Paying the Viking's Price

‘I’ve no expectations,’ Edith said carefully. Marriage to a Norseman was the logical solution, even if she hated the thought of being married again. An unmarried widow with a large estate was too great of a prize. ‘But you’re wrong if you think I could ever forget this estate and its inhabitants. They are my people. Every single one of them.’

‘Your husband will be turning in his grave, cousin, to think that you of all people should swear allegiance to the Norse king.’

‘My father swore fealty to Halfdan in Eoferwic, ten years ago. Egbert broke that promise, not me.’

Hilda shook her carefully coiffured head and her bee-stung lips gave a little pout. ‘I expected more somehow. You were his wife for seven years. Are you sure the king won’t worry about that? You must have shared some of the same views.’

Edith raised her chin. How dare Hilda question her as if she was a common servant? Her entire being trembled with anger and she longed to tell a few home truths to Hilda. Instead Edith gulped air and concentrated on controlling her temper.

‘When did Egbert and I ever agree on anything?’ she said as steadily as she dared. ‘Lord Egbert is no longer the master here. He ceased to be when he breathed his last. The hall and its land were never fully his. We shared responsibility. I know the marriage terms my father negotiated. The hall and its lands were to be returned to me should anything happen to Egbert. And I intend to keep them safe.’

‘Cousin, this is no time for jesting.’ Hilda widened her pale blue eyes. ‘You know little of the art of war. Egbert always used to say—’

‘It’s the people of this land I must consider.’ Edith glared at Hilda. The last thing she wanted to hear was her late husband’s opinion on her many failings. ‘The Norsemen should accept my assurance and my gift. They should move on to the next estate, hopefully without burning our hall or forcing a marriage. We survive whatever happens. Survival is important.’

Edith wasn’t sure who she wanted to convince more—her cousin or herself.

‘They will take everything that is not nailed down, even if you don’t have to marry.’ Hilda turned pale. ‘You know what the Norsemen are like! Two years ago in the south before I journeyed to you, all the farms were ablaze and the women... Promise me that you won’t allow that to happen to me. I saw unspeakable things. You must protect me. Lord Egbert would expect it.’

‘I have taken precautions. My parents taught me well. The Norsemen have been a danger for years.’ Edith gave Hilda a hard look. ‘We survived before. My parents even entertained Halfdan in the early years.’

‘What should I do?’ Hilda wrung her hands. ‘Lord Egbert always made sure I had a special task in times of emergency. On second thought, I should be the one to speak first. Soften their hearts with a gentle word. You can be abrupt, cousin. Allow me to win their regard with a smile.’

Edith stared at Hilda in disbelief. Was she serious in her offer? Her entire being recoiled at the thought of Hilda greeting the Norsemen in her stead. And she’d been the one to think of employing Hilda in some task to save her from Egbert’s ire. Egbert could only be bothered with Hilda and her demands when it suited him.

Even now, Hilda had started to prance about the hall, practising the gestures she’d make as if she was the one in charge.

‘You see, cousin, how much better I’d do it?’

‘Hilda, I need you to go to the stew pond and make sure the various dams are closed. I’ve no wish to lose fish because the men are slack,’ Edith said, retaking control of the situation.

‘You mean...’

‘I will greet the Norsemen, dressed simply, and explain about our meagre circumstances. We have avoided being burnt out before. We may do so again. Trust me.’

‘You mean I might avoid the Norsemen? Altogether?’ Hilda stopped.

‘There is that possibility.’ Edith held out her hand. ‘You would be doing me this small favour, cousin. It would put my mind at ease to know this task was properly done.’

‘As you wish, cousin, you are the lord here now.’ Hilda made a curtsy which bordered on discourteous and left the main hall with her skirts swishing.

Edith sighed. There had to be some decent farmer that Edith could marry her off to. She’d provide a reasonable dowry so the man would take her. The question was who, given the common knowledge about her relationship with Egbert. Edith tapped her finger against her mouth. All that could wait until the current crisis was solved. She had to concentrate on the matter at hand and ensure that everything had been done. No mistakes made.

She adjusted her wimple so that her black hair was completely covered as she cast an eye about the hall, searching for things left undone.

The majority of the silver and gold were safe in the cavity. There was no need to check that. She was the only one who knew about it.

The pagan Norsemen were no respecters of churches or monasteries. If anything their wealth attracted the raiders. When her father showed her the hiding place, he recounted the story about the Lindisfarne raid and the countless other raids. However, he boasted about his alliance with Halfdan and confidently predicted she’d never need it.

She had kept a few trinkets to appease the Norsemen, but they had to believe that they were poor and the farm was not well managed so that they would not demand an enormous payment. Her father had drilled that notion into her head since she had first toddled about the yard.

