Mistletoe Kisses and Yuletide Joy (21 page)

"
Raef...!"
Madness like contagion indeed. He couldn't mean to face six men alone.

Of course he could.

Doubtless the big, red haired man on the leading horse was Alfrida's Dane, but he was followed by five others, carrying ax or spear. Sick with dread, Hera stopped struggling so that at least Raef could defend himself.

She began to pray.

He drew his sword, but the Vikings surrounded them beyond sword-length.

Grinning through a thick beard, the leader spoke.
"The woman cried for help."

"She'
s mad," Raef said. "I am taking her to safety."

The Dane gestured toward the wooden palisade.
"Here is safety, close to hand."

"
Safety from you, Magnus Ravenbringer."

"
Ah. You must be Raefnoth Eldrunson."

They were like two snarling, circling dogs except that one was in fury, the other amused.

Hera had her mission, and she knew what she had to do, though it would be like a spear wound to Raef.

"
I did cry for help. I am Wulfhera of Froxton and I wish to visit my sister, Alfrida, to be sure you are treating her well."

It struck all the men silent, as well it might. It was an extraordinary claim, and must seem completely mad.

Then Magnus threw back his head and roared with laughter. "Two peas in a pod. Of course you must be Alfrida's sister. Come then."

His approach was halted by Raef's sword.
"Over my dead body."

"
This one's yours, is she? Then you have my word she'll return to you safely. I have need of your manor, not of your woman."

"
She is
not
my woman," Raef snarled. Hera knew it was stupid to be hurt by that, but she was. "She is under my protection."

Magnus's eyes turned to Hera, and she saw they twinkled with amusement. She'd never imagined that a Danish raider's eyes might twinkle.
"What now, sister of my bedmate?"

"
I need to go to Alfrida," she said, as steadily as she could, stuck literally in the middle of this male confrontation. "But you must not hurt Raef."

"
He said you were not his woman."

"
We're friends. We've been friends all our lives."

"
Ah. And he was the husband of the timorous Edith."

Hera heard Raef growl and felt his body become hard, venge
ful muscle. His horse sidled nervously beneath them. Why could men be relied upon to always say the thing most likely to make a matter worse rather than better!

"
You didn't harm Edith," she said, knowing it was true. She didn't make the mistake of thinking him harmless, but she couldn't imagine this man raping a terrified woman, or even being interested in trembling Edith. Alfrida was much more his meat.

"
Never touched her," Magnus agreed.

"
You
lie
," Raef yelled, and his sword jabbed out as if it might reach the other man.

"
Why should I lie?" Magnus asked, lip beginning to curl in a snarl as well. "If I'd wanted her, I'd have taken her, and felt no shame at it. But she was
nithing
, that one. Why do you fight over her memory? She betrayed you. She gave me your manor out of fear, and then whined at everything."

Hera expected Raef's enraged denial, but she heard nothing but another speechless growl.

Edith had surrendered Acklingham to the Danes?

"
You should have married this one," Magnus said, with a nod of his head toward Hera, "or her sister. They're real women."

Raef howled and kicked the horse toward his enemy. Hera threw herself forward to clutch the horse's neck, both to hold on and to get out of the way of the s
wishing sword. Hell take both of them!

Magnus was backing his
horse, but his sword was out and soon he'd have to fight.

Enough of this.

Muttering a mixture of prayers and curses, Hera grabbed her eating knife from the sheath on her belt. Then, with one hand tangled firmly in the horse's rough mane, she jabbed the mount with the knife. It squealed and reared. She managed to stay on. On the hindquarters, already unbalanced by the weight of the sword and his attempts to get at his enemy, Raef didn't have a chance.

He was good, though
. He rolled so his sword didn't harm him, and bounced onto his feet, already beginning a mighty swipe at Magnus's horse's legs. One of Magnus's men swung his spear handle to crack against Raef's head.

Hera stroked the neck of her shuddering, foaming mount and watched as
he crumpled to the ground. She thought perhaps he'd forgotten there was anyone in the universe other than himself and Magnus Ravenbringer, the man who had said such cruel things about his wife.

She slid off the horse and went to him.

"Raef," she said in despair, running her fingers gently over the wound. Under her breath, she whispered, "He's right, though. Edith was
nithing
."

It was a word usually used to describe a man who abandoned his lord in battle, who fled his duties out of fear. At heart, however, it meant coward, and she saw now that Edith had always been not gentle, but a coward.

"Not his woman, eh?" said Magnus, his big boots appearing on the road by Raef's head. His hand under her arm raised her firmly to face him. Alfrida was right. He was big. Hera had to look a long way up.

"
Come along, Wulfhera of Froxton, and let's see what we can make of this."

At his command, Raef was tied hand and foot and slung over the saddle of his horse. Hera winced, but there was no point in protesting the rough treatment. She was put up behind him to make sure he didn't fall of
f. Once mounted, Magnus led their horse by the reins. Be he good man or bad, they were still his prisoners.

Raef came to his senses
before they were inside Acklingham. He groaned and struggled for a moment, but then went silent. Hera tried to tell herself it didn't matter if he hated her. It might be a blessing, in fact, since she couldn't live with him as just a friend.

It didn't help.

She could only hope she'd not have to face him for a long, long time.

Chapter Six

It was strange to enter the familiar grounds of Raef's home and find it invaded but unchanged. If Edith had opened the gates and let the Danes in it had been a dishonorable act, but one that had preserved the place. Hera was further eased by the sight of Alfrida running toward her, hair flowing in one wild mass, but clearly unhurt in body or spirit.

