"Did she give a reason why she was outside the walls?" Halla came forward with her question. It was past time for the evening meal but not late enough for sleep, and the hall had emptied of all but servants. Halla and her two daughters now lived in the main hall while Toki was gone. To Runa's chagrin, Halla acted a pleasant and grateful guest. She worried constantly for Toki, and Runa observed her caring for her two young daughters. She was not a bad mother to them, and Runa's nieces had shown themselves to be well mannered and intelligent. Of course, anyone could act such a part for a few days, she had told herself. Still, her nieces were winning her over and the youngest had the face of Runa's mother. Both had softened Runa's heart, even if only by a small fraction.
Halla's question hung like a bad odor and Snorri seemed unsure how to answer. The silence awakened Runa from her thoughts and she rescued Snorri from his quandary. "Whatever her reasons, she has broken Ulfrik's orders to remain within the walls. I will hear her excuses but they will make no difference."
She held Halla's cold eyes a moment. Was she aligned with Astra against her, Runa wondered. Aren had sensed it. Her innocent question, so sensible given the situation, hinted that she worried Astra would reveal their association. Could she truly know that, or was she criminalizing Halla for no reason other than dislike? Halla looked aside first, and Runa glanced at Aren sitting with a disturbing quiescence for a child his age. What did he see?
"Bring Astra to me," she said at last, shaking her head. She collapsed in her chair and stroked Aren's hair. He gave her the faintest of smiles, and she returned it. Am I really counting on my child to tell me what to do, she thought. Am I so desperate?
Snorri dispatched one of the few men left behind to fetch Astra. The palpable silence was long and uncomfortable, with both Halla and her daughters sitting to the side as if they wished to melt into the shadows. Runa considered sending the children out of the room, but she wanted both Aren present for his keen vision and Halla in attendance so she could read her face. So she patted Aren's arm and waited in tense quiet for the doors to again swing open with Astra held between two men.
They led her forward, but since her only crime, to their knowledge, had been leaving the walls, they allowed her to approach Runa without escort. Only Snorri, privy to her treachery, took a spear from the guard and pointed it at her. Runa was shocked at the change in the girl who had dazzled her son. Runa had never thought the girls a beauty, but whatever had happened to her had degraded what little charm she had possessed. Her face and clothing were smeared with mud and dirt. Uncovered hair hung in frizzy locks running over her shoulders, framing a face that had no light, no life, and no hope. Defeat hung about her as thick as the ragged wool cloak she wore off her shoulder. Thin hands hung at her sides, and one hand picked absently at her left thigh.
Runa recognized that motion and her stomach burned with fire.
"So, you have news?" Runa asked, arching her brow as if she could not care less. She contained her eagerness to learn of Hakon's fate and what tales she had to tell. She glanced at Halla, who remained fixed on Astra while she sheltered her daughters against her body as if protecting them from a hail storm.
Astra nodded and tears gathered in her eyes. She wiped at them with the back of her wrist, looking at the floor before her feet. Her voice was hoarse and thin. "I have been to Throst, and I have seen your son."
Halla gasped along with the few serving women and the guards. Only Runa and Snorri remained unmoved. Aren now stood beside his mother, and placed his small hand on her arm. The gesture was so reassuring, something Ulfrik would have done in times of trial.
"And is my son well?" She wanted to throttle the girl, but was willing to play her game to get her answers.
Another nod, and Astra wiped another tear again. "You would be proud of his bravery and his defiance. He is stronger than most men."
Runa allowed herself a small smile. Astra began weeping now, and she cupped a trembling hand over her mouth. Still, Runa noticed one hand lingered at her thigh. She stood, feeling her own blade strapped in nearly the same place beneath her skirt. Ulfrik had forbidden her to wear it in the hall, and hated her to wear it all. Yet with him gone and Halla living only one knife-length away from her throat, Runa carried it. She felt glad for it now.
"Why are you weeping, if you have gone to see my child's safety? You have gone to spy for me, to bring me glad news that my son is still alive and safe. Where are there tears in that? Now you can lead us to Throst and my son can be rescued."
Runa indulged in the pleasure of twisting this girl's anguish a little longer. She was a filthy creature, a traitor and a whore, and whatever respect she might have deserved she abandoned when she took up with Throst. So as Astra continued to weep, Runa merely smiled and stepped closer.
"You misunderstand me," she said through her tears. Runa paused as if surprised, gave a sly glance to Halla who quivered with her children held close. Astra continued. "I was not spying for you."
"Then what were you doing with Throst?"
Runa's smile vanished with the explosiveness of Astra's strike. A dull knife flashed in her hand and she lunged forward.
Halla and her girls shrieked and the serving women screamed in one voice. Even the guards stood leaden and unbelieving. Snorri thrust his spear, but age and injury had slowed him. The leaf blade caught her cloak and tore it from her shoulder.
The long knife felt good in Runa's hand, its balanced weight making it spring from its sheath. Expecting Astra to strike for her gut, she was unprepared for her to glide past her.
Aren stood with his eyes wide and mouth open.
Astra's blade flashed as she raised it to strike the child.
Then Runa and Astra were entangled on the floor. More screams erupted. Runa was facing the ceiling, looking up at smoke whorls amid the rafters. She had tackled Astra and her arms were as iron bands around the girl's neck and body. Despite her youth, she was outmatched by Runa's experience and strength. She kicked and screamed, her knife hand pinned to her side. She tried to bite Runa's arm, but only managed to leak warm spit over it. As fast as she had struck, she had been defeated.
Then dark shadows huddled around her and hands lifted Astra away. Snorri and the guards flung her to the floor, and one beat her with the butt of his spear. Runa sprung to her feet, recovered her knife, and sprang for Astra. In her youth, she would have eviscerated the bitch right on the floor of the hall. Her hands still itched with the desire for it. Halla and her daughters were still screaming. Runa's blade was poised over Astra's heaving chest.
"You are moments from feeling this iron pierce your heart," she hissed. "Be still or I will be tempted to blood this knife of mine."
She thrashed, heedless of the threats, though the two guards held her down. Snorri untangled his spear and struck her head with the butt. It slowed her, but she continued to fight. "You think you scare me?"
Runa stood and smiled. "I don't care whether or not I do. There was a time I would've cut out your tongue for your treachery. But you have information I need. We'll see how brave you are when I take a hot poker to your pretty face."
Realization of Runa's threat stilled her better than any physical blow. Runa ordered her restrained and locked up, which Snorri promised to oversee personally. Astra collapsed like a child's doll as the guards seized her. Snorri picked up the blade and offered it to Runa. "Have it melted down. I don't want to see that thing again."
She turned now to Aren, and to her surprise her boy was composed and pleasantly excited. He fell into her arms, something he never did, and looked up at her with intense admiration. She smiled at him, relieved that the violence had not disturbed him. Halla and her girls were different, all three jumbled into a trembling and sobbing clump.