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His sword clashed and clashed again. He turned to his right and mistimed his step. His bad leg pulsed pain. He slipped, going down on one knee, blindly lifting his sword and missing his stroke.
A sharp burn sliced through his face and the salt tang of blood trickled into his mouth. He wiped his hand across his face, seeking to clear the blood. The pain rocked him. It would be easy to fall to his knees, give in and finally admit he had lost. He could barely remember what he was fighting for any more. He had nothing left to prove. He could feel the soft breath of a Valkyrie coming to claim his shade for Odin.
A Valkyrie. Kara. Ash instantly became alert. Kara was who he fought for. He wanted to spend his life with her. He had always been fighting to get back to her. It hadn’t been his father’s regard he was afraid of losing, but Kara’s. He had been a fool. He had to make sure that as long as he walked the earth, Kara was at his side. And he’d left without telling her his feelings and why he wanted to be a better man. He had to have the chance to explain and to make it right.
He redoubled his efforts and stood. His sword met the other’s sword and the effort reverberated through his arm. He pivoted to his left, found a tiny opening, blindly thrust his sword forward and connected.
‘I owe you!’ Valdar called out as the captain’s body fell to the ground.
Ash wiped his sword on the grass and turned to face his next enemy. Survive. That was all he had to do—survive. ‘This battle is far from over.’
Chapter Fifteen
Kara sat paralysed with Rurik’s head in her lap, unable to look away from the raging battle. It was impossible to tell who was winning or indeed where Ash was. Over and over she prayed to any god that Odin wouldn’t want Ash, not today, not ever.
She cursed herself for not saying that she loved him before Ash had rushed off. It was wrong of her. She had made mistakes in their relationship as well as him. She could see that now. When they were first married, she had wanted to be the wife of a great warrior. She had encouraged him to go. And when he returned, she had tried to insist on him being a farmer and helping her to run the estate when the person she wanted was Ash with all of his faults. She could easily run the estate on her own, knowing that Ash would be there to back her decisions.
She wanted him to be part of her whole future. She wanted to share her life with him but she wanted as long as he walked the earth to have him as hers. She wouldn’t be happy otherwise. And he needed to be Ash, the man she had married, not someone he was trying to be to please her. She was a one-man woman.
‘Please let him live,’ she whispered over and over again. ‘Please give me a second chance.’
The silence fell without warning. Sudden and utterly consuming. Somewhere a pigeon cooed, breaking the oppressive stillness.
‘Mor, is it over?’ Rurik asked in a frightened voice. ‘Have Valkyries taken the fallen to Valhalla? They won’t come and get me, will they? I’m not ready to go to Valhalla.’
‘It is, sweetheart.’ Kara kissed Rurik’s head. Her limbs shook. They were safe, precisely as Ash had promised. They were safe, but where was Ash? Surely he should have returned. ‘And you are right, the Valkyries will have been, but they are gone now. They are only searching for fallen warriors, not little boys.’
Kara stood up in the cart, craning her head, trying to see where Ash stood. Her heart clenched. If he stood... From the cart, it was impossible to see who stood, but she didn’t recognise Ash’s shape. She clenched her fists. He had to be there. Alive. She had to be able to say she loved him.
‘Did my father win?’
‘I think so. No one came close to the cart or the horses, did they?’ Kara knelt down so that her face was level with Rurik’s. ‘I want you to do something for me. I want you to stay here and not move. I’m going to find your father and bring him back to us. Can you do that for me? It is very important.’
Rurik gave a tiny nod. ‘A true warrior obeys his mother. Far told me that. I obey your command.’
Silently she blessed Ash’s forethought. He had been right about that. She was so afraid of losing Rurik that she kept him too close. Ash’s coming back had changed so many things.
‘I’ll be back as soon as I can. With your Far. Be a good warrior.’ She started off, but made the mistake of looking back. Rurik looked far too young and miserable.
‘Please, Mor. Please may I come with you? I’m scared.’ Rurik’s face crumpled. ‘I’m not ready to be a good warrior. I still need my mother.’
