The Seducer (Viking Warriors) (9 page)

“You are host. I say you stay.”

“I agree with Njal.” Torsten reached for drying cloth and wiped his damp face. “Good fortune indeed smiles upon us. For Cnut travels with his handfast wife, Ælfgifu, and she has long favored Ainslin. I have learned to never underestimate the influence of a wife over her husband.”

“I have heard no truer words since saying my vows.” Ruard let out a long breath.

“Nor I.” Magnus pillowed his head in his palms. “I swear Deidra and her pets will be the death of me. See you how my hair thins? ’Tis from tearing it out by the roots.”

“At least your wife tends to womanly duties. Bettina sneaks out to hunt boar. She is a witch, my wife. She carried Saxski for three moons before telling me. Had it not been that I count her days between courses now, I swear she would not have told me about the new babe until her stomach rounded.” Njal shook his head. “The silver in my hair grows more every new morn.”

“You count Bettina’s courses?” Jarvik stared at his older brother. “’Tis not manly for a warrior to admit to such.”

“He will learn.” Ruard rolled his eyes. “You have been married but one day and night. And if Elaina is half as stubborn as Catriona…I pity you brother. I would rather battle a thousand warriors than go through another nine moons of Catriona with child. ”

Jarvik did not believe his brothers could be so puss-whipped. “’Tis a woman’s duty to bear children. I see not the difficulty you speak of. After a warrior’s seed has taken hold there is naught for him to do. The rest is for the female.”

Laughter, chortles, and guffaws bounced off the stone walls.

“I have a mind to tell him.” Njal shook his head.

Ruard’s bronzed cheeks paled. “Do not tell him. Not a word, Njal.”

“Think you Catriona will not tell Elaina? All the women know all. ’Tis nigh on impossible to retain a single manly secret.” Njal snorted. “When Catriona carries, she craves apple pies. And since his poisoning Ruard cannot abide the smell of apples baking.”

At the suggestion, Ruard indeed had the greenish cast of a man ready to empty his stomach.

“Must she have the pies?” Jarvik asked. “She can eat the fruit instead.”

“He will learn.” Njal exchanged glances with Torsten, Ruard, and Magnus. “Truly, I will enjoy seeing The Seducer get his comeuppance.”

“Unlike you four louts, I have Elaina trained to my hand.”

His brothers’ hoots, whistles, shouts, and roars nigh raised the rafters from the roof. Jarvik vowed to show them how easily he had trained Elaina to his side. This eve, she would feed him the choicest meats, offer him praise and thanks, and smile sweetly at one and all.

Torsten volunteered to tell the women of their plan while Jarvik, Njal, and Magnus met with both kings privately.

The three brothers waited for the monarchs in an ante chamber adjacent to the Great Hall, chosen for its thick walls and stark lack of furnishings. ’Twas the room Njal preferred for negotiations for it did not encourage lingering and ‘twas easy to guard.

Unease knitted Jarvik’s neck muscles even after the long soak in the bathhouse.

“Peacemaker.” Cnut the Great strode through the doorway, his long powerful legs making naught of the distance to Njal. “Dragon Slayer, Seducer. I have not seen all of you in many moons. Where is the Bear?”

“He visits with your queen.” Njal and Torsten had agreed to invoke Cnut’s handfast wife as a distraction.

“Ælfgifu is fond of Ainslin. I am pleased with The Bear’s decision to occupy his Cumbria holding. ’Twill help to secure the border.” Cnut rocked on his heels. “Malcolm approaches.”

None but King Cnut dared address King Máel Coluim by his given name.

“Cnut the Great. ’Tis not oft you travel to the border.” Máel Coluim, like Cnut, wore no weapons, nor did any of the other men.

“The Peacemaker senses trouble from the Moraemers.”

The Scottish king halted. His nostrils quivered, and his lips thinned. “I would hear of this after we have supped. And after I greet the wife you wed last eve, Seducer.”

