Linus at Large Page 11

  “What’s happening?” I asked the woman with the cream and purple-swirled covering I recognized.

  She didn’t meet my eyes, but she did smile at me. “Word spread of your kindness to the other women. Because you won’t take from our hands, we wanted to give you something to show our gratitude.” She produced a cream head covering with red swirls to match my dress, and laid it at my feet atop the growing pile.

  I was speechless, and torn between touched and scared that such a simple thing as not stealing from the women was worthy of such a gesture.

  The chief was taken aback at the grandness of the growing pile, commenting only once that his wife seemed to be without any gifts. That brought the next few women to grudgingly lay their coverings at the chief’s wife’s feet.

  When the line ended, Foss looked down at the bounty with a satisfied grin, motioning for Viggo to gather up the gifts and take them where they wouldn’t be pilfered. He stood and spoke for me, since I was too dumbfounded for a proper speech. “Thank you, women of Fossegrim, for loving my wife as you have. She’s a queen among her people, and now I can see that she’s your queen, as well.”

  I wanted to run far, far away. Loved the sweetness of the gesture, but being put on the spot like that was a little stomach-churning.

  That dinner was starting and I hadn’t seen Jens was troubling. But he was Tomten and could go invisible, so I tried not to worry. Jens was probably staying out of view so he could keep an eye on things. That bread was being broken at high tables and low alike without sight of Linus was downright upsetting.

  Foss laughed at something Tomas of the Hills said and draped his arm around the back of my high-backed chair. He leaned over, sweeping a few curls off my shoulder and whispered in my ear, “You look like you’re about to be slaughtered and served up to the guests. This is a party thrown for us. Smile, or you’ll seem ungrateful.”

  I stroked his cheek so it looked like we were just being sweet to each other, and not that I was freaking out. “Have you seen them? Jens and Linus? Jens said they’d be back before the party started.”

  Foss scanned the crowd. “No. That is odd.”

  My heart sank. I’d been secretly hoping Foss would tell me I was worrying over nothing, or that he’d seen them hours ago, and oh look! There they were.

  But they weren’t. I couldn’t imagine what was keeping them. Everyone on the island was here, except Olaf, whose men had followed their Viggo equivalent to the party. “Where’s Olaf?”

  Foss shrugged. “Erika mentioned he wasn’t feeling well. Perhaps he stayed home?”

  “Erika?” My head whipped around as if on a swivel. “I’ve been with you the whole time! How did you see her and I didn’t? Where is she?”

  Foss motioned to the chief, who had a woman that was not his wife sitting on his lap and stroking his long, artfully trimmed sideburns. “I heard her talking to the chief.” He pointed with his bread over to the low and lengthy table that held Olaf’s household. “She’s the one with her head down over there.”

  I looked exactly where he was pointing, but saw no one that looked like Erika. After searching for her a few more seconds, I gasped. A haggard woman who looked decades older than she had just one year ago was bent over her plate, pushing food around and keeping her head downward.

  That wasn’t Erika. Girlfriend had possessed personality oozing out of her at every turn. Something had sucked the life from her.

  Or someone.

  My eyes narrowed. I made to stand, but Foss clamped his hand on my shoulder. “You don’t get up here.” He whistled, and a servant nearby came running up to the head table, bowing before us. “Fetch me Erika, Olaf’s bedslave. I wish to hear why Olaf’s not here yet.”

  “Yes, Master Foss. Right away.” He ran off toward Erika and all but jerked her up from the table by her arm.

  I wanted to shout at him to be careful, but I didn’t think I could be heard that far away over the fiddlers and lively conversation. The bonfire Erika was led past crackled and cast orange flickers on her face, cluing me in to why she kept her head down.

  From her hairline all the way down her cheek and touching her chin was a thin scar from a whip. When she was brought to stand before me, she bowed, lost in the world that had devoured her sweetness. “Mistress. Master Foss.”

  Foss’s hand gripped my thigh in warning not to fly off the handle. I had no words, only screaming, so I kept my mouth shut. Foss took over, sensing I was about to start throwing chairs like a WWE madman. He was not far off. “Good to see you, Erika. I trust you’ll be returning to my household once we’ve rebuilt?”

