Runa bit her lip and stared hard at Snorri, who returned her stare with equal ferocity. Glancing down at Aren, his expression was calm but resolute. His small hand again yanked on her sleeve, but rather than speak he simply raised his brows. He was too young for the games Snorri suggested he played. Children pleased their parents by working hard for their attention and doing their chores, not by subterfuge. For all his uncanny intelligence, Aren was still a child.
"Al right, Snorri," Runa said with a smile. "Let us see what happens upon Astra's return. Give new instructions to the men you set on watch for her. Tell them to allow Astra to return and see where she goes."
"She's not going to return, not if she believes what she is reporting to Throst. There's no reason to come back here. She will probably be caught when Konal springs his trap."
"Nevertheless, will you do what I ask?"
Snorri stared at her long moments, his tired, drooping eyes searching hers. At last he nodded. "Aye, if it will stop this foolishness, but I can't let it go overlong. I promised Ulfrik to seize her as soon as she returned. If she does not meet with Halla within the day, I will move on her."
"Fair enough," Runa said. "Now, in the meantime, I think Halla should be invited to my home as you hinted."
"There's a bad idea." Snorri ran his hands through his hair and sighed. "If you can't make her guilty through Astra, you intend to pick a fight?"
"I intend to keep my enemy where I can see her. Whatever you think, I believe she's had too much freedom and has used it for ill. I'll take a few men and Bera with me to convince her. First thing tomorrow morning."
Snorri waved his hands as if surrendering. "I miss the shieldwall more every day. At least you know where the blades are coming from."
Runa smiled, not at his quip but at her knowing now that she would have Halla under her thumb. She patted Aren's shoulder and he gave a faint smile tinged with wicked satisfaction.
Chapter 34
Gunnar strained his vision against the thin light of morning and no longer saw what he had glimpsed on the crest of the hill. He pulled at the collar of his mail coat, the cold chain links catching at the skin of his neck, and scanned the crest again. Toki, also dressed in mail, stood beside him, and to their backs thirty men in various leathers and furs leaned on their spears. Some slung their shields onto their arms, anxious for the battle they expected.
"It must have been a bird," Gunnar said, blinking to clear his eyes. "Too soon for Clovis to have acted." They had only been awake an hour and set out at the stain of dawn. This was the first full day of travel and Gunnar wanted to distance himself far enough from Ravndal to embolden Clovis.
"The sooner we mount that hill, the easier I will feel," Toki said. "Low ground is a poor spot for battle. If you have doubts about something beyond that crest, then what should you do?"
Toki had deferred leadership to Gunnar, and even though it was more ceremony than actual trust in his abilities, it gave him enormous pride. The men following him were near strangers, but he still enjoyed being a part of them. Toki guided his decisions, and Gunnar appreciated the help even if it felt strained. Right now, black dots of birds circled beneath clumps of iron gray clouds high above the ridge, and he could not shake the image of a man crouched atop it. The shape had risen from prone and briefly silhouetted against the morning sky. Or had it?
"I'll send Eskil to scout the crest before we mount it." He gestured for the guide Ulfrik had assigned them to come forward, then dispatched him up the hill. Eskil was the only man who knew the way to Hrolf's settlements near Rouen. As he neared the crest, he went to his belly and crawled the final distance to peer over the side. He sat motionless, pushed himself higher after a time, then finally waved his arm to signal the ground was clear.
Gunnar smiled in relief, and Toki chuckled beside him. "Caution is right for our situation," Toki said. "We have plenty to fear and being caught without Ulfrik's support would be a disaster."
They followed the crest line, both to keep watch for danger and to display themselves to Clovis and his allies. They left a clear trail behind them, both for Ulfrik and Clovis to track them. Gunnar slowed their pace, fearful of outstripping his father, but Toki insisted there was nothing to fear. He took heart from his uncle's easy confidence, even if his men appeared as skittish as a herd of foals. Soon the crest led them down to the grasslands that spilled out to the horizon. Eskil advised Rouen was still days away though most of their journey would be through forest paths after they cleared the plain.
"If we gain the forest, then it will be harder for my father to close the trap, and if we stay on the plains he will be spotted before he can." Gunnar looked at Toki for affirmation, and his uncle nodded slowly but offered no advice. He frowned and gazed across the plains in silence, considering the safest action to take. "But we're not really headed to Rouen. So let's head south, as if we plan to follow the Seine. It will bring us closer to Clovis's borders anyway."
Again he searched Toki's face, but found nothing but indifference. Making decisions for thirty men was a lot harder than he had thought, even for something as banal as this. If he chose poorly, men could be killed, but if he led them straight he would risk spoiling the trap. Had his father only told him what do, he would have followed. Frustration yielded to shame as he realized his father had entrusted him to figure out how to make the trap work. If he would be a man, he would have to make choices and live with them.
"We go south," he said more firmly. "Eskil, will my father find more cover there?"
"Much more," Eskil agreed. "And we can show ourselves to the farmers there, who will be sure to send word back to Clovis as soon as we do."
They renewed their trek and Toki offered little conversation as they walked. No one had pushed themselves, but Gunnar's legs were beginning to stiffen. Sensing the others suffered the same, he ordered them to stop and the men gratefully sat themselves in the grass.
"Could you not have at least waited until we gained that hill?" Toki asked. "I hate the low ground."
"That's a hill?" Gunnar looked across at the gentle rise and snorted. "I wouldn't say there's any advantage to holding it."
"But we can't see beyond it, can we? We're blind down here."
Eskil shook his head and volunteered to scout the hill, departing without a word. "You're not letting him rest," Gunnar chided.
"He's young yet. Let that strength be our benefit."
Both laughed and watched Eskil perform his same scouting maneuvers, crawling on is belly to the edge of the crest.
But this time, he did not wave.
He scrabbled back down, then gained his feet and dashed the final distance hunched over as if running through a hailstorm. Toki and Gunnar both stood as he stumbled to them, and others nearby turned to listen. All faces were tight with fear, and Gunnar felt his knees weaken at the sight of Eskil's wide eyes.
"There are dozens of tents pitched in a field beyond that hill, and horses picketed in line. Maybe fifty horses. It's an army, flying Count Odo's flag of blue and white. We're practically on top of them."
"By Odin's one eye!" Gunnar cursed, feeling his guts turn to water. "How did we not see them first?"
Toki bared Gunnar with his arm. His other hand touched his temple as if he were in pain. "Odo should have his men in Paris, not this far into Hrolf's territories. Unless, of course, he's planning a raid, which must be Odo's intent."
"How did we not see them first?" Gunnar insisted again. He had chosen this path, and led them right into an army they would be pressed to defeat even with his father's aid. If Clovis was headed for him, then he had consigned all of them to death between both Frankish forces. "An army like that should make some noise, right?"