Page 83 of The Refuge

“Aye. Orphaned like you, remember? Go now and find Niall.”

* * *

Steinar watched Catrìona flee up the stairs. She had not been aware of him when he entered the hall with the others, which was not surprising given how strangely she was acting. She and the lad whispered urgently to each other as if something of great import was afoot. With the firebrand, he could never be sure what she would get involved in next.

Giric raced past him and out the tower door. Steinar followed, curious to know what mischief the two were up to.

“Giric, wait!” he yelled.

The boy slowed to a walk and turned. Giric did not look guilty, as Steinar had expected. He looked frightened.

“Where are you going in such haste?”

“I… I am to find Niall. His sister wants him.”

“Why?” The boy struggled with a response, as if uncertain he should confide his mission to his friend. “Come, lad, you know I would never harm you or Catrìona. I mean you only good.”

The boy let out a breath and walked to Steinar, looking up at him. “’Tis the Northmen who’ve come.”

Steinar’s brow furrowed. “The king’s stepsons, Paul and Erlend?”

“I know not if they be the ones. But one ship flies a raven banner, like the ship of the Northman who killed my father. Catrìona’s parents, too.”

Steinar’s mind quickly sorted through the possibilities and found a reasonable explanation. “Many ships from Orkney fly such banners, Giric.” But he could see his words had not calmed the lad.

Giric’s eyes grew anxious. “May I go? The lady asked me to hurry.”

“Aye.” The boy turned and ran toward the archery field, leaving Steinar to wonder why Catrìona would want to see Niall about the Orkney ships.

* * *

Catrìona said nothing to Fia, but quickly washed and changed into a fresh gown. “I must see Niall,” she said, not waiting for her cousin’s reply, and hurried out of their chamber.

In the hall, there were only a few men standing around as the servants bustled from table to table in preparation for the evening meal.

Near the tower door, Niall waited with Giric.

“I am glad you have returned,” said her brother, brushing her cheek with a kiss. “Why have you taken me from archery practice? Giric told me to hurry but he would not tell me the reason for haste.”

She put her hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Aye, I wanted to speak with you first. Come, let us walk outside.”

The three of them slipped through the tower door and went some distance before she turned to her brother. “Did you know that Northmen from the Orkneys have come to Dunfermline?”

“Nay. When?”

“Sometime today, I think. The king says they are his stepsons. I have not seen them, but I have seen their ships. One carries the same banner as the ship that led the attack on the vale.”

Niall turned to look south, toward the River Forth. “You are certain?”

“I am certain of the banner.” Seeing Giric’s fearful expression, she added, “Giric recognized it, too.” The boy’s eyes shifted from Niall to her and back again. “And there is more, Niall. I saw a woman on the ship. I did not get a good look at her but the more I think of it, she could be Deidre.”

“Deidre! Did she see you?”

“I cannot say. If she did, I am certain she did not recognize me, but then Deidre would not expect to see me here. The woman I saw was clothed in Norse garb, a brown linen tunic with some kind of Norse designs on it. Her hair was unplaited but ’twas Deidre’s color. Think, Niall. It has been over a year. They might have clothed her as one of their own to hide her among them.”

Niall seemed to ponder her words as he took his bow and quiver of arrows from his shoulder. “What do you propose?”

“First, we should find Angus and tell him. He will know if ’tis the same man. The Northmen will come to the evening meal. There, we can see them. If the one who led the attack on the vale is among them, then it may be Deidre who is on that ship. If it is, we must save her, Niall.”