Page 85 of A Tale of Two Vikings

“I know you suffer from your brother’s death, but I envy the love that you two shared whilst together. It was special and rare—something to be cherished. I have never experienced that kind of love—any kind really—and suspect I never will. I know, I know,” she said with a laugh; “you are thinking that I never will because I will be dead. Well, some things are worth dying for. You are willing to die for your brother’s honor. I am willing to die to regain my home.

“Bolthor told the most awful saga afore they left for Winchester. It was about Alinor having a tail and her teasing a Viking named Rurik. I thought Alinor would wring his neck, but the men all laughed uproariously.

“I wager that Bolthor would love to tell some outrageous saga about this event,” she said, indicating his bonds and nakedness. “Not that he will ever hear about it, but, Blessed Lord, it would probably have some such atrocious title as ‘How the Cock Got His Feathers Plucked,’ or ‘She Had Her Way With Him.’ Ha ha ha.

“Oh, well, if you are not going to talk to me, I might as well return to the keep.”

She was about to put his gag back on when he said, “Esme…”

“What?” she asked hopefully.

“I am going to kill you.”

It seemed like a good idea at the time…

The next morning, Esme was in the kitchen with Eadyth, Alinor and the twins, Sarah and Sigrud, making plans for a huge yuletide feast to be held at Ravenshire.

Eadyth and Alinor were in especially high spirits because the streak of bad weather had finally broken, and the sun shone warmly outside, melting the snow and ice. For a certainty, their husbands would return within the next few days.

Which brought Esme even more distress. How much longer could she hold Toste against his will without anyone finding out? And if he didn’t agree to her demands, what then?

“Dost think Toste will return in time for the feast?” Sarah asked shyly.

Her sister Sigrud nudged her with an elbow. “We only wondered because he loves to dance and surely there will be dancing at the feast.”

Eadyth smiled at the two blushing girls, who were quite attractive with the silver-blond hair and violet eyes of their mother.

“I’m sure he’ll be back by then,” Alinor interjected. “And, yea, Toste and Vagn were always expert dancers, as I recall.”

“Toste is a little old for you girls,” Eadyth said gently.

“Moth-er!” the twins exclaimed as one.

After the twins left to search their wardrobes for garments fine enough to wear to the feast, Esme still sat at the table with the two women, who regaled her with stories.

“I cannot believe some of the outrageous things we did as young women,” Alinor began. “One time, when Tykir and his men kidnapped me to take me back to King Anlaf’s court, I put a potion in his ale. Blessed Lord, he spent two whole days in the garderobe for my misdeed.”

“Well, I pretended to be an aged crone for the first few months of my marriage to Eirik. How outrageous is that?”

“I can beat that. There was the time I tied Tykir’s hair to a chair so he could not chase after me when I ran away. He was naked at the time, of course.” Alinor grinned impishly at the memory.

“I think the most outrageous thing I ever did was planning my own mock death. I put all these animal bones and entrails in a shed, hoping that Eirik would think it was me.”

Esme was amazed that these women admitted—nay, took great pleasure in—their outrageous antics. It was probably why she blurted out, “Well, none of that is as outrageous as what I have done.”

She immediately slapped a hand over her mouth, but it was too late. Eadyth and Alinor were staring at her with decided interest.

“What have you done, Esme?” Eadyth asked softly.

“Oh, I cannot say. You would think me the most evil woman on earth. You would hate me. You would be so shocked. You would banish me from Ravenshire forthwith.”

“Esme, my dear, there is nothing you can say that would shock us. Believe you me, we have seen and done it all.” Alinor’s freckled hand patted Esme’s pale white one in comfort.

Esme was not comforted. “You are wrong. You would be shocked.”

“The reason for your nervousness these past few days—it is not because you worry over the Witan’s verdict, is it?” Eadyth asked hesitantly.

“I worry over that, of course, but it is not my biggest concern. I am in such trouble.”