Beyond a Darkened Shore(87)

A low horn sounded from the shore behind us, and I turned toward the sound, my eyes scanning the distant waters.

Leif did the same. “One of my father’s allies has answered my summons,” he said as the ships’ banners came into view. “We will need all the help we can get for the battle against Fenris.”

Though there was no danger, my heart continued to race along in my chest. A low horn sounding and dragon-prow ships in the water had a different meaning for me, though even in this, my heart was changing.

Many of the villagers were already down at the quay to await the Northmen who had come. Two new ships now stood next to Leif’s, and the occupants were watching my army still on board them with as much distrust as the villagers had shown.

As the newcomers disembarked, I searched for their leader, curious to see who would be fighting alongside us. A slow smile took my face by surprise when I saw who it was.

A woman.

There was no doubt she was the leader, with her beautiful mantle of sable fur atop leather armor and longsword strapped to her hip. Her hair was worn in intricate blond braids upon her head, and her face was as fierce and angular as an eagle’s. The men followed in her wake as she approached us.

“Rúna,” Leif said. They clasped hands in greeting before she pulled Leif in for a firm embrace.

“I have brought you forty men,” she said. Her green eyes shifted to mine. “You are the Celtic queen?”

“I am Ciara,” I said, surprised she had already heard of me. Word spread fast through these northern lands.

“Rúna is my aunt,” Leif said with a fond smile, “my father’s only sister and a jarl in her own right.”

“And where is my brother?” Rúna asked with a smile. “Or does my arrival not warrant a greeting from the jarl?”

Leif touched her shoulder. “I was told upon my own arrival that his condition has worsened to the point that he can rarely leave his bed, Aunt, but he may join us in our feast tonight.”

Her smile faded. “It pains me to hear that. I will go to him, then. But first: What is the plan? How many others will respond to the summons?”

Leif gestured for us to follow him back toward the longhouse. “I can count on Jarl Thorsten and Inghard to bring more men, but neither will be able to bring as many as you. They should arrive by tomorrow, and then we will sail to Skien.”

When we entered the longhouse, the three of us sat around the fire pit in the main hall, and a servant brought us mead to drink from horns capped with gold.

“You plan to attack from the fjord?” Rúna asked Leif.

“Yes.”

“Hm,” she said. “Do you have a map?”

He paused, considering. “You think it would be better to attack from behind the city?”

“So they won’t see us coming,” I said, understanding dawning. The Viking longships were fast, but the fjords were narrow. They would be seen before they could make landfall, and giving the j?tnar the chance to transform was a death sentence. “They will be anticipating an attack—the sea serpent showed us that.”

Leif nodded. “They’ll be expecting us.”

“Sea serpent?” Rúna asked, confusion knitting her brows together.

“There was a j?tnar spy in Dubhlinn who sent word to Fenris of our movements,” he clarified for her. “Fenris in turn sent an ormr to deal with us, but”—he glanced at me with a smile—“Ciara dealt with it easily.”

I laughed. “I don’t know about ‘easily’ . . .”

“Either way,” Leif said, “it’s dead and we’re alive.” He stood and squeezed my shoulder gently. “I’ll go get a map of Skien.”

I turned my attention back to Rúna, who was watching me over the flames of the fire.

“You are beautiful,” Rúna said appraisingly as I took a sip of the mead. “I can see why he keeps you by his side.”

“And you are as bluntly outspoken as Leif,” I said. “It’s no wonder you’re related.”

She smiled. “It must be in the blood. It’s been too long since I’ve seen him.” She took a sip of her own mead thoughtfully. “The last time was when his sister, Finna, was still alive. Two winters have passed since then. And now my brother has taken ill. Have you seen him? Is his condition truly that bad?”

I shook my head. “He has been too ill to leave his bed, but I hope to make his acquaintance tonight at the feast.”

“Worse than I thought,” she said quietly. A shadow of sadness crossed over her fierce face. “It’s mostly because of my niece that I’m here. She was a kind and lighthearted girl, one who would have made the best of mothers. What happened to her was a fate that should never befall anyone, let alone someone like her.”

I thought of my own sister, and my hands tightened into fists. “We’ll stop them,” I swore.

Her sharp gaze met mine. “Tell me of your army. They say they never sleep nor move around the ships, only stand there as though you had brought statues to life.”

“How have you heard of them?”

“News of them traveled with the summons.”

Silence descended upon us as I contemplated how much to tell her. How to describe the men I had once loved who were now shells of the men they’d once been? “They have only seen one battle, but none fell,” I said. “They strike as fast as vipers and never tire.”