Lord of Raven's Peak by Catherine Coulter Read Free Book Online

don’tremember any savage tribes along this stretch of the Dnieper, do you?”
    Roran shook his head, saying, “I will sniff them out if they are stupid enough to think of attack.” He looked toward Old Firren, a master trader as well as a master rudderman. Old Firren shook his head. “Nay, ’tis safe enough. We’re drawing close to Chernigov though, and that filthy place is filled with savages.”
    â€œAye, I know.”
    â€œWe are but one longboat, though only a fool would attack us. Since you have the children, though, we’ll take care where we go ashore.”
    Merrik merely held her until they pulled the longboat ashore on a narrow strip of beach, not a beach really, just a shoreline littered with black rocks and driftwood. Tightly packed fir trees and pine trees pressed toward the water, and the gods knew what or who could be hiding in that dense forest.
    He leaned down and said, “I will lift you over my shoulder now and we will go ashore. Don’t fight me. Say nothing.”
    She was limp over his shoulder and he wondered if she were unconscious again. He gave Taby over to Oleg and watched Cleve pace back and forth along the narrow strip of rocky land until Merrik strode to him, the girl still over his shoulder.
    â€œHelp the men raise the tents, then spread covers and furs inside mine. The men will build a fire and we will eat. I will see to her. What is her name, do you know?”
    â€œLaren.”
    â€œA strange name, as is her accent. Do you know where she comes from?”
    â€œI am not dead,” she said, rearing up slightly, and he could hear the pain mixed with a natural arrogance in her voice. “Cleve knows nothing. Leave him alone. Letme down. I don’t want your heavy hands on me.”
    â€œYou aren’t strong enough to fight me,” Merrik said mildly, “at least not enough to make me fall to my knees, so it’s best you shut your mouth.”
    â€œLet me down.”
    â€œI will as soon as there is a fur to let you down upon.”
    She said nothing more. He imagined it wasn’t because she didn’t want to but because she wasn’t able to. He winked at Taby but realized the boy couldn’t see him for the light from the stars wasn’t as bright here as it had been on the water. The heavy dark fir trees seemed to steal all the light.
    When the furs and wool blankets were spread inside his tent, he bent his head and walked inside and laid her onto her stomach. “Don’t move,” he said shortly, rose, and helped fetch firewood. He wanted to bathe her as well. Her stench was as heady as his brother’s dog, Kerzog, in the early summer, after a long winter. So was Taby’s.
    It was Cleve who fed her the bits of flatbread soaked in hot water and a handful of pecans and hazelnuts. It was Cleve who bathed Taby and black-eyed Roran who collected an assortment of odd clothes to cover the child.
    But it was Merrik who decided he would care for the girl. He looked at each of his men in turn as they sat around the campfire, eating cheesy curds, dried beef, flatbread, and nuts. He nodded as if to himself, and said, “This boy here was beaten badly by Thrasco. He isn’t a boy, he’s a girl. There is no reason not to tell you. Her name is Laren and I know nothing more about her save that Taby is her little brother. I will tend her. She is very young, no older than your little sisters, so you will not think rutting thoughts about her. Eat now, drink only a cup of ale, and get some sleep. Roran, bendthat nose of yours to the night sounds. Begin the first watch.”
    Merrik had heard Cleve suck in his breath when he’d spoken, but now he turned to him and said, “They would find out soon enough. There was no reason not to tell them. They are all good men. I trust them with my life.”
    They were still Vikings, men who were raw and violent, and Cleve wasn’t sure how good that made