Jarvik had fought with King Máel Coluim for one winter, and he knew well the signs of the monarch’s rising temper. What had the king heard?

“I suggest we repair to the Great Hall.” Cnut stroked his salt and pepper goatee. “I have learned that ’tis best not to risk my queen’s ire. She is well pleased with The Seducer’s bride. I, too, have heard the gossips, and I would have the truth of this tale.”

Every hair on Jarvik’s body rose. He could not risk the ire of both his liege lord and King Máel Coluim. Mayhap he should have allowed Elaina to continue her disguise.

The brothers exchanged wary glances, but ’twas naught to be gained and much to be lost in refusing a king’s command. Jarvik scanned the crowded hall and noted all in order. He trailed the monarchs and his brothers to the dais, and took his seat, his thoughts sunk dark and deep. The women had not yet arrived and the men indulged in talk of new weaponry, battle tactics, and the Moraemers. The low conversation at the high table contrasted sharply against the rising din of the male-packed hall, for not a female was in sight. Even the kitchen wenches had disappeared.

Spit boys tossed loaves onto tables from the baskets they carried. The appetite-inducing aroma of fresh-baked bread competed with the pine scent wafting from the floor rushes.

Magnus examined the hall. “Where are the women?”

“Mayhap the queen kept them long with gossip.” Jarvik had seen Ælfgifu hold court for many an hour. “’Tis of no import.”

“Nay. My neck hairs bristle like a rabbit facing a pack of wolves.” Magnus scrubbed the back of his neck. “’Tis always of import when all the women all at once disappear.”

“By Odin.” Njal set his goblet on the table so hard wine spilled. “I envy you not, brother.”

“What?” Jarvik’s head whipped in the direction Njal stared. His stones gathered into blistering nuts.

Magnus grabbed Jarvik’s left arm and Njal the right. “Stay down.”

“By Odin, I will cover her head to toe on the morrow. I will tar her backside.” Jarvik’s flesh fired, and sweat beaded his temples and neck.

For Elaina had dressed the Arabic concubine. She wore a short, tight bodice that showed her magnificent titties to perfection. Her bared navel held a ruby jewel. His hands fisted.

After King Cnut’s jaw returned to its normal position, he fingered his goatee, and asked, “What have we here?”

Elaina stood before the dais in front of Cnut and Máel Coluim, Ainslin on one side, Queen Ælfgifu on the other.

The raucous hall had fallen silent. Not a dog growled, not a cat mewed. Even the roaring blaze in the fireplace ceased to hiss and snap.

All three women curtsied and ’twas then that Jarvik saw Elaina’s pert rump snug in the harem pants, the cheek of one ass peeking from the cloth, her long legs bared save for the diaphanous material caught at the ankles with gold chains. Bells on her toes tinkled when the king waved permission for the females to rise.

Queen Ælfgifu placed her stout form in front of the two other women. “A most fascinating tale, husband, King Máel Coluim. I present to you Princess Elaina, daughter of King Crínán of Strathclyde. I have copies of letters sent many years afore by Jarl Torsten, The Bear of the North, to King Crínán proposing his brother’s betrothal to Elaina. Nigh on three years have passed since Norse raiders destroyed Strathclyde keep and castle and murdered all. Elaina escaped the firing of the keep. She was so distraught that she fled and found refuge with Princess Deidra.”

“Seducer, this is the woman you wed last night?” King Máel Coluim’s barked question cracked through the silent hall. “Play you your king for a fool?”

“Nay. My brother would never risk your wrath, your majesty.” Torsten stood. “He has been chasing the princess for many seasons. Twice he found her. Twice he claimed her in the Viking way.”

“He raped his intended?” The queen’s outrage was evident in her glaring eyes and fisted hands jammed onto wide hips.

Cnut shrugged. “’Tis common for the Norse, Ælfgifu, though not our way. What would you have of me in this matter, wife?”

“I would have you ask the pope to bless their union. I would have your approval of the union.”

