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‘It is far better to have Brand Bjornson in a good mood with Athelstan showing up. We are going to need all the help we can get.’
Edith bit her lip. He might be in a good mood now, but what was his reaction going to be when he learnt that she had gone against his direct orders?
* * *
‘You appear distracted, Edith,’ Brand commented, covering her hand with his as Starkad’s song finished.
Edith jumped at the gentle touch and forced her mind back to the present, rather than the uncertain future. ‘Merely making a memory.’
‘A memory?’ He raised her hand to his lips. The ease and naturalness of the gesture astonished Edith. It was as if they had sat at the high table together for a lifetime.
A great longing swept over her. She wanted this happiness to continue, but she had a responsibility towards Athelstan and any other former rebel who might appear. Surely it wasn’t wrong to enjoy one night of happiness? There would be time enough to confess to Brand in the morning.
‘I want to remember every aspect of today so I can recall it when I am old and grey,’ she explained.
‘As long as you are enjoying yourself. I don’t envy you the task of choosing the winner.’
‘If I must choose, I choose Starkad. Sometimes you just know in your heart one song is the winner.’
Brand made the announcement and the entire hall erupted in applause. Starkad turned a bright red and claimed the purse of silver.
She tilted her head to one side. ‘I understand from Hilda that you can sing. Or was Starkad merely being kind?’
‘I can.’
‘Then why didn’t you enter?’
‘Because it wouldn’t be fair.’ He gestured to Starkad who rapidly brought a lyre. ‘I can sing now you have made your choice.’
He began to sing and his rich baritone filled the hall. It was a song of longing and loyalty. Edith wondered that she had ever considered him a barbarian. There was so much more to him than simply someone who made war on others. When his voice faded, the entire hall was silent.
‘Well?’ he asked. ‘Surely it was not so dreadful.’
‘It was one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard,’ Edith confessed. ‘I should like to hear songs of the north in this hall. More than that I should like to learn the song.’
‘My mother taught me the song. She used to sing it to my father.’
‘Your mother must have been special.’
He put his hand on her shoulder. ‘You remind me of her. I made a mistake the first day. I thought you were like my father’s wife, but you are not. You have an honesty about you.’
‘I hope I do.’
* * *
Brand frowned as he listened to another litany of excuses about why various buildings were not being restored or were unsuitable for the purpose they were intended. His thoughts kept returning to Edith and yesterday afternoon.
She had been a bit subdued at supper, but later, he’d demonstrated the full use a bed could be put to and she had responded with a fevered passion. He’d been reluctant to leave her warmth this morning and had nearly called off practice. Several of the men made pointed comments when he arrived late, but he ignored them. To his astonishment, the last several days had shown improvement and the swordplay this morning had been short, particularly as his thoughts kept returning to Edith and the curve of her mouth.
He struggled to remember the last time a woman had dominated his mind in this fashion. He’d abandoned the practice and set his men to surveying the outlying buildings, a task which should have given him time with Edith but instead brought its own problems.
‘Finally,’ Starkad said with a great note of excitement in his voice, ‘we discovered a bath house. There is no need to build one. It is already here!’
‘A bath house? I thought their priest forbade such things. He certainly had been very vocal on the subject.’
‘It looks like one. It has been used for storing grain, but I would have sworn I was back in Constantinople,’ Starkad said. ‘It can be easily made ready. The men are eager to start. It will save time.’
‘That is one problem solved.’ Brand smiled. He looked forward to initiating Edith into the delights of bathing. A few weeks or months of enjoying her was permissible, even if she’d seemed a bit distracted and distant yesterday evening. Later, the passion had overwhelmed them both, but in the hall, she had seemed on edge as if she waited for something to happen.
A few weeks to conquer and learn her secrets, then he’d return to the life he’d planned so many years ago. There was still time to send for Sigfrieda or some other woman who’d provide the sort of sons he’d dreamt of and who would be the sort of wife that Halfdan approved of. He couldn’t risk Halfdan’s ire, not after he’d been shown such favour. He wished he knew the precise reason why Halfdan had failed to order a marriage between Edith and himself.
