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He leaned forward and said quietly, “You will say the same words to me, Zarabeth.”
“But I am a Christian, Magnus. There is no priest here. How can these words between us make us one?”
He smiled then, and merely repeated, “Say the words. You are in my land now and there are no Christian gods here that we recognize in our souls.”
“I pledge my faith to you, Mag
nus.”
“You do well. Continue.”
Her voice strengthened. “I will live with you in peace and I will give you all that is mine to give. I will protect you with my life.”
“And your loyalty, Zarabeth? Do you pledge me your loyalty?”
“I pledge you my loyalty and my fidelity.”
“Will you give me constancy? I wonder. Now slide the ring on my finger.”
She did, and he leaned forward, grasping her upper arms, and kissed her forehead. “Your words pleased me. Would you truly protect me with your life? Would you honestly give me your loyalty? Above all others?” When she merely ducked her head, he released her, turned, and looked at his father, then at Mattias and Jon, and finally at his mother. “You are our witnesses. Is there anyone who is displeased with this joining?”
There was no word spoken.
“Good. Zarabeth, attend me now. You will remain here with my mother and you will prepare food. We will search now for my son. I know not how long we will be gone this time.”
She grabbed for him, turning him about, pulling at the cloth of his tunic. “But I would go too, Magnus! ’Twas not Egill’s fault, and he must have blamed himself and run away. Please, let me help you search for him. You must!”
The pain was momentarily banked in his eyes. He even managed a smile at her. He stroked her vivid hair as he said, “Nay, you will not. Obey me, Zarabeth.” He turned to Helgi. “Keep her safe, Mother, and keep her within the palisade walls.”
He was gone, his brothers and father following him out of the longhouse, the rest of the men hurrying after them.
Helgi hugged her new daughter-in-law. “Worry not, Zarabeth, they will find the boy.”
“He ran away because he felt guilty.” Zarabeth drew a deep breath. “He shouldn’t die because Lotti did.”
“Magnus will find his son. Your generosity toward the boy pleases me, as it pleased him, but you must understand that Magnus wants you kept safe above all else.”
Zarabeth realized she was wringing her hands, saying yet again, “But Egill wasn’t responsible, he wasn’t, Helgi. If only I could find him and speak to him.”
“Well, you cannot. You will remain here, as your husband wishes, and that is that.”
Ingunn came to stand by her mother, but all her attention was on the woman who’d taken everything from her. The woman she’d known would take everything from her the moment she’d seen her walking up the path behind Magnus, wearing that damned slave collar, her red hair vibrant beneath the bright sun. Aye, she’d known then. Magnus was naught but a fool. She said, ostensibly to Helgi, “I wish to leave Malek now. I do not ever want to come to this farmstead again. My brother was blind to what she is, and now he has pledged himself to this whore, this murderess, and his son is probably dead, and all because of her and her idiot sister.”
The fragile hold Zarabeth had on herself snapped. She snarled like an animal, deep in her throat, and leapt upon Ingunn, her hands wrapping around her throat. “You venomous bitch! I would cut out your tongue if I could. You are mean and vicious, and it should be you out there, not Egill, not that poor little boy!”
Zarabeth felt another’s hands pulling at her wrists, not a man’s hands, but a woman’s hands imbued with incredible strength, and she heard Helgi saying softly, over and over, “Enough, Zarabeth. Leave her be. Leave her be. That’s right. Come away now.”
Zarabeth’s fingers fell away from Ingunn’s throat. She was trembling with the aftermath of her rage. She saw Ingunn grabbing her throat, massaging it, and there was such hatred in her eyes that Zarabeth couldn’t bear to look at her.
Helgi looked from one to the other. “There will be no more insults or baiting, Ingunn. You have no reason to hate Zarabeth. Your brother has chosen her for his wife. You knew he would take a wife and you would no longer have that position here. Why have you chosen such a path? Ah, but ’twas a false life anyway, and not fair to you or to your brother. It is done and over with. You will accept it. You will go about your work and you will keep your foul words behind your teeth.”
“But—”
“Enough! We will find you a husband, one who is honorable, and you will forget Orm. Nay, I will hear nothing more about him! It is even said that it was he and his men who killed the men at the Ingolfsson farmstead and raped the Ingolfsson women. Would you still care to have such as he? He has proved himself an animal.”
“It isn’t true! Orm wouldn’t do such things, he wouldn’t! It is a lie made up by men like my father who are jealous of him!”
Helgi continued, ignoring Ingunn, “It is time for you to become wife and mother, Ingunn. You will forget Orm. I will say no more about it.”
