Page 107 of Come the Morning

“She will not do so. She fought the marriage. She will be glad of his leaving.”

“But tell me, Ulric, do you really think that he will leave her.”

“He goes to his mistress.”

“I ask you again. You’ve had Mellyora MacAdin within your grasp once before. Do you really believe that he will leave her?”

“He must! And aye, the walls may be impregnable, but if she can be drawn outside the walls … where is Daro’s camp now?”

“Fifty miles to the east, I’ve been told. He has been the guest of the king now on many an occasion, and I believe he is to receive more lands near Stirling.”

“He married Anne?” Ulric persisted.

“Aye, that he did.”

Ulric smiled. “Perhaps I will pay a visit to my little cousin then.”

“And again, I tell you, perhaps Mellyora will accompany Waryk when he rides.”

Ulric looked at him sharply. Then he smiled. “We will have to see that she doesn’t ride with him.”

“And how—”

Ulric suddenly laughed. “Two men will succeed where dozens of berserkers have failed!”

“Are we out to murder—”

“Nay, we’re out to wound a man. And to cast the seeds of doubt and suspicion into the ground! Aye, the lady will stay. We shall see to it.” He set an arm around Han’s shoulders. “When you cannot tear down walls from the outside, you must tear them down from within. The more I think about it, Han, the more it seems there is a greater prize than even I imagined here. I will find a way to take the old Viking’s daughter. To slay the man who murdered my father. I will rule Blue Isle, and pay homage to a Norse king, and make peace with Stephen of England. David of Scotland will pay to travel his own land. Aye, I will rule Blue Isle. An old Viking laird, a new Viking laird. Waryk dead. Not too quickly. I would have him see me take his wife, and know that if she carries his child, I will kill his child very slowly before making the isle and his woman my own.”

“You’ll need to take care.”

“Aye, Waryk is a fierce warrior, well trained, lethal. I will take care.”

“I did not refer to Waryk. If you try to take his wife, she might well kill you.”

“Indeed. But I’ll never give her the chance. Perhaps there’s even a way to have him die believing that she was the one to betray him. She is a Viking’s daughter.”

CHAPTER19

Darkness came, and Mellyora remained upon the hilltop where her father’s body had been interred. He’d been buried with one of his longboats and his weapons, but she knew where he lay himself, in a wooden coffin carved by the finest of his countrymen, old Oginwald, who still lived in a cottage down the hill. The Celtic cross she leaned against marked his actual burial site. She thought that she might feel closer to him here, that she might be able to close her eyes and go back to a time before he died, when it had seemed that the world would always be hers to command and she would never, never have to feel this awful hurt and jealousy.

But even as dusk came, she couldn’t seem to bring her father’s memory as close as she wanted. He had been huge, golden, red-bearded; his laughter had run in the hall, he’d changed languages twice in every sentence, and he had loved to move among the people. His battle tactics had not been so trained as Waryk’s, he had called upon distant friends when serving the king, and he had sat here often, as she sat now, high upon this hill, and stared out to the sea. He’d loved the sea, but he’d loved Scotland more. He had seen this land through her mother’s eyes, and he’d still talked about her mother until the day he died. Tohim, her mother and the sea had become one, ever fathomless, ever beautiful, offering storms, offering peace, never still, always changing, always fascinating.

Mellyora rested her head upon her arms, closing her eyes. Adin had seen the world that he’d wanted, and he’d made it his own. She’d always believed that she could forge her own life as he had done. But the king had taken that.

She felt the thunder of Mercury’s hooves against the ground long before she saw the horse. She stood, surprised and somewhat unnerved that he had come for her; she had not expected him to do so.

He reined in on Mercury across the expanse of the burial ground, and stood, looking at her for a long moment. Then he nudged the horse and walked him slowly to where she stood. She didn’t move, but waited. He stared down at her, and she wondered if he meant to be as imposing as he was atop the warhorse. To counter the way he towered above her, she reached out, patting Mercury’s nose. The horse was loyal to his master, but for all the bloodshed the animal had seen, he was an affectionate horse. He responded to her touch as she moved her palm over the softness of his muzzle.

“So here you are. Among the dead again.”

She looked up sharply. “I came here often long before my father died. It is usually a pretty and peaceful place to come.”

“Aye, as I said, among the dead.”

“They are sometimes far more agreeable than the living.”

“Because they can’t argue with you? Ah, but then, do you think that great Adin will rise up, return to run the wicked from his land?”