Chapter Fifty-One

Alodie’s Ship

Alodie parted ways with Birna at the dock. “Thank you for everything.”

“I will be praying for your safe passage.”

Alodie balked at having her name invoked along with their pagan gods. She opened her mouth to object, but stopped herself. It was well meant. And what would she do about convincing the woman of the dreadful error of her ways in the span of a few brief moments? “Thank you again.”

Birna brushed a strand of hair away from Alodie’s face then took both Alodie’s hands in hers. “I wish we could have met under different circumstances.”

“Your company and kindness softened a difficult time. I will never forget that.”

The older woman smiled, face crinkling. “That means a lot to me.” Her lips pulled together and she tossed a brief, stealthy glance behind Alodie. “I’m sorry about him.”

Looking over her shoulder to see who Birna referred to wasn’t necessary. “You weren’t to know.”

“About his father being a coward and what happened between him and the jarl? No. But I was the only mother he ever knew. I feel about him as I do my own son, and with that comes a mother’s guilt about having raised a man who wasn’t able to—”

“It’s all right.” Alodie meant no disrespect in interrupting, but hearing any more would upset the delicate state of her emotions. Coming to live with the demons had changed her. Thorvald had changed her. Going home, she needed to shed those invisible marks that had altered her.

As it stood, everything was fresh and raw. Maybe with time the scars would turn pale.

“Come.” Behind her, a deep voice spoke. “We still have plenty of daylight. We’ll make headway today.”

Best not to put it off any longer, he meant.

Alodie and Birna embraced. Then Alodie swept her eyes one last time over the village. It didn’t seem so strange or heathen now. The first time she’d seen it…

Not a day she cared to recall.

She ignored Thorvald’s hand and made her way to the ship by herself. This time when Alodie went aboard, it was of her own volition. Ozrik helped her, Thorvald looked on. She didn’t care to examine what might have been shining out of his eyes. If he’d wanted the privilege of aiding her, there were a great many things he should have done differently.

…

They embarked, setting sail before the sun reached its zenith.

The men on this voyage were more subdued. Thorvald’s place among them was taken for granted. There was less urgency. And somehow, less of a sense of purpose.

His authority, however, seemed quieter. More subtle and collected. That might have been due to how he behaved. He put his head down and worked. Maybe he was trying to be nothing more than one among his men, but this way the warriors treated him with even greater deference and respect than before.

Alodie watched, saying nothing and speaking to nobody. Ozrik made a few attempts, for which she was grateful. There were just…no words to be had.

The days dragged out. The sun rose and took its time crossing the sky. It seemed night would never come.

Then it would…

Thorvald’s cloak would come down. He’d put his sword down. Maybe he’d glance to her. Maybe he wouldn’t.

They’d rest together. Side by side. She’d fold her hands on the bottom of her ribs. The waves would slosh gently against the sides. If it rained, he’d pull another layer over her. She would turn over, away from him, face covered but for the tented hole she made to peer out and breathe.

One morning turned into another. The endless sea was featureless and undefinable. The days melted into each other.

And then they didn’t.

It was early. They’d been hugging the shoreline, passing unfamiliar outcrops of rocks, overgrown forests, and quiet beaches. The morning mists were still clinging to the earth. The shorebirds circled and dived.

Alodie might as well have been reliving the morning the nightmare had begun. Except this time, she wasn’t lingering on the sand watching the morning. She was on the ship—standing at its prow, even. Her eyes scanned a place she’d never thought to see again. In some ways the voyage back seemed shorter. In others, longer.

Thorvald gave an order and the men jumped over the gunwale, splashing into the waves. Working together, they brought the ship ashore.

He came to her.

Their eyes met. “You’re home.”

“So I am.” Her heart hammered.

Closing her eyes, she inhaled. The air was subtly different from the air in the land of the Norsemen. She’d never appreciated the exact fragrances before. The cool freshness. The slight dampness of the morning, even in high summer. It had simply been the air they all breathed. Now she knew that different places in the world could smell different.

Tangled up in her intention not to let being kidnapped change her, she was going to have to grapple with the knowledge of the world being bigger and more varied than she could have imagined.

Gently, Thorvald lifted her out and set her upon the beach. There. Her feet once again touched home. This was the place she was supposed to be.

Why does it feel different?

“Are you all right?” The wind fluttered strands of his hair around his face.

“Nervous, I’ll own.” She glanced down, avoiding making eye contact. “Thank you for keeping your word.”

“You doubted I would?”

“Not really. I know you’re a man of honor.” She chanced an upward glance. Their gazes met. The first time she’d seen the color of his irises, she’d imagined him plucking the color from the very sky itself. The intensity shining outward made her breath hitch. “More honor than I could have guessed.”

“It all came down to you. I hope I’ve proved that I will do anything for you. Anything. If you choose to remember nothing of what’s happened since I first took you, I hope you might make an exception for that.”

There was nothing to say.

They made their way up together, side by side. Almost as if…as if they were united.

They didn’t have far to go. The weathered gray of the timber encircling the fortress wasn’t visible when a large band of people met them. Rows of men stood ready to fight. All those who hadn’t been present the last time when Alodie had been taken. At the rear, the king sat on horseback flanked by a few of his most trusted men, each upon the backs of their own beasts.

The men were poised and ready. Alodie held up a hand. “Wait. They’re not here to hurt you.”

A murmur went through the group. The small flanks parted, making way for a group of women. Ladies came forward, some with more fearful looks than others. As to the center figure, the princess, she had never worn an expression of such open shock. She quickly recovered. “Alodie. You’ve returned.”

The familiar tones of her native tongue were unexpectedly pleasurable.

Alodie showed her deference. “I have, my lady. You appeared quickly.”

“Since…since the last time, we’ve had men guarding the beach all day and all night.”

Cyneburga’s gaze narrowed. “I predicted she was conspiring with them. I said so before she left. I said so after she left. Now look at her.” The woman glanced scornfully at Alodie, gaze trailing up and down. “She’s dressed like them. She’s as good as one of them.”

A stubborn cloud of defensiveness hazed Alodie’s vision. Pagan practices aside, being one of them would not be an insult. They weren’t the only invaders marauding the lands. They were new and they were frightening and they were good at what they did. But they were not as strange as popular rumor would have one believe.

She leveled out a reply from between clenched teeth. “He brought me back. They’re not here to hurt us.”

“Because you’re going to show them where to take all the valuables, I assume?”

Alodie’s mouth pinched. She wasn’t about to let that pass by without comment.

“I would never”—she struggled to keep her tone free of rancor—“help anyone hurt anyone else. Least of all the people I grew up with, worked beside, and served for most of the days of my life. I don’t hurt people, whether by aiding those who do or by inflicting harm myself.”

A memory of slashing the jarl’s chest with her hidden knife rushed through her mind. That was different. Her bodily autonomy had been at stake. She didn’t even feel the need to go to confession. God couldn’t hold anything against her for wanting to keep herself safe.

“No?” Cyneburga sneered. She pointed back toward the beach. “Then explain that. They came to bring you back, too?”

Alodie and Thorvald turned at the same time.

Sure enough, approaching the beach were three more ships. Burly men jumped out to bring their vessels the rest of the way to shore.

A figure stood at the helm of the middle ship, the sight of him filling Alodie with harrowing dread.

The jarl.