The Reluctant Viking Read online

  Ruby breathed a sigh of relief at Thork's words.

  "There are so many disputes to hear, it may be two days afore they get to you."

  "Is that good or bad for me?"

  "It could go either way." He shrugged. "Depends on the mood of the jarls—or Sigtrygg. Need I warn you to behave yourself until then?"

  Ruby shook her head. Thork looked as if he wanted to say more, then thought better of it before he turned and walked away to join his friends.

  First the assembly discussed King Athelstan's proposal that King Sigtrygg marry his sister. Sigtrygg stood, an impressive sight in a jewel-studded purple tunic and a gold circlet around his forehead denoting his rank. "Good people, I would announce my betrothal to the Saxon sister of King Athelstan."

  A murmur of protest arose in the crowd.

  "Nay, think not that I wish this joining, but I have been convinced 'twould be in the best interest of all Vikings in Northumbria." Sigtrygg looked pointedly at Thork in the front row. He went on to discuss all the advantages that Thork had mentioned at the castle the first night Ruby had arrived in Jorvik.

  The assembly decided that a representative of the king should attend Athelstan's coronation ceremony on the fourth of September at Kingston, where a date would be set with Athelstan for a fall meeting between the two kings and a January wedding at Tamworth.

  Then the Thing moved on to the routine business of settling legal disputes—everything from disagreements over property lines to murder. Ruby sat fascinated for hours, even after Aud went back to the tent to rest.

  Each time a new case came up, the law speaker outlined the charges or the dispute to the panel on the platform, loud enough so that all could hear. Each side brought their supporters or witnesses with them. They faced each other, with the law speaker acting as arbiter, fielding questions from the king and jarls, as well as freemen in the assembly. Questions were decided on a final vote, not by a ballot or voice vote, but by vapnatak, the rattle of weapons.

  Most of the fines were paid in a complicated system of wergild, a person's worth measured in silver or wool or cows. If a slave had been murdered, the wergild to be paid would be less than for a hesir. For raiding a neighbor's lands, a Viking could be outlawed, which meant exile from the territory and forfeiture of lands and belongings. Anyone could kill that man with impunity if he stayed.

  "Do you enjoy our Thing?" Byrnhil asked, sliding down onto the grass next to Ruby.

  "Byrnhil! How wonderful to see you again!"

  The king's mistress wore a spectacular red silk, full-length tunic, her attire more suited to a palace than an outdoor event. Gold bracelets and brooches studded with rubies and emeralds flashed in the sunlight, and she had a narrow gold circlet on her forehead, like a queen.

  "This is fascinating," Ruby said. "I can't believe the Vikings have such an intricate justice system."

  "We Vikings have always had a great respect for laws. Why would you think otherwise?"

  Ruby smiled, ignoring her question, and put her arm around Byrnhil's shoulders. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed her friend. "Have you been jogging lately?"

  "Yea, I have, and now travel twice as far each morning as we did afore."

  "Four miles! Not bad!"

  " 'Tis strange. I get this wonderful feeling when I run, almost like the intoxication from fine wine. I cannot see why more people do not do this exercise."

  "Endorphins," Ruby informed her on a giggle. "It's called a jogger's high."

  Byrnhil smiled at Ruby's strange words and asked her to join her for the midday meal. Vigi, of course, followed them. As they walked, Ruby feasted her eyes on all the sights. Servants roasted whole pigs and deer over open fires. In one massive, wood-lined pit, thralls dropped chunks of meat, juniper berries, mustard seeds, garlic and other herbs into water kept boiling with hot stones—a primitive form of slow cooking. Men roped off areas for the evening's competitions—weightlifting, wrestling, stallion fighting, races and games of skill, like archery, spear throwing and swordplay.

  Craftsmen and merchants set up tables in front of their tents to sell their wares. She and Byrnhil stopped repeatedly to look and touch—everything from carved ivory combs to silk scarves from the Orient to the much-valued amber beads.

  "What do you think will happen to me at the Thing?" Ruby finally asked. She and Byrnhil sat on elaborately carved chairs inside a large tent set up for Sigtrygg near the edge of the clearing.

