He had almost kissed her at least five times this morning, wasn’t that proof that the appeal she exerted over him was more than sexual? Alone in her room with her, kneeling at her feet while he wiped tears from her cheeks, he still had no idea how he had resisted the temptation. She looked so beautiful with the earrings at her ears, catching the sun every time she moved, matching the sparkle in her eyes. The dog roses had been the perfect idea and he had known that, with her coloring, she would favor gold, not silver.
It pleased him to know that she would wear something of him. It was his way to stake his claim on her the only way he could, the only way she would accept, the only way that was safe for him.
He wished he had been able to do the earrings himself. Alas, he had never inherited his father’s dexterity or patience to be a good or even adequate goldsmith. He was more at home with wood than precious gems.
With some effort, he brought his mind back to the present.
“Father,” Gytha was saying, “we have an idea to submit to you. It’s about Osberga.”
Haakon arched a brow. Why was she giving him half the credit for the idea when it was all hers?
The reeve nodded slowly when she had shared her thinking. “Of course. You’re right. I don’t know why we all assumed she would hide or try to find a protector where she was when she was finally free to go back to her mother.”
“It is a dangerous, arduous journey, that’s why. But I think the little girl will be brave enough to attempt it if there is the slightest chance she can be reunited with her mother.”
A look of understanding passed between father and daughter. Haakon knew they were both thinking of the woman who had recently died. Gytha would no doubt have walked to the ends of the earth to be with her again. It was fair to suppose Osberga would have done the same.
Elstan stood up with decision. “Let’s go to the village, see what Matilda thinks.”
13
“Ithink I’ll go see Eadhild while you two speak to Wolf.”
As soon as they had entered the village Gytha had been seized by the desire to see her dearest friend, whom she missed terribly.
“Of course. You go. We’ll come get you later.”
The smile her father gave her warmed her chest, but the look Haakon threw her burned a path all the way to her toes. Oh dear, in the last few days things had definitely taken a turn for the…worst? Better? More scandalous?
She turned her horse round without a word.
Still dazed by the intensity burning in Haakon’s eyes, Gytha knocked on Eadhild’s door.
“Gytha!” The smile of delight on her friend’s face vanished as soon as it had appeared. She took a step forward, peering at her face. “Oh, my God, what happened to you?”
How to answer that question, Gytha wondered? So many things had happened in the last few days. She had spent a night in the same room as Haakon, she had accepted his beautiful gift, she had kissed him with all the fire she was capable of and all the daring she was unaware she possessed, she had started towonder if she was not falling in love with him, as well as in lust. But how could Eadhild know all that at first glance? Was it that obvious?
“I’m not sure what you mean,” she said nervously.
“Your face!”
Herface? Was she still red from her reaction to Haakon’s scorching glance? Was that what Eadhild meant? It was not impossible. She touched her cheek slightly, feeling as exposed as if she had been naked. “I don’t?—”
“The other cheek, the bruise, here, under your eye. It’s fading, but it’s obvious you’ve been hit.”
Of course, the bruise! Oswald’s blow. How could she have forgotten about that?
“It’s a long story,” she told her friend, relieved. “I promise I’ll tell you all about it later. But first you tell me, are you happy here?”
Eadhild took her hands in her own, smile returning. “Better than happy! Halfdan is wonderful, the husband I had never hoped to find. I’m getting quite good at speaking Norse and I made new friends too.”
“I’m glad.” Gytha hoped she didn’t sound jealous, because she wasn’t. Was she?
Well, perhaps she was, a little. Eadhild had found a new life here, in a warm community, with a loving husband and exciting new people. She was learning new things and… Was she forgetting her? No, never. She was just being silly.
“It turns out that there are many Saxon women in the village,” Eadhild was saying, “did you know that?”
Yes, she had known that. Many Saxon women but only one Saxon man, as far as she knew. Caedmon, the goldsmith. Haakon’s father.
