remember, Giric, you approached us for an alliance. If you wanted mercenaries, you could have gone anywhere else. Rather, you entrenched yourself into our family and now you presume to pick and choose our involvement.”
“That’s not how it is. Your family is as much mine as possible. For God sake, your sister is my wife.”