  "I doubt the assembly would order your killing unless someone has come up with some evidence to prove you do spy." She scrutinized Ruby's face for hidden answers. " 'Tis a most grievous offense, to be proven a spy. Then no one could save you."

  Later, when Ruby and Vigi returned to their tent area, they saw that the men had already returned from the Thing. Thork, Dar, Selik, the two boys and a dozen hesirs were gathering linens, soap and changes of clothing to take to the stream where they would bathe before the evening meal and entertainment.

  Selik started to walk toward Ruby, but Thork grabbed him by the neck and pulled him along with the men.

  "Odin's spit, you will break my neck," Selik grumbled.

  "Better that than another part of your body."

  Selik looked back at Ruby over his shoulders and rolled his eyes dramatically.

  "Act your age," Thork barked at him.

  When they were gone, she and Aud exchanged glances.

  " 'Twould seem my grandson has a burr under his skin. He behaves like a jerk."

  Ruby laughed. "You like that word, don't you?"

  "Yea, almost as much as 'male chauvinist pig.' Dar mislikes my using the words, though. So I practice on the servants." Her eyes twinkled mischievously.

  That evening, the family walked back to their tents from the king's section of the campsite where they'd spent hours listening to music and the skald's renditions of Viking sagas. Ruby held back to talk with Thork.

  "What? Is Selik busy this eve?" Thork sneered.

  "Don't be an ass," Ruby chastised, though secretly pleased with Thork's jealousy. "Do you honestly believe I would want to be just another notch on Selik's womanizing belt?"

  Thork understood what she meant instantly and laughed, shaking his head from side to side. "You have a gift, wench, for pulling me from my bad humors. 'Tis your way with those silly words. What will you come out with next?"

  "Well, I did think of something that might save me with the Thing?" She looked up at him hopefully.

  "And what, pray tell, might that be? I hope it does not involve me in any way," Thork said with a wary smile, knowing she had a knack for surprising him.

  "Don't be sarcastic. It just occurred to me that since there are Christian churches in Jorvik I could seek the protection of the church. I've read about that in historical novels."

  "You would go into a nunnery," Thork hooted and began to laugh uproariously. Dar and Aud looked back to see what amused Thork, but he dismissed their interest with a wave of the hand. Still chuckling, he told Ruby, "I can just see you wearing the staid religious garb with that 'teddy' underneath. 'Twould be enough to make the saints turn over in their graves."

  Thork burst into another fit of laughter and called Dar back to share in his mirth. When they began howling at the picture of Ruby in a nun's robe, she stomped away.

  It wasn't that funny.

  Ruby and Aud looked at each other in disgust and both said at the same time, "Jerks!" Then they erupted with their own peals of laughter.

  It ended up being four days before Ruby's case was called. By then she shook with nervousness and broke out in tears at the least provocation, especially because of the brutal punishments she'd witnessed so far. Six thieves had had their right hands chopped off before the entire assembly. They'd stoned an adulteress. A thrall who had killed his master had been decapitated, a sight Ruby refused to watch. While Aud agreed the punishments were gruesome to witness, she couldn't understand Ruby's condemnation of the process since the victims had been given "fair" trials.
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  Finally it was her turn. Dressed in her best clothing, the burgundy tunic dress Dar had given her, with Byrnhil's emerald pendant, Ruby stood to the side while the law speaker called out her "crime."

  "Ruby Jordan, you are accused of being a spy for Ivar. What say you?"

  "I am not guilty."

  "Are those your supporters behind you?"

  "Huh?" Ruby turned in surprise. Lined up behind her were Dar, Aud, Olaf, Gyda, Selik, Byrnhil, and... Ruby's heart lurched... Thork. His solemn eyes held hers for a moment before he nodded slightly, and she turned back to her accusers. "Yes," Ruby replied meekly, tears filling her eyes. She wasn't sure what their support meant but she thanked God for it.

  The law speaker read off the long list of complaints against Ruby: that she'd shown up in Jorvik mysteriously, had no logical explanation for her background, wore a shirt that appeared to be a message from Ivar, preached birth control to their women and, in essence, could be a spy for one of their enemies. When he held the T-shirt up for the assembly's inspection, a rumble of outrage rolled through the crowd at the words Brass Balls.

