Destiny of the Heart (Viking Destiny) (35 page)

It took Guy's ship another month to reach the ports of
Oslo. They sailed in under the guise of travelers seeing the
world, and were welcomed with open arms by the locals.
Derrick had never seen men so large before, but didn't think it
would matter when it came to Kristen's life. He had to find a
way to get to the palace.

Their first night there, everyone split up and went to
gather as much information as they could, agreeing to meet at
the local inn later that night to discuss what they found.
Derrick went to the docks and found a boxing club, which he
knew he would, and decided to try his luck there. Perhaps
some of the palace guards did a little exercising in the club.
But, when he walked inside, he was a little surprised by what
he saw.

Boxing in England was certainly different than it was in
Norway. He stood on the side lines and watched as the giant
men in the ring wailed on one another with everything from
punches to spinning kicks. It certainly put Kristen's training into
perspective.

"Clearly you're not from around here." A gruff voice said
next to Derrick.
Derrick turned and gave him a smile. "What gave me
away?"
"The dark hair."
Derrick chuckled. The guy pointed to the fighters in the
ring.
"Ever fight like that, Englishman?"
"No. But, I haven't done a lot of traveling before this
trip." It was an easy lie, one designed to make the man feel
more comfortable.
"Do all Englishman lie, or is it just you?" The guy
cocked a brow knowingly.
Derrick was taken aback. How the devil had he known
Derrick was lying?
"I beg your pardon?"
The man grabbed Derrick's hand and lifted it to show
Derrick the fine scars from the many scrapes he'd been in.
"A man with hands like yours has traveled plenty."
Derrick conceded with a smile. "Very well, I've traveled
a little."
The man looked at Derrick as though he could see right
through him. It was a bit unnerving, and now that Derrick
looked at the guy, he had to be at least seven feet tall. And the
man was as wide as he was tall, so none of that made Derrick
too excited to continue the conversation. But, for whatever
reason, the Viking giant continued talking to him.
"You're here about the girl, aren't you?"
Derrick's head snapped up, and though he tried not to
show it, there was eagerness in his voice.
"What girl?"
"I definitely think Englishmen are the worst liars.
Name's Finn." He offered his hand to Derrick, who took it
reluctantly.
"Derrick."
"Derrick Shane?"
Derrick narrowed his eyes. "Yes."
Finn laughed. "Don't look so suspicious. She talks
about you in her sleep."
"Do you know where Kristen is?" He asked quietly.
Finn tilted his head to the side. "Do your eyes always
glow like the fires of hell?"
Derrick ground his teeth. Clearly this man had
knowledge of where Kristen was, but for whatever reason he
was dancing around the subject. Finn noticed his frustration
and clapped his shoulder, rather hard Derrick noted, though
he didn't think Finn had meant it to be.
"She's safe. It's just not a good place to discuss it."
"Where then?"
"Patience."
Finn sauntered over to the ring and climbed in as
another Viking entered from the other side. Whoever that
other Viking was, he did not look happy to be paired with Finn.
Not that Derrick could blame him, Finn was a veritable mass
of solid muscle and the smaller Viking was more likely to
break his fist punching Finn. When the fight began, Derrick's
suspicions that it was best to err on the side of caution where
Finn was concerned were proved correct.
Finn beat the Viking to a bloody pulp without even
breaking a sweat. The bell sounded, signaling the fight to
begin, and the smaller Viking quickly advanced hoping to
catch Finn off-guard. Finn slammed his fist into the man's face
and then quickly elbowed him in the temple. He leaned down
and picked the smaller Viking up by the front of his shirt and
slammed his other fist into the smaller Viking's mouth. Blood
sprayed the front of Finn's shirt, but he didn't seem to notice.
He bared his teeth and roundhouse kicked the smaller Viking,
sending him stumbling across the ring in a dizzy whirl. The
smaller Viking tried to get his bearings, but Finn had a
vendetta that would not be quenched without blood. He
charged the smaller Viking and kneed him in the stomach,
then followed through with an uppercut to the chin that toppled
the smaller Viking and knocked him unconscious.
A raucous cheer went up around the watching crowd.
Derrick looked around and clapped with the others before
returning his gaze to Finn, who was already climbing out of the
ring. He strode over to Derrick and gave him a sneaky grin. It
was rather infectious, and despite the unnecessary violence of
their style, Derrick returned the grin with a sense of admiration
for Finn's skills. A new challenger climbed into the ring and
danced around, getting the crowd excited. Finn grunted in
disgust, but kept whatever comments he had about the man to
himself. Derrick sensed that Finn was honorable and would
not speak ill of his fellow Viking to an outsider.
