Chapter 9 – Making Friends
Ubba slowly picked up a scroll from the heap and began skimming through it. Ideally, he'd read its contents in their entirety, but the disturbing alleged tale of La Mères ascent to power had drained nearly all of his energy.
That just what it was though: alleged. How anyone could endure so many traumatic events, continuously, from a young age, seemed damn near impossible. Let alone going through all that, and emerging as successful as La Mère.
Hell, on the surface she even appeared to be mentally stable!
The stress made Ubbas senses distort all across his body. The crackle of the fire logs warming the war room amplified to that of exploding oil jars. Ivarr's insults, usually obnoxious and loud, were all but muted. The paper of Ubbas chosen scroll, chock full of the same puny handwriting as the one La Mère had first sent them, felt like a mere piece of matter in his hands.
"UBBA?!" Ivarr yelled. "Have my words even reached your ears?!" The impatient Rangarsson snapped his fingers in front of his brothers face. Ubba forced himself out of his thick mental fog and realized they were no longer in Tamworth.
They'd returned to Repton. He found himself leaning against a fence bordering a field of cattle while the hustle and bustle of the city went about their usual way.
Morning had long since passed which embarrassed Ubba because that meant he was out of it for quite some time. It was the height of the day; the sun was positioned in the center of the sky. The city was practically glowing with its rays being unobscured by a single cloud.
Ceolbert looked at Ubba with concern while Ivarr looked utterly annoyed.
"S-sorry," Ubba muttered. "Lost myself."
"That's beyond fucking obvious!" Ivarr griped.
Ubba quickly retracted his steps. La Mères resources…those damn scrolls…we rode away when Ivarr lost his temper once more. But as did I…but at what?
Ah yes! Ragnhild.
"I don't believe I've met this Ragnhild woman in question, have I? The spy La Mère identified amongst your ranks?" Ceolbert asked.
"Ranghild is one of our commanding officers. A damn good fighter in courage and skill with an axe." Ivarr explained. He pounded his fist on the fence's wobbly supports, prompting a startled calf to seek refuge from its mother. "How could we not see a treacherous troll when she was right under our noses?!" Ivarr groaned.
"I'm sure no one needs reminding but aren't La Mère spies some of the best when it comes to hiding in plain view?" Ceolbert asked, trying to comfort his angry mentor.
"It's…not that exactly…" Ubba interjected. "It's Ranghild…is a bit…" he struggled to find the right words.
"She's fucking stupid." Ivarr finished bluntly.
Ubba let out a nervous laugh. That was the friendliest way anyone could describe Ragnhild outside of combat. She knew only one craft: bloodshed. She had nearly perfect aim with her axe. Some have argued it would match Ivarr's with enough time.
But she was wholly lacking in anything else that required brain power.
Her dialect was often limited to grunts expressing either confusion (which was almost always) or confirming what was expected of her (which was seldom few).
It's a miracle she remembers to bathe.
"You doubt she has an inadequate brain capacity to be a spy?" Ceolbert asked.
"Of course! I can count on one hand how many times that idiot has uttered a complete sentence! To what purpose could she possibly serve La Mère?" Ivarr asked.
"Maybe that's precisely why she works." Ubba said.
"Huh?" Ivarr looked at his brother with confusion.
"Up until now, our image of a spy was something of a dark, weasels' figure. Forcing their way into conversations to extract compromising information." Ubba pivoted away from the livestock field to face the crowded streets. "But spies…are far more versatile than that. Ragnhild would be perfect because no one would ever suspect her. Perhaps there is more to her than meets the eye."
"And that's assuming she does have a functioning brain between those floppy ears of hers." Ivarr grumbled.
"Is it any consolation my father has granted you the liberty to punish spies within your ranks without La Mère interfering?" Ceolbert asked.
Ubba happily recalled the worried look on La Mères face upon hearing that order.
"Aye," Ivarr said gladly. His trademark mischievous grin slowly crept up his cheeks. "That I am very much looking forward to." He wrapped his arm around Ceolbert shoulder. "You can help me show what happens to those who dare cross us!" Ivarr said jovially.
"Take care, brother. I doubt our king would take kindly to you teaching his only son the ways of cruelty." Ubba said.
Ivarr shrugged. "Think of it as enhanced target practice!" He said, winking at Ceolbert. The aethling squirmed uncomfortably but gave a half-hearted smile to Ivarr.
Ubba stood up straight, brushing some small splinters off his lower arms and elbows.
"I'm keen to know what you make of all this, Ceolbert." Ubba said.
Ceolbert scratched his chin and pondered a bit. "For what its worth…things have been progressing fairly well," he said finally. "Considering how different we all are – Saxon, Dane, spy – we've seemed to amalgamated with little blood spilt!"
