Summer Of The Viking
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‘Alwynn?’ Merri whispered. ‘This feels wrong. We are going to get in trouble. Big trouble. Can we go?’
‘Keep down, Merri. Keep quiet.’ Alwynn forced Merri’s head down lower and put her hand over the girl’s mouth.
‘Should we get help?’ Merri whispered against the barrier. ‘Maybe I could get Oswy. He has a strong back from lifting grain sacks.’
Alwynn put her fingers to her lips and shook her head. Merri’s off-and-on friendship with the miller’s son was going to have to end soon. ‘We shall manage, you and I. In a little while. Right now, he must rest. Understand?’
Merri gave a slight nod and Alwynn removed her hand.
‘And once we start again?’ Merri asked in an urgent whisper. ‘Carrying him all the way to the hall will be impossible.’
‘As I said, we’re going to Gode’s. That isn’t far. Think about Purebright and how much he loves your grooming. That fat pony has a lot to answer for. I should have kept a carthorse.’
‘But...’ Merri’s forehead wrinkled. ‘Father always said...’
‘The area around here was very different when your father was in charge.’
‘I suppose so.’
‘We’re doing nothing wrong.’ Alwynn made a fist. ‘Finders of flotsam on the beach have the first say as to the disposal. Custom from a time beyond our minds. And he did wash up on the beach, our beach. You remember what your father used to say. The beach has always belonged to your family.’
Merri nodded, accepting her word.
‘And the mint tea?’ Merri’s brow knitted. ‘Does he need more? Can we get it without...?’
‘When we can...’ Alwynn gauged the distance from where they lay to the small stream. The lack of cover was too great to risk any movement. ‘It will not take them long to strip the beach of anything valuable. Once they have what they want, they will go. Your warrior will survive until then.’
Merri’s eyes widened. ‘My warrior?’
‘You were the one who saw him first.’
Alwynn refused to think about the warrior’s eyes and how they had held her. That connection to him she’d felt deep within her gut was nothing. She could not afford to be attracted to any man. And yet... She shook her head. Truly she was becoming worse than Merri for wool-gathering.
‘But...but...but...’
‘He can hardly be mine. Your father has not been dead that long. We shouldn’t have come in any case. Collecting sea coal was a poor idea.’
Merri curled her fingers about Alwynn’s. ‘I don’t blame you. I thought it exciting.’
She snuggled up next to Alwynn and lay very still.
Alwynn lay listening to the man’s steady breathing and the banter between the reeve’s men who seemed to stay at the other end of the beach. Apparently they’d found nothing of interest.
‘Almost gone,’ she muttered.
‘Oh, no,’ Merri cried and darted forward.
‘Merri, where are you going?’
Merri grabbed the basket with sea coal and returned, dropping to the ground. ‘I couldn’t allow them to take that! It belongs to us. We collected it. We need it for our fire.’
‘Next time leave it.’ Alwynn patted the sand next to her. ‘Over here and stay by my side until I tell you otherwise. Do you want everyone to know where we are?’
Merri hung her head. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t think... We need the sea coal, though. No one saw me.’
‘Tempting fate is never a good idea. How many times, Merri?’
‘But I’m quick,’ Merri muttered. ‘Quicker than you.’
‘Hush now. Lord Edwin’s steward is headed towards us.’
Alwynn glanced at the warrior. Thankfully he appeared to understand the situation and had gone completely still. She moved closer to him to give Merri some space. Her breast hit his chest as Merri wriggled in.
The steward stooped down and picked something up from the beach. He looked directly at them. Alwynn sank further down in the hollow, half-covering the man with her cloak.
As the steward’s gaze intensified, she lowered her head and breathed in the warrior’s salty scent.
Footsteps seemed to come closer. The sound of heavy breathing hung in the air.
In another few steps, he’d be on them and she’d have to explain the unexplainable. If she was lucky, he’d take her to Lord Edwin. And if unlucky... A small shiver ran down her back. It didn’t bear thinking about.
Her heart thudded. She’d rescued a stranger for no good reason except that she refused to allow him to die. The woman who kept all the rules was truly gone.
Giving up was not an option. She tried to think about what she’d say when they were discovered and how she’d have to emulate her mother at her imperious best.
