Viking Passion (28 page)

He walked lightly into Attair’s private
chamber. He looked around at the luxurious decor, raised his
eyebrows, and grinned at Lenora.

“What is it you have to say to me, Erik the
Far-traveler?” Attair was abrupt, not troubling to disguise his
irritation at this intrusion.

“Four days ago you bought this slave woman
from Torgard. He cheated you.”

“How?”

“She was my slave when Torgard stole her from
my tent. I come to you openly because I believe you purchased her
honestly, not knowing she was another man’s property. I want her
back.”

“I am not your slave,” Lenora declared
angrily. When she had first seen Erik, she had had to resist with
all her strength the desire to run into his arms, but now she was
furious with him. How dare he call her his slave when he had freed
her in Denmark? Why did he not simply tell Attair that she was a
free woman? All her bitterness and resentment at Erik’s cold
treatment of her flared anew.

Erik behaved as though he had not heard her
angry exclamation. He smiled at Attair in a friendly way.

“If she were not my slave,” Erik asked, “why
would I bring her on such a dangerous journey? I care nothing for
her, but I paid good silver for her, as you paid Torgard. He
cheated you by paying me nothing and then charging you too much for
her. It was all profit for Torgard.”

“How do you know this?” Attair asked.

“I overheard Torgard boasting to someone
about it. He thinks it’s a marvelous joke, and says he is going to
do the same thing again tomorrow.”

“Is he?”

“Isn’t he?”

The two men stared at each other. Attair
turned his eyes away first. He gave an uncomfortable laugh.

“That Torgard is a clever thief. Someday, one
of his victims will finish him. He is bringing me another woman
tomorrow,” Attair admitted.

“I can help you. I will buy this woman from
you for more than you paid Torgard. Then you can boast of your
profit on her and everyone will know what a shrewd trader you
are.”

“And what of your reputation? You would look
foolish indeed after such a bargain, losing silver to both Torgard
and me.”

“I’m on my way to Miklagard. I won’t return
to Kiev. I care nothing what men here say of me.”

“I doubt that. Still, I am growing tired of
this woman’s constant chatter. And I could use the silver. I have
suffered a business loss. Yes, perhaps I will consider selling
her.” Attair named a price. Lenora knew it was inflated.

“Of course,” Attair added, “I have fed and
clothed and housed her for four days. I should be paid for
that.”

As the two men haggled, Lenora watched Erik.
By no glance or word did he reveal any personal interest in her.
She was merchandise to him, nothing more. And yet she was not
really his slave, and well he knew it, whatever he told Attair.
Erik had not wanted her to travel with him to Miklagard. Why, when
he had been conveniently relieved of her unwelcome presence, had he
come to rescue her?

At last Erik held up his hands.

“According to Torgard, you bought Lenora for
one hundred twenty dirhams. I will pay you two hundred dirhams. It
is all the silver I have left. Since you know how Torgard tricked
you, you can probably convince him to give you the new slave woman
at a lower price.”

“I like your boldness, Erik. Few men would
dare to walk into my compound alone and unarmed as you have done.”
Attair looked from Erik to Lenora. His full lips curved in a
peculiar smile. He ran his tongue over his lips, moistening them.
“How much did you say?” he asked.

“Two hundred dirhams. It’s good Arab
silver.”

“I’m sure it is. Very well, take her.”

Lenora could not repress the sound of relief
and joy that escaped her lips. However angry she might be with
Erik, it would be wonderful to be free of the fear and the stifling
confinement of Attair’s house.

“Find the serving women,” Attair told her.
“Get from them the clothing you wore when I bought you. That gown
is mine.”

“Yes. I won’t be long.” Lenora hurried to the
door, then stopped. “My silver and my amber. I want them back. They
belong to me.”

She saw Attair’s expression harden.

“Lenora,” Erik said, his voice harsh with
tension, “do as Attair has told you.”

“But—”

“
Now
!”

She ran out the door. When she returned to
the log house a short time later, clad in her torn blue-green
dress, Erik was waiting for her just outside the door. There was no
sign of Attair. Erik took her by the wrist and headed for the
courtyard gate.

“What about my silver?” she asked, hanging
back.

