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"Aye, he knew. Or at least, he knew who she was with.

As to her whereabouts, I do not believe he was certain, but it had been his assumption that the slave Taranc would seek to return to his home in the land of the Celts.

Since Ulfric arranged it, he would have seen no cause to rescue his sister.

Lady Brynhild was exactly where he wanted her to be, where he put her, even, and she has been all along. "

"Taranc took Brynhild to Aikrig?" Mairead's delicate features were ashen, her eyes a deep green in the flickering firelight.

"Where?" Gunnar peered at her. "Where did you say?"

"Aikrig. The village where I used to live, before I was... taken. Taranc was our chief there. That is his home."

"By Thor's balls and his silver hammer, I will kill my brother for this.

I shall disembowel him with my own hands.

He had our sister abducted by savages. All the time he knew where to look for her and he told no one.

He let her suffer..." Gunnar paced the floor of his longhouse, and only lowered his voice when Tyra began to wail.

He continued to prowl to and fro, uttering his curses and dire intentions for dealing with the brother who had so dishonoured their family.

"How could he do this? What was he thinking?

And to deceive us, all of us, all these months.

He saw how we grieved, how desperately we searched for her. .."

"My husband, please be calm. Consider your brother's reasons.

" Mairead gestured to Dgar to leave them alone, but muttered to him that he was to remain close in case they needed to question him further on any aspect of his account.

The man was quick to do her bidding, clearly reluctant to remain in Gunnar's company if that could be avoided.

As soon as the door closed behind the retreating karl Gunnar turned on Mairead. "Do not even think about trying to defend him. Ulfric has betrayed us, abandoned his family for ... for what? A slave?"

"He loves her. He has married her. Fiona is more to him than a mere slave. You of all men should understand that."

"Me? I understand none of this. I would never betray my kin."

"You have not been called upon to make such a choice.

You are fortunate. Your brother was faced with a difficult decision.

You heard Dagr – Brynhild tried to kill Fiona.

Perhaps Ulfric feared she would make another attempt and the next time she might succeed.

I believe he did what he considered the best for all. "

"How could this have been best for Brynhild? She might be dead, or living a life of abject misery, the prisoner of a savage brute who has reason to hate her because he was himself taken as a slave by our people."

"Taranc is neither a savage nor a brute. He is a good man. I know this, and I believe Ulfric knew it also or he would not have sought his aid."

"A good man does not abduct a helpless female," protested Gunnar.

Mairead merely smiled. "No? You have a short memory, husband."

"That was different. I never meant to harm you. Ulfric never intended harm to Fiona either, for that matter."

Mairead smiled again, and nodded. "Taranc is a good man, " she repeated. "If Brynhild is with him, she will be safe."

Two days after the revelation of Ulfric's part in the mysterious disappearance of his sister, Gunnar arrived at a decision.

He had wrestled with the facts as he understood them for hours upon hours, considered every possible angle and permutation, analysed the information he had and quizzed Dagr closely for every last detail he could wring from the man.

Improbable though it had seemed initially, he now accepted that Ulfric had been faced with a difficult, nay, impossible choice.

If he knew his brother, Ulfric would have been wracked with doubts ever since.

Gunnar was guessing now, but it would not surprise him to learn that the compulsion to go after his sister, to see for himself that she was well and cared for, could have been a factor in Ulfric's seemingly absurd decision to abandon his homestead and set sail for the land of the Celts.

He was convinced that was where his brother had gone. Nowhere else made any sense.

And now, he knew what he must do.

Mairead had taken Tyra with her and they were at the river washing clothes with Aigneis and other women from the settlement.

Gunnar set off to seek her out, his pace measured and unhurried as he strode across the meadow to where the women laughed and chattered in the chilly shallows.

Mairead saw him coming and came to greet him, Tyra in her arms.

She linked her arm with his and they strolled for a few paces. "I had not thought you to harbour an interest in laundry, my husband."

"I have an interest in talking with you. Are you busy?"

"No, the clothes can wait. I believe Aigneis will do better without us hindering her in any case." She fell into step beside him. "This is about Ulfric? And Brynhild?"

She knew him so well. He nodded. "I must go there. I must see for myself that she is well, and bring her home where she belongs."

"Of course. That is the right thing to do."

"You agree with me? Even though I may have to kill this Taranc to accomplish my aim?"

"I do not believe that will be necessary.

And despite what you may believe, Taranc is not a weak man.

He could not single- handedly fight off a horde of Vikings all armed to the teeth, but we will not take him by surprise this time.

We will talk with him, and the outcome will be different.

There are more ways to settle a matter than with a sword. "

Gunnar allowed himself a derisive snort.

He would put his faith in good, hard steel every time, but was not about to be deflected.

Her choice of words had not escaped him.

"What is this 'we'? I shall go, not you.

And I have every intention of taking this Celtic chief by surprise.

There will be no negotiating. I am going to bring my sister home. "

Mairead stopped and turned to face him. He recognised that determined glint in her mossy eyes and groaned to himself.

"If you go to Aikrig, I shall come with you. We go there to talk, not fight, and I will be of assistance. I know Taranc, he will be more likely to listen and negotiate if I am there."

"If there is any listening to be done he will listen to me, or face the consequences."

Mairead rounded on him. He could not recall ever seeing her more fierce.

"No! No more senseless bloodshed. They are my people, and I will not stay here quietly and allow you to go there with murder in your mind.

I can help, I can assist you in achieving what you want without harming innocent people. You must do it my way."

"I must? I think you forget who is master here, my sweet." His tone was deceptively quiet, but Mairead did not appear impressed.

"You cannot be master if you are not here, Jarl . And know this, if you go off alone to do this thing your way, I shall not be here when you return."

"Mairead..." He sharpened his voice, intending to quell this rebellion before it took hold, but to no avail.

"You may threaten me, beat me, have Weylin attempt to lock me in your longhouse, but it will not work. By the time you return from this foolish quest I will be gone. I am asking you, for once, to listen and to do this my way. Why must you be so pig-headed, and so blood-thirsty?"

"For fuck's sake," muttered Gunnar, exasperated. Might Weylin manage to secure her in their longhouse? He could not see it, not really.

"Please, do not curse in front of Tyra. She is starting to repeat things."

Gunnar was about to apologise, but caught himself in time. Here was his salvation, though. "You cannot come. What about the children? And, you are pregnant."

"Donald and Tyra will come with us. And it is still the summer, in the coming weeks the weather will be as calm as it is ever likely to be, the crossing should not be arduous. I was far more heavily pregnant when I first made the trip and you offered no objection then."

"It might be dangerous. I would not have harm come to you – or them."

"If Brynhild and Taranc are at Aikrig, we shall talk. If they are not, we shall come away. That is not dangerous."

"I do not think?—"

"We are going to Aikrig. All of us. It is settled. How soon can we be ready to leave?"

He really should not allow her to always have the last word, Gunnar reflected, as they ascended the slight incline back up to their village. It had become something of a habit, sadly, and now he had another problem to contend with.

What if, when Mairead found herself again on her native soil and surrounded by her own people, his beautiful wife and their little family did not wish to return with him to the Norseland? Could he force her all over again?

Gunnar rather thought he could not.

Shit!