The next morning Ellan brought the tray of implements for a fresh bandage into Aevir’s alcove. He was up and sitting with his undershirt on. His tunic was on the bed beside him and he had already stripped the old bandage from his thigh. A quick glance noted that his wound appeared to be healing nicely.
‘Good morning.’ Her voice was strained, knowing that this would be the last time she saw him like this.
He spared her a look, one that proved to her how things had changed between them overnight. There was a distance in his eyes, as if she were any other person to him. He was back to being the aloof warrior. And then he was motioning for the tray, which she placed on the bed beside him.
‘Thank you,’ he said without looking at her again as he picked up the cloth from the tray. ‘I’m well enough to see to the bandage myself. Send Oleif to me. I’ll have the morning meal in the hall.’
She paused at the threshold, her fingers tightening into fists at her side as she watched him work on bandaging his wound. A gold strand of his hair caught the light from the fire, making it shine bronze. Despite everything, love for him bloomed in her heart. She didn’t even try to explain it or justify it any more. The why or how of it no longer mattered. It was nestled there, shredding her heart with its tiny, persistent claws, and she was certain that it always would be. She had passed the night on her mattress, wondering if she had chosen correctly. Would it have been best to spend their final night in each other’s arms? Would she think back to that night in her old age and wish she had chosen differently? She had found herself rising to go to him countless times, but had always managed to stay herself.
One thing had held her back. If he chose her, she wanted it to be because it had been his choice, not because she had persuaded him with pleasure.
Finally he looked up from bandaging his thigh and found her staring at him. There was a question in his eyes, quickly replaced by the faintest hint of regret. Giving him one final smile, she turned and walked to the hall to find Oleif. She didn’t stay around to have a meal. She wasn’t hungry and she had another goal in mind before the morning was done. With her own future to secure, she went to find Henrik.
Men were already busy with chores and sparring. It seemed that a wall around Banford had been commissioned and, in the distance, trees were being felled in preparation for the spring build. A man chopped firewood on the far side of the clearing near the forest. His axe made a rhythmic echo in the morning drone of activity. Off in the field the clang of a sword against a metal shield sounded.
She walked towards the field, expecting that would be the best place to find Henrik. A man named Ander followed her. He was one of Aevir’s men and had been stationed outside the door when she had left.
‘Where is Henrik?’ she asked the lump of hulking man at her back.
He grunted and pointed towards the field.
‘Thank you,’ she said and hurried her steps.
Henrik’s bright hair was easy to find among the score of men who were sparring. He wielded his sword well and Ellan was surprised to feel pride in her friend as she watched him. He was younger than many of the older, more experienced warriors, but he held his own. There was no doubt that he would be as formidable as some of Aevir’s most valued men some day.
She waited off to the side until there was a break in the session, before calling out to him and waving. He smiled and took off his helmet, carrying it under his arm as he loped over to her. The brisk morning air mixed with his exertion had turned his face almost as red as his hair. ‘Good morning,’ he said with a smile.
‘Good morning. I didn’t mean to interrupt. I only wanted to ask if you could come by later when you have a moment.’
He looked down at the ground, a grin twisting his mouth. ‘Is this in regards to my offer?’
A knot tightened in her stomach, but there was no way around what she had to do. ‘Aye.’
‘We can talk now. I’m finished for the morning.’ Despite the cold, a bead of sweat ran down his temple.
‘Are you certain? I can wait.’
He shook his head. ‘Now is good.’ Walking to a pile of gear several steps away, he picked up a scabbard to sheathe his sword.
‘Thank you, Ander, but you can go back and have your meal now. Henrik can accompany me.’
‘Henrik?’ Ander’s deep voice filled the air.
‘Aye. I’ll see to her,’ Henrik said, and Ander gave her a nod and made his way back towards the hall.
Henrik rejoined her several moments later with the sword strapped to his back and the helmet dangling from one hand. ‘Shall I walk you home? It’s cold out.’
She nodded, though she hadn’t noticed the cold. Her hands trembled because she was anxious. Lacing her fingers together in front of her, she said, ‘I want to thank you again for your generous offer. You’ve been a kind friend to me when I sorely needed one.’
He nodded, but the smile was gone from his features. ‘I think we both know that I want more than friendship.’
She paused, slightly taken aback by how forward he was being when he’d seemed so timid in the past. Resuming her pace, she said, ‘I know. Before I answer you, I want to make certain that we are both of the same mind with this...arrangement.’
He gave his head a shake and she was relieved when his smile made a reappearance. ‘Aye, I understand that you wouldn’t choose me if you weren’t forced into this position.’ His words were harsh, but his eyes were kind when he chanced a quick glance her way.
‘That isn’t precisely true,’ she hurried to reassure him. ‘I like you very much, Henrik. Perhaps given enough time, I could very well choose you.’ Perhaps she would have had Aevir not entered her life. ‘The fact is that I don’t have time, which is why I would very much like to take you up on your offer of marriage if Tolan comes forward to claim me.’
‘Only if?’ He came to a stop, making her turn to face him.
