“We—”
“Silence!” Mildred slapped her hard, something she did when she was enraged. “You are going to regret what you did. Walstan! Get in here!”
The huge man stumbled into the room, looking even more witless than usual, quite an achievement. Had he been drinking? “What?”
“Take her to her friend, make sure to tie her up as well. We’ll decide what to do with them in the morning.”
The man didn’t move. Instead, he scratched his head and asked. “Is the Norseman dead then?”
Mildred nodded her answer. She hadn’t even looked at him once, her attention was wholly focused on the arm ring in her hand.
A smile bloomed on the man’s face. “Excellent. You did say I could fuck Judith once we were sure the Norseman was dead, didn’t you?”
“Oh, yes, I did.” The crude question had barely raised a reaction. “Well, go ahead if you’re still interested. Once you’ve chained Ylva to the wall, you can do what you want with Judith. I know how obsessed you’ve been with her so it might shut you up at last.”
Bile rose in Ylva’s throat. Had she heard that right? Was Mildred really saying Walstan was welcome to rape Judith?
“Wait,” she said, just as the man threw her over his shoulder. “You can’t?—”
A sharp slap to the buttocks silenced her. “Hush. I’m not going to do anything to you. It’s Judith I want. I like my women looking like proper Saxons, not Norse scum.”
“No! You can’t?—”
“Enough! Or I’m going to have to stun you. Is that what you want?”
Ylva didn’t stop struggling. How could he think she would just accept what he was about to do? Of course, she would fight, of course, she would do what she could to stop him and help her friend.
“Very well. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Walstan put her down roughly, and slammed his fist on the side of her face.
Ylva fell to the floor in a heap. From somewhere in the corner of the room, Judith screamed. As darkness started to swallowed her, a terrible thought invaded Ylva’s mind. She had failed, after all.
Once a slave, always a slave.
4
Sitting on his stallion Devil, Wolf the Icelander cut a mighty figure.
Ulf straightened his back, feeling honored to be riding next to him. He had always aspired to be like his respected grandfather when he grew up. Now that he was indeed a man, he hoped to make him proud. With luck, today would be a step in the right direction. Because today he would do what the man riding next to him had done all those years ago, and free a woman from a life of abject servitude. In fact, he would save two of them.
Ylva and Judith.
Behind them were his uncles, Sven and Torsten, on their horses Gulltoppr and Ghost. His father, being supposedly dead, had, of course, stayed hidden in the village.
There had been an uncomfortable moment when he’d been told his son had been attacked. At first, he had been too enraged to listen to them and had demanded to see the wound for himself. But, little by little, soothed by his wife, he had calmed down and accepted that Ylva had done the only thing she could have done.
As they entered the town via the south gate, the four men nodded at one another. It was time to play the role of the irate, grief-stricken family in case someone was watching out for their arrival. Ulf did not find it difficult to assume the tense demeanor that would make anyone think he had suffered a heavy loss.
Because, how would he feel if he had really lost his father? It could all too easily have happened. Had Mildred been more astute and decided to send someone other than poor Ylva, who did not have an aggressive bone in her body, to exact her revenge on her enemy, he might have lost him, or one of his uncles, or his brother, Rothgar. He might have died himself. He was only alive today because the vile woman had made the mistake of sending the wrong person to kill him.
Had Ylva been stronger or more determined, a ruthless killer without a conscience like this Walstan apparently was, he would not have gotten away with just a cut. Ulf winced as a sudden jolt from his horse caused him to feel the sting of the fresh wound.
Yes, as painful as the cut was, he’d been lucky.
The reeve’s house was soon in view. As soon as they’d passed through the door, the four men relaxed into a more normal attitude. The reeve, who had done nothing wrong, didn’t need to see their scowling faces.
“Wolf.” Elstan seemed pleased to see his friend and shook his hand. “What can I do for you?”
“We need your help.”