“You’re lucky to get away with your life.
Stop worrying about a bag of coins,” he replied angrily.

“But it’s mine. I earned it.”

He stopped so suddenly that she bumped into
him.

“Would you like me to give you back to him?
Would you like to learn first-hand what he does to his discarded
women?”

“He said he would send me to work in the
kitchen.” Lenora resolutely rejected the vision in her mind of
Attair stroking his knife with loving fingers, and the memory of
his words about silencing her tongue. Erik was just trying to
frighten her.

“Is that what he told you? The kitchen? I
won’t terrify you by telling you the truth. I heard a lot about
Attair while I was searching for you, and none of it was good.
Torgard deliberately sold you to Attair, knowing full well what he
would do once he was bored with you. Now keep quiet until we’re
safely away from here.”

“That’s what all men tell me,” Lenora
muttered. “‘Just keep quiet, Lenora,’ ‘Be silent, Lenora,’ ‘Don’t
talk so much, Lenora.’ ”

“You should take the advice.” Erik jerked her
wrist, pulling her after him once more. “We aren’t free of this
compound yet.”

They were approaching the heavy wooden gate
of the stockade surrounding Attair’s property. Three guardsmen
stood before the gate. Erik, still holding tightly to Lenora’s
wrist, stopped and fixed his gaze on the men. After a period of
time that seemed to Lenora to last forever, the leader grinned
sheepishly and gave an order. The gate began to swing open. Lenora
could see Halfdan waiting outside, mounted and holding the reins of
a second horse that stamped and snorted its impatience to be
away.

Erik hurried her through the gate, but when
she would have broken into a run, he held her back.

“Easy,” he said quietly. “Try to look natural
and unconcerned.”

“What’s natural in a situation like this?”
she responded. Only now, outside those wooden walls, could Lenora
begin to admit to herself the overwhelming terror she had hidden
for four long days. “I just want to be gone from this place.”

“Hello.” Halfdan greeted her as though she
had returned from a walk to the marketplace. “It’s good to see
you.”

Erik boosted her onto the spare horse, then
mounted behind her. He turned his horse and they rode away. She
leaned her head against his chest for a moment, feeling suddenly
weak.

“You slept with him.” Erik’s face was
grim.

“I did not,” Lenora snapped, strength and
anger both returning. “He was called away before – before that
could happen. But I might have, if you had not come when you did.
Erik, I was his slave and I was afraid. He has two serving women
whose tongues he had ordered removed.”

Erik’s arms tightened about her. “He probably
tore them out himself. From what I’ve heard of Attair, he likes to
torture women. I have occasionally wanted to silence you
permanently myself, but -” His green eyes were serious in spite of
his light tone. “Did he hurt you?

“No, but I believe what you’ve said. I’m sure
he is a cruel man.” She shivered and drew closer to Erik once more.
“Thank you for rescuing me. I hoped you would come to set me
free.”

“You are not free,” he told her. “I paid the
last of my silver to buy you.”

She could not believe what she had just
heard.

“You set me free in Denmark,” she said.

“Only because I thought I would never see you
again. If I had known you would be dragging after me all this
distance, I would never have freed you.” He laughed down at her,
seeing her stricken expression, and once more his arms tightened,
nearly taking her breath away. “Now you are mine again. And this
time I may never set you free.”

Lenora was silent a while, absorbing this.
She noticed they had circled around to the south of the settlement
that was Kiev, and were approaching the river.

“Where are we going?” she asked dully, her
mind still primarily focused on her newly enslaved status.

“We are going to Miklagard,” Erik told her.
“Today. Torgard is taking us.”

“Torgard? Are you mad?” Lenora slid to the
ground and watched Erik dismount. They were in a grove of closely
clustered trees. Through the dense underbrush she could just see
the gleam of the river.

Halfdan had also dismounted. He and Erik
lifted heavily packed saddlebags off their horses. Halfdan looped
each horse’s reins securely about its saddle and smacked each on
the rump. The horses wandered off through the trees.

“They’ll find their way home,” Halfdan
said.

“Too bad we couldn’t sell them,” Erik
remarked. “There’s no silver left.”

“How much did you pay for them?” Lenora
wondered.

