She whirled on her heel and left, with Brunhild gaping in her wake.
There was truth in Arianrhod’s words.Despite all her efforts to make herself into something more than a commodity to be expended at the will of her father and brothers, she had been relegated to nothing more than a pawn.
The reminder of her predicament, and what she’d been forced to sacrifice, stung anew.Like saltwater on an open wound.
By the time Mirren entered the room, Brunhild had put aside her bitterness long enough to remove the harness that held her axe and knives.She was removing the scabbard at her waist when her friend’s hands brushed her fumbling touch aside.“You are overwrought,” she said as she removed it and pushed Brunhild into a chair.
She made quick work of Brunhild’s laced boots before reclining on her heels.
“You cannot allow them to see how much they affect you,” Mirren said with a troubled gaze.
“I’m not,” Brunhild protested.
“You are.I can see it in the way you’re holding yourself.And you have that little furrow between your brows that you’ve had since we were children.It means you’re discomfited.”
Brunhild closed her eyes.Mirren always saw straight through to how she truly felt.“I can’t help it.I have no one I can trust but you.”She reached up to rub the back of her neck.“My husband assures me that I can trust him as well, that he will uphold the bargains we have made, but I cannot find it in my heart to trust the words of any man.Not after a lifetime of constant betrayal by my father and brothers.”
“Until you can figure a way out of this predicament, we must make the best of things,” Mirren sagely advised as she tugged off Brunhild’s left boot.
Brunhild sniffed.“Easy enough for you to say.You can sleep on the ship if you want.Meanwhile, I’ll be forced to share a bedchamber with my new husband.”
Her friend’s face split into a naughty smile.“Even given my usual preference, I’d not scoff at the thought of that between my legs.”
“I’d say you’re welcome to sample, but he doesn’t strike me as the kind of man who would go elsewhere once he’s said his vows.No matter his other faults.”
Mirren shrugged and winked.“Suit yourself.I spotted plenty of lasses with hips and breasts just the way I like them in the crowd.”
The woman was a menace.She’d carved quite the path through their crew with her lusty appetites and on more than one occasion, Brunhild had been forced to step in and settle squabbles over who deserved her attentions.
“You’re incorrigible.”
“Once upon a time, you didn’t mind,” Mirren said as she stroked her palm over Brunhild’s calf.
Briefly, when they’d first gone raiding, the excitement of their conquests had morphed into more.They’d quickly settled into friendship again, because neither one of them wanted to ruin the camaraderie they’d built and because Brunhild knew Mirren needed to be the dominant in a relationship.
It had been a very long time since someone besides herself had given her release, and Brunhild was tempted to take her up on her invitation and let her friend’s magic tongue and fingers do the work.“Nay.Go find another bier to frolic in.”
Mirren leveraged herself up and bussed Brunhild’s cheek.“I’ll go ensure the ship is safe for the night,” she said as she sauntered toward the door.“But remember, if that great beast of a man is shite in your bed, you have other options.”
This reminder was given with an elaborate sway of her hips and a wink over her shoulder as she left and closed the door behind her.
“Incorrigible,” Brunhild muttered as she tugged off her other boot and finished stripping her garments.
After she’d soaked for nearly an hour and was beginning to feel remotely human again, she finally looked at the outfit her husband’s aunt had lain out for her.
And promptly felt the need to retch because the scarlet dress left little to the imagination.
She reminded herself sh was meant to pursue glory , not attend a banquet dressed in a gown clearly designed to entice her husband.
If she was meant to wear the atrocity laid over the chair, she’d make it her own.
Brunhild had used her dagger to cut a swath of fabric from the gown, to make it tunic length so she could wear her leather braies beneath it.
She slid her gold cuffs onto her upper arms, and tied the tunic in a knot at one shoulder, covering her bound breasts.
The former gown was still far less fabric than she was accustomed to wearing, even with the alterations, and when she heard the knock on her door she girded herself for the confrontation that was sure to follow.
Her new husband strode into the room, freshly washed, his long hair slicked back into a bun at his nape.He wore a shirt for once, and Brunhild indulged in a small flicker of regret at that.Perhaps staring at his carved chest across the supper table would have made the ordeal more bearable.
