Viking Passion (22 page)

They moved off the path and into the shadow
of the Danevirke to let a troop of armed men ride past them toward
Hedeby. Asmund and Ingvar were busy with the restive horses and
Freydis had her head down, but Lenora, curious as always, stole a
glance at the men going by. She pushed back her face-concealing
headscarf to see better, then caught her breath and clutched
Ingvar’s waist more tightly.

There was no mistaking the red-gold hair and
proud carriage of the woman who rode at the head of that troop, nor
would Lenora ever forget the tall, thin man with unusually pale
blond hair riding beside her. There was another, closely muffled
female form, but Lenora, more concerned with those she had
recognized and relieved that she and her companions had not been
noticed, only cast a quick look at this second woman and then
dismissed her. She had more important things to think about than
other people’s slaves.

“Ingvar,” Lenora whispered urgently.

“What is it?” Ingvar spoke over his shoulder.
“Don’t hold me so tightly. I can’t breathe.”

“Didn’t you see them? That was Gunhilde and
her father.”

“What is Sven the Dark doing here?” Ingvar
exclaimed.

“Sven? Going to Hedeby?” Asmund pulled his
horse around so they all sat close together.

“With a small army,” Ingvar said. “That’s why
Snorri didn’t come after us again. He was waiting for
reinforcements.”

“I would wager my best brooches that Snorri
knows which warehouse we were hiding in,” Freydis said bitterly.
“With Sven’s men to help him, he will attack, hoping to take me
captive and kill Erik. And Halfdan.”

“I’ll ride back to Hedeby and warn Erik.”
Asmund gathered up the reins. “Get down, Freydis.”

“No. Wait.” Lenora caught at the reins,
pulling Asmund’s horse closer. “I have a better idea. Let me
go.”

“Don’t be silly. A woman against those
warriors?”

“If he could still speak, Hrolf would tell
you I can fight as well as a man.” Lenora glared at Asmund, and in
the dimming light she saw him grin. “Erik has charged you two with
Freydis’ safety until she reaches Limfjord. You must stay with her
to guard her.”

“We are to keep you safe, too, Lenora,”
Ingvar said.

She ignored him. “Asmund, if you go riding
off, you leave three of us with only one horse,” Lenora said. “What
are we to do then?”

“I hadn’t thought of that.”

“I know. Now listen to me. I will go back on
foot. No one will pay any attention to a woman hurrying home at
day’s end. You three ride on as fast as you can. I will find Erik
and Halfdan and warn them about Sven’s warriors. We will see Erik
safely aboard ship, and then Halfdan and I will ride after you.
We’ll catch up with you somewhere along the Haervej.”

“What do you think?” Asmund asked his
friend.

“It’s a better idea than yours,” Ingvar told
him.

“I think we should all go back,” Freydis
said. “Then we will be four to help Erik against Snorri.”

“Freydis, he wants you out of Snorri’s
reach.” Lenora’s voice was hoarse with tension and impatience.
“There will be no trouble if I get there in time to warn Erik
before Snorri attacks. The longer we sit here and talk, the better
chance Snorri has to take Erik. And you know he won’t spare Halfdan
either.”

Freydis bowed her head in silent assent.
Lenora slid to the ground from her perch behind Ingvar.

“Good luck to you, Lenora.”

“And to you, Freydis.”

Lenora watched as the horses moved off into
the gloom. Then, wrapping the woolen scarf more closely about her
face, she set out for Hedeby.

Lenora passed through Hedeby’s north gate by
mingling with a group of people with carts who were arriving to
trade. They were hurrying to reach the town before nightfall and
thus paid no attention to her. Once inside the town she moved
cautiously, not wanting to meet Snorri or any of his friends. She
made her way to the waterfront and then found Holgar’s
warehouse.

The door was unbolted. She tiptoed inside. It
was so silent in the building that for one terrible moment she
thought Erik and Halfdan had already left, or worse, that Snorri
had come and gone, leaving them dead.

She took a step, then another, and hesitated.
A familiar arm caught her about the waist and a long, supple hand
stifled her scream.

“Erik,” she whispered against his fingers.
“Oh, Erik.”

He dragged her into a storeroom at one end of
the building, where an oil lamp was burning and he could see
her.

“By Thor’s hammer,” Halfdan exclaimed, “what
are you doing here? Where is Freydis?”

