Page 32

17

The words rang around the hall. Sigrid was shocked by the proposal, but she didn’t find it unwelcome. However, the man who held the power here was Ivar. He held Astrid’s life in his hand, and Sigrid was afraid of even moving in case he should order the girl’s death, but more than anything, she wanted him to accept this proposal and put an end to the horror. It would have been so much easier, and of course, Ivar was never going to do anything that might benefit her. He leaned forward.

“No,” he spat in a hissed whisper, and the rest of his clan laughed and laughed, except Astrid, who was on the verge of tears.

“Erik belongs to you, and Sigrid belongs to me. That is the way of things. She is coming back to me, back to her home. I will give you peace, Ragnar, but you must give me Sigrid,” Ivar said.

“No!” Sigrid yelled in such a high pitch that it was almost a scream. “I will never go back to you! That is not my home, and you are not my father. You destroyed my home. You killed my parents. I am never going back there. It took me everything I had to get away from you, you murderer.”

She was about ready to go mad, and what made it worse was that Ivar just sat there with his stupid, dull grin on his face, as though nothing could ever hurt him. “I have been called many things over the years, Sigrid, and most of them have been true. But there is something that I haven’t told you, something that might make you see things a little differently,” he said.

“There’s nothing you can tell me, Ivar. Nothing!”

“Oh really? Not even that I’m not the man who killed your parents?”

Sigrid furrowed her brow and tilted her head to stare at him. Was this another one of his tricks? “What do you speak of? What manner of lie is this now?” she asked.

“It’s not a lie, Sigrid. I let you believe the lie all this time because it gave you fire and added to your anger. It made you strong. Besides, I knew you would never believe me. But it’s true. I was not the only Viking there that day, and it just so happens that the actual killer of your father is in this very room,” he said, and then his gaze slowly drifted toward Ragnar.

“Isn’t that right, Ragnar?” Ivar said in a cruel, cold tone. “You see, there was a time when Ragnar and I fought side by side before we went our separate ways. Oh, he was a fierce warrior, and there was never a man who could defeat him in battle. We caused havoc on the seas, didn’t we? Do you remember that time when we limped home after a fierce battle and stopped at that village for some rest? They were suspicious, and before we could do anything, they attacked us. You were blessed by the gods that day. They gave you more strength than I had ever seen before, and we left that village smoldering. You returned to your clan, I returned to mine, but not before I found Sigrid here and some of the other children.”

“No!” Sigrid cried. “You lie. You…lie.” She turned to Erik, who wore an impassive look, and then she looked at Ragnar, whose gaze was locked with Ivar.

“Leave us,” he said. When nobody moved, he yelled again, and everyone aside from Sigrid and Erik left the tent. Ivar wore a smug look, and Sigrid hated him more than ever, but could what he said be true? Could everything she had ever believed been a lie?

It was all too much to face, and she turned away from Ragnar, starting toward the doorway herself to leave with the others. Erik caught up with her, though.

“Did you know about this?” Sigrid asked.

“I did not. I don’t even know if Ivar is telling the truth. Don’t leave. Stay and listen to my father.”

“Why should I?”

“Because if you don’t, then you’re never going to learn the truth about what happened, and Ivar is just going to take you back home with him. Please, stay with me. I want to know what happened as well,” he said, turning back to his father. Sigrid sniffed back her tears and nodded. She gnawed on her lower lip and braced herself for the truth, turning back to face Ragnar.