"Save for those Francian piss pots that even a child could defeat with a loaf of bread!" Ivarr spat. "How can you be so optimistic with partnering with La Mère?!"
"I can't say I'm thrilled by any means. But I do like her efforts to better the lives of her subordinates." Ceolbert stumbled in place when a child bonked into him. The unphased child shot up and dashed away with more kids tagging closely behind. Ceolbert waved at their backs once he regained his balance.
"You know she requested her quarters be on par with a nun? Not to emulate the faith or its humble lifestyle, but to further allocate resources to housing young families!" Ceolbert pointed out.
"A screen of lies mean to cloud of senses to what she really is." Ivarr argued.
Ubba crossed his arms. He found himself agreeing with them both, or at least aspects of each. The conviction La Mère showed during her impassioned speech made him wonder if she was sincere.
Spies were masters of deceit. So a spy master should be no acceptation.
But there were some things a person with a true soul and conscious simply couldn't fake.
Ubba furrowed his brow; the tension and pressure of their predicament made his head throb. He was swinging back and forth between believing La Mère and despising her.
Constantly switching between extreme ends of that spectrum wasn't just unhealthy, it was not his people's way.
He had to find and stand his ground. Convict. Commit.
"I suggest we be cordial, at least for the time being," Ceolbert suggested. "If this alliance is to prove beneficial, we should at least try to be friendly."
"You're too soft, Ceolbert." Ivarr criticized him.
Ceolbert, ever the devout Christian, ignored his mentors push for violence and looked around. "Where is Swayne? I saw him leave La Mère's side earlier. I found that most unusual." He noted.
"I saw the bacraut slither away. He's probably around here somewhere." Ubba said, taking a quick glance around his surroundings.
The flock of children that had nearly tripped Ceolbert just now had reconvened a few yards ahead of Ubba's trio. They were huddled around a tired looking woman who appeared to be reprimanding them with harsh words and smacks on their little heads.
As if the woman didn't have enough to trifle with, a rooster waltzed up to the huddle and started to caw loudly. It lept up, jumping so high it met the woman's ears with a barrage of caws and fluttering wings.
Right next to the amusing scene Ubba managed to locate their target. Swayne.
There he was, sitting on a tree stump he was using as a makeshift stool. He stood out amongst the crowd with his snow-white skin and pitch-black hair. The very air around him almost seemed as if it had a shadow cast over it from his presence alone.
Is he only capable of happiness, or whatever the equivalent if for him, when he was by his adoptive mother side?
Ceolbert squinted against a sudden cast of sun rays until he too spotted Swayne. "There he is!" He said cheerfully. He jogged across the street, ignoring Ivarr's insistence he wait up. Ubba followed closely taking care not just to watch Ceolbert, but to avoid the flustered woman as he feared he might get slapped by accident.
"We haven't been formally introduced!" Ceolbert greeted Swayne. The apprehensive Swayne glanced up and said nothing. Ceolbert bowed politely. "I am Ceolbert. I understand we are to be allies!" Ceolbert said.
An awkward silence soon fell over the group. It was just as unsettling as the dark aura surrounding Swayne.
Suddenly a lattice of daisy's woven together plopped right on top of Ceolbert's head. Ubba recognized it as a makeshift crown often made by children.
Ceolbert jumped slightly and looked around bewilderedly.
"A crown fit for a king!" A little girl's voice declared from above.
The group followed the voice and saw none other than Melodie lounging on the roof of a nearby tavern. She bore a mischievous grin, clearly pleased with her handiwork. Ubba normally would've found the sight adorable were it not for her uncanny resemblance to her treacherous mother.
Swayne's eyes twitched. "Melodie! You know your mother has forbidden you from climbing!" He scolded her.
"You were so busy brooding! Ignoring all of my questions!" She complained. She rested her head in her tiny hands, smiling at Ceolbert. "Pay him no mind, he's just worried his beloved wife – "she started.
Swayne shot up and barred his teeth at the little girl. "SHUT UP!" He barked, startling those passing by.
Ubba blinked. "You're…married?" He asked.
Swayne nodded; the apples of his cheeks quickly turned beet red.
It seems La Mère is not the only one with surprises in store for us!
Ceolbert smirked as he brushed some loose petals off his cheeks. "I'm surprised you can climb so high!" He remarked.
Melodie frowned down at him. "Why, because of my foot?" She asked.
Ceolbert gulped loudly. "N-no! It's… I don't know how you do that?" He stammered.
Melodie crossed her arms. "I have my ways!" She said. It was evident she was trying to sound sly and cunning.
"She uses crates as a makeshift staircase." Swayne said indifferently.
Melodie gasped. "Swayne! Was it not obvious I wanted that to be a secret?!" She said harshly.
