Viking's Love (23 page)

Robert passed upon the Lancaster heiress,
claiming the girl must be ugly to be tossed upon the marriage mart
in such obvious desperation. The reputedly beautiful Whiltshire
heiress was twice-wed and widowed, but her bride price far too
weighty for Robert to part with.

Collin knew he would wed the Lancaster girl.
The dowry was adequate, though it would take every bit of it to
free his sister. The keep was under construction. His mother stayed
with Luxtley’s sister at a nearby abbey. It would be weeks before
the keep would be habitable. He had a village to rebuild as well,
and his people were hungry.

Despite the pain of it, Collin knew he must
think of those under his protection now, and cease his quest to
regain his sister’s freedom. He would have a wife and little else
if he persisted. Ulsted may be a cad for many other reasons, but he
couldn’t fault the man’s judgment. He owed his king a fortune for
the loan. It would be years before Lockwraithe was solvent
again.

Would the Viking treat her well when he
discovered there would be no ransom for her? Collin wondered if he
could live with such a decision. Would the Viking hurt his sister
in a fit of rage? Collin was desperate to help his sister and find
the means to bring her home where she belonged.

Ulsted merely pointed out the obvious. He’d
beggar himself to bring Allisande home and his people would suffer.
She would suffer to know she was disdained by every noble house in
the land. Allisande’s pride would be devastated to know she would
be a pariah upon her return.

Collin refused to accept he must abandon his
sister. Allisande would move heaven and earth if the roles were
reversed to save him. He had to find a way to get her back. He
thought of the wealth Luxtley and Ulsted stole all these years and
a speculative look came to his gaze.

Extorting the pair for Allisande’s ransom
came to mind. They counted upon his staying silent of their
activities. While they grew richer, his sister was enduring only
God knew what, waiting for him to reclaim her.

Collin couldn’t forsake her, no matter what
her return would cost them all. Allisande must come home. He owed
it to her for failing her so miserably by not being home to protect
her during the siege. He swore he’d find a way to pay the Viking,
if he had to stoop to the level of his father’s cohorts to do
it.

****

Joran avoided Allisande the following day. He
left her alone and let her take her meals in the kitchens. He was
smarting from his guilt over her nightmares and tears the night
before, and his inability to comfort her. He was the last person
the girl would take comfort from. The realization he cared what she
thought at all angered him.

His men felt every bit of his displeasure
upon the practice field that day, and grumbled at him over their
ale later as they nursed sore muscles and bruised egos.

Grogan grinned at him knowingly as he sat
beside him. He noted the Chieftain’s slave was nowhere in sight
when the evening meal was served. He wisely made no comment on it.
Joran was in a foul mood and declined conversation.

Janna slipped to his side and eyed her
Chieftain’s sour demeanor with gloating satisfaction. His treatment
of the English girl had been abominable. If he was feeling badly
for it now, she hoped he suffered as greatly as the girl did. She
saw Allisande come down that morning, and saw her puffy eyes, and
knew all was not well between them.

The girl was innocent of her father’s crimes
against Ivar. Joran had been thinking of only the ransom when he
took the girl from her home, and had given little thought of her
feelings.

Given her former noble status and her current
role as a slave, it was no doubt the girl’s pride was rearing up as
she toiled in the kitchens to feed her captors. Joran forcing the
lady into his bed was even more humiliating. They all agreed spring
couldn’t come soon enough to return Allisande of Lockwraithe home
to her brother.

She did not belong here and would never take
to the life of a slave. Joran made matters worse by forcing the
girl to be his bed thrall. Janna knew no good would come of it when
she was returned to her brother sullied.

Janna sighed as she sipped the mead in front
of her and earned a hope-filled look from her husband. Grogan was
punished enough for whipping the girl. She smiled at him and
decided he could come back to her bed furs this night.

A messenger bird arrived from Ivar. Joran was
in a foul mood when he was informed Ivar would arrive within days
and would be staying until the gathering. Thinking of his slave’s
reaction to his father’s arrival, Joran winced inwardly.

