Viking Love Beyond Time (Time Travel Romance) (57 page)

             
There were muffled shrieks from the females at this and Alfred gestured angrily to him.  “Guth - er Athelstan, please, the ladies”

             
The Viking bowed.  “Forgive me my lord, our women are a thought more - shall I say strong stomached - however, it has to be said Ubbe was no
nithing
but  Edric here killed him single handed.  I would welcome him into my
hyrd
any time” There were loud guffaws at this.  “I got to thinking” he continued.  “If your God has this much power he is worth the worshipping, and the more I learned about Him from Wulfric here the more I grew to love Him.  I do not want to fight you any more my friends.  This island is big enough for all.  Let us live together in peace”

             
Alodie gnawed her lip, he sounded quite convincing.  Guthrum, if nothing else, was a past master at swimming with the tide and if the tide had turned in favour of the
West Saxons
then Guthrum would certainly turn with it.  She smiled at Edric.  “I think you could possibly be right” she whispered.  “It would be interesting though to see whether he could turn and defend Alfred against his own countrymen, that is when the test will come”

             
Edric nodded and took a draught of ale.  “I, for one, believe him” he said “but I will not be happy until that renegade Herger has been rounded up and killed.  I am taking a party out to hunt for him tomorrow”

             
Alodie’s mouth went dry.  “Has - has he been spotted then Edric?”

             
“Yes, he only has a handful of followers but if he decided to attack Wedmore, who is to say this lot won’t turn to him.  I’ve doubled the guard around the village tonight and given instructions that the prisoners are to be securely locked in”

             
Alodie took a sip of wine to moisten her lips.  “Are you going to - kill him then?”

             
Edric nodded, vigorously “of a certainty” he replied.  “He is the most bloodthirsty bastard who ever breathed air.  The fact that he is your husband does not help his case either”

             
Alodie forced a smile.  What would she do if Edric went out tomorrow and killed Herger?  Could she live with him knowing it?  Could she live with him at all?  She got to her feet, suddenly feeling faint.  “Excuse me a moment Edric” she whispered.  “I must go outside”

             
He nodded.  “Be quick then my love, I don’t trust these Vikings, especially  not with a sight like you”

             
He took her hand and kissed it.  “Friends Edric?” she asked, smiling.

             
“Friends then my love”

             
She stepped over the bench and tried to pull her hand from his but he held it fast and pulling her down placed it on his lap.  She felt the swell of his manhood under his braeis  “You can show me just how friendly we are later on tonight.  I think I can feel an attack of sleepwalking coming on”

             
She batted him playfully round the ear with her other hand.  “And you call your father a filthy old goat!”

             
He released her “be quick my love”

             
She grinned and headed toward the door, as she reached out to grasp the latch, however, it flew open with a shivering crash.  Alodie screamed and stepped back.  Framed in the door, almost filling it, dressed in black leather, helmeted, wearing a breastplate and clutching a huge sword, was Herger.

             
For a second no one spoke, then there was pandemonium.  Herger snapped his fingers and gestured toward Alfred, three of his men ran past him and toward the head of the table.

             
In one smooth movement Edric jumped to his feet and, together with the rest of the men in the hall, grabbed his sword.

             
Alodie glanced toward Guthrum, he seemed as surprised as the rest of them and even seemed to be protecting Alfred with his eating knife.  She hunkered down in a nearby corner out of the way of the fighting but was dragged to her feet by Herger’s huge hamlike fist.  He threw her under his arm as though she were a rag doll and then began to walk over to Edric who was trying to push his way through to them.

             
Alodie felt sick.  Herger had her in such a tight grip she could not breathe, she could feel her blood drumming in her ears.  After what seemed an eternity he loosened his grip and she took the opportunity to wriggle free and scuttle under a nearby table.   Edric and Herger were standing toe to toe, hands gripping swords.  It was obvious to Alodie that the contest was horribly mismatched.  Herger was six and a half feet tall with huge shoulders and rippling muscles, his arms were twice as wide as Edric’s but Edric was brave, foolishly so.  The clash of battle going on around them was almost deafening but both men seemed oblivious to it.

             
The table Alodie was sitting under went over with a crash and her ears were filled with the screams of women and children and the grunts of men fighting for their lives.  She glanced down, someone was crawling toward her on all fours, it was Swein.  Wordlessly, she held out her arms and he crawled up to her, she cuddled him then glanced up again at Herger and Edric.

             
They had moved away from the table and were slowly circling each other, arms outstretched.  Herger was helmeted and armoured and Edric was not, he did not stand a chance - it looked like nothing so much as a huge eagle circling a sparrow.  “I knew it would come to this, lady” said Swein quietly, “why did you leave Herger once he had found you again?  You have signed Lamporth’s death warrant” Alodie looked at the boy.

             
“Swein, how on earth did you know I had met up with Herger again?”

             
Swein grinned, nervously.  “It was common knowledge, my lady.  Losing you again turned Herger’s mind, he has turned into the type of Viking he always hated, cruel and cold”

             
“Take off your armour and helmet you cowardly bastard!” shouted Edric.  “Do you not have advantage enough for Jesu’s sake?”

             
Herger stopped and lowered his sword then laughed aloud and began to unfasten the buckles of his breastplate.  “I need no armour to defeat a
nithing
like you Lamporth” he snarled.

             
With a crash his breastplate fell to the floor, followed by his leather jerkin, the sweat ran down his massive pectoral muscles and lost itself in the thick black hairs on his chest.

