A Viking's Betrothal (Book Two of The Sogn Series)

Chapter Five

Clare steered Torsten's horse as he sprinted with all of his might to catch up with Roald and the others. It was only a matter of time before Torsten would realize that she was missing but it was not like he could get too far, after all she had only left him a mule.

The horse breathed heavily with each long stride until the moment came that she heard the yells of men. They were still far out in the distance but it sounded like a raid had already begun which confused her. It was only then that she came to the end of the forest and looked out into large grasslands where a small settlement laid in the very center of a field. She watched as smoke and fire began to light up the sky and horns were blown. She could see the people from the settlement struggle and it made her sicker than ever. Clare leaned over the horse and wretched out the contents of her breakfast.

Her world became dizzy and she instantly felt fatigued. She heard the fearful cries of women and children and watched as Roald's men ransacked their belongings. The dizziness became worse and she felt faint.

Then, a voice sounded from behind her "What do we have here?"

She turned the horse around abruptly and stared into the eyes of two men who were obviously from the settlement. In that instant, she forgot she was dressed as one of Roald's men and she gasped, clutching her chest. The men laughed lowly as if mocking her feminine behavior of a boy, "Kill him."

At those two words one of the men reached for his sword but Clare held her hands up and yelled, "Wait!"

She pulled back the hood from the fur coat and let her long hair flow down her sides, "I am a woman." She hesitated, "They, uh, took me as their slave!" She said the last bit with more confidence.

The man let go of the handle of his sword in that instant and Clare breathed a sigh of relief. She continued, "I dressed as a boy to escape."

The two men looked at one another and then out at the distance to where their settlement was being destroyed by the minute. They nodded at her and one demanded, "Get yourself to safety then. We must go help the others."

She nodded in understanding and they took off towards the destruction.

Clare watched as Roald and his men continued to destroy the town and it was in that moment she decided to head back towards camp. She could not handle this adventure if it involved ruining so many lives.

She took off back towards the direction she had come but after an hour she had made no progress. She looked around and realized she did not recognize any of the area, that the trees had become thicker at the bases and the foliage was dense too.

Clare was lost and there was no denying it.

__

Roald had returned to camp with laughing, drunk men who had handfuls of valuables and sacks of food. As soon as his horse stopped and he had gotten off of it, a distraught Torsten was running to him flailing his arms.

"She is gone!"

Roald's face contorted into a mixture of shock and anger, "What?"

"Clare, she is gone!"

Roald wasted no time getting back onto his horse, yelling at his men to drop everything and help him search for his wildly defiant red-headed wife.

It was only a matter of time before something would happen to her.