“How many were there?” Thorodd asked as he arrived last to the gathered Vikings.
“A full pack,” Hogni answered as he continued drawing the layout on the ground. “They have the bridge covered from both sides, five on each.”
“The king’s men,” muttered Hallad. “Why would he have them guarding a bridge that leads to Kopanes unless they intend to try and fight?”
Einar stood there silently, watching their scout finish up his sketch.
“I guess it’s good that you sent him ahead,” Osvif whispered as they stood shoulder to shoulder. “Our options are limited. We could try and go down south more and then cut across at a smaller bridge. The problem would be the forest and the lack of roads.”
“Not to mention we would have to go near the barrier,” Thorleif chimed in. “Lately, we have been like stink to flies.”
Holding up his hand, Einar cut off the chatter and bent down, pointing at the five on their side of the river.
“I’m certain they don’t want to fight but odds are they don’t have a choice. We don’t know if they are going to demand items or all of us to come with them. None of that I want to deal with but we have six wagons full of supplies and materials and it would add a week if we go south.”
Chewing on his lip, he studied the expressions on each of the warrior's faces.
“We don’t want to start fighting our own people now. I could challenge their leader and they should accept but if they don’t then we are back to square one. Show of hands who wants to take the long route and deal with the trees and possible problems of broken wheels?”
A few grunts came and only three of them raised their hands.
“Could we send someone to get a boat and come downstream?” Thorve asked.
“That would require us to hide in the trees and we already passed a few people this morning. Word will spread and time is our problem once it does. Once it is known we have returned, they will be coming to Kopanes regardless.”
“Einar’s right,” Thorodd said as he bent down and tapped the five rocks Hogni had placed on the edge of the bridge. “We didn’t come here to fight our own people but we also can’t afford to waste time. We’re almost two months early on when we were expected back. That gives us a slight advantage.”
“What if we instead disable the guards?”
Everyone looked at Osvif, who started to grin, raising his eyebrows a few times at them all.
“You want to use the blood from the shadow walkers?”
“Want to? No… need to? Yes. We could slip in at night on this side. Easily take out the guard and then deal with the others. Tell me you don’t think we could knock them out with little to no problems.”
“But we’re still attacking the king’s men,” Thorleif said. “Even if you don’t injure them… it’s a bad place to start.”
Silence was the only reply as they all knew the truth of that statement.
“So we go south, deal with the forest and hope that the bridge down there isn’t guarded.”
Einar nodded and saw that Thorodd wasn’t happy he was right.
“Get everyone moving. I want four men clearing a path, taking turns, and I’ll help too. Hogni, go scout a path. We leave in five and I want to be off this road and somewhere hidden before it’s too late.”
Everyone began to move, not needing any more instruction, leaving Einar and Thorve standing there as the warriors set off to inform the caravan what the plan was.
“Tell me that we’re making the right choice.”
She laughed and shook her head.
“Somehow, I doubt there is a right choice from this moment on. You and I both know the day is coming when you will have to face the king. Do I believe not fighting now is the best course? Yes. Do your men believe the same thing?”
She paused, her face dancing between, looking like she had gas or was eating a lemon from how much her flips and eyebrows moved.
“They will follow you against the entire kingdom at this point. However, you and I both know that isn’t a fight you can win right now. You know that.”
“I do… I just hate having my hand forced. Is Erik really that concerned about me or is it those who are around him?”
“Bior and Unnulf themselves can’t answer that,” Thorve replied with a shrug. “The poison runs deep in that place and until it is either cured or cut off, it will continue to sap the strength of all Vikings.”
Using his foot to erase the map and scatter the stones, Einar motioned to the carts and horses.
“We need to go. Thank you for your wisdom. As always, I’m grateful to Unnulf for giving you to me.”
“Hold that thought until you see the payment you’ll be required to make. Then decide if you are grateful or not.”
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
They both chuckled as they joined the caravan of wagons, already moving toward the path Hogni was going to lead them on.
***
“Two more days,” groaned Skardi. “Hogni says we should be at the bridge in two days.”
Hallad grunted as he tossed some logs from the tree they had fell, watching Ospak and Geir continue to hack at a few others that needed to be removed.
“At least we’re not bored,” replied the second-tallest Viking in the pack. “And I’ve never slept better.”
Both men chuckled, grabbed a log, and worked together to lift the six-foot section of wood and move it to the side.
“You need a break?”
“No,” Skari answered as he wiped the sweat and dirt from his chest. “You stayed out here longer than you should have last time. It’s bad when our leader and tactician do more work than the rest of us.”
“Don’t give me credit for any of this,” Osvif said as he brought a flask of water to each man. “He did most of the work. I just stood by and told him he was doing a good job.”
