"So we are the last three men to listen to Toki's orders," he grumbled as he sauntered over to Einar's bench. "Even he didn't follow his own command, but left the ship."
Einar grumbled but otherwise stared ahead at nothing. Thrand sat on the bench beside him, glancing at Humbert who appeared as listless as everyone else.
With Snorri half asleep, Einar was the natural choice. He had sailed with Thrand and witnessed his brother's death. He barely had his beard then, but over the intervening years he had grown a head taller than everyone and developed incredible strength. Unlike most other strong men, he was not dim but in fact a quick thinker. However, Thrand knew how to work him.
"Toki's been strange, don't you think? The little half-jarl has been eager to find himself elsewhere," Thrand said. Einar raised a brow and Snorri opened an eye to glare at him. "You know what I think? He's fucking a slave girl or some whore."
"Any more shit falls out of that mouth and I'm going to slam it shut." Snorri did not move, and closed his eye as if his threat had settled matters.
"Then where's he going all the time? And what is he so happy about? I have a right to know. My brother didn't die so he could plow any cunt he wants. Toki defied the gods for his wife, and we paid the price to help him do it."
The words delivered the sting he had hoped. Both of the men knew they had a part in the shame Toki's actions brought them. He saw it in Einar's averted eyes, and Snorri's exaggerated indifference.
"You shouldn't speak of what you don't know," Einar said, too softly to mean it. Thrand felt the smile tremble on his lips. These fools were too easy.
"Then maybe I should go find out. I'll go right now and no doubt I'll catch him with his naked ass in the air, somewhere in the woods." He waved generally at the dark line of bare trees, then stood as if to leave. As expected, Snorri barred him with his leg.
"Sit down and don't make trouble. Tomorrow we may all be dead at the foot of those walls, so let him have his fun today."
"So even you think it's true. Well, for any other man I agree with you, but not Toki. It's not just my brother's blood for Toki's lusts, but my friend Bork. And it doesn't stop with him; what about all the others dead in the war with Hardar? And still his cousins attack us. Maybe Skard and Thorod are burning our homes now. All because Toki wanted to fuck a jarl's daughter. Maybe he's found the wife of a jarl now, and is …"
Snorri's hair was gray, his cheeks hollowed, and skin hung lose under his neck, but he pounced with the speed of a young man. Thrand hurled back as Snorri's fist plowed into his gut, squeezing all the air from his lungs. He stumbled over the bench and thudded to the deck. Snorri followed, straddling him with his fist extended in challenge.
"Warned you that I'd break your shit-spilling mouth if you kept at it. Now shut up and keep your ale-fogged thoughts to yourself. Gods, man! We could be going to war any moment, and men need confidence in their leaders. Don't bring doubt to battle, you oaf."
Were it not for being breathless, Thrand would have laughed at the ease of manipulating the two men. Einar now stood beside his stepfather, a frown tight over his face.
"All right," Thrand said, holding out his hands as if to defend against another blow. "But just let me go see for myself. And you should know these words are not just mine. The others have said as much."
"And who fed them those words?" Snorri asked.
"This is the first I've spoke of it. Do you think all the others are fools? Toki certainly does."
Snorri paused, then softened his stance. He stepped back, and Einar extended his thick arm to help Thrand stand. He dusted himself off, then waited for what he knew would come next. He was not disappointed.
"I'll check on him," Snorri said, rubbing is face. "If he's fooling around, I'll ask him to at least be more careful about it."
"I'll go too," Einar said. "Better chances to catch him if we split up."
"Then who will stay with Humbert?" Thrand tried not to overact his frustration. "I want to see this with my own eyes."
"And you don't trust mine? You'll only worsen matters if you catch him, and if you find out he's innocent you'll try to make trouble. So stay with Humbert. We won't be long." Snorri nodded to Einar that they should leave. Thrand made as if to protest, but Snorri rounded on him. "Just stay here and I'll tell you what we learn."
He watched as they leapt into the shallows and waded to the shore teeming with people. Once they slipped into the crowd, he turned to Humbert, who still slouched in the shadows of the gunwales. He wore a sardonic smile, and his dark eyes followed Thrand with keen interest. Sitting on the deck before Humbert, Thrand slipped his sax from its sheath. Humbert's eyes did not waver.
"Well, priest, it's just us two now." He let the point of his sax thunk into the deck, palming the hilt so sunlight flashed off the blade. "No one else around, and I think it's time you shared your secrets with me."
The ship rocked and a splash of water came from behind. Thrand turned to see Kolbyr hauling himself aboard the ship. His cheery countenance was at odds with Thrand's frown. He joined Thrand, dripping water across the deck. "I thought you might be talking to our friend, and didn't want to miss out."
"Or were you planning on finding Humbert alone?"
"Of course not!" Kolbyr's face widened in a smile. "We are partners."
Humbert watched the exchange and his smile widened. With a growl, Thrand flicked his blade to Humbert's throat. "No more laughing now. A shame to die in the shadow of your freedom."
Humbert's laughter jarred Thrand, and he reflexively lessened the pressure on his sax.
"If you kill me, you lose everything. You can't kill me yet."
"But I can hurt you!" Pushing again, the blade drew a bead of blood that made Humbert flinch but failed to eliminate his smirk. "Let's be clear. Kolbyr and I intend to get your treasure. Before this day is done, Ulfrik will return to tell us your friends in Paris all shit themselves when we arrived. We'll be inside your walls tomorrow. But Ulfrik is Hrolf's dog now, and One-Eye's son is spying on him. If you think he'll help you take revenge, forget it. He wants to keep your gold secret, and so he'll hold you close. You'll have to wait. Maybe for years."
He tapped Humbert's head with the flat of his blade, failing to draw more than an irritated shake of his head.
Kolbyr laughed and added his own threats. "And you'll have us around all the time. We won't miss a chance to remind you of your position. You'd love that, wouldn't you, little priest?"
Humbert's smug expression flattened and Thrand's chest grew warm at the sight. At last, he was kicking through this ignorant Frank's pride. Glancing over his shoulder to be sure no one was near, he pressed his point.
"But there is a way out. We can release you, right now even. Kolbyr and I will kill your enemy in exchange for the treasure. It's that simple, really. You watch, Hrolf and Sigfrid want to get past this dung heap and ransom the cities to the east. Hrolf will take Ulfrik, and he will take you. But if we cut you free, your life will be your own."
Thrand could not determine if Humbert considered the offer. His dark eyes clouded and his thin lips were tightly drawn. He seemed to struggle focusing on Thrand, which his lazy eye tended to inflict upon others. Yet he suspected the priest was deep in calculation. After long moments, the priest's dry lips parted.
"Humbert thinks you are wrong. Paris will fight. Count Odo and Bishop Joscelin would rather die than surrender."
Kolbyr snorted. "They'd be killing everyone in their city. I thought you Christians don't like innocents to die?"
"They will listen to God's will, and He will demand faith. Paris will not fall, not with His hands upon its walls." Humbert closed his eyes and spoke with a reverence that made Thrand want to ram his sax through Humbert's neck.