Cenric had never confused a simple nightmare and a warning from Morgi before, but now he was not so sure.If it was a foretelling, at least it implied that Brynn was alive.
Hróarr had still not returned from last night, presumably still searching the forest for Brynn.Cenric sent out a curse, hoping that his cousin had wet boots.
Cenric would trust Hróarr with his own life, but not Brynn’s.Not after all this.
If Hróarr tried to hurt Brynn, Cenric feared she would hold back.She held back most of the time, but she knew Hróarr was important to Cenric.Hróarr didn’t care that Brynn was important to Cenric.
Slow movement stirred the hall, voices chattering and low words passing from man to man.
A boy came to fetch him, eyes downcast.“King Ovrek invites you to join him this morning, lord.”
Cenric stifled his reaction to that.Ovrek wanted to keep an eye on him, did he?But Cenric could hardly refuse a king in his own house.
“Do you know if there has been any word of Lady Brynn or Hróarr?”Cenric pinned his own mantle in place.He reached for his sword, then remembered Ovrek’s men had taken his weapons when he’d entered the hall last night.
“No, lord.Forgive me.”
Cenric hadn’t had much hope for either.Vana might know more, but he wasn’t sure where she was now.
“My thanes?My servants?”
“In your camp, lord.”
Hopefully, Kalen was looking after Esa.The last thing Cenric wanted to explain to his wife was why something had happened to her ward.
The thrall led Cenric outside.The early morning light was faint, just the barest blush of the sun against the horizon, but the first king of Valdar was awake, bright-eyed, and laughing with his whole belly.
Ovrek spoke with several men, strangers to Cenric.The men laughed.Ovrek had a way of doing that, of putting people at ease.
The strangers crouched around a fire along the beach, having slept there from the look of it.Their longship crouched nearby, dragged partially onto the shore and tied to the nearby trees.These must be attendants for another of the gathered jarls.Two of the men stood a little apart from the rest with much finer clothes, so they must be the leaders.All the same, Ovrek conversed with all the men around the fire in turn, speaking to each one like an old friend.
Not for the first time, Cenric thought that this was what kings should be.A giver of rings and a leader of men—Ovrek was everything Cenric had ever wanted in a lord.He was the kind of leader who made it easy to follow.
If given the choice, Cenric would never have chosen anyone else—until Ovrek had accused his wife of murder.
Brynn might be Hyldish, but she was an alderman’s wife and a lady of kingly blood.If she was not deserving of justice, who was?
“Cenric!”Ovrek caught sight of him behind the thrall boy.“Such a fine morning, isn’t it?”Ovrek clapped an arm around Cenric, greeting him like long-lost kin.
Cenric had always appreciated how Ovrek greeted everyone this way, but just now it felt like a lie.A deception, at the very least.
“This is Cenric, son of Wulfram.He’s the alderman of Ombra now, but I still remember teaching him to hold his shield.”Ovrek presented Cenric like a proud father.Gesturing to the men gathered around, Ovrek introduced their leaders with the same eagerness.“This is Jarl Egill and his son Dagrún.”
Friends?Snapper asked, trotting to the two strangers.When they didn’t acknowledge him, he trotted off to investigate a patch of grass.
Egill was weathered, a lean man who moved hunched over, like a wild animal guarding a kill.Scars carved a path through his beard in a way that reminded Cenric of rivers carving through mountains.
Dagrún was at least a head taller than his father.Pale with a stringy beard, he was probably still in his teens despite his height.
Though Cenric had met Egill up close only a handful of times, his eagle standard had been well known in the war.Egill was a fierce fighter, or had been.From his hunched posture, Cenric had to wonder if he might be battling some injury or sickness.
“Cenric will be guarding me today.I don’t think it’s necessary, but he insists!”Ovrek chuckled at that as if it was a great joke.“These Hyldishmen always think a king must be guarded.Even among his own people.”
Egill and Dagrún joined Ovrek in laughing at that.
Cenric forced a smile, not quite able to laugh.Even if Cenric had suggested a guard for Ovrek, how exactly was he supposed to guard anyone while unarmed?
Anger simmered deep in Cenric’s chest, stoking his fury over the injustice to Brynn.Ovrek was playing games, the exact sort of games Cenric hated.This was a way for Ovrek to keep Cenric close, while flaunting that he had the loyalty of a Hyldish alderman.