  She lifted her chin, revealing her scar to him. I felt his hand clutch my thigh harder. “That’s up to Master Olaf, may he live forever,” she replied, her words carefully chosen. “Should he permit it, I would run back to your house and humbly serve in whatever position you have for me. I would be grateful for the lowest job and dedicate my life to serving you however you wish. This is the first time most in Olaf’s house have eaten today.”

  Foss’s face was stony. “I’ll see to it, then. My wife needs a handmaiden, and she’s got her heart set on you. Would you be willing to do that?”

  Erika fell to her knees and clasped her hands in front of her lips. “Master Foss, I want nothing more than exactly that.” She met his eyes and mouthed, Help me!

  Foss nodded once. “Where is Olaf? Surely the chief has enough Gar even for him.”

  The chief and Tomas of the Hills turned to hear Erika’s answer. “Olaf sent everyone ahead and said he would follow shortly. He kept a handful of his men behind with him. I can’t imagine what’s taking them.” She bowed before the chief. “I beg your forgiveness, Dom, for my master’s lateness. I know he very much wants to be here. How you managed to get such a meal for the whole island from the paltry crops Tonttu’s been exporting is a wonder to us all. We’re in your debt.”

  “My people are worth the sacrifice for such a celebration.” The chief waved off her apology and dismissed her. Erika walked back to her plate with new lightness in her step. Viggo had been watching the exchange. When he glanced up at me, I glared at him until he dropped his head to focus on his food.

  I looked around at the thousands of Fossegrimens and took stock of every section, making sure I saw each man swallow at least a sip of Gar. The curse lifting was nothing I could see in a flash of lightning, but as the meal progressed, the men began surveying the world around them with curiosity instead of anger or drunken merriment. The note of aggression I always felt in the air in Fossegrim began to dissipate as the plates were cleared and fresh berries and cream were brought out, along with plenty more Gar.

  “It’s working,” I whispered to Foss.

  He nodded and went back to his conversation with the chief, who was happy to have Foss back. He set about filling Foss in on the country’s latest. “Tonttu’s been a problem since you left. I mean, look at these vegetables.” The chief speared something that looked like a purple parsnip the size of a baby carrot and frowned. “They’ve taken to trading in lavender powder, but when they demanded more money for such sickly crops, I refused. So they asked for a few of our women from the slave trade instead.” He shook his head. “I gave them a shipment of girls, but they wanted more. Always more. Eventually I refused. With them, it seems they want more and more for less and less. They’ve got a real problem on their hands. Johannes is running things into the ground.” Then they started talking about a plot of land that had been destroyed by Olaf’s fire, and how Olaf was still paying restitution on it to the chief on behalf of his men who’d done the attacking. “The men behind the attack on your household were found and hanged,” the chief assured Foss.

  Foss’s jaw tightened. “Is that so?”

  The chief’s tone was evasive, and he didn’t look Foss in the eye. He knew. Something told me he knew it was Olaf, but was too chicken to do anything about it. “Some of the men tried to blame it on Olaf, but of course, that would be unthinkable – one tribe
attacking another. Can you imagine?”

  Foss didn’t answer, but I sure as smack did. “I can imagine it just fine.”

  “What’s that, Guldy?” the chief asked, taking in my attitude.

  I lowered my voice. “Not to tell you how to do your job, but you and I and the friggin’ Easter Bunny all know Olaf ordered that attack. You and I both know his bedslave didn’t have the idea to poison my husband, either. What I don’t know is why you’re too afraid to do anything about it.”

  The chief’s nostrils flared as he stiffened. “You’ll watch your tongue, child.”

  I held his glare, unwilling to let him get off easy. “I’m the Queen of the Other Side. I’m no child.” I leaned in and made sure no one else heard us, so if he had an outburst of rage, it would appear out of nowhere. “Foss was beaten and left for dead in the house, and then they set it on fire! They trapped his entire household in the barn and lit it up.” I gripped my fork tightly, wishing I could use it to make the chief understand what we went through that awful night. “You try dragging the person you love out of a burning building when he’s too worked over to even crawl, and then see how well you shut up when the bad guy gets away.”

