Season of the Sun (Viking Era 1)

She felt his hand under her gown, moving upward, and she wanted to pull away from him, wanted to scream at him to leave her alone, but then he was touching her and she closed her eyes and let the pleasure build within her. She whimpered softly, her fist against her mouth when her release came, and she heard him laugh softly against her ear.

“There,” he said. “Now you won’t give me your wounded looks. You are pleased, are you not? I want you to thank me, Ingunn.”

She whispered her thanks to him. He laughed again and left her.

The following morning, Ingunn kicked Zarabeth in the ribs. “A slave doesn’t sleep whilst her mistress works. Get up and collect more firewood. Be quick about it, Zarabeth.”

She did as she was told, her companion the same one as the evening before. Kol looked sullen this morning, his pockmarked face even uglier today. Still, he remained silent, making no move toward her, watching her.

Orm let the two women slaves walk for three hours before calling a brief halt. He brought Zarabeth up on his stallion in front of him again. Ingunn said nothing. He called out to her, “The woman needs to bathe. There are no men’s smells on her, but the scent of horse is strong. We will halt at the small lake that lies just east.”

Kol said, “But that is away from the fjord, Orm! Do you not wish to be gone from here? All of us are outlaws now. The thing will have come to no other conclusion, not with that silly little girl speaking against us.” Kol turned on Ingunn. “Aye, ’twas her proud father who called them all against us, we all know it well!”

“There are none to follow us as of yet. Fret not, Kol, for I am your leader and I do not make mistakes.”

The man spit on the ground near Ingunn’s mare. “You brought her, did you not? You plan to wed with her!”

Orm’s eyes narrowed. Then, to Zarabeth’s astonishment, he laughed. “Listen, both of you. Aye, Bein, I see the same doubts in your ugly face. Aye, I have Harald’s daughter here because with her in our midst, he would dare not attack us. Have none of you any wits? She is a superb hostage!”

Ingunn gasped aloud. “Nay, you lie! I came to you because I did not believe you had done those things—”

“Ah, but I did, Ingunn.”

His voice was very soft, terrifyingly so. Ingunn turned white, her eyes dilated. Zarabeth felt a lurch of pity for her, and an increasing fear of Orm.

Then Orm laughed again. “I am no monster, Ingunn. I did nothing at all. I was but testing you. Kol heard from an old man that one of the Ingolfsson daughters said it was us. She lied. All of you, attend me now. This beautiful woman, Ingunn, daughter of Harald—I will wed her, for I love her dearly, and all of us will leave this cold land and make our way to the west. We will settle in the Danelaw. We will buy lands there with all the gold and silver we have gained in our trading.”

Bein and Kol spoke low to each other. Zarabeth felt confounded. He was slippery, his tongue agile, and she was afraid of him. Color had returned to Ingunn’s cheeks, and now she was smiling, under Orm’s spell again.

I must escape, Zarabeth thought over and over as the afternoon hours passed. I must escape. Orm would kill, then laugh and deny it even as the blood dried on his hands.

That evening when they stopped to make camp, Zarabeth was once again sent out for firewood, Kol her companion. He grunted at her, pointing to the branches that lay on the ground. He wasn’t going to help, merely watch her.

Finally she said, knowing the time had come, “I must be by myself for a moment . . . just for a moment.”

He looked at her, no expression whatsoever on his face. “I will watch,” he said, and crossed his arms over his chest.

She discarded several ideas in the space of a moment. Finally, she merely shrugged, looked past him, her eyes widening. When he whirled around, she picked up the skirt of her gown and ran as fast as she could into the pine forest, ducking behind a thick pine at the last moment. There was no crashing of undergrowth, for Kol was silent as an animal. She felt terror creeping over her. Where was he?

Suddenly she heard him yell, “Woman, wait! You come here, do you hear me?” He paused and she held her breath, for he was but feet away. “Orm will be mightily displeased with you. He will punish you! His punishments aren’t pleasant. He could break your jaw this time. Come here, now!”

He was closer, moving silently. She fancied she could hear his breathing. She closed her eyes, pressing closer against the tree bark. He was saying again, “You won’t escape me, woman. Come now, and I won’t be angry with you.”

She didn’t move. But she was ready, and suddenly he was there, coming around the tree, his movements stealthy, his step silent. He saw her and jerked back, but not in time. She heaved a rock as hard as she could in his belly. He howled, falling forward, and when he did, Zarabeth lifted that same rock again and struck him on the head. He went down without another sound. Now you are silent, she thought.

She was free. It was exhilarating. For a moment she couldn’t believe it. She stood over Kol, panting, holding that blessed rock. She had seen the rock and had seen herself hitting him with it, but the fact that she had actually succeeded left her momentarily dumbfounded. Quickly she knelt beside him and took his knife. Then she was running through the forest, knowing even as she ducked branches that the trees were fast thinning. In a very few minutes she would come out into a long narrow meadow. She would be in full view of Orm and Bein. Ah, but the trees on the other side of the meadow were so near, not far at all. She could make it, if only she could run fast enough.

Magnus dismounted and stretched. He patted Thorgell’s neck, then leaned down with Eines to check the tracks.

“We’re close, Magnus.”

Magnus grunted.

“Two of the horses are carrying two people. I’d say a man and a woman on each of the horses.”

Magnus saw in his mind’s eye Orm carrying Zarabeth in front of him. Who was the other woman? Ingunn?

“This other horse carries only a woman.”