The stranger tilted his head to one side and Liddy caught an intense blue stare before his hood obscured his features. ‘The gate is locked at owl-light each night. They do not allow anyone in or out. During the day, everyone entering or leaving is searched. Thorbin, Lord Ketil’s current representative, is cautious. There is resentment on the island.’
‘You are one of the Northmen,’ she said, hearing the faint traces of the heavy Northern accent, but laced with the slight lilt of her native tongue. Normally Northmen growled their words, making it difficult to understand them. ‘But you speak my language better than most. Unusual.’
‘You are a Gael.’ He looked her slowly up and down, from the bottom of her travel-stained gown to the top of her couver-chief from which a few tendrils of hair kept escaping. Again she resisted the urge to hide the birthmark. ‘Most Gaels take better care of their women rather than simply providing them with a large dog before sending them to bargain with one of the most notorious men in the North. Have you considered what he will do to you when you lose?’
Liddy kept her hand on Coll. He couldn’t have guessed about the necklace, could he? Using her knife on him would be possible, but he would have to be closer. She would have one chance and the point where his throat met his shoulder was her best option. The quickest way, according to her late husband, who had liked to boast of his expertise in battle.
Her body went numb at the thought of killing a man, any man, but particularly this one who seemed so full of life.
‘Most men would think twice about tangling with my dog,’ she said instead. ‘They will let me go once I’ve finished my business. They will be men of honour. They will keep the promise Lord Ketil made to my father.’
The words rang even more hollow to her ears than before. But if she lost this slender hope, she might as well turn back. She had to believe this miracle was possible and that she lived for some reason beyond a cruel joke by God. It had come to her that perhaps she had been spared so that she could do this thing—rescue her father and brother and somehow atone for her part in the twins’ death. She had tried so hard to rescue them.
‘I’ve seen dogs die before. A pity. He seems like a good and faithful animal.’
‘I’ve seen men back away from him before.’ Liddy wrenched her mind from the day shortly after the twins’ deaths when she’d encountered the Northmen on the track which ran along the headland. Coll had guarded her well that day.
The man shrugged and Liddy became aware of the strength of his shoulders. ‘You throw them a bit of meat and they are happy. Instant friends. Dogs have a simpler view of life.’
Liddy crossed her arms. This Northman might think he knew dogs, but he didn’t know Coll. ‘Not my dog. My dog distrusts strangers, Northmen in particular.’
His eyes flashed an intense blue. ‘I’m hardly one to refuse a challenge.’
‘You may try, but you are bound for disappointment. I know my dog. He is an excellent judge of character.’
He reached into his pouch and held out a piece of dried meat. A slight keening noise filled the air.
Coll, the traitor, took it from the man’s fingers with only a heartbeat of hesitation. The man reached down and stroked Coll behind the ears. Coll completed his surrender by lolling against the man.
‘Not all Northmen.’ The voice slid over her skin as if he had stroked her hair instead of Coll’s ears. ‘But maybe he senses that I could be a friend and an ally. You would do well to trust your dog’s instincts if he is such a good judge of character.’
‘I stand corrected and it is duly noted. I will not make that mistake again,’ she said through gritted teeth. Anyone would think that she was some sort of maiden from a convent who had never experienced men and their ways, rather than a widow. ‘Coll, come here.’ To the man, she said, ‘I will bid you good morning and be on my way. I’ve urgent business with Lord Thorbin, who will uphold the law once the truth of the matter is explained.’
Coll instantly bristled as if embarrassed by his actions and slunk away from his new friend. Liddy caught his collar and began to walk away with determined steps.
The man seemed to take the hint and let her go without a protest, but she felt his eyes watching her with a speculative glint.
Liddy hurried her pace, rounded several bends and went off on a different track. The trees were closer and the air silent. She turned her head to one side and her feet faltered. Trees with bodies hanging from them like overripe fruit blocked her way. She wanted to run, but her legs refused to work. Instinctively, she turned away as her stomach revolted. Coll began to bark in earnest.
‘Lord Thorbin sacrifices women to the gods,’ the man said behind her in a low voice. Coll’s howls immediately ceased. ‘He takes positive pleasure in it. He never does anything important without making one human sacrifice. Are you still certain about continuing on with your quest?’
‘How do you know it was him?’
His eyes became narrow slivers of blue ice. ‘I’ve seen his work before.’
‘And the women? Who were they?’ Liddy whispered, pulling Coll closer. A distinct shiver ran down her spine. This man was intimately acquainted with Lord Thorbin’s work.
‘Slaves who were freed before they were sacrificed. Lone women without families to protect them or women whose families had abandoned them.’ His mouth twisted. ‘Sacrifices must be made with a free will, lest the gods get angry. How much choice they actually had...well...they were slaves. Sometimes there are worse things than dying free.’
Liddy put her hands on her knees and tried to breathe. The heathen Northmen might believe such things, but she knew it to be false. Those women were murdered for no good reason. How could she appeal to the honour of a man who murdered women like that? Her idea seemed more and more naïve, but she had to do something. Pretending her mother could cope was wrong. The barren fields were a testament to that. ‘I thought those were tales from the priests to scare people.’
‘Do you want me to cut one down and show you? Do you truly want to risk disturbing the dead?’
Liddy regarded the grove again and one of the bodies seemed to reach towards her. A scream welled up inside her. She wanted to run but her feet had turned to blocks of stone. ‘I...I...’
He grasped her elbow and turned her firmly from the gruesome sight. The simple touch did much to calm her. ‘Where I grew up, people normally avoided these sorts of places. Stay on the well-trodden path. It takes longer, but mingling with the dead is rarely a good idea.’
‘I can see why some might go that way, but my time is short.’ Liddy wrenched her arm away. Didn’t he know that she had no luck left to lose? ‘The dead are incapable of harming anyone. I must reach the stronghold in good time for the assembly. My voice will be heard. It will not be said that I was turned away because I arrived late. Going through that grove saves precious time.’
Her heart thumped as she said the words. She had to hope they were true. To take the other way would add another half-day to her journey and she had to get to the stronghold in time for the assembly. She couldn’t do anything for the dead, but she could do something for the living.
‘What do you plan on doing with this dog while you speak with Lord Thorbin?’ He held out his hand to Coll again who gave it a quick lick. ‘Thorbin has as little time for dogs as he does for women. He has disliked dogs like yours ever since he was a boy and a dog bit him. Of course, Thorbin had beaten the dog with a stick, so it was understandable.’
Liddy abruptly stopped and turned back to the man. He knew far too much about Lord Thorbin’s habits for her liking, but he also did not appear to fear him like so many did on this island. ‘Is it any business of yours?’
He shrugged. ‘I like your dog. He has character,