Читать книгу Taming His Viking Woman - Michelle Styles, Michelle Styles - Страница 11

Chapter Four

‘How could he do this? Wasn’t it enough to win and take my land? Why does he have to humiliate me further?’

Sayrid stomped around the narrow hut where she had retired after Hrolf had delivered his ultimatum. Regin had attempted to console her, telling her to look for the positives but she had growled at him. She wanted to wallow, instead of being falsely cheerful or coming up with impossible plans of escape. Regin beat a hasty retreat.

‘Come dressed as a woman or naked,’ she said, swinging her arms back and forth. ‘Marry today or forfeit everything you hold most dear in this life. He is a sea king through and through, completely full of treachery.’

‘Can you blame him?’ her sister asked with a laugh. ‘You’ve escaped from tighter situations before. Or were they simply stories for after supper?’

‘It wasn’t an empty threat, Auda. Hrolf Eymundsson would have taken great pleasure in stripping all my clothing from me in front of everyone.’

‘Then your clothing had better be disposed of, in case you get ideas,’ Blodvin said.

‘And what do you propose I wear? This?’ Sayrid gestured to the apron dress she now wore. Blodvin’s dress would have been too small on a normal-sized woman but on Sayrid it barely reached her calves.

‘It is one of my favourites,’ Blodvin protested.

‘It is just as well Blodvin brought another dress in case her first choice clashed with the tapestry at the feast,’ Auda said in placating tone.

‘I can barely breathe, even with the bodice being let out. And yellow makes me look sallow. My stepmother always said that and it is the absolute truth.’

‘Hold still, sister, while we fix your hair. You might not have a crown, but Blodvin found some flowers.’ Auda held up a mixture of yellow and white daisies. ‘They will go well in your hair.’

‘Going bareheaded is as bad as going naked,’ Blodvin argued. ‘Have some pride in your appearance.’

Sayrid clenched her fists and longed to hit something. Very hard.

Auda’s eyes welled up. ‘Please, be good and do this for me. I have longed to see my big sister as a bride. The wedding will be wonderful and Hrolf is a very lucky man to have won you as a bride. But people will think it odd if you fail to wear a crown. The flowers are the best I can do.’

Sayrid stared up at the ceiling. Refusing either of her siblings was impossible. She had to do this for the honour of their house. ‘Oh, very well. I don’t want you upset, but I warn you—the words “gigantic flower-topped beanpole” will not be far from people’s lips.’

She crouched down and allowed the other two women to twine the flowers in her hair. They both exclaimed loudly how lovely she looked.

‘Everyone will laugh at me.’ Sayrid bit her lip. For once in her life she wanted to look normal, instead of being the person she was—overgrown with less grace than a cow on a bad day.

‘No one will dare to laugh and you’re only in a bad mood because you lost,’ Auda remarked. ‘Admit it. You expected to win. You expected to grind him into the dirt and he wriggled free at the final instant.’

Sayrid grasped her sister’s hand. ‘I tasted victory, Auda, but I lost focus for a single heartbeat and he took advantage of it.’

‘Don’t blame yourself. You always tell Regin to keep his focus until the end of the fight and he never does.’

‘I feel...I feel terrible. I have let you and Regin down,’ Sayrid admitted.

Auda squeezed her hand. ‘You haven’t let anyone down. Get that idea from your head immediately. You have done so much for us. More than we ever thought possible.’

Sayrid swallowed hard. Auda was taking this much better than she had expected. She could have been filled with great wailing and recriminations. They at least would have given her something to fight against.

‘I won’t be a shield maiden any more,’ she whispered into the silence.

‘I can’t see why you wanted to be a warrior in the first place.’ Blodvin gave a distinct sniff. ‘All the blood and gore of the battlefield. How could anyone find it attractive? And sailing one of those ships? My stomach is quite unsettled thinking about it.’

‘I, for one, am very proud of my sister’s accomplishments,’ Auda said. ‘The marriage means I will be able to see you more often. I miss you dreadfully when you are away on your voyages, Say. The hall never feels right without you and your sword arm there to protect me. You will still do that?’

‘Of course.’ Sayrid pressed her lips together and held back the scream. Neither Auda nor Blodvin understood. She liked being a shield maiden. She enjoyed the tactics and the thrill of competing to get the best price for her goods. While battlefields were scary, they were also intensely exciting and she always felt alive on the sea, battling the wind and the currents.

She was no good at woman’s work. She had found her place in the world: being a shield maiden. But with one slight hesitation, all that was gone. She didn’t even have time to mourn her lost life. She had to be married by sundown or see everything she had worked and bled for destroyed. Somehow she was going to carve a bit of her old life back. She wasn’t going to become like Blodvin, content with sewing and batting her eyelashes, she silently promised.

‘I made mistakes today, but it’s not finished,’ she said finally. ‘There will be a way around this problem. I simply need to discover what Hrolf Eymundsson truly wants, get it for him and he’ll depart. Sea kings seldom remain in one place for long. Then we can go back to the way we were.’

‘Any man would be proud to have such a beautiful bride,’ Blodvin said, clapping, but the pucker between her eyebrows told a different story. ‘Quite transformed. Honestly, Sayrid, you would have men breaking down your door long before now if you had worn dresses instead of...what you wore. You have far more curves than I thought.’

Sayrid gave her new sister-in-law one of her severest looks. ‘Any man who breaks down my door will get the sort of reception he deserves—the point of my sword in his belly.’

Blodvin retreated a few steps. ‘I was merely trying to be helpful. My mother always told me to find the good in any situation. But I will admit that I’m struggling here. Sayrid, you’re just so...so obstinate. You don’t want to listen to any of my compliments.’

