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STEFAN LET IT SLIP that he was indeed the missing Viking and wondered what Macoran would do, but Macoran did not come out of the keep before they left, no warriors came to take him away and he assumed he was safe...at least for now.
None of them spoke during their ride home and although he could not be certain exactly when, Stefan realized he must have turned sixteen. The cottage looked no worse for wear, most likely because both William and Stefan had been there to check on the place every time the weather permitted. Stefan used his flint and dry heather to start a fire in the hearth and went to fetch water. Jirvel used her broom to clear away the cobwebs and sweep out the mud they tracked in while Kannak put the food away and then shook their bedding and made their beds.
They remained silent even during their evening meal and then washed their bowls in the bucket of water and put them away. At last they sat back down at the table and there was nothing left to do but talk or go to bed. Kannak opted to do the latter and stood back up, but Jirvel took her hand. “We will say all there be to say and be done with it.”
Kannak puffed her cheeks. Her real parentage was all so new, she had not thought it through and the last thing she wanted to do was talk about it. But she saw the look in Stefan’s eyes, remembered her pledge and sat back down at the table.
“It was on our wedding day that the Brodie warriors came and surrounded the village. They far outnumbered our men, were ready to fight and we were terrified. If...yer father had not done what he did, the men would have been killed and the lasses and wee ones carried off.”
“What did he do?” Kannak asked.
“He offered himself instead. Laird Brodie had a daughter no lad was ever likely to marry and yer father knew it. An unattached daughter be an embarrassment to a laird charged with matchmaking. Macoran agreed to marry her in exchange for the lives of his people.”
“On yer wedding day? How could he?”
“How could he not?” Jirvel saw the tears welling up in her daughter’s eyes and handed her a cloth. “I have sheltered ye, Kannak. Ye do not understand there are evil lads in the world who force a lass for sport. They beat her, shame her and dinna marry her. Yer father saved us from lads like that.”
Kannak thought about it for a long time, trying to take it all in. Then she suddenly began to giggle. “Agnes be so unsightly. ‘Tis a fitting punishment for him.”
Jirvel smiled then too. “The poor dear. And she be married to a lad who will never love her. Her fate be perhaps worse than ours.”
“But if she died, would he...”
“Dinna even think such a thing. I have had enough pain and I will not add that guilt to it.” She took the cloth back and wiped the last of her daughter’s tears away. “All I ask is that ye dinna blame him. Yer father did not do this to hurt ye.”
“I will try, for yer sake.” She got up, kissed her mother’s cheek and headed for bed. But when she got to the doorway, she turned back. “I have seen a sea monster, Stefan.”
“When?”
“Just afore ye found me on the hill. It jumped out o’ the water and I know it saw me.”
“What did it look like?”
“A fish...an enormous fish with a huge mouth. Ye have won the wager and I will take ye to see the hidden castle come warmer weather.” She turned back around and went to bed.
Jirvel took hold of Stefan’s arm. “‘Tis dangerous and we are forbidden to go there. Talk her out o’ it, she listens to ye.”
*
AFTER THE NOON MEAL of the next day when Stefan opened the door intending to fetch a bucket of water from the river, he was shocked to find Macoran seated on a horse in the courtyard holding the reins to a second horse. He had not heard a sound. He worried that he was about to be taken away, but Macoran was alone so he relaxed and stuck his head back in the door. “Laird Macoran be here.”
Immediately, Kannak and Jirvel came out and as she always did, Jirvel glared at him. “Why are ye here?”
“I brought Stefan a horse o’ his own and I have come to see my daughter.” He tossed the reins of the other horse to Stefan and continued, “Come here, Kannak.”
She was hesitant but finally walked to him. Then he leaned down, opened his arms and smiled. “Will ye ride with me, daughter?”
She was still uncertain, but she wrapped her arms around his neck and let him lift her onto the horse. She was as stiff as a board with her hands folded in her lap and her legs over one of his when he put his arm around her waist and turned the horse. He did not turn down the path as she expected. Instead, he urged the horse halfway up the side of the hill, found a small clearing, stopped and turned the horse around. Through the trees, she could see the cottage, the land and a little of the river beyond.
