After a long silence, Ulfrik asked for a meal to be prepared for himself and his men. He would rest, if his troubled thoughts would allow him sleep, and then question Astra later in the day. Halla, tears overflowing, took her children from the hall. Others broke off into groups, leaving Ulfrik seated in the middle of his hall. Runa sat across from him. She shifted to sit beside Ulfrik, placed her arm around him and buried her face in his shoulder. She began to sob quietly, and he could do no more than hold her and let her spill her sorrow.
Faces turned away to allow them some privacy, only Snorri regarded him from across the room. Ulfrik returned his stare, and the two shared the same unspoken fear. Ransom or not, would Clovis enact his revenge on Gunnar and take his hand? Looking aside, Ulfrik mumbled a prayer to the gods and fought back his own stinging tears.
Chapter 42
Snorri and Einar accompanied Ulfrik to the shack which imprisoned Astra. As they arrived at the small building squatting between the south and west barrack houses, Ulfrik mused that Gudmund had been held there before his hanging. It was a foolish connection, as he had nowhere else to hold a prisoner, but still something about it made him shiver. He wondered if the ghost of that cruel man was Astra's informant. He would learn soon enough.
While he had not rested, the guard outside the shack apparently had an easier time of it. Einar growled as he realized the man sat buried into his cloak, head tucked to his chest and spear balanced between his legs as he snoozed. Once they arrived before him, their shadows falling across his face, Ulfrik heard the man's snoring. Einar cursed him, snatched the spear from his lap and slammed the shaft into the man's gut.
He tumbled from the chair with a cry as Einar raised the shaft overhead with both hands. "Wake up, you've got visitors," he shouted, then slammed the spear shaft across the prone figure's head. The guard fell back with both hands outstretched, screaming for help.
"Enough," Ulfrik snapped. "We're all tired." To the guard lying on his back he snapped his fingers. "Get up and open the door. I want to see the bitch."
Taking a moment to recover, rubbing his head where a lump already started to form, he scrabbled to his feet. Einar continued to glare at the man, who recoiled beneath him. The door was barred with three bolts, which slid easily from the outside but from within made forcing the door impossible. The shed had no windows, and inside the only light came from beneath the door. In summer it stewed men in the humidity and in winter it froze them. Ulfrik had built it to be a sturdy, punishing cell.
The bolts thudded open and the guard pushed the heavy wooden door into the room. Light framed Astra directly against the wall opposite the entrance.
She was dead. A dagger pierced her throat and remained protruding from the base of her neck. Bright blood soaked her chest and lap. Her eyes were glassy and wide with shock, staring into the places only the dead could see.
The four men stood in silent shock, but the muscles in Einar's jaw were already twitching. His voice was a low threat. "How did this happen, you dog? You slept through this fucking butchery?"
The guard stammered and fell away, both hands raised in protest. Ulfrik regained himself and anger erupted from the depth of his guts. One arm struck out viper-quick, an iron grip seizing the guard by his neck. He slammed his other hand onto the guard's chest and threw him against the wall of the shack. Einar lowered the guard's own spear to his chest.
"I've had all I can take of stupid men causing me misery," Ulfrik said through gritted teeth. He glared into the guard's terror-widened eyes, trying to remember this man's name. It took a moment, but once recalled he twisted it into a threat. "Listen to me, Ingjald. Tell me what you've done and seen since you've been here. The truth, no matter how bad it makes you look, or you'll be searching for your teeth all over Frankia."
"I never heard anything or saw anyone," he said, stuttering. His breath smelled of beer and fish, and his eyes were bloodshot. "I swear it before the gods."
Snorri shook his head in disgust and limped inside the guard shack. Einar jabbed Ingjald with the tip of the spear, making him hiss with pain.
"And how long were you asleep?" Ulfrik tightened his grip, glancing past Ingjald at Snorri leaning over the corpse. "Did you ever leave your post?"
Ingjald's eyes fell away and Ulfrik had his answers, still he shook the guard until he spoke the words. "I met friends who returned with you. I was gone no longer than a man needs to share one drink with friends. It was not time at all."
Releasing him with disgust, Ulfrik would have to prove Ingjald's excuses. For all he knew, the murder could have been his handiwork. Einar never let his spear off Ingjald's chest. His face had deepened to an intense red as he yelled at his guard. "And your friends sent you back with more drink, no doubt. You never checked on your prisoner? Nothing made you suspect?"
Ulfrik did not remain for the interrogation, knowing full well Ingjald was useless. Inside the cramped shack, he stood beside Snorri and studied the bloodied heap slumped against the wall. Black flies danced in her blood and the heavy scent of death was thick. The knife jutting from her neck was commonplace. She did not seem to have struggled, which told him she was mostly likely killed by her informant.
"Einar," he called over his shoulder. "I need an accounting and inspection of every man, now. Keep Ingjald under guard until we prove his story."
Snorri prodded Astra's corpse with his foot. "Whoever did this should have bloody hands," he said. "Look at the blood spray on the floor. Someone has to be marked. Also, the smear here looks like the hem of a cloak dragged through the blood."
Ulfrik nodded agreement, searched for footprints or anything to indicate who had silenced Astra and finding nothing. Her eyes stared ahead, eternally frozen in shock at her final betrayal. You got all you deserved, he thought, but I don't deserve your silence.
Stepping back into the bracing, fresh air, Einar was already ordering men and having Ingjald bound. The hapless guard stared at his feet in quiet shame. Ulfrik knew he was a simple but well-liked man. His heart told him Ingjald had been honest, and that the real enemy had exploited his inattention. At the worst, his punishment would be a public shaming with every person of Ravndal pelting him with garbage and other refuse, while all his companions kicked him. He would be sore but hopefully chastened. The real traitor, whenever he was found, would be brutalized before dying in misery.
Assembling and inspecting the men consumed the morning, and revealed nothing. The worst blood stain revealed was from a nick to a hand that bled overmuch. The man even had witnesses to the accident. Eventually bloody rags were uncovered in a trash heap against the southern wall. It only proved someone had cleaned up. No one had entered or left Ravndal, meaning the person who wanted Astra silenced was still inside. He ordered no man to leave without his direct order, and to do so would equal an admission of guilt punishable by death.
By evening he had retreated to his hall, his mood fouled and his anger raw. Yet when he saw Runa and she smiled-a thin and ghostly smile, quick to vanish-Ulfrik renewed his heart. The remorse that had overwhelmed him at discovering Gunnar's defeat returned, and Runa's smile galvanized him to make amends. He put aside his foul mood and sat with her, taking her hand into his.
"I'm glad she died betrayed," Runa said, her voice a whisper. "I only wish we got more out of her. I needed her to prove …"
As her voice trailed off, Ulfrik felt a tension flow out of his chest. Of course she was about to name Halla as the culprit. She had been away long enough, though witnesses claimed she had taken her children to the hall where Toki had left his possessions. Right now, he could not brook the ugly fight that would erupt if Runa accused her in public. It would only obscure the real search.