‘Aye. You are a friend and perhaps those feelings between us will grow in time. If given the choice, I would rather give them a chance to grow on their own.’
Much to her surprise, he leaned forward and took her chin in a light touch. ‘Is it because of Aevir?’
Her cheeks burned. ‘Perhaps a little.’ Her voice came out softer than she intended it to. She owed him an explanation, but even thinking of Aevir made a lump form in her throat.
‘You love him?’ he asked.
‘Aye.’ It was all that she could voice on the matter.
‘What does he say to that?’
She wanted to elaborate. Henrik deserved the truth from her, but when she opened her mouth to tell him it seemed too intimate and painful. ‘He says nay,’ she whispered.
‘Ah.’ His thumb traced over her chin in a slight caress that wasn’t entirely unpleasant. Or it might have been very pleasant had she not been thinking of the way she responded to Aevir. It felt wrong to have another man touch her in place of him. ‘I am sorry.’
She very much thought that he was sincere. ‘I don’t deserve you, Henrik. Are you certain there is no other woman you want to marry?’
‘But that would leave you to the clutches of your evil Saxon,’ he teased her.
‘That doesn’t have to be your problem.’ She forced a smile, willing to allow him to back out of their arrangement now that he knew the facts. He deserved a happiness that she wasn’t certain she could give him.
‘I wouldn’t leave you to face that on your own, Ellan.’
Tears of gratitude sprang to her eyes before she could hold them back. This man would save her when the man she loved would not. She embraced him before she could think better of it. When his arms came around her she buried her face against his chest and tried to hold back the tide of emotion that rolled through her.
If only the man holding her were Aevir.
Aevir watched the couple embrace from the doorway of the hall. Anger, jealousy and pain warred for dominance within him. He wanted to run over and pull Henrik away from her. He wanted to drag her up on to his horse and leave with her.
In an instant he saw the future spread out before him. She would marry his man and Aevir would be left to watch them together. She would turn her smile on Henrik. She would leave the hall with Henrik at night. She would grow large with Henrik’s child. It was the thought of her swollen with another man’s babe that made his breath catch. He could not bear it.
Oleif came to a stop just behind him and saw the couple over his shoulder. ‘I had heard that he’d offered to marry her, but I didn’t believe it. Until now.’
‘They will not marry,’ Aevir said. It was the only certainty he knew right now.
Oleif fell quiet, which was just as well. Aevir was too involved in trying to work out a solution to this impossible situation to hear him.
Aevir leaned against a wagon containing grain sacks filled with dirt and a few shields and wooden swords thrown on top. It had been parked at the edge of the field where the men used the heavy sacks to build up their endurance as well as their accuracy with the sword. Aevir had spent the morning testing out his leg. The stitches had held tight, but the muscle ached from disuse and from pulling against the thread.
‘How are you holding up?’ Jarl Vidar asked as he left the group of warriors with whom he’d been sparring. He tossed his wooden sword into the back of the wagon and wiped the sweat from his brow.
‘Good. I’ll be ready when it’s time to go after the Scots.’ There was no way he was staying behind. The need for revenge for his injuries was all the incentive he needed to get better quickly.
‘You’re certain?’ The Jarl looked him up and down, his gaze falling on Aevir’s thigh. It was still a bit swollen, but Ellan had been able to alter a pair of trousers to fit with a couple of well-placed slits. ‘Take more time if you need it. The wound—’
Aevir shook his head. ‘There’s no chance of it festering again. I will be ready to fight.’
Jarl Vidar nodded, but his brow furrowed as if he were troubled as he looked back at the men who had moved on to wrestling.
‘What’s wrong? Is there news?’ Aevir asked.
‘A group of men rode in a little while ago from Alvey. There are rumours that Godric and those he took with him are in the south stirring up trouble and looking for support.’
‘How far south?’ Aevir asked.
‘Durham, Yeavering, Stapleham.’
‘Stapleham?’
‘Aye.’ The Jarl’s eyes narrowed as if he didn’t get the significance of that.
‘I’ve heard that Stapleham is where Tolan is from.’
‘Desmond’s relation?’
‘Aye, the Saxon who is betrothed to Ellan.’
Jarl Vidar took in a deep breath as he pondered that and let it out in a puff of steam that disappeared in the cold morning air. ‘What is your interest in Tolan?’
Aevir swallowed, no closer to an answer to that than he had ever been. ‘I would like to see Ellan happy and well. She has no liking for the arrangement her father made. If Tolan is a man of note in Stapleham, then it’s possible that he is plotting with Godric.’
The Jarl glanced around, looking for Saxons, but thankfully there were only Danes on the field. ‘Be careful who’s around when you say that. Desmond is adamant that no one is plotting. He hasn’t even admitted that Godric could be.’
‘Nevertheless, it is a possibility that has to be considered. Tolan must be involved.’ Nothing else could explain the hasty betrothal. What had he been promised in exchange for Ellan’s hand?
‘I have considered the possibility. He’ll be questioned as thoroughly as the other Saxons before the marriage is allowed.’
