Dream of Me/Believe in Me

herself. “Do not! I am on the king's lands! Only Alfred can pronounce judgment!” In fact, she did not know if this was true but such was the custom in Vestfold and she had to pray it held in Wessex as well.
    “Alfred will know better than to gainsay me on this,” Udell declared. “If he does so, Mercia will rise against him!”
    Before she could speak again, Krysta's arms were yanked around the post and swiftly secured by a rope. Esa herself darted into the stables and returned with a whip, which she handed to Udell. As a last step in all she had set in motion, she seized the dagger of a lord standing nearbybefore he could think to stop her, strode to Krysta, and slashed open the back of her gown.
    As it fell open to reveal the slender line of her bare back, so too did silence fall. Krysta heard the frantic beating of her heart as well as the hastily in-drawn breaths of those gathered around her. Hear, as well, the crack of the whip as Udell struck it against the ground. Getting the feel of it, she supposed in a far corner of her mind, before using it to tear open her back and avenge himself for the humiliations she had cast upon him.
    There was no one to stop him; even the ravens were gone. Later, if Hawk was angry or Alfred displeased, the damage would be done. Desperately afraid, she closed her eyes and prayed for strength. Above all, she did not want to shame herself. She was concentrating very hard on that, her body braced for the blow she was sure was coming, when a well-familiar voice broke the stillness.
    “Hold.”
    Krysta jerked her head around and saw Hawk, who stood calm and impassive, his arms crossed over his broad chest, not even looking at her. Beside him panted the stable boy who had run to alert him to what was happening.
    Udell's mouth worked. He cracked the whip again and gazed at Hawk in challenge. “Your
slave
has broken the law. She struck me and for that she will be flogged.”
    Hawk studied the wound on Udell's face without comment. He glanced at Esa for a moment as she fairly bounced with excitement. His gaze on her was contemptuous but it went blank again as he turned his attention to Krysta. He walked to where she stood tied to the post and slowly looked her over. Not a hint of his thoughts escaped him as he said, “Did you put that mark on him?”
    She swallowed hard against the bile rising in her throat and nodded. “He was beating his dog. I tried to stop him. We struggled over the stick and it slipped.”
    Hawk heard her out but when she was done he said,“It makes no matter why it happened. A servant cannot strike a noble.”
    Though he called her servant instead of slave, it too made no difference. He had publicly acknowledged what there was no point in denying. Sven had disowned her. She had no family and no position. In the eyes of the law, she was no better than any other landless peasant.
    Shame filled Krysta. Through its crawling pain, she heard Hawk say, “Your wergild is high, Udell. Wouldn't you rather have that?”
    “Are you offering to pay it?” the Mercian shot back. He sounded in high good humor, as though he had never enjoyed himself more, as well he might for surely he had never before had a man of the Hawk's stature in such a position.
    Yet was Hawk silent for a moment, as though thinking the matter over. Finally, he said, “I will pay it.”
    Udell chuckled. He waved a hand around to his attentive audience. “What a magnanimous gesture. I am almost tempted to accept and indeed I might were I not so fervently devoted to the rule of law. After all, has the king not impressed upon us the sacred nature of the law, that only it stands between us and anarchy? How then can I put my own personal gain above obedience to such vital rule?” He sighed long and loud at the sacrifice he was making. “No, I must insist. Only a flogging will do.”
    Still without expression, Hawk said, “The law specifies twenty lashes for such an offense.”
    Krysta cringed inwardly, wondering how she could possibly withstand such punishment.
    “Twenty lashes will leave her too damaged to be of further use to me,” Hawk went on. “I will pay twice the wergild.”
    The crowd gasped, for this was a truly impressive sum. Only a very few lords of the land could afford to pay it, and the receipt of such bounty would make Udell aneven more potent force to be reckoned with. The Mercian understood that full well. His expression left no doubt that he was sorely tempted. But whether it