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Commander Ashfirth’s hand came to rest on hers.
‘My lady, you are quite safe.’
Safe? I am in your arms, how can I be safe? You are a man; you are Commander of the Varangian Guard; you are not Greek, you were not even born in the Empire. You are a barbarian.
Relax. He believes you to be the Princess, you will be safe.
Katerina shot another look towards the sea and the pointy rocks, and almost moaned aloud. Quickly, she brought her gaze level with the path, and hung on for dear life.
Her veil fluttered, it had to be blowing in his face.
‘Excuse me, my lady.’ Releasing her, Commander Ashfirth reached out and caught at the fabric. There was a slight pull on her scalp as he matter of factly twisted it into a rope and pushed it over her shoulder. She said nothing. Since she wasn’t about to let go of the edge of the saddle, it was an intimacy she must forgive him. His arm came back round her, her body was pulled snug against his.
‘Too steep,’ she muttered, ‘it is too steep here.’ And you are too close.
Commander Ashfirth’s saddle had clearly not been designed with two people in mind, but to give him his due, he had attempted to cushion it for her. He had called for a thick woollen blanket, but the wool was coarse and her thighs itched.
My legs are showing. It is not very dignified. He must realise I am not the Princess, he must …
Another sideways glance at the sea below had panic bubble up inside.
‘Relax, my lady,’ his deep voice murmured. ‘The path levels off shortly, the marshes are only a little way ahead and it is flat there.’
His thighs were enclosing hers. As she glanced at them, her sense of panic intensified. Before she had been trembling, now she was rigid. Old terrors. She had feared this might happen.
Distract yourself. He is a barbarian, but he will not hurt you. You are the Princess.
His chausses were grey, made from linen of a particularly fine and even weave. The best quality. The muscles of his thighs were taut and firm. Quickly, she looked away.
The horse swayed on down the path. Katerina had no stirrups, there was nothing except the Commander to prevent her from slipping sideways. What if she fell? Would he think the less of her if she grabbed hold of his knee?
Talk to him, distract yourself. Remember your dignity.
Katerina cleared her throat and said the first thing that came into her head.
‘Command—’ hastily she corrected herself ‘—sir, I did not realise Varangians possessed horses.’
‘Not all of us do. As you are aware, we are primarily foot soldiers, but those of us who can afford it keep horses.’
When he spoke, it was with the easy confidence of a man sure of his place in the world. Through the fabric of her twisted-up veil, his breath was warm on the back of her head. ‘I see. Sir, there is something I would like you to explain.’
‘My lady, I am entirely at your service.’
‘You said that we are in a hurry because Normans have been seen in Dyrrachion?’
‘Yes. I suspect they are scouting for weaknesses in the city defences, but I cannot be certain. However, Normans are opportunists and I am determined they must have no inkling of who you are.’
‘You fear they are spies, sir?’
She felt him nod. ‘It seems likely.’
‘And this is why you must spirit me away with a reduced escort?’
Another nod. ‘Exactly. The ship I have reserved for you is less ostentatious than our galley. My hope is that the world will see us as prosperous traders. That is why I am taking only half of my men on the first boat. We shall, of course, conceal our arms and uniforms. Captain Brand and the other men will escort your ladies, and they will be prominently armed, as befitting the escort of a princess.’
‘Can I not persuade you to let more of my entourage travel with me?’ Katerina did not like to beg, but it would bolster her confidence to have more of the ladies about her.
‘I am afraid not. Captain Brand has been ordered to make much fanfare when your women and their servants embark on the galley. What with their baggage and so forth, I am in hopes that he will spin it out for a couple of days.’
‘Thus distracting attention from us?’
‘Exactly. With the size of your entourage, there will be no doubt that someone of great importance is setting out for the capital. Captain Brand’s ship will be taken for the Imperial galley and in the meantime ours will have slipped away unnoticed.’
A cold sweat broke out on Katerina’s brow. Saint Titus, help me, Commander Ashfirth intends to use the second ship as a decoy! But it will be no decoy, not with the real Princess on board!
Think, Katerina, think. If the Norman scouts in Dyrrachion are truly the Emperor’s enemies, and they hear that the Princess is on that second ship, what might they do?
Would they try to capture her and demand a ransom? Would they dare?
She kept her voice light, admiring. ‘How clever. In making a decoy of your galley, no one will notice ours.’
‘That is my hope.’
Heart like lead, Katerina stared between the stallion’s ears. The track had levelled off to a little above sea level, they were approaching the bridge across the marshes.
What would the Commander think if he knew that his strategy, far from ensuring the safety of the Princess, was actually putting her in the path of danger?
The Princess! Somehow I must warn her.
‘Sir, when will our vessel cast off?’
‘As soon as Captain Brand and your entourage arrive at the port. Within the hour.’
Within the hour.
Lord, no sooner had she begun to repay her debt to the Princess than she was in such a tangle she could scarcely unravel it. Somehow, before the hour was up, Katerina must get a message to her.
