Eleanor Ch. 12

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A love between two people that can never be.
2.8k words
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Part 11 of the 14 part series

Updated 11/01/2022
Created 12/08/2007
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Pacing did little to ease his anger. Dammit, when would those bastards stop landing on his shores? Stephan broke his angered path and stormed to the window to view his ground, knowing there were at least twenty boats in the bay, his scout had seen them delivering quick word of the Norsemen arrival.

His fists balled at the thought of more of them. He would do as he had planned; the two would hang in the morning, and be left as warning to any entering the bay of the consequences of those barbarians entering his lands. Sinking to his mattress, Stephan felt his anger draining him, leaving an exhausted shell behind the armor.

She did this to him, Alara; a healer traveling with the Eastern entertainers. Memories of her assailed him, of her sun kissed skin glowing in the fire light as he kissed every glorious inch of it in this same bed.

"You are a fool to think I would stay with just you Stephan. You bought me the night I shared in your bed! How could you think it was anything more than a fuck?"

Her harsh words rattled in his head, echoed in his emotions, he had been foolish, believed himself in love with the treacherous viper. He had foolishly believed her in love with him, until he found her in the embrace of another, heard her screams grow louder with every thrust the male was giving her.

Thinking to save her from rape, Stephan had run through the castle grounds, sword readied to behead the bastard to defile Alara. Only to be stopped by the site of her riding the man as he kissed the tanned skin that he had revered and loved.

The whore had been screwing the Norseman Nikolai, a man he had barred from his shores before for his limitless carousing, many of his villagers growing furious with errant wives disappearing off with the enormous Viking.

And now he made free with his woman. Wielding his sword in his torment and anger, Stephan had rushed the couple, seeing them break apart in haste, the giant's sword readying only just in time before Stephan's moved down to strike. He had fought for his honor then, determined with every forceful swing to decapitate the behemoth, and failing as it countered everything he put his strength into, without breaking so much as a light sweat.

Alara had jumped his back then, screaming those words in his ear, searing them into his memory along with the saturation of her hatred, the venom in her sweet voice.

It happened so quickly, Stephan still could not recall every detail, one moment he felt her light weight on his back, the next she was falling from his sword, the bright red welling stain over her belly bright in the moonlight as she gasped her last breaths, the hate in her eyes evident as he wept on his knees beside her as all life left her limp in his arms.

The bastard had left them then, left to cry over a whore in the clearing of the woods, left him to bury the woman he loved, but who had hated him in return.

Stephan stood once more, refusing to stay on that bed a moment longer, the memories still too fresh in his mind. Sitting by the fire, he poured a cup of wine and downed the sweet liquid, quickly refilling his cup once more.

He had worked methodically after that, creating fear of strangers in the village, saying that it was the Norseman who had killed Alara; that the travelers were in cohort with the invaders. It had not taken long before the eastern travelers were fleeing, and he knew the Norse had sent a messenger boat and half their crew off the coast within a week of Alara's death. He and his men had begun rounding up the travelers, killing the ones who fought, torturing those they captured.

His lie had gone too far by then, the soldiers wanted answers the travelers could not give. Where are the Norsemen now? Have they sent for more? Their cries still surrounded him, their blood still covered him, each night they went out, his jealously and anger took over as they rounded up and fought the travelers.

The scene that ended him was what tortured him at night now. It was no longer Alara's death; or her writhing on Nikolai's lap. It was the tiny woman cradling her dead son, with her heart breaking through the silence of the night in the aftermath of his rage.

He had seen it happening, but not through his own eyes, almost as if he were a spectator to the event, steering his enormous horse to run the child down and only returning to his body after he turned the steed around, and saw the tiny and broken boy in the arms of his distraught mother.

His guards had come then, dragging the woman from her child, and to the castle dungeons. He did not know how many hours he sat on the muddied ground looking at the beautiful boy, wishing he could put the rosy color back into his cheeks, the breath back into his body, and the joy back into the tiny woman's heart.

He had buried the tiny body in a field of poppies, draping the small necklace over the cross the put into the ground where the angel lay. He had gone looking for Nikolai then, intending to exact his revenge for all upon him, but never finding the elusive bastard. Returning several weeks ago to find the woman had killed herself in the deep pool that ran beneath his castle, his heart gave up, he was no longer a man, with conscience, he was kin to the devil, and the devil would have its peace from these marauders.

His resolution firm, he watched the sun rise. Stephan went to bring the girl to the gallows.

************************

"Ragnar, we located him." Eown spoke, quietly through the door in the boat before returning above deck. Ragnar sat holding a stunned Kate to him.

