Come Back to Me (32 page)

"Studded with gems, lord! A goblet fit for the noblest of kings! The crowning piece of all my cargo! How am I to replace such a treasure? And what am I to tell my investors, those who trusted me to bring them home a fair profit?"

The jarl of Landsende did not reply at once but merely looked at the man from his considerably greater height and with such calm that the merchant who had begun his protestations with a righteous air soon sputtered into silence.

Only then did the Dragon speak, quietly and with the air of a man who is summoning patience. "Come." He turned and walked away, up toward the stronghold, with no notice given to who might or might not be following him.

Everyone did, of course, including Rycca, who was consumed with curiosity to see how her husband would handle the matter. For all the merchant's bombast, such a theft was serious. So too was the fear that might grow among other merchants that the port of Landsende was not, after all, a safe place to drop anchor. She had no doubt that Dragon would move quickly and firmly to snuff out any such thought. But how, exactly, he would do so remained a question.

With the rest of the crowd, she followed along up to the great hall. As she did so, she noticed a boy who was roughly dressed and had also been roughly handled. A livid bruise covered his left cheek and his hands were tied behind his back. The supposed thief looked utterly terrified, as he might well under the circumstances, but she also noted the defiant tilt of the head he fought to keep erect despite the cuffs he received from his escort, urging him to move more quickly.

Entering the hall, Rycca slipped past many of the others and found a place for herself behind a tall wooden pillar that helped to hold up the roof. She did not wish to attract attention, most especially since she was not certain her husband would want her there. But she was determined to see and hear all.

Dragon took a seat in the high-backed chair he used at meals. For this occasion, it had been brought out from behind the table and placed alone in clear view of everyone. The merchant, blustering with importance, jostled and shoved until he had a clear spot nearby. He glared at the youth who was brought forward to stand before the man who would judge him.

Rycca's heart tightened as she saw how truly afraid the boy was, yet she understood that such fear might merely indicate his guilt. Dragon looked at him silently for several minutes. Beneath such scrutiny, any man might be pardoned for shrinking but the boy still kept his head high. Even more remarkably, he looked straight at the powerful warlord who would decide whether he lived or died.

"What is your name?" Dragon asked at length.

"Olav, lord." His voice had a slight wobble but he spoke clearly.

"Of what line?"

"The line of Ragnarson of Hedeby."

Dragon nodded slowly. The boy was from the largest trading center in Jutland, therefore a Dane and of a respected house. Care was due in the judging of any man but this called for especially cautious handling.

"How came you to be on this voyage with Master Trygyv?"

The merchant tried to answer for him but Dragon waved him into silence. "You will have your turn, Master Trygyv. Right now it is for the boy to speak."

Yet did the lad hesitate. A flush crept over his face. Reluctantly, he said, "It was good for me to leave Hedeby for a while. Master Trygyv agreed to give me passage in exchange for my labor."

"I see… And why did you think it wise to leave your home?"

The boy chewed his lip. The merchant looked as though the answer was about to burst from him. Only a stern look from Dragon kept him silent.

Finally, Olav said, "I displeased my father and he told me to get from his sight."

"A stern rebuke," Dragon noted. "What did you do to merit it?"

"I did not wish to marry the woman he had selected to be my wife."

Having so recently dealt with a similar problem himself, Dragon looked a little surprised but he hid it quickly. "An honorable son obeys his father."

"I am honorable!" Olav shot back. "But there are limits… There must be." He glanced around him as though to see if any in the assembled crowd might agree with him. His gaze fell only on closed but watchful faces.

Desperately, the boy said, "The lady was twenty years older than I, thrice widowed and with only her wealth to recommend her. Am I to be blamed for wanting a wife to bring more than mere coin to my hearth?"

"And your bed!" someone shouted out suddenly and the crowd laughed. Olav looked startled and uncertain but managed a wan smile.

"Enough," Dragon said. "We are not here to judge your matrimonial difficulties but whether or not you took the missing goblet as Master Trygyv believes."