‘I will take you to the pond so you can see that Blodvin is telling the truth,’ Auda said, grabbing Sayrid’s elbow and restraining her from tearing off the flowers. ‘If you wipe that scowl off, you will look pretty.’

Sayrid forced a smile. ‘Better?’

Blodvin gave a delicate shudder. ‘You should be grateful Hrolf Eymundsson has made it so you won’t have to fight again. You just need to manage your household. You can do that, can’t you?’

‘The pond. Now.’ Sayrid slowly clenched and unclenched her fist. One of the first things she would do when they returned home would be insist that Regin and his new wife move to a hall of their own.

Sayrid concentrated on keeping her head still as the flower crown threatened to slip off. The autumn sunshine warmed her back. Being outside made it easier to breathe, but she still struggled behind the pair who were busy gossiping.

‘Slow down. My body aches and these flowers won’t stay still,’ Sayrid called out. ‘I only hope Hrolf is suffering as much as I am.’

‘No, you don’t. You want him up to tonight’s task.’ Blodvin gave a little laugh which bordered on the dirty.

‘I suspect he will be good in bed,’ Auda added, with a speculative gleam in her eye. ‘His torso was impossible to miss before the fight. He has huge shoulders and feet. You know what they say about feet...’

Blodvin giggled. ‘It’s true. Regin—’

‘You’re unmarried, Auda,’ Sayrid said, using her I-expect-to-be-obeyed voice. When had her sister grown up? And she most definitely did not want to hear about her brother’s anatomy from his wife. There were certain things which should remain...well...private.

‘Do I need to explain what passes between a man and a woman in secret to my older sister?’ Auda adopted an innocent face.

Sayrid’s cheeks overheated. She knew precisely what went on. Or the theory at least. And the thought that Hrolf might do that to her made her insides do funny things. ‘I can really do without this sort of conversation right now. I declare you two are worse than the men for tittle-tattle and pointless gossip.’

Auda ran back to her and gave her a quick hug. ‘He is a man and you’re a woman. You’ll work it out.’

‘I know very well what I am!’ Sayrid attempted to loosen her overly tight back muscles and knocked the crown sideways.

She made an annoyed noise and crouched down to look in the pond. Despite their now bedraggled appearance, the flowers did soften the harsh planes of her face and her eyes appeared larger.

There was an unfortunate bruise on her right cheek where she’d taken a blow, but little could be done about that. Sayrid touched it gingerly.

‘I could put some paint on the bruise before we go to the ceremony,’ Auda offered.

Sayrid shook her head. ‘Hrolf is marrying me for the land and the loyalty of my people. Without it, he’d never have looked at me twice. I doubt he will even notice a little thing like that.’

‘Try to make the marriage work, Sayrid. For all our sakes,’ Auda said. ‘He is not the sort of man I’d wish you to have as an enemy. They say he is more ruthless than Lavrans and you know what he did to the north of here.’

‘I will try, but I can’t make any promises,’ Sayrid replied, carefully schooling her features as she gave her reflection once last glance. She had spent her early life hiding her emotions from her father and stepmother. No one would ever guess how scared she was, especially not Hrolf.

Auda and Blodvin exchanged glances as she fought against the urge to break down and cry for her lost life. She loved having the wind in her hair and pitting her wits against the sea. ‘I can make sure that everyone is kept safe...I suppose. I’m afraid I don’t trust your father, Blodvin. He accepted everything too readily.’

‘Surely anything like that is a matter for Hrolf,’ Blodvin said. ‘An attack against your family would be a direct insult to him. Leave it to your new husband to sort out.’

‘I have always looked after my family without help.’

* * *

Hrolf stood next to the priest and solemnly said his vows. He hadn’t planned for this at the start of the day, but sailing with fortune’s wind had always brought him good things.

Sayrid’s dress showed that he’d been right to marry her. The shortness revealed a shapely calf and the bodice clung, revealing the hidden curves he had encountered the other night. The flowers in the crown had slipped to one side and were all wrong for her colouring. But he was touched that she had tried.

He dreaded to think what she must have gone through for all those years—having to deny her sex and behave like a man. And it appeared that her younger brother had not taken on his role as head of the house, preferring instead to allow his sister to risk her life on the wild sea. It ceased now, Hrolf silently vowed. Sayrid would have the chance to be a woman.

At the priest’s final words, he cupped her face. A bruise showed under her eye. He brushed it with his finger. She flinched.

‘Does it hurt?’

She started to shake her head.

‘The truth, Sayrid Avildottar. I want honesty between us. Always.’

Her tongue flicked out, wetting her lips and turning them strawberry red.

‘I’ve endured worse,’ she whispered finally.

‘There should never again be any reason for you to suffer an injury in battle.’

Her blue eyes swam. ‘But...all I know how to do is fight.’

‘Learn how to be a woman.’

He gave into temptation and tasted her mouth before she could utter another word. Her lips trembled briefly under his, softened and parted. A sigh emerged from her throat.

Hrolf allowed his mouth one more heartbeat of pleasure and then lifted it. Her eyes were dilated and her lips full.

Ribald jests rang out. Instantly she stiffened and began to scrub her mouth. ‘What was that for?’

‘Your first lesson in being a woman—brides kiss their husbands after the ceremony. Tradition,’ he replied smoothly, seeking to cover his body’s intense reaction to her closeness.

‘Lesson?’ She froze in mid-scrub.

‘I would hardly want anyone else trying my wife’s mouth before me.’

Her cheeks glowed bright pink and her brow lowered. ‘I doubt you will have any cause to be concerned. I’ve managed thus far without a teacher.’

He ran a hand down her back. She jumped like a startled animal. Silently he cursed whoever had made her like this and he was willing to wager that her family had something to do with it. But he’d never been one to shrink from a challenge. He wanted to unlock the passion he’d briefly glimpsed in her eyes the night they first met.