She didn’t have to wait long. Ida hurried out the door, whipping on her cloak, and looked one way and then the other. Frantic at not spotting Raven, Ida hurried off, and Raven followed. She stopped by the end of a cottage when Ida continued on toward the keep.
So her husband was at the keep.
Doing what?
Raven made the climb up the steep slope, staying in the night shadows so as not to be seen. She was close enough when Ida opened the door to hear loud laughter, and Lars’s voice ring out.
“It’s good to be reunited with family.”
So that was why she wasn’t invited to feast with them—she wasn’t family. At that moment, she ached to be with her own family, her brothers, their wives, and her da. But she also had another family right here with her—her men—and that was where she headed when she turned and began her trek back down the slope, anger gnawing at her.
Raven had taken only a few steps when someone grabbed her from behind and she cursed her own foolishness for not staying alert. The man was about her height and from what she could feel of him being plastered back against him, he was thin in the chest, but his grip was strong.
She threw her head back hard and heard the crack to his nose and his arms loosened enough for her to slip out of them, but his fist connected with the side of her head and it stunned her enough for him to deliver another blow, catching her jaw and sending her tumbling to the ground.
He was on her before she could respond and his fist came down at her again, but she managed to block it with, thankfully, her uninjured arm. He was quick, a sharp slap catching the other side of her face. She caught his broken nose with her fist and he screamed in pain, but his hands were quick again and this time they were at her throat, squeezing.
She had to do something fast or she’d soon lose all breath and strength. She went for his eyes, but he managed to block her efforts.
Your small blade.
She heard the voice in her head and blessed the old man for reminding her. She clawed at his hands with one hand so he didn’t see her struggle to get her other hand to her blade. She fought with every ounce of strength she had to keep from losing consciousness. Finally, her hand wrapped around the handle of her knife and as she pulled it from its sheath, the man was suddenly ripped off her as a mighty, bone-chilling roar filled the air.
Raven grabbed at her neck, choking to regain her breath as she watched her husband bounce the man off the ground, then grab him around the neck with one hand to hoist him up and leave his feet dangling above it.
“I’m going to enjoy making you suffer before I kill you slowly,” Wolf said and the man’s eyes bulged with fear.
By then they were surrounded. People had poured out of the keep and her men, along with others in the village, came running up the slope. Raven struggled to get to her feet, still trying to regain her breath.
Her men hurried to her, but Wolf threw the man at Lars to subdue, which he did with his meaty hand clamped around his arm and a knife to his throat, while he went to his wife.
“Out of my way,” Wolf ordered and Raven’s men stepped aside.
Wolf hunched down in front of her, his eyes bright with fury as he looked upon her face blooming with bruises and a touch of blood. He didn’t say a word, he scooped her up in his arms and looked to Lars. “See him tethered good and keep guards on him until I return.” His eyes turned to the crowd and he called, “Gorm.” The man appeared. “See to the sentinels. Make sure they are all accounted for, then post more.”
Iver spoke when Wolf stood and turned to him, knowing what he would ask. “The snow would have covered any tracks that mapped his journey here. I can try in the morning if the snow has stopped, but if the snow falls heavily all night it will be impossible to track anything.” He stepped closer to Raven, her other men doing the same. “Are you all right?”
“I am good.” She smiled. “Not so my pride.”
They laughed, her humorous response and smile letting them know all was good.
“Do you need me, sir,” Greta called out.
“No, Greta. I can see to my wife. Return to the feast and enjoy,” Wolf said and she walked off as he turned a nod on Raven’s men. “Go and enjoy with them and help calm the women and children.”
They looked to Raven for her approval. “Go, enjoy, and offer help any way you can.”