Page 92 of The Outlaw Viking

“A large…What is it?” he asked suspiciously.

“Come with me,” she said, motioning him up the stairs. When they reached the bedchamber, she stepped back and let the little man enter first, putting her hands over her ears to shut out Ubbi’s shouts of alarm.

“Oh, my God! Oh, holy Thor! The master is dead,” Ubbi wailed, throwing himself across Selik’s body, which lay perfectly still on the pallet, stone-cold unconscious.

“He’s not dead, Ubbi,” Rain assured him quickly. “He’s just sleeping.”

Unbelieving, Ubbi shook Selik’s shoulders, to no avail. “The master is dead, the master is dead. What did ye do to him? Did it happen during the coupling?”

“Ubbi! Shame on you,” she said, wagging a finger in his face. “And Selik is only sleeping, I tell you. I—well, I gave him some herbs to make him sleep.”

“Why?” he asked, squaring his shoulders.

“To save him.”

Ubbi plopped down on the edge of the bed next to Selik. “Methinks I do not want to hear this.”

“Now, Ubbi, remember when we first met. You were thankful then that God sent me to save Selik.”

“Yea, but—”

“And you know how unsafe it is for him to travel into Saxon territory, especially since that despicable Gravely character is there.”

“Yea, but—”

“His rage against Steven blinds him to the dangers.”

“Yea, but—”

“The bottom line here, Ubbi, is that I truly, truly believe that Selik will be killed if he goes after Steven of Gravely right now. When I talked to Selik last night, I think he had the same foreboding. And that’s the God-honest truth.”

Ubbi rested his elbows on his knees and put his face in his hands for a long time. When he finally looked up, he held her eyes and asked, “How long dost thou think he will sleep?”

“A full day. I gave him enough opium—poppy juice—to sedate an elephant.”

“Best we get started then,” he said, shaking his head with disgust at the part he was going to play in her plan.

Selik awakened groggily to a splitting headache, a dry mouth, and an uncomfortable feeling in his arms and legs. And he had to piss so bad his cock hurt.

As he slowly opened his eyes, he realized that it was daylight already. God’s blood! He should have been long gone, halfway to Wessex by now. How could he have dawdled so long in bed?

Rain! His eyes shot wide open at his remembrance of the wily wench who had seduced him with her sweet ministrations the night before. No doubt she hoped to delay his departure by allowing him to oversleep.

He started to stretch and arise when he realized that he could not move. He looked down and saw that he was tied to a bed, hand and foot. And worse, a gag across his mouth prevented him from speaking. He sniffed deeply, trying to place the odor that surrounded him. Hay. He was in a barn, not Gyda’s house, as he had originally thought.

Oh, bloody, bloody hell! Selik gritted his teeth on a silent scream of agony. That bastard Gravely must have entered Gyda’s house and captured him during the night. And knowing his inclination to cruelty, he no doubt killed everyone else in the house. Or tortured them.

Rain! Selik suddenly remembered that Rain was in the house with him. Oh, dear God, if you exist, please do not let her be in Steven’s hands. She would be better off dead.

Desperate, he squirmed and bucked against his restraints, to no avail. He could not break free from the ropes. He closed his eyes then against the agonizing images that crossed his mind, knowing only too well the sadistic pleasure that Gravely would get from torturing a woman like Rain.

“Well, finally you’re awake. It’s about time. You’ve been sleeping for two days.”

Selik’s eyes flew open when he recognized Rain’s voice. Was she restrained somewhere nearby? But when he looked sideways, he saw her walking freely toward his bed. What the bloody hell was going on? He struggled once again but could not loosen the ropes. Jerking his chin upward several times, he tried to signal Rain to remove his gag.

She approached his cot warily and untied the cloth across his mouth.

“Hurry and untie me afore Gravely or his hellish cohorts return.”