We were our own three-ring circus. Sadly, we had no audience: to the left of us the forest rose in a jagged line, and to the right a low hill climbed up, rocks and grass, before running into another line of trees at the apex.
“I’ve never met the neo-Vikings,” Ascanio said.
“A good portion of them are mercs,” I said over my shoulder. “They’re a rowdy lot and not really what you would call true to tradition. Some are, but most are there because they saw a movie or two in childhood and think ‘Viking’ is a noun.”
“It’s not?” Derek asked.
“No. Originally it was a verb as in ‘to go viking.’ The Norse Heritage guys wear horned helmets, drink beer out of a giant vat, and start fights. As neo-Viking communities go, they are better off financially than most, so they can afford to have some fun.”
“Where do they get their money?” Derek asked.
I nodded at the curving road. “Around that bend.”
A couple of minutes later we cleared the curve. A vast lake spread on our left. Blue-green water stretched into the distance, tinted with bluish haze. Here and there green islands ringed with sand thrust through the water. To the right, an enormous mead hall built with huge timbers rose from the crest of a low hill like the armored back of some sea serpent. As we stood there, two karves, the longboats, slid from behind the nearest island, their carved dragon heads rising high above the lake’s surface.
Ascanio raised his hand to shield his eyes.
“Lake Lanier,” I told him. “The Norse Heritage Foundation built a river fleet of Dragon Ships here. They’re not the only neo-Vikings in the region. There are several Norse groups along the Eastern seaboard and quite a few of them want to cruise up and down the coast in a proper boat. The Norse Heritage sells them boats and trains these wannabe raiders for shallow water sailing. They also give vacationers a ride for the right price. They’re kind of touchy about it, so I wouldn’t ask if they do children’s parties.”
Ascanio cracked a smile. “Or what, they’ll try to drown us in their beer vat? ‘Try’ being the operative word.”
We started toward the mead hall. Midway up the hill, the vampire paused when a man walked out in the middle of the road from behind a birch. Six and a half feet tall, he stood wrapped in chain mail. A cape of black fur billowed from his shoulders. His war helm, a near perfect replication of the Gjermundbu helmet, shielded the top of his head and half his face. The stainless steel had been polished until the sun’s rays slid off of it, as if he wore a mirror on his head. The man carried an enormous single axe on a long wooden handle. I’d tried to pick up the axe once and it weighed ten pounds at least. He was slower than molasses in January with it, but it looked impressive.
Derek focused on the big man. “Who is that?”
“That’s Gunnar. He’s the Norse Heritage’s idea of a security detail.”
“What, all by himself?”
I nodded. “He’s sufficient.”
Ghastek’s vampire stared at the giant Viking, motionless like a statue, while the Master of the Dead mulled the situation over. The bloodsucker turned, scuttled toward us, and fell back in line behind my horse. Apparently, Ghastek had decided that his vamp was too precious to risk.
We drew closer.
Gunnar took a deep breath and roared, “Vestu heill!”
Ow. My ears. “Hello, Gunnar.”
He squinted at me through his face mask and dropped his voice down. “Hey, Kate.” He sounded slightly out of breath.
“Good to see you.”
He leaned on his axe, pulled the helmet off, and wiped sweat from his forehead, revealing reddish hair braided on his temples. “You heading up to see Ragnvald?”
“Yep.”
“All of you?”
“Yep.”
“Even the lion?”
The lion opened his mouth, showing his big teeth. Yes, yes, you’re bad. We know, Your Majesty.
“Even the lion.”
“What about?” Gunnar asked.
“Dagfinn. You’ve seen him around?”
Gunnar took a moment to spit into the dirt, making a big show of it. “Nope. And all the better for it.”
Bullshit. “Too bad.”
“Yeah.” Gunnar waved me on with the helmet. “You’re good to go.”
“Thanks.”
We rode on.
“He lied,” Ascanio said.
“Yep.” Gunnar knew exactly where Dagfinn was. He took his cues from Ragnvald, and since he wasn’t talking, the jarl probably wouldn’t be talking either. This would not go well.
We rode up through the wooden gates to the mead hall. The rest of the settlement sat lower down the hill, past the mead hall: solid wooden houses scattered here and there. People walked to and fro, men in woolen tunics and cloaks, women in ankle-length gowns and hangerocks—woolen apron-dresses. They were an assorted crew: some were white, some were black, some were Hispanic. A couple to our right looked Chinese. Norse Heritage took everyone in. Viking wasn’t a nationality—it was a way of life. As long as you thought you were a Viking, you had a place at their table.