“I have watched ye grow up from here.”
“I...dinna see ye.”
“Nay, ye did not. I was careful not to let ye see me.”
She didn’t know what to say. Being his daughter was something she had not had much time to consider and it seemed odd to be with him now.
“Ye are trembling, are ye afraid o’ me?”
“Nay, not afraid.”
“What then? Do ye hate me? Is it impossible to be with me after all the wrong I have done to ye and yer mother?”
“My mother explained it sufficiently.”
“Sufficiently. I see.”
In the distance, she watched Stefan bring the water back to the cottage and take it inside. Then she turned to look into her father’s eyes. “Do ye intend to marry me off?”
“Do ye want me to?”
“Nay, but ‘tis what lairds do I have heard.”
“Aye, ‘tis what lairds do. In yer case, I promised yer mother to let ye fall in love with the lad ye will marry. Have ye fallen in love?”
“I hardly know anyone, save Stefan.”
“Do ye love him?”
She was taken aback by his question. “Of course I do. He be like a brother to me.”
“Just as I suspected. How shall we let ye fall in love then? Shall I send lads to meet ye or shall ye come to the village often and then do yer choosing?”
“Laird Macoran, I only yesterday became yer daughter and now ye ask me to make too many decisions? I cannae. I am not able to think even.”
“I understand. ‘Tis just that I have my hands full keeping all the lads away who want ye.”
At that she scooted around so she could more fully look at him. “Truly?”
“Truly. Ye have become very pleasing and I venture to say ye may have yer pick. But for my sake, see that he has his wits about him.”
She giggled. “There are fewer o’ those than ye know.”
“I was afraid ye might think that. I had hoped ye might have already considered one or two during yer stay in the village, but I see ye have not. Ye found none o’ the lads to yer liking?”
“Oh they are pleasant enough, helpful and considerate, but...”
“But yer heart did not flutter when ye saw them?”
“My heart will flutter?”
“Aye, mine still flutters every time I see yer mother.” He sighed, cupped his hand around the back of her head and encouraged her to lean against his chest. “What I would give to have her back. There were days when I wanted nothing more than to come get the two of ye and ride away where no one would know us. But alas, it was an impossible dream. A laird must care for all his clan, not just two. I cannae undo what be done, but ...” He paused to find just the right words. “But I can tell ye this; I have loved ye every day o’ yer life.”
A tear rolled down her cheek. She felt him kiss the top of her head and she could not resist putting her arms around him and letting him hold her more completely. Then she pulled away and dried her tears. “Will ye help me find a lad like ye to marry?”
Nothing could have made him more proud and he took her back in his arms and held her a little while longer. “I will do as best I can.”
“But he must be a tall lad with good teeth for my mother’s sake. He must be very strong, with...” She was still giving him her list of demands when he got her home and let her slide down off the horse.
Macoran smiled at Jirvel, even though she was still glaring at him, turned his horse and rode away a happy man.
“He promised to find me a good husband,” Kannak announced as she walked past her mother and went inside.
“She be but fourteen,” Jirvel whispered, as she watched Macoran turn his horse down the path toward the village.
*
IT WAS TIME TO DO THE marketing. They needed seeds for the spring planting a second new shovel, if they could find one and strong rope. Stefan hoped to surprise them by hanging a swing from the branch of an oak tree. If he could keep them from discovering what he was up to, it would be the perfect surprise.
This time, Jirvel wanted some time alone and promised to come on her horse later so Kannak and Stefan rode the same horse as they so often had in the past. “Up or around?” Stefan asked as they headed down the path.
Seated behind him, she playfully slapped his back, “I cannae believe ye asked me that. Ye know how I like to see the water from the top o’ the hill.”
“Still? Have ye not yet grown weary o’ watching it?”
“I shall never grow weary. After all, I might see another sea monster.”
He wasn’t sure he believed her on that subject, but he let it pass and turned up the hill. “Why do ye find the water so fascinating?”
“I dinna know. It be constantly moving, first drawing out and then coming back in waves that curl with white foam on the edges. What do ye think makes it do that?”
“Tis the heartbeat o’ the great dragon.”