“Well away. I came back to warn you.” Her
news was quickly told.

“What now?” Halfdan asked Erik. “You said you
think Snorri will come after us at dawn and we should leave before
then. With Sven to help him, he may come sooner. Shall we stay and
fight them?”

“We dare not. There will be too many of them.
They will kill us and then discover Freydis is gone. Snorri will
search until he finds her, and our deaths will be for nothing.”
Erik thought a moment before continuing. “We have to draw Snorri’s
attention to us so he doesn’t notice that Freydis has slipped away.
Then we must make him follow us and keep him occupied long enough
for Freydis to get to Limfjord.”

“How can we do that?” Halfdan asked.

“By taking my sister and my friend with me as
far as Bornholm. Lenora, come here.” Erik took a silken cloth from
a bundle in a corner of the room. It was a pale, creamy color,
almost the shade of Freydis’ hair. “Wrap this around your head. Be
sure you cover all your own hair. Then put the woolen scarf on top
of it. There. Your name is now Freydis.”

“Erik, you can’t make her do this,” Halfdan
objected. “She’s not your slave any longer. She has the right to
refuse.”

“I forgot.” Erik’s bright smile flashed,
dazzling Lenora. “Will you help us?”

He’s enjoying this, Lenora thought. He thinks
it’s fun to outwit Snorri and the others. She had to admit her own
heart was beating faster with excitement.

“I’ll help you,” she said, “but I’m not as
tall as Freydis.”

“It doesn’t matter. Just keep your hair
covered. If anyone catches a glimpse underneath the scarf, he’ll
see the silk and think it’s your hair.”

“You hope,” Halfdan said doubtfully.

“It will be dark. I’ll call her Freydis once
or twice in front of others, just before we go aboard ship.”

“You will bring Snorri’s men down on Rodfos’
ship. We will never get away.” Halfdan was still uncertain.

“I don’t think so. My sister Freydis here and
I will slip out and go to the ship. A little while later you will
come along, after creating a diversion that will draw most of
Hedeby, including Snorri and Sven, to this warehouse. It won’t be
until much later, when he starts asking questions along the
waterfront, that Snorri will learn we have sailed away.”

A slow smile spread across Halfdan’s
face.

“What do you want me to do” he asked.

“Something simple and spectacular. Holgar has
no further need for this warehouse now that he’s dead, and he left
no heirs.”

“A funeral pyre would be suitable. Too bad we
don’t have the body.”

Lenora shook her head.

“Halfdan, that’s not funny,” she said.

“Snorri would agree with you. Perhaps he will
think our bodies are here.” Halfdan’s broad shoulders were shaking
with laughter. “We should rearrange the merchandise first, don’t
you think?”

“A good idea,” Erik agreed. “Come on,
Lenora-Freydis. You have to work too.”

They shifted barrels and bales of goods to
strategic locations within the warehouse, making certain to spill
the contents out against the walls and they sprinkled as much lamp
oil as they could find onto the untidy piles.

“It will burn better that way,” Erik
said.

“We could use some of these things,” Lenora
remarked.

She had pulled out a long, loose garment made
of silk. It was a rich blue-green color that glowed in the light of
the single oil lamp they were using to illuminate their work.

Erik glanced at her in annoyance, then smiled
as she held the robe against herself, measuring its length.

“That color becomes you,” he said. “You are
right, we should make other use of some of Holgar’s goods. It would
look very strange for us to go aboard ship with no belongings at
all. We may as well take a few things to trade along the way.”

They quickly made up three bundles, using
large pieces of woolen cloth to wrap their choices. They took
fabrics and jewelry, a few marten skins, a walrus tusk, a couple of
knife blades, and a packet of amber.

“You carry this,” Erik said, giving Lenora
the amber. “If we are separated, or if Halfdan and I are killed, it
will buy your passage home.”

Lenora added the packet to her bundle. She
folded the silk robe and tucked that in too. Erik divided their
food into three piles and they each took one. Halfdan found a tent
and put it on his pile, folding it as small as possible. He
included an iron cooking pot, along with the tripod and chain
necessary to support it over a fire.

“That will be too heavy to carry,” Erik
objected. “You are only going as far as Bornholm, you know.”

“We can’t go anywhere without a cauldron. It
will be useful, and if I don’t want to cook in it, I can always
sell it.”

