The Demon Wolf (Book 1 of The Devil and the Huntsman)

Chapter 39

She did not know if she could put her trust in Brynjar or if she should stop trusting everyone. His unexpected speech gave her more shock and surprise than she could ever have. Then, Brynjar walks closer to Lagertha to see if he can calm her down and cheer her up. But nothing could help her nor save her from all the lies she was once told a few years back. Even by his standards, this was all messed up and convoluted since Julius has lied to her for such a long time.

"What will you do now, Lagertha? Will you start your journey or keep questioning yourself?" Brynjar asked.

"Does... anyone else know of this? Have you told my mother?" Lagertha asked.

"No. She doesn't know. But do not share this secret with her. A lot of consequences will occur if you tell her," he said.

"I won't. She has suffered enough. I don't wish to make it any worse."

Brynjar pitied Lagertha and had his reasons for doubting the situation he was in. He knew he had to return to his men at Anduin before an even worse conversation took place. The dark forests were no places to stay and not places to reveal someone's fate to another person. Then, he looked at the dark road and realized he needed to go and not spend the rest of the night with Julius's daughter.

"I'm sorry. I've wasted my time. Just get out of here. We'll meet again," Brynjar said. And so, he walks away from Lagertha and walks into the shadows of the dark forest, and he never comes back.

Everything that he wanted to share with her would remain a mystery in her eyes, and she'll never figure out why this is all happening to her at this moment. Then, she continued walking in the forest to go towards the very back of the palace as the night went on. Lagertha felt embarrassed in herself and wished everything was back to normal. But things could never be as she wanted them to be, and the moon was never disappearing from the sky.

"My god. What does it all mean? My father and the earl. My father and his father standing before the king of Midland. None of it makes any sense! Was it all worth it?" Lagertha asked. There were so many things she wanted to ask her father before she can never have the chance to ask.

At this rate, she does not believe she will ever ask him these things and never get the answers she wants. All that matters during this night is making sure she gets to Brant and stays with him, and the knights of Midland raid the castle of Stonethorn. It was only just a mile away from where she stood, and it would not be that simple because every guard was on the walls defending it. The eyes of Loftain's guards were very sharp and checked every surrounding to see if any demons were roaming around. Lagertha did what she can to sneak around the palace to not get spotted.

A few minutes later, she realizes that she was at the back of the city and the palace was just behind the walls. Lagertha sees that there were no guards behind the building of the palace, which made it easier for her to get inside. She notices herself getting a bit cold as the wind blows in her direction and slows down her movement. And so, she runs over towards the city walls and starts climbing until she reaches the top. It was pretty easy for anyone of her skills to climb up brick walls and walk for many miles.

Without hesitation, she runs up a few steps of the wall and lands onto a steep brick, and she lets her hands take a hold of it. Before she knew it, she was climbing up the city walls until she reached the top. As she climbed, she felt the icy wind breeze through her body and began shivering for a few seconds. If she fell, she would break her legs and not be able to move for an entire week. Lagertha was already ten feet above the ground as she saw if any men were waiting for her to get up.

"Almost there," she said. She held nothing back and left all of her woes behind as she tried reaching the top.

Finally, she reached the top of the wall and looked at her left and right to see if any guards will try to stop her. To her surprise, none of the king's men were outside; they must either be exhausted, or they were all on the other side of the city. She then jumps forward and lands onto a large bush which saves her from shattering her bones. Lagertha ran towards the building of the palace and made sure that there were no guards in her direction. Then, she runs up the wall and starts climbing up and making sure not to be spotted by eyewitnesses.

Meanwhile, Brant had his candles lit and was checking to see if anyone would come through his door. Either the earl is too tired to send anyone to check in on him, or Harald should already know that he goes to bed around this hour. Brant lived in a pretty enormous room and was comfortable enough to stay in a large place such as the palace. Suddenly, he heard knocking on his window, and he turned around to see who it was. It was Lagertha who knocked on his window and needed to speak to him about so many things.

"Lagertha?" Brant asked. Then, he walked towards the window and saw that she was with nobody else as the night was upon her.

He then turns around to make sure he does not get caught letting in somebody from his window.

"Lagertha, what are you doing out there? It's so late out and anybody could have stopped you right in your tracks," he said.

"Forgive me, but will you allow me to enter your room for the night? It'll only be just for this night," Lagertha said.

"Oh, of course. Come in," Brant said. And so, he backs away from the window to let her set foot inside; he takes yet another look at his bedroom door to make sure nothing happens.

Lagertha enters his room and walks towards his bed as he closes his window to not let anyone else in. She brought nobody, and her skills as an athlete allowed her to be waiting outside for him. Lagertha looks around his room and sees that everything is still intact and not like her bedroom. Last night, the wind blew so intensely that so much stuff was flying everywhere; she spent the morning trying to reorganize everything.

"So, Lagertha. I wasn't really expecting company and I don't know why, but it sure seems to me that the guardsmen are not doing their job. You should consider yourself very lucky," Brant said.

"Yeah, I guess you can say that. I only came by myself and nobody was there to get in my way. The back of the palace has many places to let me climb my way towards the balcony," Lagertha said.

"Well, there's one more thing I need to know. How easy was it to get here from the back? Are you an athlete? Have you been studying ways to be an assassin?" He asked.

"Truly, I would never be like them? I may move as fast as them and jump from building to building if I must. But I would never go down that route."

"Oh, good. So, why are you up here? I don't want to confuse you or force you to do anything. I just need to know why... someone may spy on us and it may cause an uproar."

"I came up here because there is something I need to tell you. Something important, and I don't think I can wait a whole month or two just to tell you. It's a thing that you must know and only I can share it with you."

Lagertha was being very serious about her reason and did not joke around while being in front of Brant. She was always a person who would share anything with a person she knew for a while.

"Go on. I'm listening," Brant said.

"If I want to give something to you, you must first give me something in return," Lagertha said.

"Oh, and what am I supposed to give you? A letter? A sketch? You want me to teach you a technique?" He asked.

"You tell me."

Brant stood there and tried to think of what he wanted from her, and he inspected her body. He was thinking about something that he wants to do with her before she walks out the window.