"As I know, lord!" the merchant shouted, unable to contain himself any longer. He pointed a plump finger at the hapless Olav. "I took him on against my better judgment merely out of pity for his situation. I gave him a chance to redeem himself, even mayhap to set his own feet on the road to wealth. And how does he repay me? He steals a kingly sum, enough for a drakar itself!"

"In that case," Dragon said dryly, "it must have been a very large goblet or at least a heavy one. Where do you think he could have hidden it?"

"I know not, lord. We docked only a few hours ago and I was occupied for most of the time since then. There was ample opportunity for him to remove it from my vessel and conceal it somewhere here in Landsende."

"That is a serious charge, Master Trygyv. It would mean someone here, in my town, was conspiring with a thief."

As though belatedly aware that it was not wise to offend so mighty a lord, the merchant backtracked hastily. "Many pass this way, great jarl. I only suspect another traveler of aiding the boy, not one of your own people."

"When did you last see the goblet?"

"When it was packed away in a wooden case built to protect it from harm during the voyage."

"Where was the case kept?"

"In the small accommodation I have for myself on board my vessel, but in the confusion of docking any man could have entered there."

Dragon's eyebrows rose. "There was no lock?"

"Yes, there was, on the case, but it was found broken." Trygyv glared at the boy. "I suspect he used a hammer of some sort."

"So he broke open the case, took the goblet, concealed it somewhere upon himself, left your vessel, and gave the goblet to an accomplice?"

"Exactly!" the merchant exclaimed. "Lord, even as we speak the goblet may be taken from Landsende, never to be found again! Put this thief to the questioning, let him taste fire and steel! He will reveal its whereabouts."

Olav paled but not even the threat of torture caused him to lower his head. Rycca took note of that, for it affirmed what she already knew. She edged forward, ready to intervene quickly if that should prove necessary.

But Dragon did not appear disposed to take up the merchant's suggestion. Instead, he asked, "How would he have known the goblet existed? Did you speak of it openly?"

"Well… no—of course not. But obviously he learned of it somehow. He must have heard about it in Hedeby before we left. That is probably the reason why he approached me."

"Are any of your men missing?"

Trygyv shook his head gravely. "They are all accounted for, lord, and may I add, they are all good men long known to me. None of them had anything to do with this."

Dragon nodded slowly. He turned to the boy.

"Olav Ragnarson, you have heard the charges against you. Do you still maintain your innocence?"

"I do, lord! I knew nothing of any goblet and I never left the vessel after we docked except to help with the unloading. I went no farther than the quay."

"Then you handed it to someone there," Trygyv insisted.

Dragon held up a hand. "Enough." He looked around at the assembled crowd. "Does any other man have testimony to give in this matter?"

When no one spoke, Dragon said, "It appears no one saw this boy near your quarters, Master Trygyv, much less saw him take the goblet or give it to another. Lacking any such witness, how did you come to believe he was guilty?"

"Because of his manner, lord! He is an arrogant pup who thinks himself too good for honest working men and—"

"That is not true!" Olav interjected, the first time he had interrupted the proceedings. "No man can say I did not carry my full share of the work or that I put myself above any man. I did all that was required of me and shirked nothing." He seemed truly offended by the idea that he could be capable of such behavior.

This time, several heads nodded. Seeing that, Trygyv burst out again, "He is foresworn, lord! By his own father. I was the fool to trust such a man, but can I be blamed for wanting to help a boy? Little did I know I took a viper to my breast."

The merchant turned to the assembled crowd, addressing all there. "Who can put faith in a man who fails to uphold the will of his own father? Who dishonors his family? Who is sent from the sight of all respectable people, cast as a wolf upon the mercy of wind?"

This appeared to have some effect, for again several men nodded. But not Dragon, who merely stared at the plump merchant with a curious smile. "Master Trygyv, I myself was so cast, as was my brother, who, you may recall, bears the name of Wolf. That was not the name he was given at his birth any more than I was called Dragon. Yet did we both become such men when we found ourselves loosed into the world without family or friend."