"She just ran Ragnar, I felt a sharp pain across my belly, and she panicked and ran to get you, I am sorry, I did not mean to scare her." Kate felt foolish, she too had though she was about to birth the babe until she realized the child was just moving, the pain then vanished, but by then, so had Eleanor.

"Do you think they are alright? Its dawn now, Eown said that Stephan's plan was to hang them at dawn." Tears could no longer be contained behind her tightly closed eyes, and she openly wept for her friend.

"Shhhhh, Kate, do not worry, we will get them. Eown has already left with the others to get Bruni from his cell since they have located his. Bruni has an idea where Eleanor is being kept. They will be safe. The company will move further north, for protection, and then we will be out of here soon."

Ragnar stroked Kate's tears from her face, concerned for his love so heavily rounded with their child, and the strain her worry would put on her.

"Go Ragnar; please bring her back safely to me." Kate begged the thought of losing her dear friend painful, the sob catching in her throat as she kissed him and watched him leave. Lying back against the warm furs, Kate let the tears flow, sobbing into the covers, before drifting into an exhausting sleep.

**************

Unlacing her shift beneath her split tunic, Eleanor was feeling nervous. She had never had to use her body to get what she wanted, but in this situation, she doubted anything else would work. Glancing over at the tiny framed Kailara, Eleanor felt tears well once more for the young woman's plight, the tale of her son had tears flowing in sympathy during the night for her, the things the guard did to her, had them both forming this plan.

Ensuring the fabric was exposing her breasts enough, she stepped forward to the door when she heard the slow scruff of the new guard's boots against the floor as he made his rounds, this one hadn't met her yet, and the other two were rather dead.

"You fancy entertaining me this night sir?" Eleanor stifled a giggle at the unusual words that flowed from her mouth, as she stepped forward into the light cast through the bars on the door, allowing her captivated guard an indecent view of her supple body.

"Oui." The guard fumbled with the keys, licking his lips as he could not tear his eyes away from the vision in front of him, eventually looking down with annoyance to find his bearing with the key, he turned with haste and began to open the door.

"OOOOMPH" the guard hissed as pain exploded in his nose, holding his nose with his hand as the door flew back at him again hitting him in the head this time before he noisily fell to the floor.

Eleanor deftly retied the laces and then took the guard's meager weapons from him, two long bladed daggers and a sword. Stepping back into the cell to hand Kailara the daggers, Eleanor ensured the guard stayed unconscious with one swipe of the heavy weapon, taking the remaining taunting dagger from the wall.

"We will not head for the entrance they bring us in by, there is a door down here, they open it to let fresh air in when it smells too much of death." Kailara whispered as Eleanor looked around the dark corridor.

"They will have heard the guard clattering to the floor Kailara, we must move quickly." Eleanor paused, hearing the heavy fall of footsteps, the ominous sound coming right for them. "Kailara, remain hidden, please." Eleanor pleaded as she tried to shut the door before the owner of the determined stride reached them.

The tanned hand wrenched the door from her fingers, sending her reeling backwards in fear from the black furious eyes of the man illuminated softly in the candlelight. He moved before she could react, pinning her to the damp floor as he ripped at her tunic, her hands clawing at his face, she could feel his hard weight pinning her, adjusting himself between her legs. The fear evident in her made him laugh.

"I am going to enjoy taking one of their whores before she dies!" His words growled at her ear caused renewed fight in her as she hit him and clawed at his eyes, lips, and cheeks, anywhere she could, before he reared up and backhanded her. Her head bounced against the cold tile with the force of his strike, as he raised her skirt, and she lost consciousness.

**************************

"Eown, Tarinn, you station yourself by the brace of the door there, take out anyone that is on their side. Ranald, you follow me, we will release Bruni first, and he can lead us to Eleanor." Ragnar ordered his men quietly, the guards were beginning to stir, and Ragnar did not want any added problems.

It was bad enough there were only four here to bring back their leader, Nikolai having been sent back to the boats for fear that Bruni may actually attempt to kill him when Ragnar released him.

Taking a deep breath, Ragnar sent a silent prayer to Freya, to keep his love and child safe, and if possible, him, and entered the dungeons.

*************************

Stephan grunted above the unconscious figure, his fingers fumbling with the laces at her throat, and the ties at his breeches simultaneously. How long had he waited to get his own back on those bastards? He never condoned rape, abhorred it, and had savagely killed his own guards for the act he was engaging in with the Viking's whore.

Yes, he would take great pleasure taking her; he would throw it in the blonde Viking's face before they hanged. It was obvious the feelings that ran between the two. How better to break and humiliate him. He would say he had her screaming for more. Releasing himself, he grabbed the female's breast roughly, marking it, before moving over her.