She lay there with the sun warming her back, until she thought the steward must surely see them. She prepared herself to stand and started to rise. The warrior’s hand tugged her down.
‘Stay!’ he commanded against her ear. ‘I will protect you with my sword arm, but he may yet pass us by.’
For someone who had just survived drowning, his grip was like iron. Alwynn had no choice but to lie still, beside him. With each breath she took, she found she was aware of him and the way his muscles were hard.
Just when she thought they were sure to be discovered, she heard a shout from one of the man’s companions and the man headed off in another direction at a quick trot.
‘They are going, Alwynn. They’re going.’ Merri squeezed her hand. ‘We will be fine. Our warrior is safe. Everything will be fine. You will see this warrior will bring good luck. He isn’t a Northman. He doesn’t have pointy teeth like Father Freodwald said they had.’
Alwynn shifted her position and wished she retained the easy assurance of a nine-year-old. Long ago, she’d learnt that most things were far from easily solved. ‘Of course, sweetling.’
* * *
Valdar lay utterly still as the woman Alwynn huddled next to him with her stepdaughter on the other side of her.
He concentrated on breathing and trying not to think about the woman and her problems. She’d rescued him, but for how long? How long did he have before she betrayed him?
For some reason the men on the beach frightened her. Normally such creatures wouldn’t worry his sword arm, but every muscle in his body ached and he knew he couldn’t protect her beyond a few token swipes with his sword. The storm had battered him against rocks before spewing him up on the shore.
He heard the men depart the beach, cursing their lack of spoils and joking about what they would do to any Northman they discovered.
His hand fell back to his side, releasing Alwynn. A thousand questions buzzed about his head. He hated not knowing why she’d rescued him. Why had she taken the chance? Asking was out of the question. He needed her help to escape so he could fulfil the gods’ plan for him and bring vengeance against Girmir and all who followed him.
‘More drink,’ he groaned through parched lips.
She instantly rolled off him. Her cheeks glowed pink, highlighting her eyes and the way a few tendrils of black hair escaped from her head covering.
‘You are awake.’
‘Can we move yet?’ He tried to stretch, ignoring the screaming pain in his shoulder. ‘Do you deem it safe?’
‘Lord Edwin’s men have left the beach.’ She absently tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. ‘Now is an excellent time to move.’
‘You know who they were.’
‘Yes, I know.’ Her mouth held a bitter twist. ‘If I’d had any doubt about this particular order to kill strangers being fulfilled, today—the first time I’ve been out gathering sea coal on the shore—has quashed it.’
‘But you disapprove of the order.’
‘We are a Christian country. Hospitality should be given to those who don’t abuse it.’ She shrugged. ‘And there are some who take far too much pleasure in changing the custom for the worse.’
He nodded. Her words confirmed what he suspected. She had suffered a recent setback and was unhappy with the new regime in the area.
He fought back the urge to protect her. Alwynn’s problems were none of his business. He needed to concentrate on returning home and bringing Girmir to justice. But he found it impossible to completely silence it.
‘Do you think you can walk without assistance?’ she asked, tilting her head to one side and revealing the sweep of her neck.
‘What man ever refuses a beautiful lady when she is offering him her arm?’
Her green eyes darted everywhere but at his face and her cheeks became a delightful pink. ‘You speak with a silver tongue.’
‘I speak the truth.’ He tried to rise and stumbled to his knees. ‘My time in the sea took more out of me than I thought possible. It feels like I have fought several battles and yet I’ve not lifted my sword today.’
‘You fought the sea and won. It is enough for one day.’
‘That is one way to put it, but until a battle is won, I don’t give up.’
She put her arm about his shoulders. Their breath interlaced and their gazes locked. Valdar forgot everything but the curve of her upper lip. His mouth ached to drink from hers.
He leant forward and slowly traced the curve with his forefinger. Her flesh trembled, but she didn’t move away from him.
‘And that was for?’ Her husky voice broke the spell.
‘Luck.’
Chapter Three
By the time they reached the small cottage where her old nurse lived, Alwynn’s back was screaming from her exertions and her nerves were in tatters. Alwynn was pleased that Gode was off visiting her niece helping with the latest child in that brood. She’d encouraged it because Gode rarely had anything to do with her niece. Proof that her nurse was mellowing in her old age.