  "What say you in your defense?"

  "I come from America, a land beyond the Atlantic Ocean," Ruby explained, trying to avoid mention of the future, not even sure if they called it the Atlantic Ocean then. "I'm lost but I'm certainly not a spy for anyone. Other than the shirt, which has no meaning whatsoever except for childish humor, I don't think there's any evidence to prove I'm a spy."

  "What say you to the charge that you want to kill off our young?"

  "That's ridiculous!" Ruby exclaimed, then clenched her fists to calm herself and the increasing stridency of her voice. "I don't favor killing babies, either in or out of the womb. The only reason I mentioned birth control at all was the ladies in Jorvik were talking about a young woman who had ten children and who was in danger of dying in childbirth. I thought such a female could benefit from birth control information. I still do."

  "And the only reason she told the women in the palace about birth control was because I ordered her to," Byrnhil inserted defiantly. "Some women would like to learn how to prevent conception."

  Sigtrygg barreled forward in anger at Byrnhil's challenge, and hostile murmurings rippled through the crowd. "Remove thyself, woman," Sigtrygg ordered sternly.

  Brynhil could see she wasn't helping Ruby, and she walked silently to the back of the tent.

  Dar stepped up to the front and intervened, hoping to swing the crowd back to a more sympathetic mood. "The wench claims to be the granddaughter of Hrolf, The Marcher. Can we punish her on so little evidence without checking her claim first?"

  Olaf, Aud and Gyda spoke then, telling of their associations with Ruby and convictions that she was just misguided in her words and actions, no real danger.

  "I trust her with my daughters and would not do so if she were a spy," Gyda declared with fierce loyalty.

  God bless her Viking soul, Ruby prayed.

  Finally, Thork cleared his voice to speak. When he stepped to the center of the tent, the silence of the crowd bespoke the respect he garnered. His proud stance was that of an authority figure used to having his opinions valued.

  "The wench has been my responsibility, thanks to your orders, Sigtrygg," Thork explained in a clear, articulate voice directed at the king, "and a bedeviling one, at that." He grinned ruefully at Ruby in memory of just how outrageous some of her actions had been, then went on, "Whilst her background is still a mystery to me, I believe she merely suffers an ague of the mind."

  An ague of the mind! Give me a break!

  Once again, Ruby had to clench her fists and press her nails painfully into her palms to restrain her temper, but her flashing eyes told Thork just what she thought of his gue of the mind.

  "I disbelieve she spies. 'Twas proven when we captured and killed two true spies from Ivar," Thork continued, addressing his comments to the noble Viking jury in true lawyerly fashion. He breathed deeply and concluded, "I would ask that the assembly absolve Ruby of all charges."

  "And do what with her?" Sigtrygg asked indignantly. I want naught of her in Jorvik, spreading her tales, riling the women to trouble." He threw his last words at Byrnhil who stood stubbornly in the background.

  Thork's face flushed at the question. Obviously, he didn't think that her future, beyond this trial, was his continuing responsibility, Ruby realized painfully. He seemed to deliberate his next words carefully before speaking. "Perchance, if she were released, she could make her way back to her own country or to Hrolf in Normandy on a trading vessel. I would be willing to pay her fare."

  There was much questioning and discussion back and forth among the jarls on the platform. The free men on the grass clamored to offer their opinions, as well. Finally, the law speaker raised both arms in the air for silence.

  "These are the issues to be decided here today: Is Ruby Jordan guilty of spying for our enemies? Is the spreading of birth control information a crime under our law codes? Should the accused's alleged kinship with Hrolf be at issue here?" Assen inhaled deeply and said loudly in a typical court crier voice, "Hear ye, good Norsemen all, what be your verdict?"

  "Chop off 'er head," one man in the crowd yelled.

  Ruby cringed. So quickly, they were back to that decapitation stuff.

  "Cut out 'er tongue," another advised.

  "Torture 'er till she confesses." On and on the vile suggestions went, to Ruby's dismay.

  When everyone finished voicing an opinion, the speaker called for a vote. On the first charge of spying for Ivar, the assembly could not come to a majority opinion. They agreed to come back to that charge after discussing the others.