"I would not do that if I were you."

Stephan froze at the accented eastern voice behind him. The memories flooding him once more as that voice had cursed him to hell as its owner was dragged from the road, the sadness overwhelming, he went limp in his own hand and slowly turned from the body of the Viking's female, fear of the apparition behind him growing as he saw the first rays of dawn shimmering the reflections of the water across her skin.

"You cannot be. You drowned." He whispered, unable to do much more than stare at the object of his nightmares.

"Nay devil, I was raped and tortured by your men, and drowned by their cowardess." Kailara spoke, with venom punctuating her words, her hatred causing chill in the room despite the warming rays. "And you? I have waited long for you."

Lunging forward, Stephan attempted to tackle the tiny female to the ground, disarm her of the large sword she had picked up, the weapon barely shorter than she, but narrowly missed the loss of his hand as she wielded the weapon with ease. Reaching for her again, was his mistake, Kailara swept the sword low as she crouched, slicing his belly deep, as he went over her head with his own.

Kailara watched as the mighty giant fell, sank to the ground against the wall. The blood began to bubble from his mouth, and he touched it as if he himself could barely believe it was there, that she had out maneuvered him. Reaching down for a stirring Eleanor, Kailara pulled her to her feet, and steadied her as she saw Stephan sitting in his own swiftly pooling blood, and pulled her out the door.

"I am forever sorry for his death" Stephan croaked as the women passed him, needing the truth out before he died, no matter whether she accepted it or not, he needed her to know. "He lies in the field close to where you were taken from. Filled with poppies. The necklace..." his breathing caught, his eyes desperately focused on her back as she stood rigid in the cell doorway. "...is on the cross."

Stephan closed his eyes as he heard his guards racing toward them. And for once, he prayed for the enemy to win.

**************

Taking down the last of the guards, Ragnar turned at the heated shouts from the North tower as Ranald unlocked the cell door and dressed Bruni with his confiscated weapons.

"What the hell was that?" Bruni asked, looking to a very puzzled Ragnar for clarification. "You sent the other men to the North tower without us?"

"Nay, they are waiting at the door..." Ragnar paused, the significance of the battle now waged in the North Tower, not lost on the three men causing a desperate run down the tight corridors.

Ragnar halted at the front door, ducking as a sword came for his neck, and halted with a skill only Eown processed.

"Come, we need you." Ragnar ordered as the two boatmen joined in the dash to the tower.

They did not encounter what they expected. All along the corridor deriving from one cell to further north, were a slew of bodies, cut down, and leaving a river of red on the stone floor beneath the stunned men's feet. "Bruni, here." Ragnar paused, after opening the cell door, revealing a dying Stephan.

Bruni stalked to the fallen man, grasping him about his neck and hauled him to his feet and stared him dead in the eye.

"Where is she?" Bruni demanded, infuriated by the lack of terror in the man's eyes, the overwhelming serenity that surrounded him.

The man muttered something foreign, and Bruni turned to Ragnar for a translation. "He said they defeated him, and left."

"Lets get the hell out of here; I want her back where she is safe." Bruni spoke quietly to Ragnar as he dropped the man like a doll back to the floor.

"He loves her doesn't he?" The rasp of his voice bringing the men to a stop, his soft laugh infuriating Bruni, as Ragnar held him back from the man.

"Why do you ask?" Ragnar demanded.

"Because tis obvious she loves him."

Relaying this to Bruni, made Ragnar's joy soar, even as he knew it would make his friend's task more difficult. Bruni had decided that his honor had to come first, that Eleanor would have to become Nikolai's wife, and he would never act on the feelings he had developed for her.

Knowing she felt the same way, could change that, Ragnar thought, as he passed on the information as the man's last breath left him, and something lit up behind Bruni's eyes.

***********************

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  • COMMENTS
3 Comments
starry_nightstarry_nightalmost 16 years ago
Thanks for the update!

I'm really enjoying this story and hope it works out between Bruni and Eleanor. Can't wait for the next chapter!

TricialenTricialenalmost 16 years ago
I love this story

You even had me feeling sorry for Stephan. He was a good man that got caught up in something very bad. And I have to tell you that I want a happy ending!

AnonymousAnonymousalmost 16 years ago
loved it but

it seems to me that there are too many characters. It's kinda hard to keep track of all of them. Perhaps more focus on Bruni & Eleanor, with a little side story on Ragnar & Kate. Anyway, it's just a suggestion & of course this is your story. Hope you update again soon, and don't forget Corine. Thanks & good luck!

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READ MORE OF THIS SERIES

Eleanor Ch. 11 Previous Part
Eleanor Series Info

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