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“It is unfortunate I had so little time to gather clothing for you before we left my father’s house. I have needle and thread; take what you must from my things, but make yourself something that fits tomorrow. That gown is atrocious.”
Celiese held the skirt so she would not trip as she moved closer. “Yes, I do believe I said this was hideous too, but…”
“Don’t tell me you cannot sew!” he exclaimed in disbelief.
“Yes, I do know how to sew very well, but it will not be easy to turn garments made for a man your size into ones that will fit me.”
“What is the matter with my size?” He extended his arms, assessing his proportions as though he had been insulted.
Seeing he had misunderstood her, she tried to explain, “I did not mean that as a criticism, Mylan. You are tall and well built, a magnificent man in every respect, but I am a slender woman, so my figure is very different.”
Although her compliment was a sincere one, he reacted angrily, “I know how I look, you’ll gain no favors from me by lying about it.”
Exasperated, she followed him as he walked around the fire. It seemed no matter what she said he took exception to it. “All I know is that I seem to be a sorry substitute for the woman you love, and although I have done my best to please you, I have obviously failed. Why don’t you go to Estrid now, she is young, no older than Olgrethe, and you shouldn’t think badly of her for refusing to marry you after you’d been so badly hurt.”
Suddenly their problems seemed to have a simple solutionâ??she was never going to win his love and had been a stupid fool to try. “She’s the one you want here with you, isn’t she? Rather than a slave you despise?”
Mylan lifted his hand, as though meaning to slap her out of his way, but he regained control of his temper and thought better of such a hostile gesture. “Do not speak her name to me ever again, or I swear I will give you a beating you’ll never forget!” He had never been so furious with her. She was full of ridiculous ideas, it seemed, but to drag Estrid’s name into their conversation was more than he could abide.
With a defiant toss of her damp curls, Celiese continued, “Oh, go ahead and hit, me, I don’t care! You can have any woman you want, but we’d both be far happier if you sent me back to Olgrethe and married the woman you truly love.”
“After what I’ve suffered with you, I will never even consider taking another bride!” Seeing that he at last had the feisty blonde’s full attention, he yanked the spit off the fire to carry the perfectly roasted venison into the house. “Well, come on, this is the first good meal I’ve had in a week, and I insist you share it.”
Astonished that he would want her company when they were in the middle of such a heated argument, she nevertheless ran after him, tripping and nearly falling as she stepped on the hem of the cumbersome dress. But she caught herself and followed him into the house at a sedate pace, as if he had issued the most gracious of invitations.
When he made no attempt to begin a conversation as they ate, she brought up a subject she was certain would interest him. “I think we should kill the bear, Mylan. He deserves to die for what he did to you.”
Appalled by her suggestion, he took a long drink of ale before he replied. “That bear and I have already had one confrontation, with a most discouraging result. I most certainly will not consider going after him again without at least fifty men to assist me. You would be no help at all.”
“I’ll need weapons, of course, and time to practice with them. I did not mean we should go after the beast tomorrow.”
“Fully armed you would still be useless.” He cut another slice of meat as he marveled at her courage, when only that day she had fainted as he had drawn his bow to shoot.
“There’s more than one way to kill a bear,” she posed. “Do they ever dig pits here and lure the animal to it? Once they fall in it is a simple matter to slay them.”
Sighing softly, he nodded. “Yes, that can be done, but how do you suggest we distract the bear while we dig? It would take the two of us more than a week to dig a pit of sufficient size to trap that monster.”
He had not scoffed at that suggestion, so she tried another. “Dogs would be helpful. Why have you no hunting dogs here?”
“I had three, beauties I’d raised from pups, but they all died the same day I nearly did.”
She swallowed, sorry now that she had asked, for clearly the loss of the hounds still pained him. He appeared to be in a willing mood to talk and she asked softly, “You and your dogs were alone when you encountered the bear?”
He looked up from his meal, surprised by her interest in so gruesome a topic. “No, Hagen was with me. We were tramping through the woods, talking about nothing of any importance, when suddenly the dogs went wild. My brother went one way and I the other, thinking we’d circle around to meet and attack whatever quarry the dogs had at bay. Unfortunately, the bear was too clever for such a simple plan, and you’ve seen the result. Had it not been for the fact that Hagen is so skilled with a spear, my death would have been a swift one.”
She had not seen anything to admire in Hagen in the short while they’d been together, and she was impressed. “Then you were lucky he was with you.”
Frowning, he could not agree, “I did not think so at the time, but he is a very stubborn individual and refused to let me die in peace.”
Vikings believed the best possible death was one met during battle, and she
wondered if a fight with a bear would have qualified him for entrance to Valhalla, where brave warriors were thought to spend eternity feasting and fighting where they could never again be defeated by death. That gory image disgusted her completely, and she did not ask him about it, as the subject of his death was too painful a one to consider even for the sake of a philosophical argument.
“I had little opportunity to get to know Hagen. When next we meet I will try to be more friendly, since you owe your life to him.”
“And you owe yours to me?” He finished his ale, and sat regarding her with a cynical stare.
“Don’t tease me, Mylan. If you were going to kill me for revenge you would have done so long ago,” she pointed out calmly, but the morbid turn their conversation had taken disturbed her.