  On the second question—whether her birth control lectures constituted a crime—Ruby was found innocent, though a fine was assessed for poor judgment and to discourage her from repeating the same mistake.

  "I have no money to pay the fine," Ruby said. "All I have is this." She handed the law speaker her pendant.

  " 'Twould be sufficient," he concluded after examining it carefully for its value. He handed it to Sigtrygg, who turned bright red with rage.

  "That belongs to me," Sigtrygg yelled at Ruby.

  "No! You gave it to me and I gave it to Ruby." Byrnhil contradicted him, coming forward once again.

  Sigtrygg looked as if he'd like to throttle Byrnhil. "Shut your teeth, woman, lest I bring you afore this assembly for theft and aiding a spy. You overstep yourself mightily." Sigtrygg sat back down, seething as he glared alternately at his mistress and Ruby.

  Uh oh! Things were not looking good.

  On the next question, of Ruby's relationship to Hrolf, her supporters' arguments convinced the assembly that the possible blood ties were worth investigating.

  Brynhil sidled up to the king and whispered something in his ear. Thork looked at Ruby suspiciously, as if she and Brynhil conspired together. Finally, seeming to be fed up with the proceedings, Sigtrygg pulled away from his mistress and announced dogmatically, "I suggest the woman Ruby Jordan be taken under guard to Hrolf's court in Normandy. If 'tis found she has lied, that will be taken as evidence that she had evil intents here in Jorvik—whether for Ivar or the Saxons or some other enemy—and she is to be beheaded on the spot. She is not to be brought back here for further trial."

  "What say you to King Sigtrygg's suggestion?" the law speaker called out to the entire assembly, now restless after a long day of hearings and anxious to begin the evening's entertainment.

  Ruby crossed her fingers and said a silent prayer of hope.

  The assembly agreed overwhelmingly, by voice and the loud clanging of battle shields, to the king's solution, then stood to depart the Thing area. It happened so quickly that it took Ruby a few moments to realize that the Vikings had essentially found her innocent, at least for the time being. A thankful smile began to split her face, and she turned to share her happiness with Thork.

  But Thork didn't look happy at all. A frown creased his forehead, and his perplexed gaze da
rted from Ruby to Brynhil to the king and back again. "Wait!" Thork raised his voice, calling to Sigtrygg's departing back, "I understand naught of your intent. What exactly happens to the wench now?"

  King Sigtrygg stretched his massive frame and yawned hugely before turning to Thork and smiling craftily. "Why, 'tis simple. You will take her to Normandy, and you will behead her if she is not granddaughter to The Marcher."

  Chapter Sixteen

  "Nay, I cannot do such," Thork shouted, not caring if it was his king he addressed. "I go to Jomsborg." His eyes blazed furiously.

  "You can take the wench on the way to Jomsborg," Sigtrygg advised unctuously, his face rigid at Thork's questioning of his orders.

  "On the way... on the way... ," Thork sputtered. "Normandy is nowhere near the route to Jomsborg."

  "I trust you, Thork, more than any other to undertake this task for me," the king cajoled.

  "What makes you think I would behead the wench?" Thork asked, running his fingers through his hair. "I have already said I do not think her a spy." He flashed Ruby a quick look that said he would have plenty to say to her when he finished with the king.

  "Yea, but that signifies naught. You cherish honor more than aught else. If Hrolf denies her, you would kill her if you had sworn me your pledge. Of that, I am certain."

  Thork snorted rudely at the blatant trickery in Sigtrygg's oily words.

  "Oh, and didst I mention," Sigtrygg added, coolly examining his fingernails, "you will represent me at Athelstan's coronation."

  Thork turned dark red as he cursed wildly.

  "Do not think to say me nay on this," Sigtrygg said in a steely voice that bespoke his rigid determination. "You know well and good you are the only Viking who knows his way round the Saxon court well enough to avoid a knife in the back."

  Thork's eyes shot rebellious daggers at his king, but Sigtrygg faced him off stubbornly, with arms folded implacably over his mountainous chest. The retainer of royal bodyguards moved forward in a line behind Sigtrygg, daring Thork to defy the orders.

  I will find someone to do these duties for you," Thork offered. "Mayhap Olaf could—"