Kannak rolled her eyes. “If a dragon were that big, more than just the Vikings would have seen it by now.”
“I feel another wager coming on.”
“I could wager there are no dragons, but ‘tis a wager I could not win and I do so like to win.” She tightened her arms around him to keep from falling off the back of the horse as it climbed the hill and remained quiet for a time.
He liked having her arms around him, even if it was just to hold on. He especially liked it when she laid her head against his back and imagined she was hugging him intentionally. Too soon, she was full of questions again.
“What else could make the water move constantly?”
“The wind.” He half expected to run into Macoran as he urged the horse upward, but their laird was no where in sight.
“The wind? But ‘tis not always windy.”
“‘Tis always windy somewhere in the world.”
Kannak wrinkled her brow. The world she knew only consisted of France, England, Scotland, Ireland and the dreaded land of the Vikings. “How big be the world?”
“The world has no ending.”
She clicked her tongue on the top of her mouth. “Ye do not know that, bletherskite? I begin to think ye dinna know everything after all.”
“I know there be a place called Deutschland and another they call Istanbul. Deutschland is not so far, but Istanbul is many weeks to the south. The air be far warmer than it be here...hotter even than our summer heat, and it stays hot all the time. The lands in the south have many riches, I am told. They are rich in jewels, gold, silver and...” He saw them just as they reached the top of the hill and quickly halted his horse. Seven Viking ships sat in the water a careful distance from the shore and the men had their oars held straight up waiting for the order to row. He heard Kannak catch her breath and tighten her arms around him.
“They mean to attack again.”
“Nay, they will not attack. They have come to find me. Get down, Kannak.”
“Nay, Stefan I will not get down.”
He turned nearly all the way around, kissed her forehead and then pried her arms away. Swiftly, he lifted her off the horse and stood her on the ground.
“Nay, Stefan, dinna leave us. We need ye still.”
“Stay here!”
“Will ye come back?” He did not answer and already tears were streaming down her cheeks as she watched him disappear into the forest.
After nearly a year, they had finally come back for Donar and his son, and they came with seven full ships prepared to fight for them. Yet Stefan did not want a fight. Instead, he traveled in the trees until he was sure Macoran’s men could not see him and then rode past the cemetery and down to the sandy beach to show himself. It wasn’t long until the ships turned his direction and began to row.
He could hear the men in the village cheering when they turned and hoped the Macoran’s would not come to see why, but just in case, he rode further down the beach and then stopped. His heart was overjoyed and he desperately wanted to go home, to carve a stone in his father’s memory and to see his aunt, uncle and cousins again.
Six of the ships slowed and stayed off shore while the seventh beached. To Stefan’s amazement, Anundi was the first to jump down off the rim of the ship. At the same time, Stefan dismounted and went to greet him. He was pleased to see his old friend...but he had bad news.
*
THERE WAS TO BE A CELEBRATION in the village and everyone was excited – everyone but Agnes. She was taking her walk along the shore, was the first to spot the Vikings and never said a word of warning as she calmly went to her bedchamber to hide. But instead of hiding, she hurried to her window to watch. She heard her husband shout commands, wished he had no voice, saw the Limonds line up on the other side of the river and willed their barge to sink. Left alone to fight seven full ships of able-bodied Vikings, surely the clan would lose and more than anything, she wanted to watch her husband die. Then she spotted her sons running as fast as they could...away from the village.
But the cowardly Vikings turned their ships and went away. Once they were gone, she sat down on her bed and wept. Was she never going to be rid of Macoran? What cruelty was this?
Macoran, on the other hand, decided after losing the last battle, the Vikings were too cowardly to attack and his chest swelled with pride. He promised his own store of wine and mead, and then proclaimed there would be laughter and dancing well into the night.
But Kannak was beside herself with grief. She could no longer see the ships, did not know where Stefan was and although he told her to stay there, he did not say to wait for him there or that he was coming back. Yet all she could do was wait. At length, she found the rock he hid behind when she first saw him and sat down. “I refuse to cry another tear. Only wee bairn cry and I...he has to come back, what will we do without him?” Her heart was slowly breaking and the longer he stayed away, the worse it got until she thought she would go daft. Still he did not come back and before dark, she would be forced to walk down the hill to the village and face her mother and Macoran with the truth.