‘He’s coming here?’ It seemed logical that he would come to claim his bride, but Aevir’s heart sped at the thought. He had hoped that he would have the winter to decide what to do with Ellan, even if his own marriage loomed in the spring.
‘Aye, I’ve heard rumours that he’s on his way.’
A flash of red hair across the way drew his eye to Henrik who had just rejoined the group on the field. The Jarl’s gaze followed his to settle briefly on the warrior before looking back at Aevir.
‘You have a tender spot for her, don’t you?’ There was no answer needed for that. ‘Henrik seems determined to step in and claim her.’
‘Nay.’ The single word came out with such force that it even surprised Aevir.
Jarl Vidar stared out at Henrik. ‘You should know that if Tolan is found to be innocent of plotting with Godric, I will have no choice but to allow the wedding to go forward. I can’t afford to make him an enemy and Desmond would never back us if I stepped in. We need the men of Banford on our side.’
‘But you could stop it if Henrik said he would wed her?’
The Jarl shook his head, but his voice was light-hearted when he spoke, ‘There are ways to tie my hands when it comes to marriages. If the bride were compromised, or better yet, with child, then the groom might cry off on his own. Even if he didn’t, then the dispute would be between the two men. Honour would demand it be settled between them without my interference.’
Aevir stopped breathing for a moment. Was the Jarl giving his blessing should Aevir decide to take her? Not likely. There was still his obligation to the Saxon woman from the south. ‘I can’t imagine Desmond would be happy with that.’
‘Nay, he wouldn’t, but disputes over brides have been going on for centuries. With a potential war on the horizon, I have more important things to consider than petty squabbles over a woman.’
‘Perhaps it won’t come to that if Tolan can be proven a traitor.’ As he spoke, Aevir motioned for Henrik to come over. The boy nodded and took his leave from the group of warriors. Proving that Tolan had aligned himself with Godric’s treachery was the only way Aevir could see to stop the marriage and leave Ellan free to do as she would.
‘I’d be grateful for anything that led us to Godric and the truth,’ Jarl Vidar said. ‘Just so we’re understood, Aevir, you’ve given me your word about marrying Annis. That match is an important one for Alvey.’
Aevir nodded. Annis, a faceless woman he wouldn’t know if she walked right up to him. When he had once been so certain of his future, it now felt very wrong.
When Henrik walked up they all exchanged greetings before the Jarl left to see to his warriors on the field. Wasting no time on preliminaries, Aevir said, ‘I’ve heard talk that you’ve made an arrangement with Ellan.’
The tips of Henrik’s ears turned red, but to his credit he held Aevir’s stare. ‘Aye. I have asked her to be my wife.’
‘Did she give you an answer?’ Aevir couldn’t help but hold his breath as he waited for the reply.
Henrik lifted one shoulder in a shrug. ‘She wants me to step forward if Tolan arrives to claim her hand.’
The relief that swept through him weakened his already lame leg. She did not want the man for herself then. ‘You told her that you would do this?’
Henrik stood taller, his shoulders back with pride. ‘Aye. She is a kind person and I want to help her.’
‘You would bind yourself to her because she is kind?’ Though he tried to tease the boy, Aevir was afraid that he more than understood Henrik’s inclination. There was something about Ellan that made him want to give up his life for her.
The boy’s gaze faltered and he shifted from one foot to the other. ‘And beautiful.’
‘Do you love her, Henrik?’
Henrik paused, and his gaze lifted to Aevir’s. ‘I’m certain that given time I could come to love her. I’m very fond of her.’
That more than anything decided it for Aevir. He liked to think that had Henrik truly loved her and Ellan returned the sentiment, that he would have stepped aside and allowed them each other. But he wasn’t at all certain that he would have. The only certainty was that she had been in his arms last night and she had wanted him. He could do this for her. Save her from a passionless life with Henrik.
‘You are not to marry her.’
Henrik’s eyes widened, stunned. ‘What?’ He seemed to believe that he hadn’t heard correctly.
‘I need you with me and I need you with a clear head to fight the war that’s ahead of us. You do not have my permission to marry anyone right now.’
Henrik opened and closed his mouth like a fish freshly pulled from the water. Aevir genuinely did like and respect him, so he put his hand on the boy’s shoulder and said more gently, ‘Ellan is not for you. One day you will find the woman who is and you’ll be happy that I’ve forbidden this arrangement.’
Henrik found his balance and sobered. ‘What of Ellan? We cannot leave her to face the Saxon alone.’
‘Leave the Saxon to me. I plan to do everything I can to make certain he is found to be the traitor I suspect he is. Then Ellan will be free to return to Alvey or do as she wishes.’ As long as she was away from him, Aevir was certain that he could move forward with his life.
Henrik started to turn away, but stopped halfway and faced Aevir again. ‘That seems like a great risk. Forgive me, but what if you fail?’
‘I won’t.’ By the will of the gods he would not.
‘Is this because you want her for yourself?’ Henrik asked.
Momentarily taken aback by his directness, Aevir swallowed as he tried to determine how much the boy knew of him and Ellan and their increasingly complex relationship. Ignoring the question, he left Henrik behind as he walked further out on to the field to where the men wrestled.