But she quickly saw that she had nothing to fear. Her father did not suspect anything, he only seemed interested in assuring himself she was well and whole, and she was able to lay his worries at rest on this account. She was better, even if she had likely lost some weight in the last week.
“Are you looking forward to the banquet tomorrow?” she asked, intent on changing the subject. “I’m so happy for Matilda and Osberga. I have to say, I was starting to doubt they would ever find each other.”
“Yes, so was I. I don’t mind admitting it now. But all’s well that ends well.” He smiled at her. “Will you excuse me a moment?”
“Of course.”
Haakon tensed when the reeve walked over to him, decision etched all over his face.
Had he guessed what had transpired between him and his daughter? Was he about to remonstrate with him for what he’d done, amusing himself with his virgin daughter without a thought to what would happen afterward? He couldn’t even blame him if he was.
“Haakon.” Elstan stopped in front of him. “I think you know why I’m here.”
Did he? He thought he might, but just in case he was wrong, he waited, because he could not very well say: “Yes. You’re here because you know I’ve fucked your daughter and you’re angry.”
Except…was that what he had done, fuck Gytha? Strictly speaking, yes. And yet it had felt like so much more. What exactly, he still wasn’t sure.
“I would like to thank you for what you did for Gytha,” her father said before Haakon could ponder on what that night in the shepherd’s shed had really felt like. “You kept her safe during the trip to the village, then you took care of her while she was ill and helped her get better. I should have been here for her but I wasn’t. So I’m very grateful for what you did. Again.”
Oh.
Haakon blinked. Odd as it may be, a part of him had hoped the man would be outraged. Because then he might have forced him to marry the daughter he had deflowered. He stilled, shocked by the thought. Since when did he want to be forced to marry anyone? Such a union would never prosper, surely?
And hadn’t he sworn only a month ago that he would not marry a Saxon? Yes. So what was he doing, fantasizing about being shackled to a woman he had known for a month, who had openly said she didn’t want anything from him?
“It’s nothing,” he said more curtly than he’d intended. “She needed a place to get better, I was happy to give her that place. After what she did to reunite Osberga and Matilda it was the least I could do.”
“Yes. Though Sven told me on the way here that you had come back from the village empty-handed. The little girl was brought here by an old woman called Elfida?”
“Well, yes” Haakon admitted. Why had he made it sound as if Gytha was the one responsible for getting the little girl back?Because he was ill-at-ease, facing the father of the woman whose virginity he had taken, that was why, and he was finding it hard to behave normally. “But she still helped with the investigation and she was the one who suggested we went to the village. Without that, Elfida would never have known where to bring Osberga back.”
“Of course. I’m so proud of her.”
“You can be. She was very brave.”
She had been more than brave. She had possibly saved his life that night with the musicians. Not that he would mention it. Gytha might prefer to keep the incident a secret from her father, as well as the moment of passion they had shared in the shepherd’s shed.
That night had changed her. But he was starting to wonder if it had not changed him as well.
Just then a voice called him. “Haakon, can you come here a moment, please?”
“If you’ll excuse me, I had promised to go see my sister,” he told Elstan, seizing on the ready excuse.
But when he reached Rowena and heard what she had in mind for him, his heart sank in his chest. She had enlisted his help to go with Thorfinn and Halfdan to the next village to get back a few heavy tools Magnus had lent the smithy a few days ago. Given the late hour, they would have to spend the night there. He had hoped to find a moment alone with Gytha before she left for town.
Now, between this delay and the banquet, he wasn’t sure he would be able to.
With her fatherconstantly by her side, Gytha found it impossible to see Haakon in private. He had only come back late that morning, having spent the night away. Knowing her departure was drawing nearer, she started to panic. Would she have the opportunity to say goodbye to him properly? After all they had been through together, it seemed the least they deserved.
But what would she tell him? Did she even want this parting to be a real goodbye? She didn’t know.
She had told him as they had reached the village that she was not asking anything from him and she had even meant it. He had been happy enough to accept her decision. That could have been the end of it, but then she had fallen ill, he had taken care of her tenderly, she had spent a week in his hut—and everything had been turned on its head. She’d had a glimpse of what living with Haakon the Norseman was like, and she had loved it.
How could she tell him she had changed her mind and might well want more? But more of what? She wasn’t even sure. Oh, but this was a mess. Better to concentrate on helping with the food for tonight.
She and Eadhild had volunteered to make a lamb stew and they worked all day in happy companionship. How she would miss her friend when she went back to town…yet another cause for concern.
“Here, all done. Now we wait for the magic to happen,” Eadhild said, placing the lid on the simmering pot.