"Hera, you idiot!" Alfrida cried, sweeping her into a hug as soon as she was on the ground. "What are you doing here?" Then she looked beyond and her eyes widened. "Is that
Raef?
"

Hera turned to see Magnus's men cutting the bonds on Raef's ankles and setti
ng him on his feet. He did nothing and stayed grimly silent. At one point, his eyes passed over Hera as if she didn't exist.

Hera shuddered.

With another hug, Alfrida led her toward the manor house.

Hera went, but then she turned back to fix Magnus with a stare.
"Don't hurt him."

He laughed, but for some reason she felt sure that Raef was sa
fe for now. Whether she'd ever be safe from Raef was a different matter.

"
Sweet Mary Mother," she prayed softly, "I don't think this was your plan. But guard him anyway. And guard him from hurting me."

The chief hall
was one story, and as Alfrida led Hera inside, she asked, "What are you doing here? This is crazy."

In fact, it was beginning to seem so, and Hera half feared to find the Star gone, or to take it out and see a piece of iron set with glass. Perhaps she had imagined it all. But when she shed her cloak and pulled the leather thong out
from under her dress, it was there, it all its eerie beauty.

"
What's that?" Alfrida asked, lips parted with wonder. "It's beautiful!"

Hera found she didn't want to part with it, d
idn't want to surrender her dream, but she pulled it off over her head and passed it to her sister. "It's the Star of the Magi. I found it in a fish."

"
The what?"

"
The Star of the Magi! You remember. Melchior, Miriam, Star!"

"
That
star?"

"
That star. Look at it. Look into the stone."

Alfrida raised the pendant into the fading light.
"Oh," she breathed. "It's like magic." But then she looked at Hera. "Why are you giving it to me?"

"
It's meant for you. Don't ask why or how. I just know it. It's to make Magnus love you." She saw the big Dane come into the hall, so bit back the words about peace. Having seen him and Raef together, the idea of peace short of death was becoming ridiculous.

He strode over, bigger than Raef, but not more beautiful. Though not much older, his face was craggier, and marked by a vicious scar on his temple. He casually plucked the Star from Alfrida's hand, and Alfrida did nothing to stop him.

Oh no. Would the Blessed Virgin expect her to fight a Viking for it?

"
A well made piece," he said, assessing it with a pirate's eye. "And worth a bagful of money. What is it doing here?"

"
Hera brought it for me," Alfrida said, not seeming to mind his taking it. Besotted fool! "A gift."

When he looked at Hera, Magnus's blue eyes were somewhat suspicious.
"So, Wulfhera of Froxton, why such a hazardous journey to bring your sister a Yule gift?"

Hera quickly thought up a lie.
"It's a tradition of ours. The older sister gives it to the younger on the eldest's twentieth birthday." Surely there'd be no reason for Alfrida to deny the story, or to tell Magnus that Hera's birthday was in March.

Alfrida held her tongue, but the Dane still looked suspicious. And why not? It was a foolish tale. He put the pendant over Alfrida's head, however, so the Star shone brightly against her red gown.

Hera said a short prayer of thanks. She should have trusted heaven. Now all should be well.

"
Happy birthday, Hera," Alfrida said, with a private, disbelieving look.

Hera decided she might as well play her part of concerned sister to the full.
"Do you wish to stay here, Alfrida? I'm sure if you wanted to return to Froxton, Lord Magnus would not stop you."

"
A Viking give up the spoils of war?" the Dane remarked.

Hera suddenly turned to him.
"Did you tell the truth? About Edith?"

"
You shouldn't question a man's word, woman."

"
Very well. I believe you. So tell the truth about this. What did happen to Edith?"

He bellowed for ale, and it was rushed to him in a huge, ornate drinking horn which he half drained in one gulp.

"That weeping, wingeing, whiffle of a woman. I never expected to take Acklingham. Raid a few of the outlying places. Perhaps squeeze a bit of tribute to go away. But no. At the first burning building, she orders the gates flung open and greets me on her knees, pleading that no one be hurt. What kind of behavior is that?"

Hera and Alfrida shared a glance. Hera wondered if Raef knew this story, or believed it. Surely he'd have to believe it. It was so typical of Edith. Not complete cowardice
—it doubtless had taken courage to face Magnus and plead for peace—but stupidity. A weakness of mind that quailed over little sufferings and thus walked into greater ones.

She also noted a distinct complaint in Magnus's voice. Was it possible that he didn't really want Acklingham and the trouble it brought him?

"But who raped her?" Hera asked, surprised to find herself talking to the Dane as if he were a reasonable man. Astonished to find that perhaps she might like him.

"
None of my men. For my own honor's sake, I kept to her terms. No one here has been hurt. Some of us, it is true, have found sweet bed companions," he said, with a smile at Alfrida, "but not by force."

Hera wanted to scold her sister for accepting such a description, and she wondered when the Star would start working and push him into love.
"Who, then?" she asked.

"
She ran away," he said, finishing the ale and wiping his hairy mouth with his big hand. "I admit I didn't stop her. I'd planned to keep her as a useful hostage against the time Raefnoth came to attack so we'd get extra gold before retreat. But by Woden, the woman wearied me. Not only did she not want rape here, she didn't want any unblessed unions. She was constantly at my feet, weeping and wailing and begging me to enforce Christian rules. As if this was a monastery, and we all monks!"