Thork laughed and pinched Ruby’s bottom to halt any protest she might be contemplating. “But you forget, Selik, our king relishes the odd perversion. Didst ye hear of the night Sigtrygg…”
The men laughed companionably when Thork’s risqué story ended. It involved a nun, ropes and a wide variety of feathers.
Ruby was not amused. Thork had probably invented the sexual tale to alarm her before meeting the king. She punched him in the back hoping to stop his laughter, to no avail. It was like pounding a brick wall.
Then Thork turned serious, stating softly in a hushed voice, “Actually, Sigtrygg’s mood is sure to sweeten once he hears my news.” He paused significantly to get the men’s full attention. “King Athelstan would strengthen the alliance between Wessex and Northumbria by wedding his sister to our ruler.”
At first, stunned silence prevailed. Then they all protested at once.
“Thor’s blood!”
“The gall of the Saxon!”
“The proposal smacks of trickery! Why would the king give his own blood to mix with a heathen dog? ‘Tis what the Saxons call us Vikings, and worse.”
After they all vented their consternation, Selik said, “They say the Saxon king be godly handsome. Did ye find his sister pleasing… or skinny and horse-faced like the other Saxon bitches?”
Thork laughed at Selik’s one-track mind. “What difference? Our power-hungry Sigtrygg would wed a pig if ‘twould bring him more lands.”
“So, think you there will be a royal wedding?”
” ‘Tis uncertain, Olaf, but I trust not these Saxons—even Athelstan who has been fairer than most. Some say he walks the same line as his grandfather, the so-called ‘Good Alfred.’ Still, ‘twould be wise of Sigtrygg to proceed slowly… and watch his back.”
All agreed. Then Thork turned to another man, who had not spoken yet. “What think you, Cnut?”
Ruby craned her neck to see him.
The older man spoke slowly, with authority. “The Saxons teach us treachery at every turn. The greedy bastards have chopped away at the Danelaw like bloody berserkers. ‘Tis little more than a score of years since I stood with Guthorm when King Alfred agreed to the Danelaw boundary between Viking and Saxon England.”
A respectful silence followed his words.
“Our territory then ran up the Thames to London, along the Lea to its source, on to Bedford, then up the River Ouse to Watling Street,” Cnut went on, “but what have we now? Little more than Northumbria, with Jorvik as our center! A piss ant in the midst of a beehive!”
Ruby heard him spit for emphasis, then add, “Even that, they begrudge us. The ‘Five Boroughs’ we Vikings founded—Lincoln, Nottingham, Derby, Leicester and Stamford—all taken. Mayhap you forget the lies and deceit, Thork, on both sides, but mark my words, blood will spill soon—wedding or no.”
Ruby interrupted then; she could wait no longer.
“Thork, put me down. I’m going to throw up.”
Thork ignored her complaint and continued talking to his companions as they walked through the ancient walled city, along the bustling narrow streets. Even from her upside-down perspective, Ruby saw the Vikings they passed do double takes at the remarkable spectacle she presented. Long blond braids swirled as young girls turned quickly. Mustaches twitched on men’s hugely bearded faces.
The myriad smells and sounds of the tightly congested market area assailed Ruby’s senses. Church bells rang out the noon hour. Church bells? In a Viking city? How odd!
Pigs and chickens squealed and squawked from their market stalls. Wooden-wheeled carts rumbled by laden with produce. Hawkers cried out their wares. The smell of dung, crated fish, tanned leather and horseflesh mixed with the sweet river breeze. Ruby really did feel sick now. She started to gag.
“Do not dare,” a suddenly alert Thork warned and immediately allowed her to slide to the ground. Ruby’s shaky knees buckled, and Thork grabbed her shoulders to hold her upright.
“Holy Thor! You look peckish. Do you ail?”
Ruby wanted to say something sarcastic, but bile clogged her throat. Thork must have noticed something amiss in her face because he pulled her to the side of the road so people behind them could pass. Then he motioned for his companions to continue on to King Sigtrygg’s palace without them, telling them he’d follow shortly.