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Rorik was impressed by a woman who could lie with such ease and efficiency. But still he couldn’t be sure. There were twenty-two warriors, Chessa, and Kiri. All the men were armed with swords, knives, and axes. They held their shields at their sides and wore helmets on their heads. They all knew how to terrify when they appeared suddenly out of the blackness of the night or out of the fog, swords raised, screaming, their Viking helmets covering their faces.
But now they practiced stealth. Gunleik knew York. He’d spent ten years of his life guarding King Guntrum, brother to the current king, Olric. He knew where prisoners were kept and prayed things were as they had been so many years before. It was four hours before dawn. Plenty of time to find Merrik and all the Malverne men, plenty of time to escape. Plenty of time to see if they were dead and seek revenge.
They walked single file, some distance between each of them, so that if anyone saw them, they wouldn’t be alarmed, at least not until Rorik or one of his men could silence them. They didn’t enter the town, widely skirting the close-set streets with their malodorous alleys, dangerous with thieves. The king’s palace stood on the high ground behind the harbor and town, the guards’ barracks behind the palace as well as the prisoners’ hut. Remaining unnoticed there would prove more difficult.
Gunleik told them where the guards would be and prayed that it was still true. They made their way around to the back of the high ground, scuttling from tree to tree for protection. They killed four guards, quietly and cleanly. At last they were running stealthi
ly toward the low wooden barracks where the soldiers lived. At the end of the barracks was another wooden building, this one cruder, filth all around it. They prayed to Thor that their comrades were inside it, all of them alive. But they all wondered if such a prayer had a chance. None spoke of it aloud.
They saw no more than twenty guards, leaning against the gates that led to the palace, leaning against the walls of the barracks, none of them really paying attention, none of them patrolling, just standing there, perhaps even sleeping on their feet.
When they reached the barracks, still unseen, each of the Hawkfell men picked a guard. Within moments, the men were lying dead on the ground.
Gunleik waved for the men to follow him. There were half a dozen men lolling about outside the prisoner’s barrack, speaking quietly. They were all awake.
One man had time to call out the alarm before Hafter cut his throat. They all froze to the spot, waiting for soldiers to pour from the barracks, but nothing happened.
Rorik gently shoved on the door. It was bolted. Sculla, whose arms were the size of a thick oak branch, split the old timber within moments with his axe.
“Now we need a light,” Rorik said, and nodded to Aslak. Quickly, Aslak crept to the small fire pit and its still-glowing embers, and lit the wick that floated in the small jar of oil that lay nearby. A smoking trail of light went upward. Chessa stepped inside the barrack and wanted to yell with relief. All the men were there and were alive. Then she wanted to yell with fury.
All the men were chained to huge blocks of wood. All were ragged and filthy. The stench was nearly overpowering. All the Malverne men looked as if they’d been starved.
“Papa!”
Chessa slammed her hand over Kiri’s mouth, quickly leaning down. “Be quiet, Kiri. This is dangerous. We want to save your first papa and not be caught ourselves. Don’t make a single sound.”
“But Papa—”
“I know,” Chessa said, so furious she was choking on it. She lifted Kiri into her arms and ran toward Cleve. He was staring at her as if she really weren’t there, as if she were a Viking ghost, and she thought she saw alarm in his eyes, but it was too dark in the long room to be certain.
All the men were whispering, so relieved to see their friends they seemed filled with renewed energy. Chessa fell to her knees beside Cleve, her knife already drawn, already sawing on the thick rope that bound him to the chain that was drawn through an iron ring in the huge chunk of wood.
“By all the gods,” he said. “Kiri, is that you, sweeting?”
“Aye, Papa. I’m here to save you.”
He laughed. Where that laugh came from, he didn’t know. He wanted to hold Kiri but he was too filthy to touch her. He feared making her ill. He felt lightheaded. Maybe all this was a dream. He’d thought so much about Rorik coming. Aye, it was a dream to bedevil him. But why had Rorik brought Chessa and Kiri on so dangerous a mission? He shook his head and stared at his small daughter. No dream this. He knew, of course, at least about Kiri. If Rorik hadn’t brought her, she’d be dead now. Poor Rorik, damned both ways, no matter what he did. “Hurry,” he said to Chessa.
Then Gunleik was beside her on his knees, his own knife joining hers. In moments, Cleve was free.
“Can you stand?” Gunleik said.
Cleve eased himself up with his back against the wall. He felt damnably weak and he hated it that Chessa and his daughter were here to see it.
He immediately said in a furious whisper to his small daughter, “Were you starving yourself again?”
She just looked up at him solemnly, saying nothing. He frowned down at her. She didn’t look hungry. There was so much he didn’t understand.
Chessa handed him a skin of water. He drank deep. He drank until the skin was empty. Then she handed him a strip of dried beef. He didn’t want to stuff it into his mouth, but he did. He’d never been so hungry in his life. Well, he had, but that had been years before when he’d been only a small boy and he hadn’t brought his master his goblet of wine quickly enough. Stupid memory. He shook his head again and drank down another skin filled with cool water. She handed him more dried beef. It was the best food he’d ever had in his life.
Chessa looked about. The men were gulping down the water and the food. She knew that if they weren’t strong enough to walk on their own, all of Rorik’s men would carry them. She saw Merrik. Thank the gods he’d survived, else Rorik would tear York to the ground.
By the gods, in another week, they would have all been dead. She wanted to kill Ragnor. And Kerek. Even Captain Torric.
“Why are you growling, Papa? You sound very angry.”
“I’m not growling. I’m swallowing this wonderful food.”