Right now the fewer people who knew about this half-drowned warrior, the better. Any whisper and Lord Edwin could be down on them, demanding to know why this man wasn’t dead.
She knew what his wrath could be like. She had faced it when she refused his unseemly offer of becoming his mistress.
A small sigh escaped her throat. She had to face facts. She’d very nearly kissed a stranger. What sort of woman did that make her?
Thankfully the half-drowned man had behaved impeccably about it.
But her body felt alive in a way that it never had when Theodbald had touched her. Then she’d recoiled from his damp touch and had wanted everything over as quickly as possible. The marriage bed had been a duty rather than a pleasure.
One single touch to her lips from this man, from this stranger, and she was ready to melt in his arms.
Alwynn wrenched her thoughts away.
She had to give Merri credit. The girl had stuck with her side of the bargain and helped, rather than finding an excuse to scamper off. Now Merri stood, shifting from one foot to the other. ‘Is Purebright mine now?’
‘Purebright will be happy to have you combing him.’
‘It means you can’t sell him if we need more gold. Like you did with the other horses.’
Alwynn shrugged. There was little point in saying how much it had pained her to sell off the good horses and Purebright was far too old and cantankerous to be sold. ‘We need at least one pony.’
‘Can I go now and tell him the good news?’
‘Go. And you can tell any who asks that I’m helping Gode out with the garden.’
Merri gave a nod. ‘Don’t worry, I can keep a secret...even from you.’
‘And that is supposed to inspire me with confidence?’
Merri gave a cheeky smile. ‘Shall I get you some more water? Gode lets me do it when I visit her. When I return in the morning, he will be all better, you’ll see.’
The man seemed to go in and out of consciousness, sometimes helping to walk and sometimes needing to be dragged. She had serious doubts if he would last the night, but one glance at Merri’s earnest face told her that she could not confide that piece of information.
‘Get the water before you go.’
‘I could stay...if you needed help.’
‘I’m the one who takes the risk, Merri, not you. Remember, you weren’t with me this morning. And I wanted to tend Gode’s garden. No one will find that unusual.’
In the months before Theodbald’s death, Alwynn had often taken herself away to Gode’s cottage. She had created a garden there which no one could destroy in a fit of temper as Theodbald had done when she had lost the baby she’d been carrying.
‘But he is my warrior.’
‘Now he is my responsibility.’ Alwynn gestured with her free hand. ‘Off with you. Sooner I have the water, the sooner you can tell Purebright the good news. And later you may return and see for yourself how he fares.’
‘As long as he doesn’t leave before I can say goodbye...’ Merri called as she ran to get a bucket from the well.
Alwynn unceremoniously placed the man on the narrow bench outside. Leave before Merri could say goodbye? Alwynn shook her head. She had no idea if he would last the night. But she knew she wanted him to.
Sweat poured down her face and her gown stuck to her back as she tried to get the feeling back into her arm. The sun hadn’t even reached noon and she was exhausted.
Her mind reeled from thinking about him dying. She had to do everything she could to save his life. And it didn’t have to do with him; she’d do it for anyone. A small piece of her heart called her a liar—there had been something in his eyes which touched her heart. And when his finger pressed against her lips, she had felt as if she was made of precious glass.
Merri rushed back with the water and a jug of small beer and then ran off again, chattering about how beautiful Purebright was.
Alwynn smiled. Only Merri could think that stubborn grass-munching fiend on four hooves beautiful. She poured a wooden beaker of small beer and handed it to the warrior, who immediately opened his eyes. The creases about his mouth were less pronounced. And his skin now no longer had a blue tinge to it. Alwynn tried to look at him with a dispassionate healer’s eye, but somehow she couldn’t.
She had no problems growing the herbs, but when it came to people, she found it impossible to keep her emotions out.
‘Drink. You are safe now. You can rest and regain your strength. No one comes here.’
‘Thank you.’ His brows drew together. ‘I don’t want to put other people in danger, particularly not you or your stepdaughter. I appreciate the risk you took for me back there on the beach.’
