Lord of the Runes Read Free Page A

again. “As you must be. No one must know you’re alive.”
    â€œI know. Were you able to find out anything about them?”
    â€œTheir leader, Hakon, plans to stay here for the winter. In the spring, he’s going to take revenge on his own family, who he says betrayed him years ago. They live in the fjells to the north, where the glaciers are. Then he’ll take their wealth and homestead for himself.”
    He’d been right. That was why they hadn’t destroyed the village. “I’ll journey to Vargfjell, Rorik’s holding in Trøndelag and get his help. In the years I’ve been fighting and raiding with him, I have come to know him well. As our cousin, he won’t let this outrage go unanswered. It’s a matter of family and honor. He has great wealth, more than most kings, with four-and-twenty longships, and the men to crew them. Several hundred of the best warriors follow him. When he dropped me off here days ago, he was to head home for the winter. I’ll go to Vargfjell, and return here with him to have our revenge. Then, I vow, I’ll retrieve Star Slayer from the waters and we’ll rebuild our village and our lives.”
    Her eyes widened. “To get the sword—that’s impossible. It’s said the fjord bottom follows the mountains down to the depth of a hundred man-lengths. Even the god Njord might not be able to find it, though he rules the sea.”
    He shook his head. “In the waters below the cliff, there’s a shallower ledge. I know it from when I was a boy. I pushed off from it to gain the surface today. If the sword fell with me, there’s a chance it rests there still. If it was thrown out farther, it’s in the depths and Njord is welcome to it. For it means the gods have chosen to take it back from us.”
    She bit her lip as she studied him. “Mother has doubted your sanity ever since you dove off the cliff in your youth. She might be right.”
    He took her hands, his fingers enveloping her small, slender ones, and pressed them. “Don’t you see, Silvi? That blade has been passed down to us from the early times, when the gods walked with our ancestors. It’s a link with all we are. It gives us the right to bear the rank of jarl. I have to try to get it back, or how can I take my inheritance? I won’t accept the title if I don’t retrieve it, for without it, I’m not worthy.”
    Silvi slipped her hands from his. She looked into the growing shadows and her eyes became distant again. He braced himself. Why had he been cursed—no, blessed—with a sister who had the Sight? “When you find the sword again, it won’t be for the reason you think. And you’ll give it up for the sake of a woman a handful of days later.”
    How could that be? “It would mean I’ve given up Haardvik, and that will never happen.”
    The gelding pricked his ears and lifted his head. Another horse nickered not far off in the woods. If theirs answered, it would disclose their location and he would have to fight, bringing all the outcasts down on them. He would never make it away from the fjord to find help. He locked his gaze with Silvi’s and they moved back into the shadows of the trees. He reached for the sword hanging from the saddle, steeling himself for battle.
    But Silvi set her hand on his arm and shook her head. She whispered to the horse, cupping her hand over his muzzle. He closed his eyes and chewed, relaxing. Harsh voices threaded through the trees. Eirik tensed, still gripping the hilt.
    Three outcasts rode through the sacred grove. They were dirty and unkempt, their weapons bloodstained with the lives of his people. But though his gut screamed to slay them, he could only let them pass.
    As they vanished into the woods, he released the sword—his father’s personal sword. He raised his brows in question.
    She touched the scabbard. “Weeks ago, when Father