“And what of you, Princess Elaina? You have twice run from this man. You said vows last eve. In the eyes of the holy church you are wed.” King Cnut raised a brow and fixed his blue eyes on Elaina.

Jarvik held his breath.

“My lord Jarvik claimed our daughters afore the ceremony last eve. ’Tis the concession that I had wanted and that he had refused to give afore. I would echo your queen’s words. That you and His Holiness bless our union.” Her knees trembled, and she clasped her hands together so tight the skin between her fingers pinched.

“The females are yours, Seducer?” Cnut waved Jarvik forward.

“Aye.” He shrugged off his brothers’ hold and leaped over the table, knocking over Njal’s goblet. “Elaina and the babes are mine.”

He shoved between Ainslin and Elaina. She heard his rasped breathing, saw the flare of his nostril, and quailed.

“May I have your leave to have my wife go to our chamber?” Jarvik asked.

“Nay.” The Scottish king lurched to his feet. “Explain her dress this and last eve.”

Elaina straightened her shoulders. “I am the daughter of the concubine.”

“The woman King Crínán wed before a priest,” Jarvik growled.

She flinched. “If any knew or suspected my identity, I feared murder. I padded my clothing, sooted my brows and teeth, and wore limestone mixed with lard to sallow my flesh. Lord Jarvik cared naught for my appearance. He did not take me by force. He is the Seducer. I knew not who he was the first time, and when I found out he was a Viking, I panicked.” Her throat had become parched, and she had to swallow thrice.

Jarvik linked her arm with his. “My wife gives me much credit, your highness. I had come across her bathing in a lake and saw her without garb or disguise. I lusted after her. ’Twas only as I pierced her maidenhead that I realized who she was.”

Cnut chortled. “Seducer, you never fail to amaze me. You plundered the maidenhead that belonged to you. Yet you let her escape?”

His grip on Elaina’s forearm tightened. “She led me a merry dance, your highness. ’Twas a full season afore I connected the stout village healer with the siren from the lake.”

“And yet you did not take what belonged to you?” Temper no longer stained Máel Coluim’s cheekbones. He sank back into his chair and took a sip of wine. But his attention never left Elaina, and she wished for the protection of a chemise, cyrtel, and wimple.

“I have found a willing female easier to keep than a reluctant one, your majesty.”

“There is the matter of the kingdom of Strathclyde.” King Malcolm once again eyed Jarvik and Elaina from head to toe. “Your uncle Eógan is the new king. By rights, he should have signed your betrothal contracts.”

“’Tis done, Malcolm. If the Seducer is cert the girls are his, I will not gainsay their union. You will renounce any rights to Strathclyde, both of you. And I will have your liege vows after mass in the morning.” King Cnut dared any to contradict his command, his gaze sweeping every single nobleman and woman.

“As will I. And Seducer? I will see you on the training grounds at dawn.” King Máel Coluim’s wicked grin sent shivers across Elaina’s exposed back. “Bid your wife leave and return in normal garb.”

“As you wish, your majesty.” Jarvik bowed and took one, two, three steps back, dragging Elaina with him. As soon as they were out of hearing distance of the monarchs, Jarvik hissed, his voice low but feral, “Take the back stairs. Get you to our chamber, change, and return. If you are not here by the time the meat platters are on the table, I will come to fetch you myself. And, Elaina? The fetching will involve my hand connecting with your tempting bottom many times.”

Relief sped her footsteps. She nigh flew to their chamber, threw on an old cyrtel that she had worn before donning the padding. Her breasts had blossomed during her time as a healer, and the bodice revealed far more than Jarvik would like. Mother Mary, what would he do when they were alone?

Jarvik’s eyes bored into her the second she entered the hall. He did not understand what ’twas like to live known only as the concubine’s daughter. Now that he had claimed Kateri and Kitti as his daughters, the girls would be taunted as Elaina had been. Jarvik believed that because he had married Elaina she would be accepted. Elaina knew better.