Secured Mail (21 page)

“Land to farm?”

“Nay, for a war camp to prey on anyone who tried to make a living there.”

Thea looked back at Raven who was starting to twitch and murmur. “Then he doesn’t deserve your loyalty. If you help me, I’ll ask the king to make you a land grant to use properly.”

Hope flickered in Olaf’s eyes and he took Maya’s hand.

“Perhaps you could tie us up and make it look as if we were captured as well.”

Thea smiled through the pain of her throbbing headache. “Done.”

With a feral smile, Sven crept up on the guard, who was too busy taking a piss to notice anything around him, and locked his arm around the man’s neck. The guard jerked backward, almost tearing Sven’s arm off. He went quiet as Sven pricked his throat with his dagger.

“Where are the females?”

The man muttered a curse. Sven tightened his grip and let the blade cut a little deeper.

“Where are they?”

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He sensed danger behind him and shoved the first guard away. He turned but it was too late. A crushing blow to his skull took him to the ground and he knew no more.

Thea checked Raven one last time and found him still unconscious. If it was up to her, she hoped he stayed that way. She’d borrowed Maya’s cloak and the sling used to transport the baby and had Thor strapped firmly across her chest. Who would’ve guessed that a small baby would weigh so much? He was obviously made of pure muscle just like his father. She nodded at Maya and Olaf who were trussed up like chickens at the entrance to the cave.

She took a deep breath. All she had to do now was avoid the two other guys, persuade Raven’s ancient
wulfran
to move faster than a shuffle and get back to the palace. “Piece of cake”, as her British martial arts coach would’ve said, whatever that meant. She stared down into baby Thor’s big golden eyes. He looked disconcertingly like King Marcus.

“If you want to get home, you’ll have to be a good boy, okay? No screaming or crying.”

He blinked back at her as if he totally understood.

“Okay, then we’ll be off.”

She covered him over with the edges of her cloak and managed to grab the
wulfran’s
reins. The guards would be back soon, hoping for another bite to eat or a turn in the sack with her. Thea shivered. If she could avoid them, she would. If not, she’d have to think of something fast. She started to pick her way through the ragged boulders toward the desert and the hills they’d passed through earlier. Thank god she had a great sense of direction. Was Sven out there somewhere, waiting for a chance to help her out? She sure hoped so.

The first guard wasn’t where he was supposed to be. Thea stopped moving and crouched in the shadow of a cave entrance. She could hear voices to her left where the purple desert sand dipped down to form a small hollow.

Had they spotted Sven? Was that what the excitement was about? She picked up a large rock, tucked her cloak more firmly around her and crawled toward the lip of the hollow. Below her stood the two guards. One of them was bleeding, the other was busy tying up another man who lay motionless on the ground. Thea squinted against the fading light. The guard stood up and landed a kick on the man’s ribs. A shock of red hair caught the dying rays of the sun.

Thea closed her eyes as a wave of horror rolled over her. It seemed that her back up plan had run into trouble.

“Thor’s Bones,” Sven muttered through his chapped lips. “What happened?”

“Shut up, cur.”

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Sven grunted as someone kicked him. His cheek was plastered against the burning desert sand, his hands locked together at the small of his back. By Odin, he remembered now. He’d tried to intercept one of the guards and been hit hard on the back of the head. He blinked slowly as his vision blurred and his stomach rolled. He was a fool, an idiot, a conceited coward. What hope for Thea now that he had failed her?

“What shall we do with him, then?”

The voice was young and anxious.

“We’ll take him back to Raven. He can decide.”

“Do you think we can carry him? He’s huge.”

Another kick landed on Sven’s back.

“We’ll tie him behind the
wulfran
and drag him.”

Sven closed his eyes as the men’s shadows moved away from him. His head hurt.

He had to try to focus. If they took him back to the camp where they were holding Thea and the baby, he still stood a chance.

“Excuse me?”

Sven stiffened. God’s, he must be hallucinating. That sounded just like Thea. He rolled onto his back and tried to concentrate. A narrow figure stood at the top of the hill, cloak billowing in the gathering breeze. The smaller of the two men took a step forward.

