Life could change in a day and sometimes in an instant. That had been proven to Rurik more than once. His mother’s sudden death from an illness, the wedding attack, finding out that King Feann was actually his uncle and now this. He was to be married into the same family he had come to destroy. As improbable as it seemed, with a night to sleep on his decision, he still believed he was making the right one.
In truth, he could remember very little of the previous evening. He remembered clearly right up until the moment Cedric had suggested marriage. After that, the bits of memory became vague and matched together in a way that did not seem to follow a logical trail of time. There was Annis’s horrified expression. That particular memory kept coming back and it smarted. There was Wilfrid and the almost sage way he had pressed Rurik to consider marriage. There was Annis’s face again when Rurik accepted. She had excused herself, but he honestly could not remember if she had accepted as well. Cedric had spent the meal—all with guards still present—droning on and on about Glannoventa’s great history, but Rurik did not recall a word of it.
Earlier that morning, Alder, the guard who seemed to be assigned to him most and the one who had hit him that first night outside the tavern, brought him food and requested he ready himself for an outing. He half expected that Annis had arranged for his imminent demise. A little while later he had been given his fur and led out a set of doors and was now standing in a courtyard. A low wall surrounded it with a gate that was open to the outside. Alder disappeared into a stone building that seemed to house horses if the smell of manure and straw coming from it was any indication. The warrior returned, leading a mare, just as the doors to Mulcasterhas opened.
Annis and Cedric stepped outside, Annis with a look that suggested she was being led to the gallows, though Cedric seemed more resigned and less likely to stab someone at a moment’s notice.
‘Good morning,’ Annis said. He noticed she left off any form of address. ‘We thought that you might like a tour of Mulcasterhas and Glannoventa, before…’
‘Before our wedding?’ He supplied the words, while gauging her response.
She flinched, an unusual reaction for her, and glanced at a boy who brought out two more horses. Instead of answering, she walked past him to her horse, a sturdy-looking animal that whinnied in greeting at her approach. She stroked his muzzle and he dipped his head to get a scratch behind the ears.
Rurik found himself admiring her tall, lean frame as she moved. He had always found her attractive, but now that he had agreed to wed her—and it seemed that she had accepted him—his interest intensified. His body knew that she was his even if his heart and mind were slow to catch up. He liked the way she took the time to stroke the animal, before making use of the stool placed down for her to assist in mounting. He liked how she still crooned to him softly from his back as she settled herself. He liked how she sat in her saddle, both graceful and strong.
‘Will you come with us?’ she asked, when she caught him watching her.
Surprised to see that Cedric was already mounted, he hurried to the horse Alder had presented to him. She waited long enough for him to settle himself in the saddle, before leading the way through the gate. Cedric dropped behind with the three other guards who trailed along, allowing them a modicum of privacy as she showed him around. Mulcasterhas and the surroundings were on the remnants of a Roman fort and much of the original was still visible. Stone stalls had been converted to living quarters and wattle-and-daub huts had been built more recently to replace the ones that had disintegrated with time. The barracks had been rebuilt and enlarged to more comfortably house Wilfrid’s warriors…soon to be his warriors if all went as planned. A new weight came over him as this realisation settled in. This would be his. An arrangement he was not likely to find in Maerr, even before the massacre.
The responsibility and the opportunity it presented was appealing. To rise from a barely tolerated acknowledged bastard to lord of all this was a heady proposition.
She showed him all of it with pride in her voice. The barracks had been a project she had instigated and they were well done.
‘How many warriors?’ he asked.
Pride threaded her voice as she gave him an accounting of the warriors stationed here and those that could be called in if they were needed. He followed her arm as she indicated the endless hills that rolled far beyond their corner of the world. All of that would be his. ‘Come.’ Giving him a hesitant smile, she led the way up the stone steps to the top of the wall that surrounded Mulcasterhas.
And what a world it was. He had not had the time or inclination to appreciate the beauty of the landscape when he had arrived. But now, it was impossible to miss. Despite the fact that winter was upon them and white dusted the tops of the highest hills, the abundant evergreens kept the world from turning completely brown. Sunlight shimmered on at least two lakes hiding in the valleys where a silver thread of water snaking through the hills joined them together. He imagined how lush and verdant the summer would be and felt a pang of longing for Maerr and what had been lost.
But look at what he had found. It was not until that moment on top of the wall that cordoned Mulcasterhas from the rest of the world that Rurik truly understood the task he was taking on. His heart jolted with the first burst of excitement.
Warriors sparred in the valley below the wall and some of them had stopped to take notice. He had no doubt that talk of their possible marriage had already reached the men. The clang of the swords and shields of those in the distance continued on. The fight to gain their loyalty would no doubt be an uphill battle, but he welcomed the challenge. He had come to Glannoventa for vengeance and justice. While he had not found vengeance, perhaps this truly could be his opportunity for justice. A chance for all this to be his.
Theirs. He looked over at Annis, who stared back at him with a wariness he was beginning to understand stemmed from fear.
‘You do not give this up by marrying me,’ he said, keeping his voice measured so the conversation would not travel to Cedric and the others. He resented that he had not had a moment alone with her since agreeing to this match the night before. Now he thought perhaps it was her own doing. She might have been avoiding him because she was reticent about the match and rightly so.