“Just make sure you don’t wear yourselves out. It’s not a contest,” Einar informed the pair. “We need to be ready in case someone finds our trail or anything else. Finish those logs and we’ll start on the others.”
A crashing sound of a tree hitting the ground, followed by some laughter as Ospak motioned to the workers with four horses standing nearby.
“Slow and steady wins the race sometimes.”
“Does it?” Osvif asked as Einar just smiled. “You were never slow.”
“That’s what I was told on occasion.”
***
“Einar’s returned!”
Over and over the shouts rang out as the pack rode into Kopanes, having found no one guarding the smaller bridge. Three days later they entered the south side of town and people were already lining up the street, cheering and shouting.
A few horns could be heard inside the city as news traveled and it didn’t take long before Bior and a pack of his men arrived on the road just inside town on horseback, pushing the people of the city away who stood cheering the return of the pack, trying to see what was inside the wagons.
Einar didn’t miss the expression on Jarl’s face as he drew close, tired eyes and a genuine smile. He rode ahead, coming up to where Einar was in front, clasping arms in the middle of the stone street.
“You made it! No trouble on the roads or bridges?”
Seeing the gaze as Bior scanned the crowd, he just shook his head.
“We took a different path through the forest and decided it would be less crowded to come through the south entrance of town.”
“It seems you have grown wise in your time as a pack leader. Come, join me and let your men deal with the transport of the goods. You and I need to talk sooner than later.”
Glancing back at Thorodd, he motioned to the wagons and gave the signal for Arngrim, twisting the imaginary beard he didn’t have a few times.
Bior didn’t wait. Turning, he started to move back toward the keep, letting Einar catch up as his pack surrounded them, keeping space and clearing the road ahead.
“How bad is it?”
“Not here,” the Jarl replied, nodding and waving at the people who were cheering. “You’re almost out of time and I’m glad you arrived when you did. Much has changed.”
***
“It appears that Erik’s son is not doing well,” Bior said as he poured a drink in two cups. Picking one up he took it to where Einar was sitting in a padded chair near an unlit hearth. Sitting down beside him, the Jarl let out a sigh before taking a long drink.
“Don’t wait. You’ll want to enjoy some of it before I get to the really bad news.”
Taking two long swigs, Einar couldn’t help but appreciate the taste and quality of what he had just been served.
Almost feels like a last meal…
“So tell me… how bad is it?”
“Leif has become a bit of a problem, now going wild and no longer content to just drool and piss on himself all day long. He has attacked a few people, injured many and killed one. That has caused a few issues for the king as one of the servants killed was from an advisor’s family. Most don’t know about this. The real problem is that the advisor is Koigrim, who is in charge of all trade within the land. He is known for not wanting to continue relations with the elves or the dwarfs. Now the king feels indebted to him and has recently made a ruling that we should hold off on all trade with the other realms.”
“And that impacts us because of what I brought back?”
Wincing, Bior nodded.
“While you can say you earned, bought or kept what you killed, there is no way you will convince Koigrim and his lackeys that none of it was traded for. Even though you didn’t know about the edict which came down a little over a month ago, they will attempt to take the majority of anything of value and store it in the capital.”
“Thereby strengthening their hand while weakening ours,” Einar stated.
“Exactly. Now since you managed to dodge the guards that were recently given guard duty to protect the kingdom from possible breaks along the barrier, you’ll be able to hide some of the stuff you retrieved, but not all of it.”
Bior began to fidget a little, his finger tapping the cup’s edge rapidly.
“Please tell me you have a list of everything you brought back.”
“Because you want to see it or because you want to know what we’re going to have to give up?”
Chuckling, Bior set his cup down before rubbing his eyes.
“Both… I can’t wait to hear what you have accomplished. I can see the look in the eyes of your men. We’ll need to get some stories out quickly to the longhouses to help build your renown and prevent some actions against you. In the meantime…”
Bior pulled a piece of paper from his vest and handed it to Einar.
“This is something I promised to give to you.”
Taking the sealed envelope, he saw his name written on it and smiled, recognizing the handwriting.
Breaking the wax seal, he carefully opened the letter.
*****
Einar,
You best not wait more than a day to send for me the moment you return. If you have changed your mind about marrying me, you should use this time to get a head start and hide in some other realm because I swear to the All-Father himself, I will cut your balls off and feed them to you.
Love
Avitue
*****
Laughing so hard he started to cough, Einar took a moment and caught his breath before taking a drink and passing the letter back to Bior.
Soon the Jarl was laughing, pounding his chest a few times and grinning.
“She told me that’s what she wrote but I thought she was kidding.”
Shaking his head, Einar drained the last of his cup.
“Oh, she’s not. I guess I should ask if you’ll send someone right now to locate her. I’m rather fond of where my balls are.”