"Our mother says we're supposed to be more transparent." Swayne said sarcastically.
"Don't excuse yourself!" Melodie shot back.
Ubba chuckled. If he didn't know any better, he would've guessed they were full blooded siblings. Perhaps they saw each other as that, especially with the unusual family setting La Mère imposed on them.
"AUGH!" Swayne roared in frustration.
"I'm sorry you're so upset!" Ceolbert said, holding his hands to his chest in defense. "Have I said or done something to cause you offense?"
Swayne scoffed at him. "For the love of God! I can't tell if you're thick in the head, or so ignorant to the world around you, you're one to miss the fucking obvious!"
"Swayne! That's mean!" Melodie protested.
"Stay out of this Melodie!" Swayne retorted.
"Help me understand!" Ceolbert tried to reason with him.
"What's the use?" Ivarr asked, looking menacingly at Swayne. "This bacraut seems only capable of spewing nonsense than getting to whatever point he thinks he can make."
Swayne glowered at them all. The commotion had attracted a sizable crowd forming a ring around them. Ubba sensed a fight was about to commence.
He tried to find an exit route. But besides running through the tavern, and that was assuming it had a convenient back door, his only alternative was to push through the wall of people immediately behind him.
Unlike Ivarr, Ubba wasn't keen on plowing through people to avoid a conflict. Not in this instance, anyway.
"Yes. Yes, you have caused me offense, Ceolbert," Swayne hissed. "By fighting like shit!"
"Huh?!" Ceolbert exclaimed.
"I saw you fight the de la Croix's. Compared to the tales I've heard of your 'courage,' whatever shit training you had as the son of a theign proved damn near worthless!" Swayne mocked him.
"But this little twig is getting stronger by the day!" Ivarr said, pointing his thumb as his own chest. "With my help, he's going to have the biggest balls in all the land!" Ivarr jeered. His immature comments elicited some snickers and gasps from the ever-growing crowd.
But Ivarr's confidence only angered Swayne even more. "You mean to tell me you have Ivarr!" Swayne pointed at Ivarr, "THE IVARR RAGNARSSON! THE BONESLESS ONE! AS YOUR PERSONAL MENTOR. AND YOU FOUGHT. LIKE. THAT?!" Swayne bellowed.
Ceolbert kicked at the dirt awkwardly and averted Swayne's gaze. "It's only been a few weeks," he said, his voice trailing off.
Swayne threw his head back. "This is why I hate monarchy!" He screamed to the sky.
Ubba looked at Melodie who was visibly concerned. She probably knew what Swayne was capable of when he was angry. And the reason he hated monarchy.
They'd have to revisit Swayne's rather odd proclamation another time. Such dissent from someone as apparently close to La Mère as Swayne was had to be handled sooner rather than later.
"Is it monarchy you find at fault, or me?" Ceolbert probed. Evidently the aethling was keen to investigate this further. A bold gesture, one Ubba could appreciate.
"Oh noooooo," Swayne drawled, a manic smile dawned his alabaster face. "How do you think La Mère earned her station?! By e-lec-tion!" He spelled out. He looked to the surrounding crowd. "People believe in her. They are loyal to her!" He pointed at Ceolbert again. "What do you have to offer them? A claim based on the sole fact you were spewed out of the right cock and grew in the right belly!"
Ubba stepped between Ceolbert and Swayne. "That's enough, boy! Best stop now before you say something you truly regret." He warned him sternly.
Ubba glanced at the people around them and saw a uniform look of worry. They might be posing the same question themselves. They had challenged their previous monarch because they were fed up with his handling of the war. If they found their new leader equally incapable of maintaining peace, they could rally the same power once more.
Is this La Mère's doing? Planting doubt into Repton's citizens to overthrow Ceowulf and bring the end of the Ragnarssons?
But then it clicked. No. That's not the case here.
Ceolbert's over-friendly nature influenced his own decisions alone. Now he had to suffer the consequences. A candid moment free of La Mère manipulating them behind closed doors and shadows, albeit one leading to a tense fight, was ironically a welcome sight to Ubba.
"What, Ceolbert can't speak for himself?" Swayne asked accusatorily.
Melodie scootched to the edge of the roof and flagged down a young boy who appeared her age. "Someone send word to my mother! Swayne's out of control!" She urged the boy, who quickly nodded and scurried away.
The fact Melodie could rely on some seemingly random boy on the street to contact her mother only further showed how expansive La Mère's reach was in Repton. Her network started to resemble that of a spider's web spanning across all land and seas.
And we're caught in it. For now.
Ceolbert tapped Ubba on the back. "Please! Enough!" Ceolbert pleaded. He stepped in front of Ubba, despite the latter's protests.
