Maroboodus: A Novel of Germania (The Goth Chronicles Book 1) (21 page)

‘Have you many such girls you no longer think about?’ she chuckled.

‘No, but you know what I—‘

She laughed softly and stroked my face, her cheeks blushed. ‘You are the first
hero
I have ever seen, Maroboodus. The first one. There are champions aplenty, fine warriors, but a hero is a man who risks all for love, just like the poets sing. You are mine and I need no other hero. I see a great man in you. I told you. I saw you shall be great. I didn’t lie. It was a dream, but dreams are reality sometimes and I knew when you threw the spear that took Cuthbert out of the saddle. I saw your face. You were jubilant like a warring god, covered in blood, and while there were high champions and old, famous, and some fat, warlords aplenty, there was something different about you. Your eyes betray … love? Pure love. You don’t hide it. You love. You feel freely, deny yourself nothing, and you react when you want something. You defied them all to get me, because you wanted me.’

‘Yes,’ I said huskily.

She smiled crookedly. ‘And I am no fool. I think you make high plans while you love. You are a hero of love, and a lord of wits. You have ambitions?’

‘I do—‘

‘And you love your father?’ she asked, tilting her head, as if prodding me to be brave and answer truthfully.

‘Sometimes!’ I answered. ‘Look—‘

‘You would have him rule the Goths. You want me for love, and for power. And I can indeed help you.’

I felt my heart soar. I felt dizzy, so happy and I believed her with all my heart. I understood her. She knew what I wanted. It felt like the gods had prodded her to me, and she was part of me, I was part of her. ‘Yes,’ I told her as steadily as I could, holding her hands and she came closer.

‘I will help you. Us. But not if we go to Father’s village, where I will have no freedom and my lot will be to seed children for a mongrel. We will find other relatives, others who hate my father. It should be no surprise he has enemies even in our family, and he does. There is one. Agin. He is a great man, nearly greater than Father and he will summon men to your banner. He will share power with us and take our plans as his own. We have an old dream, Goth, one to claim back our lands.’ She hesitated and shook her head, letting her love for me bury such dreams. ‘But he will see times have changed, and we have to stand together. Goth and Svea. We shall herald such a change. We will work together, share lands and some will resist. They will have to die. Others will join us, and we shall be anything we wish to be. You will indeed be able to help your father against all your enemies and the Svea will be united. We can succeed, but we must start with Agin.’

‘I’m not sure—‘

She put her hand on my shoulder. ‘In my dread I saw just a glimpse through the gray mists of secrets that such a fine future is what the gods wish, that it might be possible to attain if we succeed. Should we choose well and be brave, we could indeed reach unprecedented heights in glory. Our children could rule vast, rich lands and the Saxons,’ she said with a smile, ‘would not raid us. We would raid them.’

I lifted my hand and she didn’t flinch as I stroked her fair face, but instead pressed it against my palm like a cat would. She closed her eyes for a moment, and I felt like a fool, because I’d never again think she would be trying to betray us. Ceadda would soon probe me for how our chat went, and I knew I’d tell him she is as honest as goddess Frigg, and I’d risk them and myself for her. I already had, but after her speech, I would always trust her, even onto my death. I spoke strongly. ‘I dream of something similar, though I wasn’t sure what that would be. I only wanted to restore our family honor, to carry the ring of Draupnir’s Spawn, hold our family sword, and be high. You gave my thoughts form.’

She nodded resolutely. ‘Svearna will not go anywhere. We won’t disappear. If you wish to stay here on these shores, you will need the clans, at least some of them to join with the Goths. The northern Svearna are powerful, with fleets and fine warriors, but there is strength in the wilder, animal-like Svea, like Ceadda called us, and with patience, we could form a grand land that can shake the coasts.’

‘I’ve never heard a woman speak like this,’ I said with a smile. ‘I wonder if this is what Father had with Mother. They often sat by the fire, whispering for hours on end, speaking, laughing, and sometimes, weeping.’

‘We shall have the same,’ she said. ‘And more. We shall sit like that when none stand against us.’ She had strength of mind that could turn battles and I loved to look at her fair, fierce face. I could imagine her on the prow of a boat, seeking to put a relentless enemy to sword, and I, her husband next to her.

‘This Agin is someone you trust, then?’ I asked.