Princess Theodora must be warned of these new dangers.
The chance didn’t come until after Commander Ashfirth had escorted Katerina and Lady Anna onto the trader.
Katerina had not been in a ship since the slavers had dragged her, with chains clanking at her wrists and feet, on to theirs. The contrast between the courteous way the Commander handed her aboard this time, and the way the slavers had treated her four years ago couldn’t have been more marked. Nevertheless, that hated memory was hard to dispel. Her mouth was dry, her heartbeat erratic. And yet she must pretend all was well, she must present a calm face to the world.
And above all, I must get a message to my mistress.
As she gazed about the deck, she felt his eyes on her. He watched her constantly, or one of his men did. Was he suspicious? Please, Lord, let him accept me as the Princess.
An awning was rigged up near the stern and a giant of a guardsman directed her to it. Another barbarian from outside the Empire, the man’s Viking ancestry was obvious. Long blond hair was tied back in a sheepskin ribbon, his beard was ruddy. The arms revealed by his sleeveless leather tunic were scarred and roped with enough muscle to wrestle a lion and win. This Hercules of a man might have discarded his mailcoat, his axe might be secreted away, but Katerina had no doubt that the sword thrust into his belt was razor sharp. His eyes were at odds with his scarred, brawler’s body; they were a gentle grey.
‘Lady Theodora, since the weather is set fair, you may use this as your quarters,’ the blond Hercules said. His Greek was not as fluent as the Commander’s, but it was adequate. And clearly he had been briefed as to how to address her. He bowed her in under the awning. ‘Unless you would prefer to go below decks?’
Katerina shook her head. ‘Below? My thanks, but I much prefer to be up here. This will suit me very well. ‘
‘Co…Ashfirth asked me to tell you that in here you may be assured of your privacy.’
‘Thank you.’ She looked warily at him. In recent years Katerina had kept men at a distance, but this Viking’s eyes told her she need have no fear of him. ‘What is your name?’
‘Toki, my lady. Toki Fairhead.’ He leaned towards her and lowered his voice conspiratorially. ‘I am a sergeant.’
‘Thank you, Toki.’
When the sergeant continued to hover in the doorway, it dawned on her that he was watching for her reaction. She made a show of looking about her. It was shady under the awning, and protected from the breeze. There were flaps on either side of the opening that could be released and tied shut, like a door. When they were closed it would be like living in a tent, a spacious pavilion of a tent.
Some effort had been expended to make her quarters comfortable. A pallet was made up with creamy linens, and the travelling chest that the Princess had given her was already in place, pushed to one side. A goatskin rug had been spread on the boards, and a brass ewer and jug rested in a corner.
‘Thank you, Toki, this is most satisfactory.’ As she spoke, the Commander’s manservant shouldered his way in with another pallet, doubtless for Lady Anna.
‘It won’t be what you are used to,’ the sergeant said gruffly, ‘but it will only be for a short time.’
Katerina smiled. Princess Theodora had been the most considerate of mistresses. Since being freed by the Princess and offered the choice of becoming her maidservant, Katerina had never had to sleep on the floor, she had always had a pallet. But space for herself and just one other? Privacy such as this? Never.
‘Toki, these quarters are perfect. Where is Lady Anna?’
‘With the horses.’
She managed not to grimace. ‘When she has finished there, would you please send her to me?’
Sergeant Toki bowed himself out, and it was not long before Lady Anna ducked through the opening.
‘You wanted to speak to me?’ Lady Anna’s voice was tight, Katerina hoped she did not resent being summoned. It was possible.
Not only does Lady Anna regret being sent home, but she is a noblewoman. Every time she looks at me, she sees a Cretan villager who was once a slave. Is she affronted by being asked to treat me as if I were the Princess? I shall have to tread carefully, if I am not to alienate her.
‘Lady Anna—’
‘Ashfirth Saxon’s man, Hrodric, explained matters to me. You had best call me Anna, as the Princess did,’ Lady Anna said, taking a seat on one of the pallets. ‘And I suppose I had better get used to calling you “my lady".’
Katerina gave a swift headshake. ‘I don’t think that will be necessary. Ashfirth Saxon may know that you and the Princess are on the best of terms. I have often heard you call her Theodora, perhaps you should call me that for the time being—it will seem more natural.’
Lady Anna lifted her shoulders. ‘As you wish. When we are being informal, Theodora it shall be.’ Her eyes were shrewd. ‘Was that all you wanted to say? I have to tell you that I am doing this for Theodora, for the real Theodora. If you think to use this as an excuse to order me about, you can think again.’
‘That is far from my mind,’ Katerina said, firmly. Saints, my task will be impossible if Lady Anna decides to take against me. However, back at the convent there hadn’t been time to think of everything; she must make the best of it. ‘Like you, I wish to help the Princess.’
‘The Princess was generous, I hear she gave you a casket of jewels. Is it true she has also promised you land?’
