Caitlin’s eyes softened. ‘How is your wound?’
‘It’s healed.’
‘Let me see.’
‘There’s no need. Just take my word.’
Caitlin moved towards him with mesmerising slowness. ‘I saw it when you were sick. I changed the dressing. I saw death sitting on your shoulder and frightened it away with my prayers.’
‘I’m grateful. As you can see, your prayers have been answered.’
‘Then show me.’
Vallon cast a desperate glance at the door. He yanked up his tunic and stood staring ahead as if on parade. ‘There.’
She sank to her knees. ‘You’re so thin.’
He glanced down at the livid stripe, the bruise fading to yellow and green. To his astonishment he saw Caitlin move her face forward and plant a kiss on the ugly welt.
He yanked her upright. ‘Madam!’
She hung in his arms, all womanly softness, her lips slightly parted. Looking into her green eyes was like staring into the ocean.
She smiled. ‘Did you really find your way to the lake by chance?’
His voice came out husky. ‘Complete chance.’
‘You see. Guided by destiny.’ Her eyes clouded. ‘You’re the first man who’s ever seen me naked. Did the sight give you pleasure?’
‘It was no hardship to my eyes.’
Her eyes closed with dreamy intent and her mouth floated towards his own. He didn’t move. He couldn’t move. Their lips met. He was kissing her. Not only that. He was caressing her, pressing against her. She moaned when she felt him. He broke away and stared blindly at the icon above his bed.
‘A moment’s weakness. It won’t happen again.’
‘It will. You can’t stop it.’
‘I won’t let it!’ He bunched his fists and glared at the icon. ‘Do you hear?’
No answer came. He swung round in time to see the door latch shut. There was a long pause and then a peremptory rap. He turned back to the icon. He felt dizzy. ‘Enter.’ Footsteps halted behind him. ‘Drogo.’
‘Vallon. Caitlin looks flushed and agitated. What have you done to upset her?’
Vallon dug his nails into his palms. ‘You’re not here to talk about Caitlin. What do you want? No, don’t tell me. You’ve grown so devoted to me that you can’t bear to tear yourself away.’
‘Caitlin still requires my protection.’
‘She has Olaf and Tostig to look after her.’
‘You forget my oath to her brother.’
Vallon turned with an unpleasant grin. ‘Well, the thing is, I don’t want you with us.’
‘You were glad enough to have me and Fulk by your side the night we fought the Vikings.’
‘Your sword’s double-edged. It’s time you returned to England.’
‘I don’t have the money.’
‘I’ll pay for your passage.’
‘I can’t accept.’
‘Swim then.’
‘Listen, Vallon, all I ask is that you let me accompany Caitlin to Constantinople. I have no intention of following you into Anatolia. What happens between you and Walter is no longer of any interest to me.’
‘You’re a liar. Request refused.’
‘Then honour leaves me no choice but to challenge you.’
‘Challenge refused. Ask the Vikings to step in when you leave.’
‘Vallon, I can’t leave Caitlin. It’s not only my oath to Helgi that binds me. I mean to make her my wife.’
This was getting gruesome. ‘I’m not a marriage broker.’
Drogo stepped up close. ‘You need me and Fulk. With Raul dead, Wayland’s the only fighting man you have left. What happens if you run into trouble?’
‘I’d rather run into trouble than take it with me.’
‘You’re taking the Vikings. They’ll outnumber you three to one. Suppose they turn against you?’
Vallon felt as if the strands of a web were being woven around him. ‘Let me get this straight. You won’t offer any violence to my company if we take you down the Dnieper.’
‘Correct.’
‘And when we reach the Black Sea, we’ll travel our separate ways. You to Constantinople, me to Anatolia.’
‘Yes.’
Vallon balanced the risks. ‘Very well. I’ll tolerate your presence on those terms.’
Drogo had something like a spring in his step as he marched to the door. Vallon checked him. ‘I aim to be gone in four days. Find us three sound horses.’
Vallon eyed the space he’d left. Poor deluded Drogo, always on the wrong side of fortune. Deprived of his mother in infancy, starved of his stepmother’s love, usurped in her affections by her natural son. The same son who Vallon, a complete stranger, had crossed half the world to save, humiliating Drogo in the process. No wonder the Norman longed to kill him. And how much more would he desire his slaughter if he discovered that the woman on whom he’d squandered his passions had been pressing herself against his enemy’s cock moments before he made his entreaty.
The situation was so bizarre that Vallon had a crazed urge to laugh. He had to pull down his mouth to stop hooting with mirth. He was still standing in this attitude when Hero announced the Norsemen’s entrance. Seven of them swaggered or shuffled in, some with their shoulders back, some cap in hand.
‘Say what you have to say.’
Their spokesman was Wulfstan, a bruiser with moustaches like wings. ‘Not much to say. Our ship’s unseaworthy and we have no silver to pay for a passage home. The only road open to us is the Varangian Way.’
Vallon nodded. ‘I’ll provide your keep, but I’m not paying you. If things had gone differently, you’d be weighing my companions’ lives in silver at the slave mart.’
Hero murmured in Vallon’s ear. ‘I’d rather you didn’t take Arne. He has a wife and children. Only desperate poverty prevents him from returning home.’
‘You told me that he took care of you and Garrick.’
‘We owe our lives to him.’
Vallon turned back to the Vikings. ‘I’m not sailing to Constantinople with a gang of heathens. You’ll join me as Christians or not at all.’
Hero winced. ‘Sir, they’re not going to embrace the true faith overnight.’
‘Just pack them off to Father Hilbert for baptism. Give the hypocrite seven converts to brag about when he gets home.’
They wheeled round and were filing through the door when Vallon spoke again. ‘Arne, I’m not taking you. It would be a waste of time. You’re too old to find a place in the Emperor’s guard.’
Arne stopped dead while his companions trooped past him. With a horror-stricken glance, he made to follow, but Hero closed the door before he reached it. Arne payed the rim of his hat through his fingers. He glanced up, his eyes sparkling. ‘It doesn’t matter if I can’t enlist with the guard. In Constantinople, I can find work of some kind.’
‘I have a task for you closer to hand. Garrick is taking money to Raul’s family. He’s travelling alone. I’d feel happier if he had a companion. Keep an eye on him and you’ll return home with something to show for your wanderings.’
Arne’s mouth opened and shut.
‘No need to thank me. Consider it a reward for the kindness you showed Hero and Garrick.’
When Hero shepherded Arne out, Vallon saw that the hall was empty. ‘Is that the lot?’
‘Yes, sir. Andrei’s expecting us at the river.’