People gaped at Curran as we passed. The vampire and the rest of us got significantly less attention.
As we dismounted before the hitching rail, I saw a familiar black Shire stallion in the pasture, segregated by himself. The huge horse stood almost eighteen and a half hands tall, the white feathers at his huge feet shaking every time he moved. A pale scar snaked its way up the horse’s left shoulder. Hello, Magnus. Where is your master?
The stallion stared in my direction and bared his teeth. Now horses were giving me crap.
“Mind your manners,” I murmured.
“Best behavior,” Ascanio assured me.
Mentioning that I was talking to a horse who couldn’t hear me would’ve totally cramped my boss style, so I nodded and walked up to the mead hall.
A large, rawboned woman barred my path. A large gun hung on her right hip and a small axe hung on her left.
“Hrefna,” I acknowledged her. We had run into each other in the Guild before. She was good with both knife and sword and rarely lost her temper.
“Kate.” Her voice was quiet. “The lion has to stay outside.”
“He won’t like it.”
The lion shook his mane.
“I can’t let him inside,” Hrefna said. “You bring him in, someone’s going to make trouble just to see if they can put his head on their wall. I’ve got to do my job. It’s your call.”
I looked at Curran. The lion melted. Skin stretched, bones twisted, and human Curran straightened. He was completely nude. Gloriously nude.
Hrefna raised her eyebrows.
Curran pulled jeans and a shirt from my saddlebag.
“Well,” Hrefna said. “I always wondered why you went all shapeshifter. Explains things.”
The vampire next to me rolled his blood-red eyes.
We walked inside the mead hall. The vampire, shapeshifters, the dog, and the lion man followed me.
A huge room greeted me. Twin rows of evenly spaced out tables ran parallel along the length of the chamber. Originally the Vikings had tried to have the tables joined in two lines, but they couldn’t sweep under them, so they went to Plan B, which made their mead hall resemble a barbarian cafeteria. People mulled around the tables. Some ate, some talked, some oiled their weapons. The tables ran into a raised platform at the opposite end of the hall. On the platform a man sat in a large chair carved from driftwood and lined with furs. His shoulders stretched his blue woolen tunic. His face, framed by a glossy black mane of hair, was dark and carved with sharp precision. A narrow gold band rested on his head.
He glanced at us. Dark eyes took our measure. He noted Curran, frowned, and looked away pretending he hadn’t seen us. Curran preferred to stay anonymous. Not many people besides the city heavyweights knew what he looked like. Ragnvald was trying to decide if the polite thing to do was to acknowledge Curran or pretend he wasn’t there.
Before we left on this fun trip, we had discussed our strategy, and I volunteered to take point. If Curran came in his official capacity as the Beast Lord, there would be formal greetings and ceremony and the whole thing would take much longer than needed. Besides, I knew the neo-Vikings better than he did, so it made sense for me to take the lead. Curran decided to go as what he referred to as a “redshirt.” Apparently it was the term for some sort of disposable attendant from some old TV show.
“Is that the jarl?” Ascanio whispered behind me.
“Yes.”
“But he’s Native American.”
“Choctaw,” I told him. “The Vikings don’t care how you look. They care how well you swing your axe.”
I headed down between the tables with my little entourage at my back. This would have been so much easier if I had come by myself.
About ten feet from the platform Ragnvald decided he couldn’t ignore us any longer. “Kate! Vestu heill! Long time no see.”
Not long enough. “Hello, Ragnvald. These are my associates.” There. I didn’t mention Curran by name. That should clue him in.
Ragnvald pushed himself off the chair. Upright, he was over six feet tall. He took a step off the platform and nodded to me. “I was just thinking of you.”
“It’s probably because you saw me walk through the door and then pretended I wasn’t here for the last couple of minutes.”
Ragnvald’s face split into a grin. “I just couldn’t believe my eyes. The alpha of the shapeshifters popping in unannounced. I’m shocked.”
Oh, you sonovabitch. He was still trying to turn this into some sort of spectacle. “I’m not here in that capacity.”
Ragnvald tapped his band. “This never comes off. Best to remember it now. But come on, we’ll talk business.” He raised his voice, shaking the nearby cups. “Someone bring drinks to our guests.”
Why did everyone have to be so damn loud all the time?
Ragnvald nodded to a side table. “Please.”
