Page 27 of Soul of Fire

Arne is far more fluent in profanity than I am.

Baldur rumbled his agreement, and Eisa hid her smile behind her teacup.And the accent? Your mother doesn’t have one.

She came here when she was very young.I clenched my teeth, the comparison between her and another young woman coming to my mind unbidden.Only fourteen.

Eisa nodded, and I knew she understood the anger radiating down our bond.

My mother returned, settling herself on Eisa’s other side. She raised her brow at me in silent question, a gesture so familiar it made me feel like I was a teenage boy again rather than a grown man.

I nodded slightly, understanding what she asked. Yes, I loved this woman. Deeply. Unquestioningly.

My mother smiled, her eyes shining with happiness, and I cleared my throat as my uncle returned, clad in leather trousers and a loose-fitting shirt that was, to my relief, completely buttoned.

“So you got my letter then?”

“Aye.” He folded his arms across his broad chest as he leaned against the door. “Vague as always, lad, but it’s good to see you nonetheless.”

He was who you sent the letter to? At the inn?Eisa asked.

I sent him several over the last few weeks. Last night’s was to confirm our arrival here today.

Why didn’t you just tell me that?

I shrugged, smirking faintly down at her.You didn’t ask.

Eisa rolled her eyes, and I turned back to Arne, who was looking between us with the same shrewd look my mother had given me.

“So are ye going to formally introduce me to the lass ye went on about for three pages, or shall I do it myself?”

Eisa blinked.Three pages?

“Eisa, this is Arne, my mother’s brother, Jarl of the Reaches, and bearer of even worse manners than me. Arne, this is Eisa, my mate.” Silently, I added,And it was closer to four.

Arne strode forward and tried to kneel at Eisa’s feet. He was my size, and the low table was right in the way. With a grunt, he shoved it, wooden legs screeching across the floor in a way that made my mother wince, and pressed a kiss to the back of Eisa’s hand. “My lady, allow me the honor of saying that the pages did not do ye justice.”

“Thank you.” She gave me a bemused look.Heisa charmer.

Don’t get ideas, Kjære.

Arne looked from Eisa to me and back again, frowning. “What is this, then?” He gestured between us with one hand, his other still clasping my mate’s.

My arm tightened around Eisa’s shoulders, and Baldur rumbled a laugh.Possessive.

Shut up.“What is what?” I added aloud.

Arne stood, still frowning between us. “The eye-fucking.” My mother choked on her tea, and a pretty flush colored Eisa’s cheeks as Arne flopped down in the armchair I had vacated. He regarded my mate steadily. “I cannae tell if it’s consensual or if yer woman needs help. Blink twice, lass, if he’s holding ye against yer will.”

“Hearthmother above.” My mother groaned, dropping her face in her palms. “Really, Arne.”

“The lass disnae mind, Ingrid.” Arne chuckled, his green eyes still fixed on Eisa. “She’s grinning like a cat.”

“I don’t mind.” Eisa’s soft laugh stirred something warm in my gut. It pleased me to see her take to the man whose opinions I valued most in the world. “And believe me, I’ve heard worse in Ironholm.”

My mother sighed in a beleaguered sort of way and smiled at my mate.

I felt something in my chest loosen at her tacit approval. She had always been the kindest of women, and I had long thought it a crime that she had been forced to marry a man who was so completely her opposite.

If you were to ask her, she would likely tell you she agreed to the match,Baldur reminded me. He hadn’t taken a great deal of interest in the conversation up until this point, aside from laughing at my expense, and I gave his eye ridges a mental scratch.