Dagrún went silent at that.The young man was hard to read, but his father’s stony glower never moved from Ovrek.
There had to be something Cenric wasn’t understanding.
Ovrek’s motley assemblage of shipwrights and builders toiled with their backs bent, their focus on their work.Cenric trailed behind Ovrek and his guests, wondering how far he could fall behind before the king prompted him to join them.Could he simply slip away?
His gaze was drawn back to the lurking forest, the mountains.Brynn survived the night.He had to believe she had.
From here, he could see Hróarr’s ship again.Vana came into view, speaking with one of his cousin’s men.There was still no sign of Hróarr.
Cenric didn’t like it.Worry for Hróarr began to wheedle its way in alongside worry for Brynn.
A flicker of motion caught his eye to the left, a figure ducking out of sight.Cenric glanced that way, then away.Another flicker caught his eye to the right.It shouldn’t have alarmed him.There were people crawling all over Istra.He was sure it was nothing, but the back of his neck tingled.
Ovrek finished showing his ship to Egill and Dagrún, then headed off back toward his hall and its outbuildings.He took the men along a different route than the one he had taken Cenric.This one was winding through the edges of the town.
Women, girls, and young boys moved past and around them, heads down.
For just an instant, Cenric thought one of the girls was Esa, then remembered she was back on the beach with Vana and Kalen.These people were thralls, most taken from Hylden if he had to guess.They were everywhere in Valdar, especially on large farms and in the households of great jarls, though some smaller farms had them, too.
Thralls had never bothered Cenric before, but that had been before he had retaken Ombra.Cenric was as Hyldish as he was Valdari.If he was a kinsman to Ovrek, then he was kin to these thralls, too.
What exactly would make him better than them when the Valdari took Hylden?
“We have over two hundred thralls in my household.”Ovrek’s voice was thick with pride.“These Hyldish make good workers, and they learn quickly.”He gestured toward the smoking ovens where the evening’s meal was already being prepared.“Just think with free access to the Hyldish, what we could do?”
Cenric remembered Brynn, hands tied and neck locked in that wicked collar, so much like a thrall’s, that her mother had used to bind her magic.Thralls had always been an unremarkable fact of life in Valdar, much like the buckets of water they carried and the dung they spread over the gardens.Now he kept envisioning his wife in their place and anger smoldered deep in his gut like molten lead.As the four men made their way between two large huts, Cenric glared at the back of Ovrek’s head.
They rounded the huts, heading back toward the complex that Ovrek had built around his hall.He did not have the ancient glory of Ungamot, but he had built something impressive enough here.
“Good timber, better fields.”Ovrek shook his head.“Think of the treasure we could bring home.”
Cenric caught a flicker of motion to his left again.A prickle along his scalp told him they were being followed.
Speeding up, Cenric came to walk close behind Ovrek.The man insisted he could walk about unguarded, but perhaps he did not think enough like a king just yet.
Cenric glanced to the side, pretending to inspect one of the nearby thrall huts, but he kept the two guests in his line of sight.Egill walked closest to Ovrek on the king’s right with Dagrún on the far side.
“Is that going to be a granary?”Dagrún asked, pointing to some partially built structure near the treeline to their left.
“That?”Ovrek shifted, squinting as he partially turned his back.“No, that’s—”
Egill reached for his belt and Cenric caught the glint of steel.
Cenric shoved Ovrek full force in the back, sending him straight into a line of firewood.Ovrek smashed into it, knocking over the stack and sprawling on the ground as the logs tumbled under his weight.Ovrek overbalanced and rolled, skidding on the logs like a pig on ice.
It was immensely satisfying, but Cenric had no time to bask in it.He faced Egill, snatching up one of the shorter logs as the jarl came at him with a dagger.
Cenric planted his palm at one end and shoved the short log straight forward like a battering ram.It caught Egill square in the face and his head wrenched back.He went down with a rasping cry, even as his son leapt forward with a second weapon.
Cenric!Snapper barked, dashing back and forth.He was a tracker, not a fighter.Cenric!
Help,Cenric ordered.Get help!
Snapper raced back down to the beach, barking.His cries drew the attention of other dogs that joined in with a panic.
That would draw the attention of Ovrek’s men.
Cenric snatched up another log.This would have been easier if he’d had his sword.This log was about the length of his forearm, but wide enough around that he had to wield it with both hands.
