Muttered curses broke the silence, but no one took a step into the gaps. No one came to his defense in the face of all that hatred. Maybe now he’d finally stop defending them and help me achieve vengeance for Axel.
I was struck by the realization that he had no reason to stay here and take this abuse from people who were beneath him. He could’ve gone back to his crew and left all this shame behind him. Maybe he had a thing for self-flagellation…and maybe he felt duty bound to stay now. But I strongly suspected he was putting himself through this for me, suffering for my sake.
And damn if that wasn’t erotic. He had no right to be so annoyingly noble without expecting me to want to break him of it.
Arnulf, the son of Bastian’s mentor, stepped forward to take the place at my husband’s right, holding his shield up in protection.
The muttering grew louder, and a few men spat on the ground in disgust, but a look of such gratitude settled into Bastian’s expression that it annoyed me. He was desperate for their forgiveness, and none of them deserved it.
Elric focused his wrath on the young man, a glare that might’ve made a seasoned warrior quake, but Arnulf squared his shoulders and continued facing straight ahead.
It was a brave move to openly defy his captain like that. He’d likely be punished for it later, an idea that irrationally made my berserker stretch her claws like she wouldn’t allow it.
But there was still a gap on Bastian’s left, the place where he’d be expected to shield.
Elric smiled harshly. “Who dares to trust the protection of a coward who?—”
I’d had enough.
“No wonder you’re so easy to defeat in battle,” I called, cutting him off. “You spend more time listening to your commander gloat than you do training.”
Oh, the fuckhead captain didn’t like that…
Elric whipped around, his eyes bulging in anger.
Before he could say anything, I pointed out, “If you had control of your men, you could order that gap closed and focus on what matters. Says more about you than Bastian that there’s a gap in your wall.”
He opened his mouth to speak before he’d decided what to say, then made a strangled noise of rage before he managed to snap, “While you’re on this field training, you’re under my command. If I’m going to order anyone to stand there, it’ll be you.”
I dusted some of the dirt off my filthy gown. “You could try. But I don’t answer to you, and I don’t fight with a shield.”
“Bullshit,” he spat. “Vikings fight in a shield wall just the same us.”
“Vikings do. Berserkers are expected toshatteryour wall. Why would I waste an arm on a shield when it could hold a second axe?”
Bastian looked conflicted, like he wanted to intervene but recognized the precarious moment of tension and didn’t want to tip us over the edge.
“Go on, then,” Elric said, sweeping hand towards the shield wall. “Show us how you’d break the wall,Princess.” He rounded on the men, giving them a look that promised retribution if they let him down.
After Bastian’s manipulation, I could see Elric more clearly now. He wanted to remind them all that I was their enemy. And to see how weak I was.
“Advance!” Elric shouted, expecting them to move as a unit, but the man next to Bastian refused to step close enough to lockshields with him, and they were all so distracted, they edged forward two disjointed steps, with pronounced uncertainty.
On the battlefield, my berserker would’ve smelled their fear and howled for blood. She could obviously still feel it even if I couldn’t because she twisted and paced with anticipation.
Bastian gave me a desperate look over his shield that said,Don’t actually kill anyone.
I rolled my eyes and stepped towards the formation, tossing my sword to one side.
“Shield wall!” Elric bellowed once more, reminding them to square up their line. Then, with a smirk, he swept his hand towards the row of warriors in invitation. As though I hadn’t marked every last weak spot in their line as I’d drilled with them.
The clever thing to do would’ve been to pretend I was weaker than I was. Bastian had set it up so that I could lay the perfect trap, but with the roiling energy of my leashed berserker building inside, I needed to hit something before it became unbearable. I couldn’t tap into the berserker power, but tapping into my own strength seemed to calm her.
Besides…I knew exactly who I wanted to crush.
With no further hesitation, I charged at the wall of Saxons.
The guy to Bastian’s left, the one who’d refused to close the line, never bothered to brace his knees properly. He was a lazy shit who went through the motions without training like it mattered. The gap between his shield and Bastian’s made him even more vulnerable.
