Lord of Raven's Peak by Catherine Coulter Page A

the edges. He called his son to him and said, ‘Innar, it is over with me. I bequeath all that I have to you. Do not kill yourself as I have done.’
    â€œThen he hugged his son to his chest and dismissed him. Three days later his men found him dead at the bottom of a ravine. He’d had one of his men chop off his hands and they lay there in the morning sun, shriveled and blackened, and all knew he’d stared at his hands until he had lost all his blood and died.
    â€œHis son, Innar, did not weep, for he believed his father to have done the right thing. Like his father, he was proud and sure of himself, but he held no great respect for the old man whose seed had created him. He had no wish to cleave bulls in half, no wish to use great strength to bend those to his will, for he had not the great strength of his father in any case. Instead, he wanted to go araiding and amass wealth. What his father had left him wasn’t enough. He gathered his father’s men together and told them that they would sail to Kiev. On their way there, they would gather slaves and sell them in the slave market of Khagan-Rus. He was brave when he was surrounded by his father’s men for they were seasoned warriors and knew well how tokill and plunder. They would protect him because it was their duty to protect him. They killed many tribesmen on their voyage and portage to Kiev and captured many women. And Innar, secure in his prowess, had all proclaim that it was he who had killed the tribes and had them tell all they knew of his skill and cunning.”
    The men were looking at each other, furtive looks that showed anger, embarrassment, uncertainty. There were murmurs.
    Deglin continued quickly, “Innar became well-known for his skill in dealing at the slave market. One day he chanced to see a girl there who was bowed and thin and dressed in rags. He decided he wanted her and thus he bought her and brought her with him back to his home. He didn’t know that she was filled with evil, that she hated being a woman, that she wanted to be a man with a man’s talents and skills and a man’s genius. She tried to do the things the men did and she failed and her rage grew for she knew she was inferior.”
    The talk was louder now, drowning out Deglin’s words. The men were looking toward Merrik. His face was still. He said nothing for a very long time, merely looked at Deglin thoughtfully. He raised a hand finally to quiet the men and said, “You do not wish to continue the tale as it is now going, Deglin.” His voice softened now, and Laren felt a shiver of sheer terror at the feel of it. “Tell us what became of Innar, this man who had no respect for his father.”
    â€œWhy, my lord,” Deglin said after a moment, “he changed, certainly he changed. He became his own man and thus gained respect for his sire who had given him all the gifts he now used to make himself successful. He won himself great honors and respect from the men, for he was a trader above all other traders. He killed the evil slave. He brought home much silver and becamericher than ever his father had dreamed of wealth. He wed the girl his father had picked for him and he had many sons. Thus Grunlige the Dane was followed by men who did not shame his name.”
    There was a long silence, broken finally by Oleg, tall and lean and menacing, who loomed over Deglin and said in a voice of disgust, “Your tale is unworthy, Deglin. I found it filled with ill-disguised venom and lies. You are like a gnat that buzzes about—you dart in to strike, then you’re off again, hiding in your cowardice of words. I would prefer to hear the girl tell us what happened to Grunlige the Dane.”
    Deglin’s beautiful skald’s voice shook with anger as he said, “The girl will tell you nothing! She has not the wit nor the skill. She pretends to it, aye, but she has it not. She is a slave, nothing more, just a