"Through no fault of your own, lord! This is a different situation altogether. This boy was already foresworn and now he is a thief."

"That, Master Trygyv, remains to be seen. I have heard no evidence against him, save your own suspicions."

In the shadow of the pillar, Rycca breathed more eas-ily, yet still she waited to see how her husband would resolve the matter.

"Then put him to the torture, lord! Force him to speak the truth!"

There was a rustling in the crowd, a murmur as though men spoke to themselves about the wisdom of such a course. It was, after all, tradition. From one end of the vast world to the other, men were tortured to make them yield up truth. The very idea of not doing so seemed odd in the extreme.

But not to the Dragon, who said quietly, "A man may say anything if he is made to bear enough pain."

"Not I!" Olav exclaimed. He was pale and rigid, but he held his slender body with the pride of a warrior. "I will never yield! I had no hand in this matter and I will never say otherwise regardless of what you do to me!"

"See how boastful he is, lord?" Trygyv said. "See what an exalted sense of himself he has, he who rightly should be ground down by the enormity of the offense he gave to his own family. Truly, lord, Ragnar of Hedeby would thank you for ridding him of so false a son."

"I know Ragnar of Hedeby," Dragon said. He did not raise his voice in the slightest yet his words carried to everyone gathered in the great hall of Landsende. "We have done business together. He is a hard man, true enough, and not one who would tolerate being crossed by anyone, including his own son. But neither is he a monster. If this boy dies, Ragnar will mourn him."

Olav looked stricken by this, torn between hope and yearning. For the first time, he lowered his head, but not before Rycca saw the quick sheen of tears in his young eyes.

Compelled by them, she stepped forward. Her sudden appearance caused a start of surprise in the crowd. She ignored it, as she ignored the rapid beating of her heart, and moved quickly to her husband's side. Before he could say anything, she bent close to his ear and whispered, "I know I am intruding and I am sorry but I must speak with you."

Hiding his surprise at her sudden appearance, Dragon said quietly, "Lady, I am occupied here. A man's life hangs in the balance."

"It is of that I would speak. Please, hear what I have to say but privately for it is only between us."

So filled with entreaty was her voice that Dragon could not deny her. Even as he puzzled over why she should behave in such a way, he rose. "I will return in a moment," he said to all assembled and, taking his wife's hand, left the hall.

Outside, behind the kitchens, which were empty as everyone attended the trial, he said, "You must be quick. Have you knowledge of this matter?"

"Yes, I do. Trygyv is lying."

"Did
you
see something? Is that why you came forward?"

"No, I didn't see but I still know." Praying he would understand, she said, "Dragon, we spoke of trust. Now I must trust you with the deepest secret that I have. There is only one other person in the world I have ever spoken with about this and that is Cymbra." At his startled look, Rycca explained, "And then only because she already knew, having felt what I felt."

She waited to see if he would express ignorance of Cymbra's gift but he only nodded. "What did she feel?"

Quickly, before she could think again about the wisdom of what she was about to do, Rycca replied, "Truth. She felt it through me because it is what I feel. Always since I was a small child it has been thus. When anyone speaks, I know if their words are true or not."

He looked at her for what seemed like a very long time. Finally, he said, "I have never heard of such a thing."

And he knowing the stories of the wide world. Her heart dropped, yet she persevered. "Perhaps there has been no other like me, I do not know. I only know what I am. If it displeases you, I am sorry, but I cannot change. I can no more stop knowing what is truth than I can stop breathing."

"Let us say just for the moment that you are right about this and you really can tell who is speaking truth and who is not. You say Trygyv is lying? About what, exactly?"

"Not about the goblet. That really does exist and he did bring it here with him. But he is lying about everything else. He does not suspect Olav, not really, and he did not hire Olav because he felt sorry for him. He had some other reason, I know it not, but it was not that."

"What reason would a merchant traveling with a goblet worth a king's ransom have for taking on a foresworn man?"

Rycca shook her head slowly. She truly did not know.

But Dragon did, or at least he strongly suspected. "Unless he knew the goblet would come amiss…"