Ensnared (Knights of Brethren #3)(3)
At the cliff’s edge, the bailiff, however, hadn’t paused to watch the newcomers the way the rest of us had. Instead, he’d been too focused on moving Lola one tiny increment at a time. Before I could shout out at him to wait, he released his hold of her arms. She was already too close to the edge of the precipice and started to tip backward. Without her hands to flail and find her balance, she fell backward.
I gasped, my horror cutting off my cry.
In the next instant, she was gone.
Desperate to rush to her aid, I jerked free of Frans and Valter, who were distracted by the knights. I bolted to the edge of the plateau. But I was too late.
Chapter
2
Mikaela
A scream lodged in my throat.
As I peered into the deep blue-green waters of the fjord a hundred feet below, all I could do was watch Lola hit the surface with a splash and disappear underneath, leaving only a ripple to mark the place.
Bile rose swiftly.
How could he? How dare he? What right did the earl have to destroy a life so callously? Just because he was wealthy and powerful and born of nobility didn’t make him more worthwhile than those of us born into servitude.
Frans’s fingers caught mine. His solid presence grounded me, held me in place, kept me from tossing myself off the cliff after the woman in a vain endeavor to rescue her. Ami, one of my friends and a kitchen maid, sidled next to me on the other side, likely an effort to keep the earl from noticing my distress again.
Behind us, voices carried in the wind, the greetings of the earl and the knights, Lola’s fate now forgotten.
I stared out over the waterway that cut its way into the heart of Norvegia. Rugged cliffs lined the fjord for many winding leagues until opening into the Dark Sea in the west. The calm waters made the fjord a major water highway to the port city of Romsdal, which sat along the shore to the east of where we stood. Typical of most coastal cities, the terraced buildings were constructed of strong Norvegian timber and painted in colorful hues. The harbor was lined with traditional longboats and other sailing vessels, attesting to the thriving fishing industry of the area.
Beyond the city limits, the land flattened into a patchwork of farm fields that were being plowed and planted for the short growing season. In the far east, the fertile soil gave way to the hilly moors. Beyond the Moors of Many Lakes, the white peaks of the Snowden Mountain Range filled the interior and eastern border of Norvegia.
Behind us, Likness Castle, with thick walls and tall turrets, towered above Romsdal like a proud lord overseeing all that belonged to him. With three of the castle’s sides positioned atop cliffs, an enemy had only one way to attack—uphill and exposed in the open rocky hillside that led down to the city and waterfront.
While much of the land adjoining the castle and Romsdal had been cleared of its timber, Hardanger Forest covered a hundred leagues, a dark and overgrown woodland that had never been tamed, that no one dared to enter for fear of the jotunn.
It was on days like today that I wondered if the jotunn would be a better ruler over our lands than the earl. If I could trade one monster for the other, who would I choose? Why must I choose at all? The questions that had plagued me for years clamored for answers: Why must we subject ourselves to such heartless leaders? Why couldn’t we select someone who would rule justly and fairly?
The breeze again struck my cheeks, and I didn’t realize I was weeping until the air nearly froze the trail of my tears.
“Come,” Frans said gently. “It’s time to go.”
Huddled in her cloak, Ami squeezed my arm and then joined the others who were dispersing, most heading up the trail to the fortress, their heads hung low, their shoulders bent, the weight of the drowning heavy upon them too.
I breathed in deeply, letting the cold air settle painfully in my lungs. With my stiff fingers, I swiped at my cheeks. “You go without me. I need to hike off my frustration.”
Trails wound all along the fjord, some descending to the water, others leading to more secluded precipices with stunning vistas. Birch woods and all manner of dwarf willow and juniper grew on the rocky terrain. Waterfalls and even a few hot springs added to the beauty.
Since my childhood when I’d started working in the nursery, I’d spent many hours exploring the cliffs around Likness Castle. I knew them better than anyone. Not that I had much free time anymore. Only one afternoon a week on Sunday after mass.
Since today was Sunday, I’d already gone home to visit my family. As I’d been walking back, I’d had no choice but to join the rest of the castle staff at the cliff’s edge to watch the punishment. And now, with but an hour until dusk, I needed time to myself more than ever.
“I can’t go back yet, Frans.” I pulled free from him and offered an apologetic nod.
Gunnar’s voice drifted my way as he spoke with his brother, but I refused to look at him again. When he’d left the last time, I’d vowed to put him from my mind once and for all. I’d done well keeping my vow, and I aimed to continue no matter how long he was home this time.
If he followed the same protocol as previous visits, he wouldn’t stay overlong. Gunnar was a wandering soul, never making promises, never getting serious, never thinking beyond tomorrow. Surely I could avoid him until he left.
He wouldn’t seek me out anyway. I was simply one more conquest in a long string of women he’d charmed. I was a poor bondservant—earning nothing but food and clothing for my labor. To make matters worse, I was the daughter of a villein—a tenant farmer, the lowest of all bondservants, no better than a slave.