The truth. For a moment she wondered what the truth was. For most of a year, she and her mother had hidden a Viking and although her father...her real father might not condemn them, the others surely would, especially those who had lost men in the Viking battles. Then what? They would be forced to live with her uncle Greagor in the north, she supposed and that meant she would lose her father all over again. Not only that, she would sorely miss Stefan.
The longer he stayed away and the more she thought about the consequences she and her mother would face if he were truly gone, the more upset she became. Kannak finally gritted her teeth, “Ye cannae leave us!”
In the trees just out of sight, Stefan watched her. He had never seen her this enraged before and found it amusing. Yet he knew enough not to laugh and wanted her to calm down a little before he showed himself. Then, just as he decided she was calm enough, she started to cry and he could not bear to see her in tears. He dismounted and led the horse out of the trees making enough noise not to frighten her.
Embarrassed, she quickly wiped her tears away and turned so he could not see. “Mother will wonder where we got to.”
“Aye, why do ye cry?”
“I do not cry.”
He smiled and offered his hand. “Yer eyes are red, Kannak and ye are not practiced at lying, nor should ye be.”
“Ye did not go with them?”
“Alas, I intended to. I miss my family.”
“Then why did ye not?”
“Because I realized my father would not be there and ‘tis he I miss the most.” It was not the real reason but it was not yet time to tell her he loved her and could not leave without her. It occurred to him to take her, but in the end, he could not do that to Jirvel. “Now tell me why ye cried.”
She took his hand finally and let him pull her up. “I cried because I missed the horse.”
He laughed, kept hold of her hand and started them walking down the path toward the village. “The horse missed ye as well.”
“Stefan.”
“What?”
“Ye are making me run.”
He realized she was right and stopped. “I will try not to do that again.”
“‘Tis the first time ye promised that. Did ye speak to the Vikings?”
“Aye.”
She wanted to hear all about it, but Stefan never talked about the Vikings and did not seem to want to now, so she did not press him. Perhaps someday he would tell her. “I dinna...I...”
“What?”
“Thank ye for not leaving us.” She smiled, dropped his hand and hurried on down the path.
Stefan rolled his eyes and patted the horse’s nose. “Ye she loves already. Loving me will take a bit longer, it seems.”
*
THE GREAT HALL INSIDE the keep was empty as it usually was when Macoran was away. The twins were elsewhere occupied and Agnes took a seat at the table to wait. But it was not for her husband she waited. Toran hated Macoran as much as she did, having some months’ back been caught stealing and publicly whipped in the marketplace where all could see. Not long afterward, she struck up an alliance with him hoping someday she might think of a way out of her marriage and need his help
It was true, she knew about Jirvel, but not until recently did she know the truth about Kannak. Not that she cared how many children her husband had, but Kannak was another pawn in the plot she had been forming in her mind for days. Her only way out, she was convinced, lay in the death of her husband and she thought to poison him, if she could get her hands on the poison. But no matter how pleasant she was and how many times she prevented her sons from getting into mischief, Macoran still refused to let her go to her aging father and without guards, it was not safe crossing Limond land. Therefore, only one answer remained. There had to be a war.
For that, she needed something Macoran would deem worth fighting for and it had to be something so important to him, he would fight in the war personally. Kannak was the answer. The thought of having at last come up with a sound plot made her smile.
Perhaps she might also entangle Jirvel somehow. Macoran would surely leave the village and go off to fight for his Jirvel. Time and time again, she heard her husband refuse to betroth Jirvel to a man who asked for her and Agnes found the whole matter repugnant. His reasons for denying them were unsound and to accept Macoran’s answer made his men as witless as he was.
The more she thought about it, the more she believed her plan would work beautifully. Macoran was far fonder of the boy Stefan than he was of his own sons and hopefully, Stefan would die too. Every time Jirvel and her brood came to a festival, Macoran was as happy to see Stefan as he was Kannak and always asked him to join them on the landing. It irked Agnes to the bone.
At last Toran opened the door and came to her. “Ye sent for me, milady?”
“I would have ye take a message to my father and say these words exact. Say...”
