Page 60 of Ulf's Destiny
I fear for his life.
After this terrible declaration, Ylva barely heard the rest of the conversation. At Wolf’s entrance she had fallen into the stool behind her, because her legs could barely support her. Her mind was now whirring. Ulf had been arrested, and he was in danger. This was bad, very bad, but there had to be a way out of this. They only had to find it.
She refused to think that he could be killed or even hurt now.
The three people in front of her, having exhausted their shock and frustration, had fallen silent. Ylva stood up slowly. She might well have found a solution to get Ulf out of the guards’ clutches. A mad, daring solution.
“I think there is one way to get him out of this alive,” she said, looking at the door. If she saw Steinar’s scowl, or Merewen’s anguish she would crumble. Incredibly, given the situation, she felt a small smile lift the corners of her lips. “I’m going to have to kill him.”
Everyone stared at her for a long, stupefied moment.
Then Ulf’s father took a step forward, all menacing intent. “Did I hear you say?—”
“Listen,” she said, interrupting Steinar before he could lash out at her. All mirth had vanished from her face. Why was she amused? This was deadly serious. “If Ulf dies before the reeve sentences him to death for a crime he hasn’t committed or the guards take their revenge out on him, then no one will be able to hurt him, will they?”
“No, but?—”
“What is your plan, Ylva?”
This time it was Wolf who interrupted his son. His blue eyes had lit up with interest. He’d understood she had not spoken in jest, despite her unfortunate words, and had an idea worth exploring.
“I will demand access to him,” she started.
“On what grounds? If he’s been thrown into a cell, they will hardly let you see him just because you asked,” Steinar snarled. He had started to pace around the room like, well, like a wolf in a cage. Ylva forced herself to breathe and remember that his anger was not aimed at her but at the situation.
“I will tell them that this child is his.”
She blushed as she said the words because, of course, that was nothing but the truth, even if the people in the hut didn’t know it yet. Or… had Ulf told them before he was taken?
“You mean the babe isn’t really his?”
Steinar—her future father-in-law if she had her way, God help her—sounded on the verge of an outburst, as if he’d alreadymade his mind up that the baby was Ulf’s and didn’t like being told that was not the case. Why, oh, why had she wanted to keep the paternity of the child a secret? Couldn’t she have guessed it would only lead to problems?
She lifted her chin to answer as steadily as she could. “Ulf is the father. We were waiting to tell you all but?—”
“Ignore my boorish son,” Wolf cut in gently. “It is clear as day who the father of this child is.”
How he could be so sure, Ylva wasn’t certain, but that was a question for another day. For now, she had to expose her plan, mad as it was.
“Since the reeve and his guards hate Norsemen, it is all down to me, and Oslac.” Even before asking, she was sure her brother would agree to help. “I will go to the guards, accompanied by my seemingly irate brother to exert my revenge on Ulf for seducing me and abandoning me despite his promise to marry me. During the confrontation I will pretend to stab him in anger. Then we will convince the guards to let us take the corpse away to appease my family, who, I will claim, wanted my honor avenged. We might need to bribe them, but we’ll make sure they agree.”
This was a rough idea at the moment. They would need to refine it together, but she felt it could work, now that she had a brother and a family she could rely on.
Merewen and Wolf looked at one another, faces alight with hope, and Steinar stopped his furious pacing at last.
“Yes. It could work,” he said slowly. “The guards are already disposed to think the worse of us Norsemen, they will not doubt for a moment that Ulf acted so dishonorably. They will also relish witnessing his humiliation at the hands of a woman.”
Exactly. Despicable, prejudiced cowards were always ready to believe the worst of the people they hated, and the fact that she was a woman, in their mind, would only make the moment more enjoyable.
“Will you be brave enough to do that?” Wolf asked. “It will be risky, there is no denying it and there is no guarantee you will get away with it.”
“I know. But Oslac will be with me. And there is no other choice.”
He nodded, as if not doubting her courage for a moment. She wished she were as confident. But, as she’d said, there was no other way. She could not let Ulf get hurt or die, not when he was innocent of any wrongdoing, not when she was going to give birth to his child, not ever.
“Thank you.” Wolf placed a hand over her shoulder. “Let’s go find your brother.”
A spider was crawlingup on the wall just in front of him. Through his uninjured eye, Ulf watched it glide across the uneven stones on spindly, elegant legs, light as a feather. As it reached the ceiling, it disappeared into a crack.
