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‘My thoughts exactly. The stables next and then the great hall.’ Kara bent down and stroked his silky fur. It helped to be back amongst her animals. They never judged her. It was so much easier than dealing with people. Over the past few years with Hring’s illness, she had not been able to escape as often as she might have liked, but she jealously guarded the time she had with her animals, allowing them to have free run of the house.
What could she say to Ash after he had saved Rurik, and then frightened the boy with his shouting over nothing? She’d lost her temper, but it didn’t change things. Ash was going to be precisely the wrong sort of father for Rurik.
‘Here I find you.’ Ash’s low voice flowed over her. ‘I never thought wool would take precedence over guests.’
Kara dropped one of the skeins and sent several spinning whorls flying. Dain gave a sharp bark and disappeared out of the room. She hurriedly bent down to pick everything up, concentrating on that, rather than on Ash’s solid figure in the doorway.
‘Hardly guests. This is your home, where you grew up. Were you expecting a ceremony?’
‘My welcome was eventful enough, but I wanted to know why you have gone into hiding. I wanted to let you know I looked at my grave and my father’s. Thank you for the runes on both stones.’
‘I thought you might want some time alone.’
‘It was harder than I thought to go to that graveyard.’
Kara resisted the urge to smooth the creases from his forehead. His father’s death was hard for him. For her, she’d seen the relief in Hring’s eyes when he had died after years of struggle. Ash only remembered his father in good health.
‘Your father would have appreciated it.’
‘Rurik said—’
She put her hand up. ‘Hush, Rurik is a child. Your father did appreciate you. It was why Rurik wanted to show you the gravestone.’
‘I wish I believed that.’ He captured one of the whorls and dropped it on the table. ‘At the tuntreet, I felt more at peace than at the graveyard. But even after you had gone, it took me an age to work up the courage to look at the runes. I’m glad I did. The words were simple, but my father did put the stone up. And the pain in my leg has eased. I know what to do with it. It knots up sometimes.’
Close up, Kara saw the water droplets clinging to his hair. His clean masculine scent teased her nostrils, replacing the stench of wool and dye. She was absurdly glad that she had changed into a deep-blue gown, with a lighter blue for the apron dress over the top. Something to bring out her eyes and make her skin look less sallow. She tried to squash the feeling. Looking for Ash’s approval was the way towards madness. She knew what had happened before. She couldn’t risk her heart being broken again. It had taken far too long to heal last time.
Ash needed to show that he was here to stay and shoulder responsibility.
‘I had it put up. It seemed the right thing to do. Hring agreed when he regained some measure of speech,’ she said into the silence.
Ash nodded. ‘Thank you, then. You have done more than I thought possible. Without you this estate wouldn’t exist.’
‘The welcome feast is well in hand for tomorrow night.’ She placed the skein on the table with a trembling hand. He did appreciate what she had done. ‘There will be plenty to eat and a skald to sing. He knows the latest sagas, or so Thora assures me.’
He raised his brow, acknowledging the change of subject. ‘You didn’t wait to bathe with me.’
She hated the way the words brought old memories to the surface. Of Ash and her sharing a bath and then cooling off in the lake. She wrenched her mind from that memory, replaced it with the memory of Hring’s revelation about Ash’s intentions and his other women. Her breathing steadied.
‘The opportunity presented itself and so I took it. You wouldn’t believe how much has to be done. Goodness knows when I will be finished tonight. It is always the same whenever I’m away.’
She picked up a skein and pretended to count, waiting for him to make his excuses and leave.
‘You haven’t even asked me what I think of your stewardship.’ He captured the skein from her nerveless fingers. ‘I thought you’d be curious.’
‘There were a lot of people who wanted to speak with you and welcome you. I knew you would find me when you had the time to spare.’ The excuse sounded feeble to Kara’s ears, but it was the best she had.
‘You excelled. Rurik said that it was all you, not Valdar. And I am inclined to agree. I owe you a debt I can never repay.’
