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He pinched her bottom. “Continue.”
“Whilst Vana flirted with one of the guardsmen, Breanne located the chamber where the wet nurse was caring for not just your baby but your brother’s as well. When the wet nurse went to the garderobe, Breanne put a flagon of strong Frankish wine in the room. Once the wet nurse was drukkinn, I came in with the dead baby and substituted it for the live one.”
“Are you demented? Do your sister’s husbands know what things they do? You should be beaten. You should be locked up for your own safety.”
“A mere thank you would suffice.”
“Your sarcasm is unnecessary, as well.”
She shrugged. “Anyhow, we managed to escape, with the baby, and no one had any reason to think other than your child had died.”
“Is that everything?’
“Well ...”
He groaned.
“We did kidnap the wet nurse, and Tyra did have to clonk one guardsmen with the flat side of her broadsword, and Vana kneed one man in his dangly part, and methinks there might have been a tiny fire in the kitchen for a distraction.”
First she felt a rumbly sound, then a shaking, and realized that Sidroc was laughing and trying to hold it back.
“What is so funny?” she demanded finally.
“You,” he gasped out.
“A mere thank you would be welcome,” she said once again.
He paused, said, “Thank you for saving my baby,” then brushed his lips against the curve of her neck.
That mere whisper of a kiss sealed her fate. She was in love with the loathsome lout.
Chapter Twenty-two
He could think of one way to shut the woman up ...
Sidroc was no longer bone-melting angry with Drifa, but he did not trust her any farther than he could throw her. Not that he had any plans to throw her anytime soon, unless she continued to prattle about how happy his daughter was at Stoneheim and how unhappy she would be if forced to leave.
In truth, Sidroc was conflicted and did not need Drifa’s harping to add to his agitation.
“I want my daughter with me,” he insisted.
“But you do not know Runa. You would be strangers.”
“Whose fault is that?”
“You have no home yet for yourself, let alone Runa.”
“I will get one, and stop calling her Runa.”
“It is the only name she knows. Best you get used to it. Who would care for Runa? You have no wife or female staff.”
“I will.”
“Get a wife?” she asked in an oddly choked voice.
Well, not so odd, really. He knew she feared his marrying and taking the girl to form his own family for her. And why wouldn’t he? “Nay. No wife. Not right away, leastways. Why? Are you volunteering?”
“Good gods, nay!”