  The chief ran his tongue along the outside of his teeth. “Foss, did Olaf beat you, or did his men?”

  “His men, but—”

  The chief cut him off, his words final. “Then justice has been served. They were hanged to avenge what we assumed was your death.”

  I couldn’t hold back how much I despised the chief in that moment. “I know what you’re doing, and it’s the wrong move. You’re letting Olaf get away with murder all so you don’t have to deal with the powers shifting.”

  The chief snatched my fork from me, set it on the table and held my hand as if we were old friends (which, up until now, we had been). His grip was crushing, and I whimpered under the pressure.

  “Dom, stop!” Foss was shocked his mentor would lash out at me.

  I wasn’t surprised at all. I wanted him to face his shortfalls. I was leaving as soon as Foss’s home was sorted out, and I didn’t want to be afraid my husband would be in constant danger from Olaf trying to pull a fast one all the time.

  The chief glared at me, ignoring Foss’s hand that pushed on his shoulder. “You think you know what it is to be responsible for keeping the peace in such a war-hungry nation? Do you think your young mind understands how fragile the whole thing is? All you see is your love, your husband. I see a thousand women’s husbands, and thousands more who would die if the system I set up fell into ruins.”

  My other hand was gentle and soft as it rested atop his, stroking the rough skin as I pretended he wasn’t hurting me. “Have a little faith in your people. If they would follow someone like Olaf, how much more would they follow someone who’s actually worthy of the title?”

  The chief seemed to come to himself marginally and released his death grip so that we were just holding hands. “I’m sorry to have disappointed you, but that’s all I can do.” He met Foss’s hurt and shocked eyes and deflated. “I know what you deserve, but I cannot give it to you. I have to think of the people, who all rely on the island operating the way it does.”

  Foss nodded, but I did not. I was crushed that someone I’d trusted could fall so far from the mark. My whisper sliced the space between us, causing a divide I would not apologize for. “I trusted you. I thought you loved Foss, but now I know I’m the only one who truly does. For all your power, you can’t protect the things you say you love. What kind of love doesn’t save the day?” I held the chief’s gaze, running my hand over his once more. “Your love is useless, and it breaks my heart.”

  Foss removed my hands from the chief’s and shifted my chair further away from his. “Enough, Lucy. It’s done.”

  A servant came by to refill the glasses, skipping over the chief’s and Foss’s.

  It was then I noticed Foss’s cup of Gar was full, as was the chief’s.

  The chief was drinking from a flask on his belt – no doubt the more expensive stuff he craved. This would be a problem. If the head of the kingdom was still corrupt, there wasn’t a full chance for redemption.

  Why Foss hadn’t drank his yet was beyond me. “Darling husband,” I cooed quietly. “You haven’t touched your Gar. Is something wrong?”

  Foss leaned away from me, his eyebrows pushed together as he scowled. “That you can ask that amazes me.”

  I stiffened, affronted at the curt response. Jag.

  The chief’s hard face didn’t change as he took in the tenor of our lover’s spat. “It seems the bloom has fallen off the human rose. The honeymoon over so soon. What a pity.” He raised his flask to me, and several servants nearby mimicked the motion. “You’re always welcome in my bed, Guldy.” The pass at me was blatant, and completely forced. I don’t know why he did it. Maybe to lighten the mood? Maybe to get himself smacked? I dunno. Either way, Foss nor I were amused.

  My inner blanch didn’t make it onto my face, but my indignant glare did. “I’ll keep myself at your table, if that. Keep this up, and I’ll find a different table altogether. Stop trying to make sex jokes to cover over something real. Foss deserves actual contrition from you, not hitting on his wife, you jackfish.”

  “You’re turning down my bed? That’s a first.”

  “I can’t imagine that’s true,” I shot back. “And you’re old enough to be my father.”

