Carol Townend - Bound To The Barbarian

Princess Theodora must be warned of these new dangers.

The chance didn’t come until after Commander Ashfirth had escorted Katerina and Lady Anna onto the trader.

Katerina had not been in a ship since the slavers had dragged her, with chains clanking at her wrists and feet, on to theirs. The contrast between the courteous way the Commander handed her aboard this time, and the way the slavers had treated her four years ago couldn’t have been more marked. Nevertheless, that hated memory was hard to dispel. Her mouth was dry, her heartbeat erratic. And yet she must pretend all was well, she must present a calm face to the world.

And above all, I must get a message to my mistress.

As she gazed about the deck, she felt his eyes on her. He watched her constantly, or one of his men did. Was he suspicious? Please, Lord, let him accept me as the Princess.

An awning was rigged up near the stern and a giant of a guardsman directed her to it. Another barbarian from outside the Empire, the man’s Viking ancestry was obvious. Long blond hair was tied back in a sheepskin ribbon, his beard was ruddy. The arms revealed by his sleeveless leather tunic were scarred and roped with enough muscle to wrestle a lion and win. This Hercules of a man might have discarded his mailcoat, his axe might be secreted away, but Katerina had no doubt that the sword thrust into his belt was razor sharp. His eyes were at odds with his scarred, brawler’s body; they were a gentle grey.

‘Lady Theodora, since the weather is set fair, you may use this as your quarters,’ the blond Hercules said. His Greek was not as fluent as the Commander’s, but it was adequate. And clearly he had been briefed as to how to address her. He bowed her in under the awning. ‘Unless you would prefer to go below decks?’

Katerina shook her head. ‘Below? My thanks, but I much prefer to be up here. This will suit me very well. ‘

‘Co…Ashfirth asked me to tell you that in here you may be assured of your privacy.’

‘Thank you.’ She looked warily at him. In recent years Katerina had kept men at a distance, but this Viking’s eyes told her she need have no fear of him. ‘What is your name?’

‘Toki, my lady. Toki Fairhead.’ He leaned towards her and lowered his voice conspiratorially. ‘I am a sergeant.’

‘Thank you, Toki.’

When the sergeant continued to hover in the doorway, it dawned on her that he was watching for her reaction. She made a show of looking about her. It was shady under the awning, and protected from the breeze. There were flaps on either side of the opening that could be released and tied shut, like a door. When they were closed it would be like living in a tent, a spacious pavilion of a tent.

Some effort had been expended to make her quarters comfortable. A pallet was made up with creamy linens, and the travelling chest that the Princess had given her was already in place, pushed to one side. A goatskin rug had been spread on the boards, and a brass ewer and jug rested in a corner.

‘Thank you, Toki, this is most satisfactory.’ As she spoke, the Commander’s manservant shouldered his way in with another pallet, doubtless for Lady Anna.

‘It won’t be what you are used to,’ the sergeant said gruffly, ‘but it will only be for a short time.’

Katerina smiled. Princess Theodora had been the most considerate of mistresses. Since being freed by the Princess and offered the choice of becoming her maidservant, Katerina had never had to sleep on the floor, she had always had a pallet. But space for herself and just one other? Privacy such as this? Never.

‘Toki, these quarters are perfect. Where is Lady Anna?’

‘With the horses.’

She managed not to grimace. ‘When she has finished there, would you please send her to me?’

Sergeant Toki bowed himself out, and it was not long before Lady Anna ducked through the opening.

‘You wanted to speak to me?’ Lady Anna’s voice was tight, Katerina hoped she did not resent being summoned. It was possible.

Not only does Lady Anna regret being sent home, but she is a noblewoman. Every time she looks at me, she sees a Cretan villager who was once a slave. Is she affronted by being asked to treat me as if I were the Princess? I shall have to tread carefully, if I am not to alienate her.

‘Lady Anna—’

‘Ashfirth Saxon’s man, Hrodric, explained matters to me. You had best call me Anna, as the Princess did,’ Lady Anna said, taking a seat on one of the pallets. ‘And I suppose I had better get used to calling you “my lady".’

Katerina gave a swift headshake. ‘I don’t think that will be necessary. Ashfirth Saxon may know that you and the Princess are on the best of terms. I have often heard you call her Theodora, perhaps you should call me that for the time being—it will seem more natural.’

Lady Anna lifted her shoulders. ‘As you wish. When we are being informal, Theodora it shall be.’ Her eyes were shrewd. ‘Was that all you wanted to say? I have to tell you that I am doing this for Theodora, for the real Theodora. If you think to use this as an excuse to order me about, you can think again.’

‘That is far from my mind,’ Katerina said, firmly. Saints, my task will be impossible if Lady Anna decides to take against me. However, back at the convent there hadn’t been time to think of everything; she must make the best of it. ‘Like you, I wish to help the Princess.’

‘The Princess was generous, I hear she gave you a casket of jewels. Is it true she has also promised you land?’

‘Yes, it’s true, but even without these gifts I want to repay the Princess for her kindness to me. That is why I called for you a moment ago—I would not have done so were it not important.’

Lady Anna nodded. ‘Hurry up then, I want to get back to Zephyr. What did you have to say?’

‘Can you write?’

Lady Anna blinked. ‘Write?’

‘We have to get a message to the Princess, and I think it best if Ashfirth Saxon is kept in the dark.’

Lady Anna’s haughtiness fell away, her eyes widened. She touched Katerina’s hand. ‘A secret message? Why, what on earth has happened?’

‘Anna, can you write? I can read, but my name is the only thing I can write.’

‘Yes, I can write. Tell me, Ka-Theodora, tell me! What has happened?’

As soon as Anna understood what was happening and that Princess Theodora—the real Princess Theodora—might be in danger should she sail in the other ship; as soon as she understood that Commander Ashfirth intended using the Varangian galley as a decoy for their merchantman, it took moments for her to unearth a quill and ink and letter a carefully worded message.

‘How do we get it to her?’ Anna asked, waving the parchment in the air to dry it.

Lifting the canvas flap, Katerina peered outside. As she suspected, the Commander stood nearby. He and his sergeant, Toki, were looking up at the mast. She bit her lip. Those turquoise eyes missed nothing. ‘I can scarcely march through the port with it myself, our…guard is bound to notice. And we cannot ask any of his men. Perhaps one of the sailors might be persuaded to take it. I don’t think they answer to him.’

Anna nodded. ‘I’ll do it.’ Tucking the roll of parchment out of sight beneath her veil, she went out on to the deck.

Some half an hour later, Katerina was leaning against the ship’s guardrail, ostensibly watching crates of Venetian glass being offloaded. In truth, she was gazing at the Varangian galley moored in the deeper water on the next quay. With the Varangians’ shields mounted along the gunwale, it was unquestionably a ship of war. Katerina looked at the barbaric shields and shuddered. Dragons and wolves snarled at each other from the brightly painted limewood; rams clashed with bulls; ravens flew over whales.