TLV - 03 - The Sign of the Raven by Poul Anderson Page A

"No, surely not." He could barely hear her.
    Looking into a chest, she smiled and went on: "I remember the time you first showed me this, long ago in Kiev. I was a silly little goose then; it seemed to me there was blood on it."
    "There is, on most," said Harald. "But whoever lives with me grows used to blood."
    "Do not reproach yourself," she said. "I've learned that all men fight, unless they are thralls or monks, and even those bear, arms sometimes. Learning to take the world as it is—I think that is what growing up means."
    "Still . . ." He lifted the pearl necklace. "Would you like this?"
    "Oh ..." Her eyes widened, childlike, and one hand came timidly out to touch the miracle.
    He wondered why he had made the gift; now he would have to give Thora something of equal value, to keep peace in the home. "Well, take it," he said gruffly.
    She glanced about, saw no one looking in, and stood on tiptoe. Even so, he had to stoop to be kissed. Her lips were cool, but there was a hunger on them. His hands moved up and down her back, feeling its slenderness. It made his blood pulse thickly, he wanted to—No, not here.
    She reached up and ran fingers through his hair. "You are a strange man," she said in a shaky voice. "I wonder why I love you so."
    He regarded her closely. "I've not really understood you either," he said. "At first, I thought you meek and colorless, but—" He shrugged. "I may have told you before that I think you're the only person alive who can still surprise me."
    "You should be old and wise enough not to tell that to a woman," she laughed.
    "If things had been otherwise ..."
    "They could not have been," she said gravely. "You are one who goes his own way, and naught but the will of God will ever stop you."
    "You should have been queen of Denmark by now." He felt the cold strike into his flesh, and drew away from her and pulled his cloak about him.
    "Do you think I care about that?"
    He shook his head. "No. I know you don't. But I do, and there lies part of the gulf between us."
    "Thora does," said Elizabeth. She did not look at him.
    "Aye. In that, she and I are one." A hollowness was in him, as if he had used up whatever strength and joy he could muster during one day. He wished he had not halted with a kiss, but desire had gone.
    "Nobody shares my every wish," he said, and tried a grin. "As well for the world!" The wry mirth faded. "None up here."
    Elizabeth fingered her pearls. "Then there is someone elsewhere," she answered.
    "I know not. It has been many years. The Miklagardh envoys could not tell me."
    The queen stared at the floor. "And all this time, locked away in your heart—" she whispered.
    "Have done!" A pale, senseless anger licked up in him. "I don't wish to hear more of this."
    He slammed the door full open and strode out. Elizabeth stared after him till he was gone. Then she sat down on a box and looked at the pearls. She shook her head and rubbed an eye with her knuckles. A queen should not weep where anyone might see her.
     
    Harald walked from the courtyard and down a street of frozen mud, under a low gray sky. Half a dozen guardsmen followed, not venturing to speak. Folk bowed carefully, but he did not hail them.
    His mind shied from some thoughts and returned to worry over what he had lost at the Niss. Only a madman would bend a whole life toward one dream; and yet—What had he done, that God had raised Svein Estridhsson against him?
    He was dimly glad to see Styrkaar, Thjodholf, and some lesser men of the court standing in talk before an alehouse. He went over to them and gave greeting. "What are you about?" he asked.
    "We were but swapping stories, my lord," said Styrkaar, "and thinking we might go into this place for a drop of beer."
    "The landlord is a highwayman," said Thjodholf. "What he wants for a crock of slimy green troll t ears would raise your hair."
    Harald glanced at the inn. It was newly and hastily built, with a sunken main room, and he could see firelight dance beyond