Something eased in her neck. Unlike many of the warriors she’d encountered, this one noticed people beyond the end of his nose. She had originally thought warriors held special place and that was why they were arrogant. It was good to meet one who wasn’t.
‘It is only strangers from the sea who are feared,’ she explained. ‘Not strangers from other lands. The men from the North...they come from the sea.’
His eyes became more shadowed and she wondered if the Northmen plagued his country as well. Silently she repeated everything she knew about Northmen and their ways. This man wasn’t one of them. She was sure of it.
‘I know how the Northmen travel.’
‘Then you understand why it is necessary to be careful.’
As he took the wooden beaker, their hands briefly brushed. Another distinct tremor of attraction went through her. She withdrew her hand too quickly and spilled the beer down his front.
All those years with Theodbald’s damp hands and crude manner and she’d felt nothing. She’d been convinced that there was something wrong with her. She couldn’t even do as Gode had suggested—to think of some handsome saint and pretend. Instead she had felt like a lump of wood and lain completely still, hoping against hope that it would soon be over. Now it was like that lump of wood was covered in little flames.
It should frighten her, but somehow it was also exciting.
After years of being the good daughter and the good wife, she was finally doing something forbidden.
‘I will get you some more.’ She hurriedly refilled the wooden beaker. ‘And something to mop up the spill. Clumsy of me.’
This time she kept her fingers well away from his.
His deep brown gaze held hers. He made a slight bow. ‘Thank you. And you are right. I need to wash the salt off.’
Unbidden, her mind supplied a picture of his muscular torso. She turned away, aware that her cheeks blazed like an unwed maiden, rather than the woman who had endured more than five years of marriage and who knew what passed between a man and a woman, even if she couldn’t understand why anyone would get excited about it. ‘It can wait...until you have recovered. I will go and prepare a place for you to sleep.’
‘Your cottage?’
‘My old nurse’s. No one except me or Merri comes here these days.’ She knew she spoke far too fast, a bad habit from when she was small. She paused and took a deep breath. ‘You will be able to heal in peace.’
He nodded. ‘If anyone does come here, I didn’t come from the sea.’
‘Yes, you understand my meaning.’ She pressed her hands together. ‘There is something about lying which sticks in my throat.’
‘You found me on the shore, not bobbing in the sea. Therefore you have no real idea how I arrived there.’
‘It doesn’t take much imagination to guess.’
‘You are not breaking any law if you don’t actually know,’ he said quietly.
‘Is it better not to know?’
‘Sometimes.’
She caught a faint twinkle in his eye. His eyes were not just brown, but full of many colours. And they had come alive after his drink. She heaved a sigh of relief. He wasn’t going to die after all. ‘Is your country Raumerike at war with mine?’
‘I have never made war on your country.’ He pressed his hand to his chest. ‘I, Valdar, son of Neri, swear this. My solemn oath I give you.’
‘That isn’t what I asked...Valdar.’ The name sounded strange to her ears, but not unpleasant.
He pursed his lips. ‘My country has no quarrel with yours. Why would it? We have a sea separating us.’
The back of her neck prickled. He had come across the sea like the raiders, but he had come in peace. ‘And the attack on Lindisfarne by the heathen Northmen?’
His face instantly sobered. ‘I have heard of it. The whole world has heard about it. They took the gold and gave nothing but destruction in return. I have always believed it is wrong to make war on people who are not your enemies and have not harmed you. A simple creed, but I believe the right one.’
Something eased in her heart. She was doing the right thing—keeping his existence hidden and giving him a chance to heal.
He might be a foreigner, but he hadn’t come to make war against her people or to raid. Merri was right—he wasn’t a Northman. He was something else entirely. She released a breath. She wasn’t going to save him just to have Lord Edwin kill him. He was innocent and therefore he deserved a chance to return to his country.
‘Thank you for that creed.’
‘I need the beer-sodden shirt and the salt off me. It itches like you wouldn’t believe.’
‘Are you capable of doing it?’
‘I want to do it. I will find the strength to do it.’
She retreated two steps. ‘Surely it can wait. You were near death. You haven’t recovered enough.’
His face took on a look of grim determination. ‘I remain alive.’