‘It’s not a new idea, love, combining our tribes. Some Goths live with us, some Svea with you already,’ she said. ‘Agin will see the light. Apparently your relatives in the east wanted to use Father’s influence to help us wipe you out, after I’ve been taken and married to that one and perhaps Father saw an opportunity to end Goth wars. It was put before the tribes, and many agreed, though not all. Enough did and so I was to be married off. Father is all about our gods, thinking about ancient prophecies, but he is also a keen lord of the land, a ruler of a gau, and does not spit on alliances that make sense to get Goth loot. He will,’ she said with some trepidation, but I smoothed her face and she calmed and went on, ‘give us trouble, but in the end, if we stay true to each other and summon men to fight for us, we will overcome him. We shall, love. Yes, I trust Agin, though he opposed Father’s plans, he opposed Father more than the plan.’

‘I agree to everything you said,’ I smiled and hesitated. ‘We spoke of it already and I would wed you,’ I told her. ‘As soon as possible.’

‘My words won’t change. You need not worry like that Maino did. He was jealously guarding my doorway, haunting his father for my hand, suspicious even when I was promised to him. He was stalking the hallway where I was held, sighing beyond the wall, whispering to me like a ghost of some sad, lost idiot. He thought I was but a prize of war, a sack of loot, to be shown around, bedded and mistreated. We shall marry, Maroboodus, as soon as we arrive where I am taking us. You can tell that Ceadda that as well.’

‘I’d not mistreat you,’ I told her. ‘And I would rather see you prosper with another man than see you suffer marriage you do not desire,’ I said, and I knew I had lied, as I would not handle such a scenario well at all, and my hand went to my sword’s hilt and she laughed at me. I shook my head clear of the unreasonable and misplaced rage. ‘At least I would not see you in a marriage you do not desire,’ I corrected myself and she giggled, and put a hand before her mouth.

She smiled for a long while, her eyes lit with happiness, and finally leaned forward to put her forehead on mine. I was startled, but decided it was nice, in fact very seducing, as her nose brushed mine and her eyes, deep as summer pools of light blue waters were gazing at mine. ‘This is a village near a red hill and the Long-Lake, and I’ll take us there, near the Three Forks. They will give us food and shelter, there is a völva there who will marry us, and we shall live there, and grow powerful. This I can do, and we will be happy and careless, if we are lucky. We shall have much to do.’

‘Much indeed,’ I agreed, gazing at her eyes.

She lifted her head and looked at the woods and frowned. ‘That friend of yours.’

‘Aldbert,’ I said.

‘Keep an eye on him all the time. There is something very familiar about him, as I said. I smell lies in him. I’ll try to like him for you, but—‘

‘He is a coward, a fool, but my friend,’ I said, ‘and I shall keep a close eye on him. I already have.’

She nodded, and came even closer. She pulled out a ring. It was made of tiny branches, sturdy, simple, beautiful. She pulled out my finger and put it there and my heart sang. ‘It’s not golden, but it’s made of love. Smile, Maroboodus and kiss me.’ And I did. I kissed her, and held her to me. I was drunk on the kiss, forgetting time and place and the embrace was better than the beadiest of ale, sweetest of wine, and better than my honor, that I had forfeited for her and for my plans. It all made sense to me then. We stayed there by that log for a long time, entwined in each other’s arms, until Aldbert sneaked up on us, blushed and retreated.

‘They are leaving,’ he called from the bushes as he went, disapproval thick in his voice.

‘We didn’t really do anything,’ I told her. ‘He—‘

‘He doesn’t like girls, because girls don’t like him,’ she said. ‘If he gets insulted by your happiness, he should leave with the Saxons.’

I nodded, seriously. ‘If he does, I will miss him. I have no idea why he tried to betray me.’

‘For love, Maroboodus,’ she said with a sad smile. ‘Love or power. It always goes like that.’ She pulled me up and pulled me along. We walked down, and she stopped by some bushes. She frowned and looked in my eyes. They were twisted. ‘Keep an eye on him,’ she said again. ‘For our sakes.’ I looked after Aldbert and went to speak with Ceadda, heavyhearted.

Ceadda clapped my back and arched his eyebrows. I smiled and he took that to be a good sign and didn’t ask more. ‘So, let us travel the night. We go as fast as we can. They won’t dare to row those boats in the river when it’s dark. We’ll make it.’