             
“And the helmet” hissed Edric “I want to see the look on your deformed face when my sword robs you of your head!” Herger complied and soon his helmet joined his breastplate and jerkin on the floor.  At the sight of him Edric gasped and stepped back a pace. “Rorik, in God’s name!” he croaked.

             
“No,
nithing
  - Herger in Thor’s name.  Your leman’s husband and the father of your stepchildren!”

             
Alodie groaned and put her hands up to her face.  Tears began to spill down through her fingers and onto her dress.

             
With an anguished shriek Edric swung his sword at Herger who lowered his and met his thrust.  Edric fought to raise his sword but with Herger’s strength holding him down it was a futile effort.

             
Alodie noticed that the battle around her seemed to be dying down, valiant though they were, and even with the element of surprise,  Herger’s men were vastly outnumbered and were either dead or captured.  All attention appeared to be on the two protagonists at the back of the hall.  With a snarl Herger twisted Edric’s sword with his own and it went spinning, end over end, across the room, finally crashing against the wall and rattling onto the floor.  With a shout of triumph the Viking raised his sword above his head.  Edric turned to Alodie, a look of anguish on his face, and mouthed one single word.  “Why?”

             
Alodie screamed and hid her eyes.  Herger’s sword flashed in a deadly arc as though to split the Saxon in two but as it reached its apex Herger gave a grunt and fell forward like a felled oak.  Edric scuttled out of the way as the Viking crashed to the ground, a spear quivering in his back.

             
Aelfric approached his son and held out his hand.  “Rise, my boy” he said “you fought well” he turned to Alodie, his face mottling with anger.  “yon Viking whore is not worth the life of a valiant warrior like yourself”

             
Alodie began to sob, great racking sobs which almost echoed from the walls.  Edric got to his feet and walking toward her held out his hand, taking it she got to her feet.  “I do not need to ask, Alodie, if what he said was the truth, I have the evidence of my own eyes to see that he was Tom and Nerissa’s sire, but I need to hear it from you, the truth”

             
Alodie took a deep breath.  “Yes, yes - he is the twins’ father”

             
“.............and you have loved him all the time”

             
Alodie nodded.  “and I have loved him all the time”

             
Edric drew back his hand and slapped her so hard she was almost thrown from her feet.  “Graceless, spying, Viking bitch!” he hissed “and to think I would have laid down my life for you, why, the filthiest whore in Winchester town is better than you - well, your paramour is dead now!” he gestured to the men at arms “take the bitch away, she sickens me!”

             
The men moved forward and grabbed her arms but were suddenly stopped by Wulfric.  “Stay Edric” he said quietly “I believe the girl to be innocent, I had words with..............” he gestured to Herger’s lifeless body “on Twelfth Night, he spared my life.  He had no reason to lie to me and he informed me that Alodie did not know who he was when they married, the story that she had never seen him unhelmeted was, I think, true, he told me so himself.  The babes were conceived when he masqueraded as Rorik, I think you judge her too harshly, she is not a Viking spy”

             
Edric spat into the rushes.  “She gave herself to that bastard all the same then made Luke believe the children were his - and if this is the first time she has seen her ‘husband’ unhelmeted she is not showing any signs of surprise.  She is a whore - take her away!”

             
The men began to pull Alodie toward the door and as she passed Herger’s body she glanced down.  Blood was pouring from around the spear, red frothing blood, it must have pierced a lung.  She shook her arms free and, groping in her  pocket, removed Luke’s bracelet.  He was dead, he could not be otherwise, but she wanted him to have it.  She knelt down next to him, and as she did so Aelfric roughly jerked the spear from his back.  His body lifted as the weapon came free, a fresh gout of blood pouring from the wound in his back to join that already pooling on the floor. Alodie took the Viking’s huge hand in hers and gently pushed the bracelet up his arm.  Then, kissing him softly on the lips, she got to her feet.  “I am ready now” she said and held out her arms in front of her.  Whatever they did to her she did not mind. With Herger dead she had no wish to live.

             
“Come on then mi beauty” muttered one of the guards “I think I know just the place for you to spend the night - in with your heathen relatives” He guffawed and turned to the assembled throng, Alodie noticed the look of pure joy on Gwen’s face.  “We’ll throw her to the Viking captives if she’s so fond of Norse meat!” he laughed “By God she’ll be bowlegged by morning!”

             
Aehlswith held up her hand, a look of anguish on her face.  “No!” she cried, her voice breaking.  She turned to her husband “your Grace - stop them!”

             
The king shrugged.  “I personally think that milady Alodie deserves such a fate, and worse, but I do not want to upset you at this time, my dear”

             
Aehlswith nodded.  “Please sir, she has been my dearest friend, I cannot believe her guilty of the crimes of which she has been accused, and I beg you please, do not throw her to the Norse prisoners, she would not last five minutes”

             
“Well then” said Alfred turning to the guards “take her immediately to
Winchester
, once there lock her in the dungeons under the Great Hall to await our return.” he gestured to Herger “take the Norseman’s body as well, in a covered cart, and lock it also in a dungeon.  We will be returning to
Winchester
within the next day or two when I will have them both paraded round
Winchester
, naked, in a cart, milady here tied to her dead lover, as a warning to all traitors, be they male or female”.  He nodded curtly and, turning his back, returned to the table.

             
Alodie looked as Aehlswith, she opened her mouth to say something, then realised there was nothing to say shut it again, shaking her head.  It had all happened so fast, one minute she had been a member of the aristocracy, a cosseted lady of quality, the next she was treated like the lowest form of dirt.  She glanced round at the faces, some grinning, some looking disgusted and some looking sympathetic.