“What are you doing here, alien bitch? You’re supposed to be tied up!”

“Raven sent me.”

Sven strained to hear her soft reply, only aware that the two men were leaving him to go after her. He struggled to right himself, managed to get one knee under him before he had to stop and wait for the world to right itself.

The smaller man had reached her now. Sven gritted his teeth. He couldn’t get to her in time, he couldn’t save her. Thea leaned toward the bastard, her smile inviting.

To Sven’s amazement, the man collapsed on the ground and slowly rolled back down the hill coming to rest beside Sven in an untidy heap.

“Hey! What did you do to him?”

Sven checked the man’s face. What had she done? There was a rapidly growing bump on the man’s forehead. Whatever she’d hit him with must’ve hurt. Sven managed to stagger to his feet just as the bigger guy grabbed Thea’s shoulder. With a roar of rage, Sven forced himself to move forward in the shifting sand. He kept his weight low and head-butted the man in the back before falling face first into the sand on top of his opponent.

“Good job, Sven. You looked just like one of those NFL players.”

Sven groaned, tried to raise his head and failed. Thea’s feet disappeared and he concentrated on breathing and mastering the urge to retch.

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After a little while, he managed to half roll onto his side. Thea crouched beside the bigger man, her hands busy.

“Where is the prince?” Sven managed to croak.

Thea didn’t turn away from her still unconscious captive. “He’s right here, under my cloak. He’s been such a good boy.”

Sven swallowed hard as an unaccustomed urge to weep filled him. He blinked rapidly as Thea’s concerned face swam over him.

“Are you okay, Sven?”

“I have failed you, my lady.”

She frowned. “What?”

“I am a useless man.”

She sighed. “Sven, could you take a rain check on the emotional crisis and just get up and help me drag these guys back to their camp?”

“Aye, my lady.”

He nodded abruptly and winced with pain. It was obvious that she was too disgusted with his unmanly actions to even talk to him. He drew his legs up under him and managed to get to his knees. At least he could salvage some pride and obey her orders. Despite his concussion, he was still capable of lifting the two dolts and putting them wherever she wanted.

By the time she and Sven returned the two guards to the camp, the suns were setting and a dark purple haze crept across the desert. Thea glanced at Sven as he moved slowly around the rocks looking for fuel for the dying fire. His face was set, his complexion gray. She sure hoped he was okay. He’d hardly said a word to her, let alone given her the hug she so badly needed.

She turned back to survey the desert and caught her breath. Lights were approaching from the direction of the city. Were they about to be rescued or were there more members of Raven’s gang of thieves?

“Sven, do you see that?”

He came up behind her.

“Aye. We should take shelter in the cave until we know whether they are friend or foe. I left some signs for the King to follow, but we cannot take any chances with the young prince.”

Thea glanced down at baby Thor. He was still sleeping, apparently unaffected by the high drama going on around him. Great. Obviously Sven thought
her
survival was not even worth a mention. Her bad mood intensified. All she’d done was save the prince and Sven and suddenly everything was her fault?

Without speaking, she turned abruptly on her heel and headed for the cave. Raven glared at her as she passed, his mouth moving beneath his gag. She smiled at him and 120

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he spluttered even more. She sure hoped it was the king. Meeting any more of Raven’s pals was not high on her to-do list.

Thea shivered as the coolness of the cave settled over her. Sven came to stand in front of her, one hand barring her exit, head turned toward the rapidly approaching lights. A shrill whistle pierced the air and he stiffened. Thea jumped as he returned the call. The sound echoed around the cave, waking Thor who started to fuss at Thea’s breast.

“It is the king.”

Thea glared up at Sven. “I sure hope so, now that you’ve woken the baby. Let’s hope the queen is with him too so that she can feed the little blighter.”

Sven leaned back against the cave wall as Marcus took his son gently into his arms.

The stark emotion on the king’s face barely penetrated Sven’s exhaustion. He should be down on his knees thanking the gods for his king’s happiness, but he felt numb. He’d done nothing to rescue either the woman he loved or the king’s child.

