Page 117 of The Caged Viking

But, of course, Kirstin took the action out of his hands. “Listen, sweetheart, since my abrupt departure and equally abrupt return are the big pink elephants in the room, let me assure you—”

“An elephant am I now?”

“Not you. It’s a figure of speech. Never mind. I am never going to leave again. Even if you don’t want me anymore.”

“Kirstin,” he said on a long sigh. “You came. You said you love me. You left. You came back again. You said you were sorry. Then you locked yourself in this room. You came out acting as if you’d never left. Then you get all shrewish on me and run away, crying. How can I trust what you say anymore?”

She bristled. But then she raised her chin. “What if I can prove it, that I won’t be leaving ever again?”

“How?” He suspected he was falling into some trap.

“Release me, and I’ll show you.”

He hesitated, still wary of a trap. But then he muttered, “Damn me for a fool!” and stepped back from her.

Immediately she went toward the door and opened it. At the same time, she was pushing the two arm rings down from her upper arms to her wrists, then off. By the time he caught up with her, she was already poised over the closest of the hearth fires where one of the yule logs, which had been lit this morning, was still burning white-hot. Before he realized what she was about, she dropped both arm rings into the fire.

“Good gods!” he exclaimed as he came up beside her. “Have you lost your bloody mind?”

“No. I’ve found it,” she said, smiling up at him.

It took him several moments to find a poker which had been moved to another hearth. The heat was so intense that he had to be careful not to singe the hairs on his forearm. Once he caught the two arm rings on the tip of the poker, the metal had already started to soften and reform into odd shapes. The rings would have had to stay in the coals for much longer before the silver would actually begin melting, but as it was, they would never fit over anyone’s arms at this point, not even a child’s.

Kirstin had already turned and was stomping back to the bedchamber.

Egil and Bjorn came up to him, both of them laughing like hyenas.

“Truly, m’lord, I have not had so much fun since…since…” Egil sputtered.

“…since Lady Kirstin was here before,” Bjorn finished for him.

“I cannot wait to see what you two do next,” Egil said.

“Nor can all the rest of us here in the hall,” Bjorn added, waving to indicate the dozens of people in the hall who were blatantly eavesdropping. Ever since Hauk had gotten the appellation of Viking in a Cage, he’d been the subject of much mirth, and he was damn tired of being the source of everyone’s amusement. He motioned for the musicians to resume their performance and told Egil and Bjorn in no uncertain terms to go back to their seats and lead the feast to its usual finish, which should be soon. Otherwise, he would be back, and it wouldn’t be him providing the entertainment; it would be the two of them, singing, or dancing, or standing on their mead-sodden heads.

Hauk was left, still holding the poker with the dangling, misshapen arm rings in front of him. They were too hot to set down anywhere. After he followed her into the room, he kicked the door shut behind him and tipped the poker over the water pitcher where the rings sizzled as they sank to the bottom.

Only then did he turn to look at his wife who had the absolutely infuriating, galling, outrageous nerve to smile at him. She was half lying on the bed, propped against a pile of bed furs, her arms crossed behind her neck, and she was as naked as the day she was born.

And she was wearing a set of arm rings.

* * *

Round two…

On the outside, Kirstin worked to appear calm and triumphant, but inside she was nervous and unsure how Hauk would take her grand gesture, which turned out not to be a grand gesture after all. Well, actually, it was, but she would need to make some explanations before he would realize that.

He did not look like he was in the mood for explanations. He put his hands on his hips and shook his head with disbelief. “Do you enjoy making mock of me?”

“I wasn’t mocking you. I needed to make a grand gesture in order to get your attention.”

“Hah! You had my attention when you came walking up the fjord path looking like a Valkyrie in that white fur. You had my attention when you came swanning into the Jul feast looking like Queen of the North. You sure as hell got my attention when you made that challenge toast.”

“Well, how did I know that? That stupid shield of indifference you built around yourself was impenetrable. I had to make a grand gesture with the arm rings on the fire.”

“Pfff! More like a grand jest. At my expense.”

She sat up and held her arms out to him. “Take off your clothes and come make love to me. Afterward, I’ll explain everything.”