‘The Norsemen never stay long. Raiders rather than settlers. They move swiftly and overlook the well hidden,’ she whispered over and over as she tried to decide where she’d stand. She practised her gestures and decided against kneeling with hands raised in supplication. A bowed head would suffice. Welcoming, but far from subservient.

She could do this. She had to. Everyone in the steading was counting on her to save them from the Norsemen. There were no warriors to fight. No one but a barely bearded boy had returned from the rebellion. And he’d been burning with fever and had only survived a day or two after telling his story of the Norsemen treachery and Egbert’s final heroic stand. He had found his courage far too late, but she was glad that he had found it.

Heavy boots resounded on the stones outside. Edith pressed her fist to her stomach and willed the sick feeling to be gone. Far too soon. She hadn’t even had the chance to move the spindles or the whorls.

Why hadn’t there been more warning? Why hadn’t someone seen the fires that surely must be burning as the Viking horde swept through the countryside? Silently she cursed Egbert for taking every able-bodied man to fight in the rebellion. A pain tugged behind her eyes. Later, she’d investigate ways of improving the warning system.

She motioned towards one of her few remaining manservants to unbar the door. The elderly man shuffled forwards.

Before he could get there, the door fell to the ground. In the doorway stood one of the tallest men Edith had ever seen. Clean-shaven, but with dark blond hair flowing over his shoulders. The very epitome of a Viking warrior, he was dressed in a fur cloak and skin trousers. In his hand he carried a double-headed axe, but it was his piercing blue eyes which drew her attention, swiftly followed by the angry red mark about his neck. A barbarian warrior if ever there was one. A true pagan.

Edith wet her lips, but no sound beyond a shocked gasp rose from her throat. She tried again to mouth the welcome, but her voice refused to work. A sharp stab of fear went through her. Her hands shook as she lifted them.

In her mind’s eye she saw the hall blazing and its people killed with her unable to do anything to prevent the carnage. If she’d been born a man like her parents prayed she’d be, none of this would have happened. All she had were her wits and her tongue and both appeared to have deserted her. Silently Edith prayed for a miracle.

The barbarian advanced forwards, and his men streamed in behind him, filling the hall.

Edith retreated backwards. Her leg hit the wooden trunk, causing the spindle to tumble to the ground. The whorl rolled across the rushes, disappearing. Her favourite one. Worrying about a worthless whorl when her entire life hung in the balance! Typical. She gave a hiccupping laugh.

The sound cut through her panic. She stopped and squared her shoulders. She had an intellect equal to any man and that included this enormous Norseman who glowered at her, fingering his axe.

‘It is customary to wait for an answer before knocking the door down,’ she said. The steadiness of her voice gave her courage. She was this mountain of a Norseman’s equal, not his slave.

‘It is customary for people to greet their new lord with civility and speed. I thought the hall long deserted from my welcome.’ The Norseman’s rich voice thundered through the hall. It surprised Edith that he could speak her language so well. The Norsemen she’d encountered in Eoferwic, if they could speak it at all, spoke with accents so thick that she’d almost considered them to be speaking another language. But this one was different. His voice held only the faintest lilt of Norseman’s accent.

‘We had little warning of your arrival.’ Edith met his fierce gaze. ‘A proper greeting requires proper warning.’

‘It fails to alter the fact. Your new lord has arrived. I deserved a better welcome than having my door barred against me.’

New lord? Edith’s insides clenched as his words sank in. What did he mean? Had the Norseman king decided to marry her to him, then? A faint shiver went down her back. Despite her earlier conversation with Hilda, she had no wish to marry again. And certainly not to someone who looked like he could crush her with one hand. She wanted someone cultured who loved learning and music and who would respect her intelligence. She’d had enough of the brute with her first husband. Edith pushed the thought aside. Her feelings were unimportant. It was the estate which mattered.

‘You are the new lord?’

He inclined his head, but his eyes flashed with fire. ‘The king has decreed it.’

‘I am the Lady Edith, mistress of this hall as my father was lord before me. The Norseman King Halfdan has sent me no decree.’ She raised her chin defiantly. Thankfully, her father had had the foresight to bend his knee and kiss Halfdan’s ring ten years ago. ‘My father and your king were friends. He stayed here early in his reign after Eoferwic was burnt.’

The barbarian lifted an arrogant eyebrow. ‘You deny this hall belonged to the rebel Egbert of Breckon?’

Edith pursed her lips. ‘My late husband.’

‘He died rebelling against his king, in the foulest act of treachery I have seen in many years.’

‘The hall has always belonged to me and my family, going back as far as anyone can remember. My husband and I shared custody. When Egbert of Breckon breathed his last, the lands immediately reverted to my name and custody as there was no heir from my body.’

‘Is that so?’