Beowulf - Curse of the Dreygurs - Chapter 18

Spoils of War

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Chapter 18

Appa climbed on to his dead thegn’s mount near the woman. He directed the animal next to the woman.

“Your defiance seems misplaced,” the son of Ida whispered to Leofe. “But then, these Geats tolerate weakness. If I were in charge, I would put your village to the sword. And my men would have you as a pretty little slave for their pleasure.”

She looked up at the young blonde warrior, wanting to slap the evil smile off his face.

“I noticed you came back without your horse,” Leofe replied. “It is strange you said nothing about it to the others.”

“Yes, nothing for you to worry about.” Appa glared at her. “Those lovely eyes notice the wrong things. Someone may pluck them from your head. Remember that before you sleep tonight.”

He raised himself high in the saddle as his brother rode up. The two brothers said nothing to each other. Leofe felt the tension between them, but she paid no attention as they turned to ride off toward the village. Leofe followed their path with a concerned glance at the afternoon sun. She knew she must hurry to get back to the village before dark. The undead were not the only monsters in the night. Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t Sigibert walk up behind her until the horse snorted.

“You should learn to trust those who can benefit you and avoid those who will do you harm,” Sigibert said when she looked back.

His tone was light, and he smiled at her. However, Leofe understood his warning.

“Then, why do the Angles join you?” She asked. “They don’t seem to want the same as your leader. And they would be happy to lay waste to our land and people if they could.”

“I agree with you,” Sigibert replied.

The quiet walk continued before he spoke again.

“Glappa, the older brother, comes for the adventure. I can tell by his actions. Plus, his name will spread across his father’s kingdom. That younger brother…. well, I’m not sure why he showed up, but I can guess it was to keep an eye on his brother. He’s not strong but my guess he would follow the winds of Njord himself to take control of the kingdom.”

The young monk stopped, then pulled himself onto the gigantic horse. Looking down at her, he smiled again and offered his hand.

“Come, there’s no reason to walk alone back to the village.”

Leofe hesitated and then accepted his hand. It was the first time that she noticed the young man’s arm was bleeding from under the robe. She stopped, automatically reaching for the small bag of dried herbs she carried on her belt. “Hold it. I have some waybread.”

“It’s nothing. I’ll tend to it later.” Sigibert tried to pull back.

The girl gripped his hand tightly, pulling up his robe sleeve to expose the wound. It was a thick puncture wound just below the elbow on his forearm that had already clotted.

“No, we will fix it now,” she told him firmly. “Did one of the dreygurs do this?”

He nodded his head.

“One of them caught me with its old spear just as I could get the talisman sliced off his neck. It doesn’t hurt much,” he explained.

“Stay there,” she ordered. Leofe pulled her knife, reopening the gash and rubbed the plant remains into the open wound. Her actions caused the young man to grimace, clutching his teeth. The charm caster smiled at him. “So, it doesn’t hurt much.”

“Only when you do that,” he complained with a grimace.

The monk’s arm twitched slightly from the pain he hid. He watched the woman tie off the end of the wool sleeve to hold the leaves in place.

“I’ll do a proper wrap when we get to the village,” said Leofe.

Sigibert thanked her for her help, awkwardly turning to extend his other arm to help her up on the mount. Settling in behind the monk, they rode back to the village. Leofe tried to wipe out the conflicting thoughts from her mind. She watched Sigibert fight against the creatures, showing strong grit and great bravery. At times, he seemed too gentle to ride among the pagan warriors around him.

The thought brought her back to the Geat leader he followed. Cocky and fearless, almost to the point of foolish bravado, Beowulf showed himself to be a leader among warriors. Yet, during his encounter with Appa, she recognized the Geat’s temper and arrogant assurance caused him to rush into a rash decision.

It was a flaw that might lead to his undoing.

Still, Beowulf impressed Leofe with his innate ability to listen to his men and others he met. She found it odd for such a self-confident noble to follow the advice of those around him. He even listened to someone like herself, a potential enemy who was a witch. Although she knew little of the Geat warriors and their ways, the woman found Beowulf interesting.

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