Allisande would love to have her sword handy
should she come face to face with his sire, he knew, and predicted
there would be trouble. The air was growing colder and winter would
be upon them soon.

This raid upon Luxtley would not end the
vengeance Ivar demanded, for Ulsted’s fate was unknown as yet. He
was certain it was what brought his illustrious father to his
stronghold.

Joran was weary of raiding, and longed for
the day he could do without it. Remembering the sobbing woman in
his bed the night before pricked his conscience to no end.

He never thought about the innocent people
who perished to add to his coffers, and he never felt responsible
for the pain it caused until he awoke to her screams in his bed. He
hadn’t slept after she exhausted her tears. His thoughts of the
upcoming raid were mixed. Luxtley wasn’t the last conspirator.

Lord Ulsted grew cautious and stayed at his
king’s side. His holdings were too far south to make them easily
assessable from the sea. Ivar had other plans for Ulsted. He
wearied of his sire’s desire for battles and vengeance.

In the years following Aelynn’s death, the
raiding and fighting helped to cauterize his wounded heart, but he
feared the bloodshed would never end. Ivar never ran out of excuses
to raise his army.

Joran was suspicious of this visit from his
sire. Ivar had been to his home only twice. The first time was when
he was conceived; the second when his wife was laid to rest.
Whatever he wanted now, it did not bode well for Allisande of
Lockwraithe, he knew.

Ivar was no doubt plotting how he could use
the girl in his schemes against Baron Luxtley and Lord Ulsted. He
felt a surge of protectiveness for her despite his loyalty to Ivar.
Allisande was his, until spring, that is. He would allow no harm to
befall her before she was returned to her home.

As if on cue, Allisande appeared with the
women to clear away the meal. She did not meet his eyes. He knew
she was suffering from being away from her home. He did not want to
think about giving her up come the spring, did not want to think of
her being hurriedly married off to a nobleman to cover her
shame.

Joran knew he was weakening against her, the
longer she remained under his roof. He should have taken Grogan’s
advice and left her alone. His sire would no doubt chortle in glee
when he learned she shared his bed.

Allisande refused to meet Joran’s eyes as she
arrived to clear the food away from his table. Thankfully he did
not take her to task for it and she stepped away from him, very
aware of his eyes upon her.

They did not speak of her nightmares. She was
grateful. She didn’t trust herself to not burst into tears and look
weak in front of her captor. She was so caught up in her own
self-pity she didn’t even linger near the tables to hear the men
discuss the raid on Luxtley.

Allisande disappeared upstairs and made ready
for bed. She took the fur skin and slept in front of the fire,
refusing to lie next to the man who had ravaged her homeland and
ruined the lives of so many she held dear.

Collin was on her mind tonight. She worried
over her brother’s reaction when he discovered the Viking used her.
He would be ashamed of her. She knew no amount of consolation would
alleviate his impugned honor.

She would be sent to an abbey to live out her
days in shame like Luxtley’s sister, who had been defiled in a raid
at her husband’s home while he was at court with her brother.

Leonie was renounced by her husband, and no
amount of pleading to her husband or brother had kept her from
being exiled. Allisande pitied the woman and went with her mother
to visit her often. No babe had resulted in Leonie’s rape, but her
husband set her aside just the same. He got permission to annul his
marriage and wed another.

Allisande thought it unfair and her mother
had told her to mind her tongue. It was the way of things. She
realized it would be no different for her upon her return. Collin
would be forced by public censure to send her away to hide her
shame.

She wept bitterly when she realized she was
no better off at home than she was in the Viking’s lair. Her hatred
of Joran grew and she vowed he would find no peace, for he had
destroyed her life.

Joran entered his room and came up short when
he spied Allisande sleeping on the rug in front of the fire. He
closed the door and his shoulders sagged when he realized he didn’t
desire to press the issue of where she slept this night.