Thea walked toward him and he straightened. She smiled up at him.

“Thank you for saving me.”

He averted his gaze. “There is no need to be cruel, my lady.”

“What?”

“I did nothing. I failed you as I failed my first wife. When she was abducted, I couldn’t save her either. She died in my arms giving birth to my son.”

“God, I’m sorry, Sven.” Her face softened and she touched his shoulder. “But I meant what I said. You did help me.”

He snorted. “I left you to fend for yourself. You were the one who was the hero, not me.”

She put her hands on her hips. “I did what needed to be done and so did you. Does it really matter who saved who?”

“It does to me.”

“Why? Because you have to be the hero and you didn’t think I was capable?”

His smile was as bitter as the taste of failure in his mouth. “You are more than capable, my lady. You don’t need my help at all.”

Tears glinted in her eyes as she glared at him. “Did it occur to you that the only thing that kept me going, was the thought that you would come after me? Everything I did was with that knowledge, that you would find me whatever happened.”

He held her gaze. “But I didn’t find you. You found me.”

She stepped back, her voice low, her breathing ragged. “Sven…don’t do this. Don’t fight with me when all I need is to feel your arms around me, telling me that everything will be okay.”

He clenched his hands into fists in an effort not to reach for her.

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“I’m not worthy to touch you, my lady. It seems I’m incapable of protecting those I love.”

She wrapped her arms around her waist as if giving herself the comfort he denied her. “If you truly love me, you won’t do this.”

He stared at her, his gut tightening. “Nay, you deserve better. I can’t risk seeing you hurt again.”

Her smile was bitter sweet. “But didn’t you just admit that I can protect myself?”

She took another step back. “That’s the real problem isn’t it, Sven? Why can’t you let me take care of myself and worry about your own safety?”

“Because that is not the Valhallan way.”

“And that worked out so well for you last time, didn’t it? Because
the Valhallan way
meant your wife wasn’t trained to defend herself and she died.”

He took a step toward her, anger shuddering through him, his voice echoed through the cave. “She died because I couldn’t protect her!”

Thea swallowed hard. “She died because of the Valhallan way of life. It wasn’t your fault.”

Sven bowed. “It doesn’t matter what you say. I know who is at fault.”

“And you’re going to let your past mistakes dictate your future?”

Sven closed his eyes as a wave of dizziness washed over him. “I am going to set you free to find a man who is worthy of you.”

“Fine!” Thea glared at him, her chin high in the air. “You just do that, Sven Magnusson. If you want to live in the past, go right ahead, you stupid ox.”

She turned her back on him and pushed her way through the crowd of soldiers surrounding the king. Sven let out his breath and focused on a familiar face. Bron stood watching him, his expression concerned.

“Did you hear all that?” Sven said.

Bron nodded. “I think everyone did.”

Sven pushed away from the rock and headed back toward the tethered
wulfran.

Now all he had to do was get on the damn beast and leave before he added to his disgrace and shed unmanly tears.
“Good, now perhaps you’ll
all
leave me alone.”

Thea allowed herself to be fussed over and thanked by the queen and king until she could barely keep awake. Sven had disappeared. She hoped he’d gotten some treatment for his head, but she suspected he was simply avoiding her.

“I think Ms. Cooper needs her sleep.”

The king’s amused voice cut through the queen’s last question.

“Of course, Marcus, you’re right,” Douglass said as she patted Thea’s hand. “I just wanted to thank her.”

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The king stood up and bowed. “I think you did that, my love, about a thousand times. Let me escort you back to bed, Ms. Cooper.”

Thea walked along the quiet marble halls beside the king, his bare feet made no sound of the polished floors. The few people they encountered bowed low and smiled at Thea as if she had given them an unexpected gift. Strange to find herself a heroine on a planet that believed its women should be sequestered and not taught how to fight.

Perhaps her exploits, along with the queen’s radical plans would begin to change that misconception.

The king held open the door to her suite and followed her inside. Thea forced herself to smile up at him.