Page 71 of Summer of the Viking

The other Northmen started to move closer, more menacing than before. Whatever they said caused Valdar to go white. He moved in front of her. ‘I will protect you, Alwynn, to my dying breath.’

Alwynn gulped. The odds were not good on either of them surviving.

‘What is going on?’ Oswy thundered behind her. ‘We heard there was...’

She turned and saw a host of villagers armed with little more than pitchforks and shovels, but loaded with determination. Oswy brandished an axe.

‘The Northmen!’ she cried. ‘They’ve attacked Cleofirth’s farmhouse!’

The men looked to Valdar for confirmation that they should attack these peasants, then when one turned and started running, the rest took off after him. Only Valdar remained, standing resolute before the villagers, his bloodied sword half-raised.

‘After them,’ he cried. ‘They would kill us all.’

The villagers needed no more urging and swarmed past, intent on righting a wrong.

Alwynn’s legs refused to hold her up and she sank to the ground. She covered her eyes and laid her face against the soft moss. She’d been such a fool and her heart shattered into a thousand pieces.

* * *

She never knew how long she knelt there, but gradually she became aware of the utter silence. Where there had been a great rushing sound, now there was only stillness. An eerie sort of stillness.

‘Alwynn?’ she heard Valdar call in the stillness. ‘Are you hurt? Did Girmir do anything to you? Did anyone hurt you?’

With furious fingers, she brushed the moisture from her cheeks. ‘I’m fine.’ Except my heart is breaking.

‘You’ve nothing to fear. It has been a complete rout. Girmir can’t hurt you any more, sweetling. None of them can.’

‘Was that his name? Girmir?’ she asked. She rose and kept her shoulders back. There was no way that Valdar would ever know her heart wept for him and the man she had thought he was. Her whole body seemed numb and she moved slowly as if she was moving in a dream.

‘Aye, that was his name.’ He crouched down beside her. ‘He was one of the worst sort. The men who survived were mutineers and traitors. You must not think that all my countrymen are like that. Most are honest and law-abiding farmers.’

Honest and law-abiding? The words seemed hollow. ‘You have a different notion of honesty, I think.’

‘He and his gang are destroyed, thanks to you.’

‘I didn’t do anything.’ She pressed her hands together to stop them trembling. ‘Nothing at all.’

‘You gave me my courage back. I could fight for you in a way that I could not fight for my dead comrades.’ He came beside her and she saw weariness etched on the lines of his face. ‘When I thought I was beaten, I turned my head and saw you. Fresh strength flowed through me and I defeated him. You saved my life. Again.’

Her heart ached anew, but she told herself sternly that those were just words. Valdar possessed a silver tongue. It could not distract her from what he was—a Northman who had come to wage war on an innocent people.

‘I’m fine. There are other people...’

‘They can wait.’

She glanced over and saw his ghostly pallor. All her resolutions fled. Blood seeped from his arm. His blood. He had fought for her. The only reason why she was alive was because of him. She closed her eyes. One Northman was different from the rest. How could she judge him when he had saved her life?

There was no way she could betray him to the king, but also there was no way he could remain here. All her earlier dreams tasted like dust in her mouth.

She reached into the herb bag that she always carried and withdrew a little moss. The act made her feel better. She knew how to heal, even if her heart was bleeding.

She scrambled over to him and put his head on her lap. She stroked his forehead ‘You are injured. Keep quiet now. Let me handle everything.’

He nodded. ‘We will do this as you say. But know that I would never hurt you or allow anyone to hurt you. I would give my life for you. Gladly.’

‘Oswy!’ she called, trying to concentrate on the wound rather than his words. His flesh swam in front of her eyes. She blinked several times and tasted the salt of tears as they dripped down the back of her throat. Her heart wanted to believe him, but how could she? ‘Fetch me some water. Valdar is hurt. I should be able to save him, but I will need herbs.’

‘My lady?’ The big miller tilted his head to one side. ‘What is going on here? What has happened to Valdar?’

‘Valdar fought the Northman’s leader and won. If he hadn’t done that, I shudder to think what could have happened.’ Her voice sounded high and tight to her ears. Silently she prayed Oswy would not ask how the fight came about. She was through with lying. ‘But he hurt his arm. I want to see if the blade went deep or simply glanced off.’

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