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The sweetness of her voice made her stomach churn worse than ever, particularly as his brows drew even closer together. She studiously ignored the grins of the other men.
She wondered briefly if she should kiss his cheek, but decided that it would be pushing things too far. She simply stood close enough to him to feel the heat of his body.
‘I know what day it is.’ A muscle twitched in his cheek.
‘Then you can have no objections to me being here.’
She started to pull away, but his arm snaked around her middle and hauled her against his muscular body. The breath left her lungs.
‘It is refreshing how my bride desires my company. And dressed like that.’
She forced a smile and silently damned Blodvin. The gown made her feel as if men were looking at her figure rather than paying attention to her words. ‘Why else would I be here but to please my husband?’
His low voice tickled her ear as his hand slid possessively down her back. ‘You brought your sister, but not your brother. Where is he?’
Sayrid wriggled free and concentrated on the ship’s hull in front of her until her heartbeat went back to normal. ‘My brother has left to visit my stepmother.’
She crossed her arms over her aching breasts and prayed that the stitching would not give way. He was deliberately using her attraction to him.
‘Did you know about the intended trip?’ Hrolf asked Kettil, who shook his head, mystified.
‘A son must honour his mother.’ Sayrid fixed Kettil with her gaze. ‘You spoke of the necessity the other day, Jaarl, when I returned from my voyage. Regin has a possibility of inheriting land, now that her current husband’s only child has died from a fever.’
Kettil had the grace to look uncomfortable. Inwardly Sayrid fumed. He’d conveniently forgotten the conversation. At the time she had privately doubted Regin would go.
Sayrid forced her feet to move to beside the hull. To her surprise, the hull used wooden nails instead of the more usual iron ones. But she quickly spotted the trouble. It was easy to fix. However, if it had not been discovered, it could have posed a problem when they next put to sea. ‘When do you think they struck?’
‘Who?’
‘Lavrans or one of his men. This goes beyond simple wedding-night mischief.’ Sayrid tapped her forefinger against the wood. ‘It must be them or another enemy of the Svear. You can’t believe anyone from Svear would do such a thing. It would go against all the laws of hospitality.’
‘I can see why you listened to my wife’s counsel, Kettil, and it wasn’t just because of her good legs.’
Sayrid ignored the tiny fluttering in her stomach. Hrolf thought she had good legs.
‘Lavrans is far from stupid,’ she said, adopting a no-nonsense tone. ‘There will be people who are in secret alliance with him. Men who have benefited for years from not being attacked and who stand to lose everything if this alliance between you and Kettil continues.’
‘Do you have the names of these traitors?’
Slowly she shook her head. ‘If I’d known the names, I’d have told Kettil many months ago. But I’m sure someone must be tipping Lavrans off. There have been far too many times that our ships have been attacked and others haven’t. Someone must be selling information. Either here or in Ribe.’
‘Speculation serves no useful purpose. We need solid proof, Sayrid Avildottar,’ Kettil said with a frown.
She crossed her arms over her breasts and wished she had worn a different cloak, one which did not carry Hrolf’s scent. Right now she had to put what had nearly happened in that room behind her. She had to fight for her brother and not allow him to be condemned. Her attraction to her husband, the man most likely to condemn her brother, was far from welcome and she refused to let it stop her from doing what was right. ‘I merely state the obvious. But one thing is certain: my family have never been traitors.’
Hrolf’s gaze narrowed. ‘No one has accused your brother. We merely want to talk to him, but you say he has departed to visit his mother whom he has ignored for months despite Kettil’s request.’
Kettil’s lined face settled into its more familiar serenity. ‘Auda, my wife had a question about embroidery. If you could attend to her while we wait for the inspection to be completed. I personally think it is wedding-night mischief gone wrong.’
Auda gave her a panicked look. ‘I’m honoured of course…that is…’
Sayrid motioned to Auda to agree as she silently cursed Regin’s overly hasty departure. It was obvious that Kettil wanted leverage over the family. ‘My sister will be delighted to accept your kind invitation. She does love talking about needlework.’