"Let's have a little fun, shall we boys? There's a fancy
nabob of an Englishmon here tonight. Shall we invite him in
and see what he's made of?" The ox in the ring looked directly
at Derrick.
Finn groaned, but again didn't say anything. Derrick
instinctively knew that if Finn stepped in for him in any way, it
would be a mark of dishonor and Derrick would no longer be
welcome. So, Derrick shrugged out of his jacket and tossed it
on an empty chair behind him. He was fairly certain he was
going to get blood on his shirt, but that couldn't be helped. He
walked to the ring with an easy, unconcerned gait, which of
course had the crowd laughing and booing him. They had
been excited at the prospect of seeing an Englishman beaten
to a pulp. Derrick didn't feel like obliging them their fun.
He climbed in the ring and faced his opponent, rolling
his shoulders. The Viking jumped around and grinned like a
hungry wolf. Derrick wasn't sure of the rules, but he had to
guess there were none. No officiator seemed to call out the
matches, they just started when the bell rang, and stopped
when one of them fell down. The Viking advanced on Derrick
quickly. He came in for a jab to the mouth, but Derrick's
smaller frame was quicker and he bounced out of the way,
jabbing the Viking in the ribs instead.
The Viking growled and spun around, coming in for an
attack. Derrick ducked and came up with an uppercut, but the
Viking expected that, so he kicked Derrick across the ring.
Derrick felt as if he had been hit by a brick wall. The force and
power behind that kick was stronger than anything he had
ever felt before. He picked himself up, but was still struggling
to take a breath when the Viking was there, shoving a fist into
his face. The crowd erupted in applause and shouting.
Derrick rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding a stomp
from the Viking, and bounced up. He realized he needed to
stop thinking like himself, and start thinking more like Kristen.
She was rather adept at fighting men much larger than herself,
so what would she do in this situation? Derrick grimaced. He
hated to do it, but when the Viking advanced, Derrick kicked
him solidly in the groin. When the Viking doubled over in pain,
Derrick took the opportunity to knee him in the face and then
swung a left hook across his temple. The kick to the face
busted the Viking's nose, and the punch to the head knocked
him unconscious.
It took several moments for the crowd to realize what
had just happened; a tiny, although Derrick hardly agreed with
that estimation of himself, Englishman had just knocked out
one of their own. There was laughter and jeers all around,
several of them offered to buy him drinks, but to Derrick's
surprise, no one jumped in and offered to defend the fallen
Viking's honor. Finn made his way through the crowd and
separated the ropes so Derrick could climb out.
"Alright, that's enough out of the lot of you. Someone
take Evans to get cleaned up, will ya?" His voice was
commanding, and no one questioned his authority.
Derrick climbed through the ropes and grabbed his
jacket to follow Finn out of the club. The night air was cool
after the exercise, and Derrick wasn't nearly as bad off as he
thought he'd be though his lip was busted again and his
broken rib ached where he'd been kicked.
"That was a brave thing you did, Englishman. Going up
against a Viking twice your size."
Derrick shrugged. "You were testing me. Now, where is
she?"
Finn smiled. "If you care for her so much, why did you
lose her in the first place?"
"I didn't lose her. We were attacked, and she was
taken."
"You seem fine."
"Hence the reason I'm here." Derrick's tone reflected
his annoyance with the line of questioning.
He already felt guilty enough on his own, he didn't need
this giant's opinion. But, Finn did seem to know Kristen's
whereabouts, so Derrick was trying not to lose his patience.
Finn grunted. "What is she to you?"
"She's my wife."
Finn's head snapped around, and he looked at Derrick
in surprise. His brows knitted together, and he turned his
attention to the path ahead of them. Derrick frowned.
"Something wrong with that?"
"Yes and no. Do you know who she actually is?"
"Yes."
Again, Finn was surprised. "Then, you can understand
my concern. If she reclaims the throne, not many Vikings
would be pleased to have a king that is half their size."
Derrick laughed. "I don't mean to belittle your concerns,
Finn, but from everything I know about Kristen, she is not keen
on the idea of reclaiming the throne."
"But, she must. It is her destiny."
"Good luck telling her that. She's as stubborn as they
come, my friend."
Finn seemed truly concerned about all of this and
Derrick had to wonder what was going on. And where they
were going. Finn was leading him out of town.
"Where are we going?"
"You will see."
"Not thinking of killing me to try and keep her for
yourself, are you?" Derrick said defensively.