We marched through the night and reached a large area full of fields very early in the morning.

Dogs were barking. Just briefly and I was sure they were Gasto’s hounds. The problem was that they were barking ahead of us.

They had rowed through the night.

‘I
’d rather just try to dodge them,’ Ceadda growled, shading his eyes with his hand as he checked for any sign of the dogs, and clutched his spear tightly. The Goths had rowed on, passed us by, fast like wild spirits, but not all, because there were bound to be parties behind us. They had risked the river at night, and we had had to navigate boulders and trees and the harder trails and so we were slow. We had moved all day and afternoon and knew the enemy was ahead of us. The Saxon leader fidgeted as he looked north to the Long-Lake. ‘We could swing further north? Sneak by the lake, just out of sight? It will take time, but it’s better than getting caught here. We could wait for the night and try to find something that floats and cross to the other side.’

              Saxa sighed. ‘While the north shore belongs to Svearna, they do not particularly like Goths or even my tribe. Feuds are many between our clans, just like yours, and there is no safety there. And we don’t know where Hughnot’s lands begin and end. We might row into a Goth ambush.’

‘I hate his land. I do,’ Ceadda cursed as he brooded, thinking about our predicament. ‘It will be so euphoric to be home,’ he added. ‘Nice and flat there, like Njord’s wife.’

‘Shut up,’ Njord said dryly. ‘Won’t turn hilly and fat like yours.’

Saxa slapped his head, and he went silent with astonishment, though he smiled mischievously at her. She spoke vehemently. ‘No crossing. No waiting. We should press on. It’s a risk if they’re ahead of us—’ she began, but Njord interrupted her.

‘They are,’ he said gloomily. ‘Didn’t you notice? They are gone. There will be men behind here, looking for us, but most passed us in the night.’

‘Since they are ahead of us,’ she went on after another slap, ‘and perhaps they hope we just hunker down while they make the net around us tighter and tighter. Best go now while they are still rushing.’

‘She is right,’ I said. ‘We shall have to risk it. We’ll rush on, cross the Three Forks rivers somewhere, hope there are no Goths sneaking and skulking nearby. It’s simple. No time to take longer routes. We’ll go where it’s likely we would go, and hope they think we are trying to be clever and do otherwise. We’ll brazenly hack our way to this village of Agin’s if we must. Then we will be as safe as we can be, and think how to get rid of the lot of Goths rowing about the land.’ Njord was opening his mouth. ‘Except for me, of course. I’ll stay here.’ He looked mildly disappointed at the lost opportunity to mock me, but it probably saved him from yet another slap.

Ceadda was cursing, and then he nodded. ‘So let’s hope we find the village before they find our trail, then. And I want a beautiful boat after this miserable trip. The very best, I say.’

‘You get what Agin gives you,’ Saxa stated, making the Saxons unhappy. She smiled at the lean, morose faces. ‘But there will be a bed, and food first.’

‘Didn’t want to enter a village,’ Ceadda grumbled. ‘Now we have no choice.’

‘There’s mead in there,’ Aldbert murmured. ‘Warmth.’

‘Gravemound is warm, our vitka always says,’ Njord said while staring at the hills. ‘Under all that dirt, grass, mud, your bones don’t get cold and—’

‘Shut up,’ Ceadda said and fidgeted as he gazed across the land. We were again on a small hill and silvery, glistening streams ran around the hillside, providing us with cold water. We had waded in them for a long time, leaving our legs and feet numb and white, near frostbitten. Despite the fact, and no matter how tired we were, we packed up and moved on. We walked for an hour, and the Sunna was getting lower in the sky. We traveled between some hills, until we climbed one to see where we were when Ceadda stopped us on the summit, and we froze and dismounted.

The reason was a pack of feral-looking hounds led by well-armed Goths not too far to the west. All eyes were drawn to the moving column of men trekking another hillside we would have passed soon. I was sure I saw Gasto, his strong, red shield, and long blond hair evident even from so far, and I thought I saw his thick braided beard swinging as he stroked a sleek beast, and I felt shivers of fear running down my spine. The man and his companions weren’t too near; but I also saw his men were spreading the dogs on the hillside, all across it, and slowly they were making their way toward the north and Long-Lake, hoping the beasts would catch our scent. The rest of the war party we could not see, but they wouldn’t be too far. They were fishing for clues, not sure where the school of fish was, drawing nets across murky waters and then tightening the noose, and if they caught us, it would be our end.