Halfdan laughed, the cheerful boyish sound
she remembered so well.

“We stole them,” he said. “Here, Lenora, you
carry this.” He tossed a bundle at her, then crashed through the
bushes after Erik. Lenora followed.

Torgard was tied securely to a tree near the
river. He had a black eye and a large bruise on his jaw.

“Are you glad to see us alive?” Erik teased.
“I didn’t have to tell Attair where to find you after all.”

Torgard whimpered.

“What is he doing here?” Lenora demanded. She
circled Torgard, wishing she had a weapon handy.

Halfdan chuckled. “Well, after he told us
where you were, we invited him to join us on our journey. It seemed
the hospitable thing to do. He wouldn’t have a chance if Attair
found him after learning what a cheat he is. You can slice him up
any way you like later, but for now he has provided our
supplies.”

Lenora saw a boat pulled up among the trees.
It was a small copy of a Viking longship, similar to the fishing
craft in which they had escaped from Thorkellshavn. Erik was adding
their saddlebags and the bundle Lenora had carried to a pile of
fresh provisions already lashed into the bottom of the craft.
Lenora recognized in the pile the cauldron in which she had cooked
so many meals.

“We’re going to Miklagard in that?” she asked
doubtfully.

“To the Euxine Sea at least,” Erik said.
“That’s why we are letting Torgard live. It will be easier with
four of us to move it over the portages.”

“Four of us?”

“You aren’t in Attair’s harem any more,
Lenora. You will have to work with the rest of us.” She had the
strangest feeling that Erik was laughing at her.

“We had better get started,” Halfdan said.
“It will be dark soon, and I have no doubt Attair and his men will
be close behind us.”

“Why should he come after us?” Lenora
asked.

“For the pleasure of killing all of us slowly
now that he has our silver and has teased us by letting us believe
for a while that we are free of him,” Erik said. “That is Attair’s
way. Let’s get the boat into the water, then I’ll untie our friend
Torgard.”

“Not so fast!” The tall, lean figure of Sven
the Dark stepped through the trees, his pale blond hair catching
the late-day sunlight. Several bulky shadows with drawn swords
loomed behind him.

“Sven, help me,” screamed Torgard.

“Why should I help you, you sniveling
coward?”

“I told you where they were,” Torgard’s eyes
rolled in fright. “Untie me, Sven, so I can escape this battle.
Please, please.”

“You were no help to me. After you told me
where they used to be camped, I had to track them for half a day
before I found them.” Sven the Dark turned to Erik. “Where is
Freydis? Where is Snorri’s silver?”

“Freydis is where you can’t find her,”
Halfdan said. “She is safe with my father, and so is Erik’s
silver.”

“That’s Freydis,” Torgard exclaimed. “That
woman there. They called her Freydis at first.”

“I see,” Sven said slowly. “They tricked you,
Torgard. They tricked all of us. Lenora pretended to be Freydis to
draw us away from Denmark until the real Freydis was safe.”

“That’s it,” Erik said. He moved about
casually, as though he had nothing serious on his mind, but Lenora,
watching him, was certain he was trying to maneuver Sven into a
position where the sun would be in his eyes. Surely Sven, veteran
of combat that he was, would realize this too. But Sven was more
interested in baiting Erik than in securing his position in
preparation for battle.

“You even tricked your brave friend Rodfos,”
Sven continued. “That was unkind of you, Erik. Rodfos paid dearly
for your falsehoods.”

“What have you done to Rodfos?” Lenora’s
mouth went dry as she recalled the red-haired sailor.

“He was a hard man to kill,” Sven said. “He
wouldn’t tell us where you had gone, but we found another man who
remembered seeing Rodfos and Torgard together, so we followed
Torgard to Kiev, hoping to find you. Our guess proved correct.”

Lenora staggered with the shock of Sven’s
news. She leaned against a tree for support and tried vainly to
blink back the tears. “Rodfos,” she whispered. She could only hope
that Rodfos had met in the afterlife the woman he had loved long
ago, the one she had reminded him of.

“Rodfos will be avenged,” Erik promised
her.

“By whom?” Sven sneered. “You are all going
to die just as soon as Snorri arrives. I would like to do the job
myself, but I promised I would wait for him.”