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Edith balled her fists. She looked forward to seeing his face and that of the other Norsemen when they saw she could ride. She might have failed to win the final tafl match last night, but she knew she could do this. ‘I adore riding and I never back down from a challenge. It is no problem to demonstrate my prowess.’
‘Do you need help getting on the horse?’
‘I can do it on my own.’ She refused to think about his arms about her waist.
She took Meera over to the mounting block and mounted the horse. With a slight click of her tongue, she rode the horse about the yard.
When she finished the circuit, she stared defiantly at Brand from where she perched. His look of amused scepticism had changed to one of astonishment. ‘Well, do I ride well enough or do you need more convincing?’
‘You tell the truth.’
Edith stared at Meera’s ears, rather than looking at Brand. The words stung far more than they should. He still did not trust her. ‘Why would I lie about something like that?’
‘Shall we ride out and put your skills to a true test?’
With one bound, he mounted his horse and rode out of the yard, not bothering to wait for an answer. Man and beast moved as one. Edith’s breath caught in her throat. She could understand why the bards sung of half-men and half-horse after seeing how Brand looked on his stallion.
She gave her head a little shake as some of Brand’s men began to place bets on when she’d catch up with him. Edith counted to twenty to ensure he had a proper start.
‘You will have to do better than that,’ one of them called.
Edith dug her heels in and urged Meera forwards. The horse moved swiftly and Edith soon arrived where Brand waited.
‘Where to first?’ she asked, keeping her voice deceptively casual but her heart rejoiced at the astonished look on his face. ‘Meera and I are more than able to keep the pace with your horse. I believe a few of your men will have lost their bet.’
‘Serves them right. One never bets against a lady without being involved in the race, of course.’ He inclined his head and his lips curved up in a secret smile. ‘Then one plays to win.’
‘Where to now?’ Edith asked, pushing away the thought that they were playing a very different sort of game, much like when they had played tafl. But she’d won in the end. She tightened her hands about the reins. She would win at whatever game Brand played now.
‘I want to see the outlying farms.’
‘Any particular reason?’
Brand glanced at the woman riding at his side. Horse and woman were moving as one. He hadn’t truly believed her when she said that she could ride, but now he had to admit that she could. She rode better than a number of his men.
He’d allowed her a few days’ space, but he remained determined to unlock her secrets, not where she’d hidden her treasure, but why she sought to hide her beauty. His dreams had been full of her and the way her mouth had moved under his. She needed to become his in truth and to realise that he had never given up his claim of having her as his concubine. He wanted to possess her.
‘My reasons are my own, but I do want to see if what you say is true. If this Owen the Plough needs his corn blessed by the bleating crow.’
‘What is wrong with needing a little divine intervention?’ She looked at him defiantly. ‘You must understand that Owen the Plough is a highly religious man. He takes what the priest says and holds it in his heart.
‘I want to see what the farms are like and hear you talk about them directly.’
She nodded. ‘You don’t trust my assessment.’
‘I want to see what you are made of.’
‘And you thought to test my riding ability.’
‘It surprised me. Very few women ride.’
‘I’m not most women.’
He laughed. ‘I’m beginning to discover that. You have hidden qualities.’
Her eyes narrowed. He was laughing at her. ‘Shall we race to Owen the Plough’s farm?’
‘If you like...’
‘Yes, I do. And if I demonstrate to you that I can ride, will you listen?’
‘I’m never one to refuse a challenge.’
She dug her heels in and her mare started off at a gallop before he had a chance to change his mind.
* * *
‘You see all is resolved, quickly and satisfactorily. The priest will bless the corn on Lady Day after it is in the ground,’ Edith said as they left Owen the Plough’s farm. The interview had gone far better than she had anticipated. Owen the Plough kept bowing and saying how honoured he was. And Brand had listened.