A wry smile curved her lips as she looked out at the hills beyond. ‘As I am a woman, you will rule here. Not I.’
Closing the small distance between them, he stood so close their shoulders touched and he took her chin in his palm. ‘As my wife, you will sit beside me. I am certain we can come to an agreement for a suitable division of duties.’ He did not quite understand why he was saying this. It was his right to do as he wished and she would have no choice but to answer to him, yet he wanted to see the spark return to her eyes. It had been there from the first and was one of the many things he admired about her. He did not want to be the reason it faded. From all accounts, she had done well on her own. He saw no reason to disavow her skills now. Not when he wanted things to be good between them.
Her eyes widened as they met his. ‘You do not mean that.’
He could not help but smile at the challenge. Strangely, he enjoyed that about her. ‘Do you question your lord?’
He teased her on purpose and was gratified when the spark returned to her eyes and she tilted her head. ‘Daily.’
He could not help the chuckle that came from deep in his chest. His fingers tightened a little on her soft cheek as he drew closer to her. It did not matter that Cedric and the others were near, or even that several warriors watched them from below. He wanted to kiss her, to claim her in a way that suddenly felt vital to him. The way her gaze touched on his lips made him think she wanted it, too.
‘I want to kiss you,’ he whispered. Remembering their last kiss, he added, ‘But I do not want to risk a broken nose.’
‘Then you do not want to kiss me badly enough,’ she said with a devilish gleam in her eyes and pulled herself free. She glanced back over her shoulder at him as she made her way down the steps.
Far behind her and over the opposite wall, the cold sun glinted off the small portion of sea that was visible. He had crossed that sea less than a week ago, but it might have been a lifetime. Little had he known that he might find a home waiting here for him. Or that he might find her.
Tendrils of auburn had escaped their confines to trail behind her in the wind. They beckoned to him and he was helpless to resist their call. With the exhilaration of a promise to come burning in his belly, he followed her.
* * *
The rest of the day was spent exploring the village. Her eyes lit up with love and enthusiasm as she showed him each shop or greeted a villager. It was clear that she loved this place. If the truth be known, he was a little envious of how she belonged here. It made him want to marry her even more. Not only so that he could belong to her, too, but so that he could protect this for her.
By the time they were heading back to Mulcasterhas, Rurik had almost forgotten that the marriage had all but been arranged. Had life been different, and she a woman back home in Maerr, he would have pursued her. But life was not different for them, nor would it allow them to forget who they were. A warrior left the gate as they approached and met them halfway up the road. Cedric rode ahead to intercept him, but after a rushed conversation turned back towards them with a grim expression on his face.
‘Jarl Eirik is on his way,’ he called out. ‘He should arrive by tomorrow evening at the latest. Earlier if he doesn’t stop tonight.’
Annis took a breath on a swift intake. Rurik wanted to reach for her, but he doubted she would find comfort from him. Instead, he tightened his grip on the reins, making his mare prance a bit in place. ‘We must marry tonight.’
Cedric nodded. ‘Agreed. Tonight, and by tomorrow he will not be able to question the validity of the marriage.’
A quick glance at Annis found her none too pleased, but she straightened her shoulders and her chin went up a notch. A sure sign that she was resigned. Rurik stifled a curse that it had to happen this quickly. They had had no time alone. Other than his hasty reassurance, she had no guarantee that he would hold to his word. He did not want a marriage like his father’s, but under the circumstances he was not at all certain how to avoid it.
* * *
The wedding took place that evening. A simple affair with Cedric, Wilfrid, Rurik and herself, along with a few words. There was no banquet or long list of guests as had been present with her first wedding, but then Annis did not really require those things. It was only that it all happened so fast that it did not even seem to be real. How could a few spoken words change things so completely?
As impossible as it seemed, they were man and wife. The meal passed in relative silence, with no one eating very much. While she was worried about the night to come, the men were more worried about Jarl Eirik. The conversation centred on what might happen tomorrow and strategies on how to approach the man. Annis thought she participated, but she could not be certain. She was too focused on the Norseman at her side.
Her husband. He had promised to divide the duties between them, but nothing else had been spoken about that. Would he follow through with that? No one would force him. Had he merely said that to gain her co-operation? He need not have. She had no better options. She would have wed him regardless.
Would he be rough with her tonight? He had not changed physically in the hours that had passed that day, but he somehow seemed larger, stronger, bigger boned than she had noticed before. He had been kind to her that day when he could have been harsh. Then again, he had come here to destroy her family. What if he had decided that if there was no satisfaction to be had in punishing Wilfrid he would punish her instead? What did she really know of him?
Without realising it, she found her thoughts propelling her to her feet. All of the men except Wilfrid stood abruptly and he looked at her in confusion.
‘I am tired. I wish to retire.’ It was the only explanation she could think of, when she was actually going off to question her very sanity.
‘I’ll come with you,’ said Rurik. His eyes were slightly hooded as he took her in and there was a softness about his mouth. There was no doubt to anyone what he was thinking, but she could not face that yet.
‘Stay and finish.’ She spoke too quickly, so she made her voice calm as she continued. ‘I will be a while.’
He nodded, but she noticed his jaw hardened. He was not happy about staying. Perhaps it would have been better to stay at the table. She did not know and, as panic began to overtake her, she did not care. She had to escape, to be alone for a few precious moments before facing the coming night.