Page 11 of Lord of Fire and Ice

The thwack of an ax splitting wood echoed off the stone barn. Finn glared in the direction of Brandr and the chopping block. He snorted.

“I’ll bet the son of Ulf isn’t taking much to that iron collar.”

“No, but at least he isn’t afraid of hard labor.” Katla slanted her gaze at Finn. “Unlike some.”

Since Brandr was a jarl’s son, Katla expected him to be demeaned by the tasks she assigned him. The gods knew her brothers couldn’t be bothered to work, and they were only the sons of a karl, a simple landed farmer. But Brandr tackled each chore without complaint.

She was still amazed that he’d kept his word not to run away. It would have been a simple matter to escape with his friends that morning if his oath meant nothing to him. There was more character there than she’d suspected.

Against her better judgment, she watched his easy stride as he walked back across the barnyard. His bare arms rippled with strength, and that snug tunic showed far too much of his muscular thighs. Several women churning butter by the open barn door turned their heads to follow his progress. When he bent to stack the wood, his tunic rode up so high, the women were nearly treated to the sight of his bare buttocks.

“Better find a longer tunic for the man, or you’ll get no work done from your women,” Finn observed.

Katla couldn’t blame them. Brandr Ulfson was extremely well made. She had to keep reminding herself he was son of her husband’s murderer. Yet even knowing who he was, he was not an easy man to resist. Would it be so terrible if she stopped trying?

“Katla, the man’s almost here.”

Finn’s voice pulled her out of her indecent thoughts. She turned to see her other brothers, Einar and Haukon, flanking a third man and coming up the hill toward her. Katla gave herself a silent scolding. It wouldn’t do to be musing about her attraction to a thrall when she was about to meet the man she might marry.

“Who is he?” she asked Finn as the party approached.

“Albrikt Gormson. He owns a tidy property, three times the size of your farmstead, on the northwest corner of Stord Island,” Finn said.

“Stord? That’s a good day’s sail, two if you meet rough seas. You must have made these arrangements before you brought me the son of Ulf. When did you intend to tell me you’d already set up another match?”

“At the last possible moment,” Finn admitted.

Katla gave him a sisterly swat on the shoulder. If Finn would only show as much initiative in other things. “He hasn’t another wife, has he? I’ll be no man’s second.”

It wasn’t unusual for a man to keep a concubine handy. Her husband, Osvald, had one, but he never turned to her unless Katla had been unable to welcome him. A few foolhardy men actually had more than one wife under the beam of their longhouses. While Katla had tolerated sharing her man with another woman on occasion, she’d never resign herself to sharing the running of a household.

“No, Albrikt has no wife. He’s widowed.”

“Any children?”

“A son, but he’s gone to Iceland to manage Gormson’s land there.”

Katla nodded her approval. If the man had other land for his existing heirs, it would make it easier for her children to inherit this farm.

If she was blessed with children. She couldn’t give up hope.

“If Gormson has come this far, you must have done some preliminary negotiating.” When Katla married Osvald, he set up Finn and Einar on small farmsteads. Unfortunately, her brothers were indifferent farmers and ran their places into the ground with overgrazing and mismanagement. In the end, their holdings had been sold to pay their bills at the mead house. She hoped they’d do better next time. “What has he offered you?”

“Gormson will deed his property on Stord over to us in exchange for control of your land.”

“And why is he willing to trade a larger holding for a smaller one?” Katla arched an eyebrow at her brother. She didn’t like the idea of giving someone else control of her land. What would happen to the people who depended on her? “Does his steading have a source of fresh water? Timber? Stord is mountainous. Mayhap the land is all vertical.”

Finn shrugged after each question.

“Have you even seen Gormson’s land?”

“Well, no, but if the holding’s that big, it should divide well three ways.”

“Hel’s chambers are said to be spacious, but no one wishes to bide in that cold hall, do they?” Katla said waspishly. “Honestly, Finn, your head is supposed to be good for more than keeping your ears apart.”

“You underestimate me, sister. This time, we’ll get some ready coin from the arrangement too.” Finn straightened to his full lanky height and gave her a withering glance. “But we’re not likely to if he sees you like this. Go clean up. The bath house is already hot. I can smell the smoke from here. We’ll give Gormson a long look around the place, and you can meet him at night meal, ja?”

A lovely hot bath sounded too delicious to pass up.