Finn stopped abruptly and rounded on Derrick, anger
sparking in his blue eyes. "Her safety has always been, and
will always be, my chief concern. Now, I suggest you keep
quiet and follow me if you wish to see her. Otherwise, return to
your ship and go home."
Derrick lifted a brow. Finn was an intimidating man for
his size, but when it came to Kristen, Derrick would not be
intimidated or told to leave. He took a step closer to Finn and
narrowed his eyes.
"Don't think that just because you are taller in frame
that I'm scared of you, Viking. Save your idle threats for
someone who gives a damn."
The two stood there and stared each other down,
neither willing to step away first. Finally, Finn took a step back
and smiled.
"She has chosen well for herself. That is good. Come."
With that, Finn turned down a narrow path. Derrick
frowned but followed. He wasn't sure what he thought of the
Viking who had twice now tested him and his loyalty to
Kristen. But, the path Finn lead him on was twisted and full of
sharp rocks. It certainly wasn't the kind of terrain his Hessian
boots appreciated. However, he wouldn't say anything to the
Viking even if it killed him. He followed Finn through a densely
wooded area and again wondered if Finn's intention was to kill
him.
Finally a clearing broke in the wooded area, and there
was a path along the stream that Finn stuck to. Derrick looked
around and noticed the palace wasn't far from where they
were, but they weren't headed to the front door. Derrick
frowned.
"Is Kristen in some kind of trouble here?"
"Did you think she would not be after her family was run
from these lands almost twenty years ago?"
"But, you said she was safe."
"She is, for the time being. Perhaps you can talk some
sense into her."
"What do you mean?" A sense of dread settled in
Derrick's stomach.
"You will see."
Derrick was not much of a talker on his best days, but
Finn was certainly a man of few words. Yet even with those
few words, Finn managed to speak in riddles and Derrick was
already worried. He sighed through his nose and continued
after Finn in silence. They finally came to the side of the
palace where the water ended, and up the hill was a locked
door. Finn took out the key, looked around carefully, and then
unlocked the door. He ushered Derrick inside and closed and
locked it behind him.
"From this point on, it would be best if you were silent."
Derrick nodded his understanding and Finn led him
through a maze of hallways and stairwells. Finally, they came
to a stairwell that led them down to the dungeons. Derrick
stiffened at the realization that Kristen was being held
prisoner, but he remained silent. At the bottom of the stairs,
Finn took a left and followed a long corridor to the back, then
took a right down another long corridor. Derrick noticed the
number of cells had rapidly decreased in this section of the
dungeon and guessed they were keeping her secluded from
the other prisoners.
At the end of the hall, Derrick noticed a man standing in
front of a cell. Finn tensed, so Derrick stopped moving and
stayed hidden behind Finn's body.
"Your highness, forgive my intrusion." Finn bowed, and
Derrick ducked with him.
Nikolas started. "Ah, Finn. I didn't realize you would be
coming down here this evening."
"I will leave, your majesty."
"No, no. It's quite alright. I was done here anyway."
Derrick didn't like the sound of that and tensed himself.
He was ready to spring and attack whoever this was, but Finn
snaked a hand around and grabbed Derrick's wrist in an iron
grip. Derrick didn't move, but he was seething inside.
Nikolas swept past Finn but did not notice Derrick
behind him. He strode from the hallway and left the same way
Finn and Derrick had come in.
Finn kept his grip on Derrick's wrist until he heard the door to
the stairwell leading up slam shut behind the prince.
"That was incredibly foolish. The crowned prince is an
ally."
"I didn't like the way he said he was finished here."
Derrick said sullenly and snatched his wrist back.
"Derrick?" Kristen's voice was hopeful.
"Kristen." Derrick rushed around Finn and ran the
length of the hall.
Kristen was at the cell door, reaching her arms out, a
bright smile on her face. Derrick grabbed her hands but looked
back at Finn.
"Can you open this door? I want her out of here."
Finn stepped forward and opened the door. Kristen
squeezed Finn's hand affectionately and then rushed into
Derrick's arms.
"Derrick, I thought you were dead. They told me
they killed you. Please tell me I'm not dreaming."
"You're not dreaming. I'm never letting you out of my
sight, do you hear?" He said, emotion choking him.
He rubbed his hands over her hair, smoothing it back
from her face. Satisfied, he kissed her softly on the lips. She
wrapped her arms around his waist and held on for dear life.
Finn cleared his throat.
"You must go. Quickly."
"Come with us, Finn." Kristen pleaded.
Finn wanted to. He wanted to know his daughter, but if
he left a lot of other people would be punished.