‘Yes, it’s true, but even without these gifts I want to repay the Princess for her kindness to me. That is why I called for you a moment ago—I would not have done so were it not important.’
Lady Anna nodded. ‘Hurry up then, I want to get back to Zephyr. What did you have to say?’
‘Can you write?’
Lady Anna blinked. ‘Write?’
‘We have to get a message to the Princess, and I think it best if Ashfirth Saxon is kept in the dark.’
Lady Anna’s haughtiness fell away, her eyes widened. She touched Katerina’s hand. ‘A secret message? Why, what on earth has happened?’
‘Anna, can you write? I can read, but my name is the only thing I can write.’
‘Yes, I can write. Tell me, Ka-Theodora, tell me! What has happened?’
As soon as Anna understood what was happening and that Princess Theodora—the real Princess Theodora—might be in danger should she sail in the other ship; as soon as she understood that Commander Ashfirth intended using the Varangian galley as a decoy for their merchantman, it took moments for her to unearth a quill and ink and letter a carefully worded message.
‘How do we get it to her?’ Anna asked, waving the parchment in the air to dry it.
Lifting the canvas flap, Katerina peered outside. As she suspected, the Commander stood nearby. He and his sergeant, Toki, were looking up at the mast. She bit her lip. Those turquoise eyes missed nothing. ‘I can scarcely march through the port with it myself, our…guard is bound to notice. And we cannot ask any of his men. Perhaps one of the sailors might be persuaded to take it. I don’t think they answer to him.’
Anna nodded. ‘I’ll do it.’ Tucking the roll of parchment out of sight beneath her veil, she went out on to the deck.
Some half an hour later, Katerina was leaning against the ship’s guardrail, ostensibly watching crates of Venetian glass being offloaded. In truth, she was gazing at the Varangian galley moored in the deeper water on the next quay. With the Varangians’ shields mounted along the gunwale, it was unquestionably a ship of war. Katerina looked at the barbaric shields and shuddered. Dragons and wolves snarled at each other from the brightly painted limewood; rams clashed with bulls; ravens flew over whales.
As the Commander had planned, every eye in the port was on that Varangian galley.
And this was the vessel in which the Princess must sail!
The message had been sent. Lady Anna had bribed one of the sailors with a gold coin Katerina had unearthed from a purse at the bottom of the Princess’s trunk.
Yes, matters were apparently proceeding exactly as Commander Ashfirth had ordered. The second party had arrived from the convent some minutes ago, Katerina could see the Imperial entourage milling about on the Varangian ship.
They hadn’t needed heralds to announce them. If there were Norman spies in Dyrrachion, they wouldn’t be able to miss them. Rich gowns bellied out in the breeze, laughter rang out above the gulls as the sea breeze blew veils out like pennons. Fishermen stared, porters goggled. Against the mailcoats and leather jerkins of their escort, against the drab sun-bleached clothes of the sailors, the silk gowns of the ladies-in-waiting looked as bright as poppies waving delicately at the edge of a field.
Katerina felt as though she had swallowed a stone. It was too late to regret taking part in this scheme, but the Princess would put it right, the Princess would know what to do. She had to!
Much as the Princess wanted to delay her marriage to Duke Nikolaos, surely when she read the letter she must realise their plan had become unworkable? Even now—Katerina cast a surreptitious glance in Commander Ashfirth’s direction—it was not too late to confess all. If the Princess were to board this ship and admit to the truth, Commander Ashfirth must accept it.
He was standing amidships. He chose that moment to glance across and as their eyes met, Katerina’s stomach clenched. It was odd how her body reacted when she looked at him; she felt a tightening in her stomach, a shiver of…what? It must be the old fear, but she was no longer certain.
Was this fear? It must be. And yet…he had held her in his arms on the ride from the convent and, though she had been wary of him, he had behaved impeccably. Of course, he would not hurt her, not while he believed her to be the Princess. She had thought his touch would distress her, but it had not; when he had looped back her veil she had felt perfectly safe.
A lock of his dark hair lifted in the breeze; his eyes seemed to bore right into her. Out of his body armour, Commander Ashfirth was startlingly attractive. His shoulders were wide, his waist narrow. Commander Ashfirth had none of the bulk of Sergeant Toki, but she suspected he had all of the strength. It was there in his confident stance, in the alertness of his gaze, in the way his men jumped to his command. When a dark eyebrow lifted, Katerina realised she had been staring.
Flushing, she nodded to him and returned to her contemplation of the Varangian galley. Please, Princess, please. If you will not put an end to this, at the least let me know that the message has reached you, that you know to take care …
‘Theodora?’ Lady Anna had torn herself away from the horses and had come to stand at her elbow.
‘Anna?’
‘I am sorry, ‘ Lady Anna’s voice was so low Katerina could barely hear it above the rumble of cartwheels on the dockside. ‘That Viking…oh, Lord…he spotted our sailor and …’ Her voice trailed off and she jerked her head in the direction of the quay where the Varangian galley was moored.