His emotions were so taut, he didn’t trust
his words. He removed his clothes and slipped into his bed with a
heavy heart. He listened to her breathing and found he missed the
feel of her beside him.

Joran rolled over and stared at the wall for
a long time as he contemplated her. He knew she would not bend to
him ever. He despaired over her reaction to Ivar’s visit. She would
seek to kill his sire if given the opportunity.

He railed against returning her to her cell
and locking her up, but he couldn’t bear the thought of her being
put to death should she attack Ivar while he was in residence. Her
family honor would push her to act rashly. He considered his
alternatives and came up short. He had no choice but to threaten
the girl sternly when Ivar arrived.

Ivar would enjoy tormenting Allisande over
her father’s misdeeds and enjoy rubbing it in her face while he was
here. Joran feared her knowing the truth about her father, knowing
how prideful she was. His father could be cruel when it suited him.
He respected Ivar because he was his father, but his petty desire
for vengeance was growing tiresome. He lost six men in the last
year after Lockwraithe’s betrayal and found he did not blame the
dead baron alone.

Ivar profited greatly with his conspiracy
with the three noblemen who were stealing from their tight-fisted
king. His father believed them too weak and fearful of him to turn
on him. It had cost him his eldest son and nearly a hundred men as
a result. He never heard Ivar take responsibility for his own
miscalculations and blamed the nobles instead for their greed.

Joran closed his eyes and dreamt of the
violet eyed beauty laying only feet away, remembering her passion
and the way he felt with her in his arms. When he woke in the
morning, he dressed and left his room without disturbing her.

Grogan was the only one awake and greeted him
warmly. He was no doubt happy he was back in his wife’s good
graces. Janna was furious when he whipped the English girl and put
him out of her bed. He was unbearable in the weeks following the
whipping.

Ivar would arrive by his long ship on the
morrow. Allisande would be furious when his father arrived. She had
one day left of him lecturing her on her behavior, or he would have
no choice but to keep her locked up until the gathering was over.
He would make it up to her; he thought, and smiled as he sipped his
ale, thinking it a delightful prospect indeed.

****

Allisande awoke and grimaced as she sat up,
her muscles sore from sleeping upon the floor. She rose and
dressed, and used the remaining water in the pitcher to wash her
face and clean her teeth. She combed her long hair, and plaited it
into a long braid down her back and slid on the slippers and left
Joran’s room for the hall.

She paused when she heard him discussing the
raid with Grogan. She listened at the top of the stairs with
interest. Joran planned to attack Luxtley directly, under the cover
of darkness. She would have little time to jump ship and run to
sound the alarm undetected by her captors. She was excited as she
descended the stairs. The men quit talking when they saw her
arrival.

She went to the kitchens. Elwynn was happy to
have her help that morning. Several of the serfs had taken ill with
fever and it was just her and Elwynn to serve the morning meal. She
questioned the woman about the women’s illness and learned that
several of the Chieftain’s people were growing ill.

Allisande had seen it before in the keep.
Living in such close quarters often had consequences. She was
making a mental list of remedies as she served the meal. Joran and
Grogan were laughing over some jest when she approached.

Allisande met his blue eyes and was surprised
to see no anger in his gaze. She believed he would be angered by
her refusal to sleep with him. He seemed nonplused by it, and
greeted her warmly.

She mumbled a reply. She went to pour
tankards of water and milk. She was confused by his behavior, for
he did not demand she sit beside him during the meal and she was
free to return to her place in the kitchens.

Elwynn joined her, much to her delight, and
the two women discussed remedies for the illness that was spreading
among Joran’s people. Elwynn appeared relieved the English girl had
knowledge of a treatment for it before it afflicted them all.

They finished their meal and returned to the
hall to clean up when Allisande approached Joran hesitantly. He
looked up at her. She sucked in her breath at how handsome he
looked that morning. The light blue fabric of his tunic made his
eyes appear even bluer, and seeing no sarcasm or contempt in his
expression relieved her for some reason.