‘Why aren’t the Svea here to chase them off?’ Njord said bitterly. ‘It’s their land, no? Screw them. Humping their cows, no doubt.’

Saxa sighed. ‘Not many Svea live here. Most live over the Three Forks rivers and west of it. This is contested land. And some Svea hump their Saxon slaves, so you should be careful with what you say.’

‘The dogs will be the end of us,’ Ceadda growled and turned to look at Saxa. ‘Can your Agin chase them off? How many men does he have?’

She shrugged. ‘Yes, he can, I think. We have to warn him as well as save our hides. The Goths won’t dare to come to a Svea village. They should avoid Svearna just like we try to avoid them, because there are thousands of our people living over there in the west, even if it takes days to gather our spears.’

‘There are a hundred of the Goths. Perhaps more,’ Njord said, and looked like he enjoyed sharing bad news. ‘Sure they dare to attack a village. We marched across both Goth and Svea lands to do that. Of course, we are braver than most Goths, but—’

‘They can try, then,’ Saxa said stubbornly. ‘We are not cowards. And we won’t be surprised as the day when your shit-footed Cuthbert attacked us.’

‘I’ll feel better with a deck under my feet,’ Ceadda said and nodded, taking a ragged breath. ‘Let’s see what happens, then,’ he mumbled. ‘And we are not Saxons if anyone asks. We are just fools serving Maroboodus, destitute and stupid, hoping to gain a ship for a way home, the islands of the East. We won’t speak much, and Njord especially will keep his dumb mouth shut, preferably for good.’

‘Will you let me open it for a meal?’ Njord answered. ‘Surely the Svearna feed us before they kill us?’

Ceadda ignored him. ‘You do the speaking bit, lady. Do it well. We’ll wait until they move on.’ He nodded at the hill where Goths were now crossing to the valley below us, and some began moving north. ‘Hope they don’t leave anyone behind.’

‘They will, but we will go quickly,’ I said, sure we would get caught. ‘We’ll be safe in a bit, hours from now. When we get to the rivers, it shall be all right. You will be rewarded. You might be a pack of ugly men, but loyal, like mangy dogs, and they’ll love you for it.’

‘Not all dogs are loyal,’ Njord said. ‘One bit my son a month ago. Had a bad day, probably. There was this bitch—’

Saxa slapped him, and we waited.

It took an hour, more, and then they had moved off.

‘Let’s go, then,’ Ceadda said and off we went. We guided the horses down the hillside, taking care not to leave tracks, but it was impossible to avoid them, of course. ‘They seem bent on catching you, boy,’ he whispered to me. ‘They’ll not rest before they do. I do wonder if this Agin’s up to the task. They’ll be back as soon as you push the Goths out.’

‘There will be winter. Let them stay. Hope they enjoy it,’ I smiled. ‘All we need is some time. Spring will be full of hope.’

‘Full of mud, usually. We will row out in the night, but you are fucked. They will come in one night, come back and find you. It will not end well at all, no.’ He gazed at me and seemed to have made up his mind on something he had been pondering. ‘You are welcome to come with us. And her. I’m starting to like her. Unless we get killed, of course. Then I don’t like her at all. But she’ll be all right. She’ll live through nearly anything that will take place in the village, no doubt. Valuable she is.’ He blushed as he said it, and said nothing more of the matter, but I clapped my hand on his shoulder in gratitude.

We passed the hills, saw the track of the Goths and not one man looked calm and composed. We walked on under shadows, the horses kept quiet for the most part, and we didn’t see anyone. If they had guards on the hill, they were asleep.

Except for one man.