  The chief laughed loudly at my clipped reply, tilting his head back to enjoy the full body of the merriment that someone had actually turned him down. “Ho! Foss, your wife acquired some spirit while you were out killing Pesta. Spirit and a sharp tongue. Let me know when you tire of her, old friend.”

  Oh, I had plenty of venom to spew after that. We’d had a friendly understanding in the orange grove last time I was here. We’d spoken frankly, like equals. Now he was being a letch and talking about trading me like a baseball card all because I’d called his bluff. I geared up to tear the chief down, but Foss stepped on my foot in warning. I kicked him, feeling absolutely no guilt over the aggression only he brought out in me.

  My rising tirade could only be interrupted by one thing. A man came running into the camp, stopping the fiddlers mid-string. “Dead! My master is dead! Murdered!”

  Foss, the chief and Tomas of the Hills rose as one, a fierce expression mirrored on all three of their faces. The chief lifted his finger in the air, and all the men of his household stood at attention. The chief’s voice was even, but the cruelty I knew he had in him stopped my breath. “Who did you see murder Olaf? Who dares attack the power of the West?”

  Five men entered the camp, two of them dragging a body each. I nearly screamed when I saw Jens trussed up in thick ropes from his chest to his knees, his head banging over rocks as the men deposited him before the chief.

  The second body was Linus, and my scream couldn’t hold itself back any longer.

  16

  I Killed Olaf

  “Did you know about this?” the chief demanded of me and Foss, effectively putting us on trial before the entire island.

  “Of course not!” Foss spat.

  Linus and Jens had both been unconscious when they’d been dragged in, and too well bound for escape or proper circulation. When they started to rouse, they were shoved up on their knees and held there, showcasing their bruises and deep cuts to the chief.

  “Speak, before your tongues are torn out and you have no more words left! Did you murder one of the four powers?” The chief was unyielding as he stood in all his glory.

  Everyone was afraid – the bloodlust I’d seen at Gerda’s death when she’d been caught trying to poison Foss was gone.

  It was a definite sign that the curse was lifting.

  “I did!” Jens barked. He was so badly beaten, I wondered how his voice was still so strong. Jens always found a way to be strong for me. “Linus did nothing. He tried to stop me, but I wouldn’t listen!”

  Linus shook his head. One of his eyes was completel
y swollen shut, and his lip was bleeding, as were several cuts and scrapes all over his body. I raged inside, wanting to tear limb from limb the moron who thought messing up a Kincaid was a bright idea. He was my brother, my Linus. I didn’t go through all the drama of bringing him back just to let him get thrashed the second I had my back turned. I whimpered as Linus spoke. “I did it. Olaf molested my sister, so I killed him.” A quiet venom spread over him, and I trembled at what might come out of his mouth next. “It wasn’t even hard. I loved watching him fall like the limp perv he is, and I’d do it a thousand more times!”

  Jens groaned at Linus’s admission. “Don’t listen to him! He’s just a kid. I did it! I’m Lucy’s Tom, and she’s my charge. Olaf was a threat to her, and I’ve been trained to take out any threat to my charge. I’ve taken the vow of the vakt!” Several gasps flew out at the news that I had my very own Kevin Costner bodyguard. “I knew Olaf would be coming here tonight, and he’s put her in danger before. I won’t look the other way while my job’s on the line!”

  The chief shook his head. “Well, now it’s your neck on the line, Jens the Brave.” He pointed behind the party toward the trees. “String them up, boys! Let them both hang!”

  I screamed and jumped over the table, clearing the distance in no time and flinging myself onto them both. I stood when Olaf’s men tried taking them away from me, which was the only thing that gave them pause. Though I wasn’t as powerful as the chief, they knew they couldn’t push me aside without incurring the wrath of Foss, which was no small thing.

  Something primal awoke inside of me, starting in my gut and rising up through my body until my voice was the only thing anyone heard. No one would take Linus away from me ever again. I knew what had to be done. “They didn’t kill Olaf, I did!”

  Cries and gasps flew out all around us, followed by madness. People stood, shouting their confusion and worries over a war between the powers that had ended in a death.