Vengeance Hammer (Viking Vengeance) Read Free Page B

Viking.
     

Chapter Two
     
     
    “You have the look of a warrior facing the greatest battle of his life.” Tighe joined Dráddør on the mound.
    A sharp, sudden gust whisked dried leaves into a whirl and threw a flock of screeching gulls into an awkward arc. Dráddør lifted his face to the sun and enjoyed the heat of the midday sun. “Olaf Longface insists on a public consummation.”
    Tighe grimaced and tugged on his scruffy beard. “I fear he is right to do so. If what we have learned is true, Néill and Godfraid will invade before the sennight is out. E’en with the wedding and the bedding, Néill will contest your claim to Lathairn. You must needs produce an heir within the year to secure the title.”
    “Néill is but Arnfinn’s step-brother. Xára is Arnfinn’s only child and King Kenneth has affirmed she is the sole heir. I cannot see the king reneging on his word. ’Tis not as if Xára is a bastard.” Dráddør had spent the last while arguing with Olaf, King Harald’s lawsayer for the region. In the end, he had surrendered to Olaf’s ruling knowing that having a horde witnessing his taking of Xára solidified his hold on the castle and its lands.
    “Agreed.” Tighe slapped him on the back. “The good news is that aside from the hall, the rest of the castle is fit for occupation, though strangely lacking in furniture. Lady Jennie has been moved and the healer brought from the village.”
    “At least the bedding will not have to be in the open. ’Tis Loki’s mischief, the timing of it all—to have to wed and bed Xára when her mother is at death’s door.” Dráddør massaged the back of his neck. He had never expected to feel pity for Arnfinn’s wife and daughter.
    “I have ne’er taken a maid, have you?”
    Tighe’s question added to the worry dogging him since Olaf’s decision on a public swiving. Dráddør snorted. “Think you I could take any female as innocent as Hjørdis? Nay. ’Twas the reason I left the caliph’s service. I could not stomach him taking the girl virgins he so prized.”
    “’Tis a detestable practice. I would sever the cock of any man in my service who defiled a child.”
    “I swive oft, ’tis true, but I bed only tavern wenches and widows—lusty women who have long lost their innocence. Now I must take Xára’s maidenhood in public.” Dráddør traced the runes carved into the handle of his hammer.
    “I envy you not.”
    “She cannot speak, Tighe. Not a word.” He did not know why it bothered him so. Why he felt an overwhelming urge to protect her. Her clever way of communicating had earned not just his respect, but a grudging admiration. He explained the sand tray to Tighe.
    “Why ’tis crafty and cunning. Her mind is sound then?”
    “Aye. So are her ears though she concentrates on your lips when you speak to her.”
    “Are you cert she understands what you say?”
    “Aye. There is no doubt in my mind.” Dráddør couldn’t stop his mouth from twitching as he recalled Xára rolling her eyes when he had asked the same question this morn. “But she is a maid who has led a sheltered life.”
    “Think you she has any inkling of what to expect?”
    Dráddør shrugged. He studied the waves battering the cliffs in the distance.
    Tighe cleared his throat. “I have found fear of the unknown to be my own worst foe. If Xára knows naught of swiving and ’tis obvious her mother cannot prepare her—then the task falls to one of us.”
    All at once Dráddør knew the perfect strategy to make the best of the formidable consummation. He stamped his feet to take the chill from his toes. “I will handle the matter.”
    Tighe pointed to the horizon. “See you that?”
    Dráddør shaded his eyes. “Loki’s balls be sliced! Two ships on the horizon.”
    The ships were mere dark blobs and he could not discern their shape clearly. ’Twas impossible to tell if they were of Norse origin or from elsewhere, and even that would not indicate whether a foe or an