While we trekked on a trail, with tall ferns hiding the woods around us, something moved in the dark. It could have been a wolf, or a fox, or any night animal for that matter, but I saw shadows move, and Mani’s light revealed a figure for just a moment, a man on a horse, and he whipped the beast hard as he noticed he had been seen. A Saxon yelled a warning, but the Goth rode wildly in the dark, passing the scout. I turned my horse and rode after him. My hair was flying, I couldn’t see branches and several whipped my face painfully, but somewhere, up ahead a Goth was going fast. He was probably trying to find his camp, where they waited for news, and I had to catch him fast. Scald was clearly happy for the hunt, his ears twisted back as we rushed on, and I hoped I’d find my way back. The shadowy rider had to veer to the side, and then his horse crashed into a stream, and he was encouraging it to go faster. I went after him, nearly yelled as the freezing cold water splashed all over me, but rammed my calves to the sides of Scald.

There was a dark lump of something ahead, twisted, like frozen snakes in the middle of the river. The man before me eased his speed, and I knew why when another Goth appeared, his Suebian knot bouncing as he rode up to the shallow river’s edge. ‘What is it?’ he yelled.

The man I had been chasing was out of breath. He pointed his spear at me. ‘He … Maroboodus!’

And so I had to charge.

Scald went in fast. I felt Hel’s Delight in my fist, and it was sturdy and trustworthy, even if the ride was rough. The Goth I had been chasing cursed and pushed his horse amidst the strange, snake-like things growing out of the river, and I realized it was an old, rotten hull.

Rotten hull? Another warning? Warning of a path to misery, as Aldbert had said, I thought, but then had no time to think any more, as the other Goth charged at me from the side. I saw his face, lean face, long beard, and his fear as well, but in he came, reaching for Scald with his spear. I instinctively slapped the weapon with my sword, and it went down and lunged at the mass of the man. He screamed and fell, but his horse crashed into mine, and I fell as well.

I flailed in the water under the hooves of the horse until eventually I got up, wiping water from my face, and saw a man sitting on the shore, his breath billowing in a thin mist.

That was not the other Goth, however.

That man was behind me.

A spear shaft crushed me to his chest as he pulled it under my chin. He fell back, held on tight, and I saw dark spots. Water got into my mouth as we dropped deeper, and he didn’t let go. He was strong, young, and I tried to flail behind with Hel’s Delight, but couldn’t hit him, and I knew I was in trouble.

Something splashed nearby. I felt the man holding me relax his grip, probably because he was surprised, and then he screamed as something hit him. I could feel the strength of the strike. I pulled out from his grasp, held on to my throat, and got to my knees, pushing at Scald to move, and found Saxa, her hair wet, removing an ax from the Goth’s skull. She was grunting as she heaved, and managed to extract it, and then she gave me a long look, one of concern, as her eyes took in the surroundings, looking for more trouble.

We were silent. Nothing moved. I turned to see if the man who had been sitting on a horse on the bank was still there, and he was. I growled and moved for him, and saw it was Aldbert. He was staring at the hull. He pointed a finger at it. ‘Another one. It was in my lines, no?’

‘Maybe?’ I said and leaned on the rotten, skeletal timber jutting from the river. ‘You didn’t help me.’

‘I’m no fighter,’ he said weakly. ‘I froze.’

‘She is, though,’ I nodded at Saxa. The Saxons were running near now, calling to each other, and some were in the river, not far.

Saxa was looking at us, careful, perhaps shocked, as she eyed the dead Goth. She shrugged. ‘Your friend wanted you captured. We will have to deal with him when we get where we are going.’

‘I suppose that is right,’ I said, feeling numb for my friend who kept letting me down. He didn’t meet my eyes.

The Saxons were there, their eyes gleaming as they took in the dead, and quickly they relieved the Goths of their weapons. Ceadda looked up and down the river and then at us, sensing not all was well but said nothing about that. Instead, he pointed his spear to what I thought was west. ‘Let’s go. They will miss these men soon enough.’

I turned away, wondering at the signs. There had been twigs, the skull, and now a rotten hull. I felt I had passed a point of no return after I turned west, but Saxa rode there next to me, and I looked at her and knew I’d risk any curse and spell to get her. ‘Thank you.’

She smiled. ‘I used to chop wood. Wasn’t much different, really.’

We pushed on. A startled moose raised its head, and a squirrel was complaining high in the woods, making our men jumpy. Saxa was on her horse, looking back and forth, like a warrior queen with her ax, and the Saxons approved with a smacking of their lips as she kicked Njord out of the way as she rode back a bit. ‘Seen anything? Anyone after us? They probably should have found they have some Goths missing.’