The night was nearly over before they were
ready. Erik and Lenora crept out of the warehouse and made their
way to Rodfos’ ship by a roundabout route. Rodfos met them at the
gangplank, blocking their way.

“No women on my ship,” he declared. “Women
are bad luck.”

“This is my sister Freydis,” Erik announced.
“We must both go to Aldeigjuborg.”

“No women, I said. If you had told me earlier
that you wanted to bring her, I would have refused you
passage.”

“I’ll pay you well, Rodfos. It is a family
matter. Freydis must come with me.”

“Must? What are you running away from,
Freydis?” Rodfos turned his attention to the woman with Erik,
inspecting her with an eye fully appreciative of feminine
charms.

There was a moment’s tense silence before
Lenora-Freydis found her voice.

“A man I do not wish to marry.”

“Ha. And is this handsome fellow with you
truly your brother?”

“Of course.” Lenora managed to sound
offended.

“He had better be. Where is your father?”

“Our father is dead,” Erik answered. “I am
taking Freydis to our uncle, a trader who lives in
Aldeigjuborg.”

“To avoid this man she does not wish to
marry?”

“Yes.”

“A likely story.” Rodfos regarded them
suspiciously.

“Please,” Lenora begged. “Please let me go
too.”

“Well,” Rodfos hesitated. “For a family
matter I might make an exception. But it will cost you double the
amount we agreed on. For each of you.”

“That’s robbery,” Erik protested.

“Then save your silver and stay in
Hedeby.”

“All right. I’ll pay you.”

“Before you come on board.” Rodfos’ bulky
form still blocked the gangplank.

Erik opened the leather purse at his belt and
counted out the silver coins. Rodfos inspected them carefully
before pulling out his portable scales and weighing the coins. The
scales balanced, with two pieces of silver left over. Rodfos gave a
low laugh and tossed the extra coins into the pan, sending the
scales tilting as the coins overbalanced his weights.

“Fair enough. Come on, then.” Rodfos moved
aside to let them onto the ship.

Erik looked annoyed but did not protest the
overpayment.

“Stay in the bow,” Rodfos instructed, “and
keep out of my sailors’ way. They don’t like women on board either.
Now, I have things to do. We are leaving earlier than we
planned.”

They made their way to the half-deck at the
bow of the ship, climbing over the cargo piled amidships.

“Where is Halfdan?” Lenora wondered
anxiously.

“Don’t worry. He’ll be here.”

In fact, Rodfos’ men had the cargo lashed
down and were ready to sail before Halfdan arrived. He ran lightly
up the gangplank, his huge bundle and the wooden tent frame slung
over one shoulder, a mischievous smile on his face.

“By Odin’s beard,” Rodfos roared, “what is
this? What kind of tricks are you playing?”

“This is my friend Halfdan,” Erik replied
calmly. “He is coming to Aldeigjuborg with us.”

“Is he, too, running away from someone he
does not wish to marry?”

“He will help me to protect Freydis.”

“He will not. I have no more room on my
ship.”

“I will pay you,” Halfdan said. “And I will
work too. I am a good sailor.”

“So is every man in Denmark. There is
something strange going on here, and I wish I knew what it is. You
are all too free with your silver. Well, I suppose I have to take
you, too. Come aboard, come aboard. It’s time to sail. Put out the
torches and cast off there.”

A few men were loitering about the dock,
listening to this discussion with much amusement, calling out
advice and joking with Rodfos and his sailors.

Erik winked at Lenora.

“Well, sister Freydis,” he said out of the
side of his mouth, “if Snorri comes looking for news of us along
the waterfront, he will hear that you and Halfdan have sailed with
me.”

“I wish I knew where Snorri is now,” Lenora
muttered.

“He’s probably wondering if we are being
roasted alive,” Erik said, pointing over her shoulder. “That should
leave him confused for a while. Let’s hope he thinks we died in
there. If not, he’ll come after us, but at least Freydis will be
safe. Snorri will be in Aldeigjuborg, or even Kiev, before he
realizes she isn’t really with me. Look.” He pointed again.

Lenora turned to see Holgar’s warehouse in
flames. Dark figures, silhouetted against the light of the fire,
ran toward it, gesturing wildly. A few figures with buckets were
dipping water out of the harbor in a vain attempt to quench the
fire.