Moving very slowly as if every muscle screamed in pain, he took the tunic off and discarded it along with his sword and belt. Alwynn discovered her feet were rooted to the spot. The sunlight hit his golden chest. It was muscular but not overly so. There were several scars criss-crossing his torso, but it was a warrior’s body and used to hard work, not soft and pudgy as her husband’s had become.
A dimple flashed in his cheek when he saw she remained there. ‘I will keep my trousers on, I think.’
She feigned an air of indifference. ‘You must do as you like. It makes no difference to me.’
He picked up the bucket and poured the remaining water over him. The droplets trickled down over his long hair, making him gleam. ‘You see, the salt goes when washed away.’
Her cheeks burnt, but she forced her chin high. ‘You took a battering in the sea. I wanted to see if I need to get you a poultice for the bruising.’
All colour fled from his face. ‘Are you a healer?’
‘I can do a bit, not as much as Gode or the monks, but I’m learning. I’ve an interest in herbs.’ She stared at the rough plaster wall of the cottage. Her troubles were none of his business, but she had found solace in gardening. Of all the things, the garden at Theodbald’s hall had been the hardest to leave. Her new garden was smaller, but she had brought a number of plants with her. When she was out there, amongst the perfumed flowers and gentle humming of the bees, all her cares slipped away. ‘I love my garden. I like to put it to good use and I like coming to Gode’s as well.’
He nodded, but pain flashed through his eyes. ‘I once knew a woman who healed.’
‘What happened to her, the healer?’
‘She married someone else and grows big with his child.’
‘And where does she live, this healer of yours?’
‘In the estate next to mine.’ His brown gaze held hers.
He reached down and withdrew his sword from the scabbard. It gleamed dangerously in the sunlight, reminding her that, injured or not, he was still a warrior.
‘Here, take it,’ he said with his strange accent which caused his voice to sound more like a purr than a command. ‘Keep it safe while you get whatever herbs you need. When I go from here, I will take it with me. Until then...a gesture of my peaceful intent.’
She gingerly took the sword. It was Frankish made with gold-and-silver inlay. She could imagine how her husband would have drooled over such a sword. Surely a Northman would not have such an expensive weapon?
‘How did you get this sword?’
‘I bought it in a market.’ A dimple showed at the corner of his mouth. ‘How else would I have acquired it?’
‘Off the battlefield? Taken from an opponent?’
The colours in his eyes shifted as she amused him. ‘I had it made for me. I wanted the right balance for my arm. Not exciting at all. Are all Northumbrians as bloodthirsty as you?’
Alwynn breathed a little easier. The barbarians who attacked the holy island of Lindisfarne surely could not have dealings with the Franks. The Franks were part of the Holy Roman Empire and forbidden from dealing with pagans. She could remember Theodbald explaining this fact with great disdain after the raid happened. One more reason why this stranger deserved to stay alive.
‘What do you expect me to do with it?’
‘Keep it safe until I leave. A token of my goodwill while I heal. You will be well rewarded.’
‘You wish me to keep silent about you being here.’
‘The authorities in any country ask too many questions.’ He put a hand to his head. ‘Right now, I need no questions and much sleep. You understand?’
Alwynn hesitated. ‘Do you pledge to protect this household while you shelter within its walls?’
He placed his hand to his chest, displaying his arm rings. ‘I swear.’
She stood with the sword in her hands. Her mother would have said that she should go straight away and report this man. Her mother would never have even saved him. Alwynn straightened her back. She wasn’t her mother and she made her own way in the world now.
‘I will put it beyond use until then. And I accept your pledge, Valdar.’ She inclined her head. ‘Not that it will be needed. Nothing ever happens here.’
‘Then it is lucky you found me.’ A smile transformed his face from handsome to stunning. ‘A good omen in a sea of bad luck. Perhaps my life changes now. Perhaps I am reborn.’
A good omen for him. Alwynn took a deep breath. She wished she knew whether it would be the same for her—the woman who had obeyed all the rules had lost everything. Maybe it was time she started breaking a few. Maybe it was time for her to be reborn.
* * *
Valdar circled his shoulders, trying to focus on working the aches and pains out of his body, rather than think about the way the sunlight had shone on Alwynn’s hair or the shadows in her eyes when she evaded his questions about why she’d saved him.