"I want to settle this. Tell me what I can do to pacify your anger." Ceolbert said firmly.
"Fist-to-fist!" Swayne said promptly.
Oh no!
"Ceolbert, perhaps that is unwise." Ubba said cautiously.
"No! I've been training enough. Isn't this how disputes are settled for your people?" Ceolbert asked.
"That's my boy!" Ivarr encouraged him. "Show this bacraut what you can do!"
Ceolbert nodded and took a firm stance, spacing his feet and holding his fists up. Swayne took a similar stance, though the energy emanating off him far outshone Ceolberts.
Ubba and Ivarr backed to the inner edge of the crowd. Ubba shook his head. It didn't matter how much he was against this; the challenge had been made.
The crowd among them started to cheer, excited at the spectacle that would liven up their day. Ubba thought they would be tired of fighting by now.
But the combined tensions between Saxons and Danes seemed to trickle in this unrelated conflict. They wanted someone, anyone to get hurt. Their penned-up anger might spell Ceolbert's defeat.
Or Swayne's which was far more preferable to Ubba.
"Watch the footwork…watch the footwork damnit!" Ivarr muttered angrily under his breath.
Ubba smirked at his anxious brother. Though he probably wanted to, Ivar knew not to interfere with this. Ceolbert didn't just have to step up for himself once he became king. He had to establish a pattern of physical prowess and fortitude until his father died.
Swayne made the first move, undoubtedly excited to land a few punches on Ceolbert's unscared face. Ceolbert barely managed to dodge and landed a few punches into Swayne's upper chest.
Swayne wiped the sweat from his brow. "You're decent!" He noted.
"Finally, a compliment!" Ceolbert said enthusiastically.
"I was being sarcastic you buffoon!" Swayne retorted.
Ubba rolled his eyes had proven time and time again he was socially inept in the face of challengers and foes. He had been hesitant to fight Burgreds men simply because they shared a Mercian ancestry.
Despite his father's treachery, Ceolbert wanted to see his enemies as comrades. He didn't see them as enemies until he was forced into reality, and even then, he had a hard time adjusting to it.
He could never imagine the place of a friend being switched to foe. Yet he was eager for such a switch if it meant it was in the opposite direction. Surely, he couldn't see that here!
Alas, any chance of Ceolbert's victory were soon quashed once Swayne grabbed a thick tuff of Ceolberts tunic. He hoisted Ceolbert off his feat before slamming him into the ground. Ceolbert let out a pained wheeze as the air was forced from his lungs.
Swayne pinned Ceolbert down with his knees digging into his belly. With one hand chocking Ceolberts throat, the other hammered Ceolberts face with punches.
Ubba heard terrified gasps from the men behind him. The crowd got more "entertainment" than they bargained for. Perhaps this display of violence would make them err on the side of peace as their king intended.
"What's going on here?!" Ubba recognized La Mère's voice fraught with concern as she pushed her way through the dense crowd.
"Your guard challenged our champion to a duel. And he seems to be winning." Ubba explained.
La Mère gawked at Swayne. "He's not going to stop!" She said. She looked at Ivarr, her eyes widened. "You've got to stop him! Now!" She urged him.
Ivarr wasted no time leaping into action. He tackled Swayne with all his might, paying no mind to the innocent bystanders he practically crushed upon breaking the circle.
Ubba rushed to Ceolberts side and winced at his battered face. Ceolbert's left eye was swollen shut, his right eye looked as if it would soon follow. The aethling moaned in pain as he struggled to stay conscious.
"Return to your homes! Now!" Ubba ordered. The crowd dispersed quickly, leaving only La Mère, Ubba, and a heavily wounded Ceolbert in the space.
Ubba marched over to La Mère and grabbed her collar. His grip made her loose white scarf drop to the ground. Melodie stumbled down her pile of crates and hobbled over to her mother's side. But the presence of a child would not pacify Ubba's anger.
"You will answer for this!" He whispered harshly. "Do not think because we are allies your underling will be spared!"
"I know." She said lowly.
Ubba noted her expression. It was the same cold, stone-hardened face she bore when she recalled how she had supposedly ascended to power.
"Mama?" Melodie asked quietly, tugging at her mothers' robes. La Mère brushed her off. "Leave, Melodie." She ordered her curtly.
Just as Melodies presence did not make Ubba waver, it did not waver La Mère. Melodie hung her head low and limped away without another word.
Though the air was warm and dry from the overhanging summer sun, the angry spy master gave off the same icy power.
She was eager to unleash but knew this was not the right time or setting. Was it because of Melodie? Or something else?
Ubba knew it was very unlikely she had a role to play in this unfortunate fight. But something else was brewing behind her stoic brown eyes.
This wasn't your plan, La Mère. So, what are you planning now?