Page 8 of Loving the Blacksmith
“Magnus. Here you are, bursting in at the worst possible moment, as ever.” The glee in Sven’s voice as he told his brother he was not welcome grated on Agnes’ already frayed nerves. There was animosity there, not just good-natured teasing. “Do you think you could give us a moment? I was about to see to the girl’s dress.”
No, no,no! He’d made it sound as if the undressing would happen with her full agreement and they would tumble into bed afterward. She tried to turn around to face Magnus, explain what was really going on, but with her dress caught she could notmove as she wanted and, try as she might, she could not see past the man standing right behind her.
The man who still had his hand over the swell of her buttocks.
“It’s not what you think, my dress snagged on a nail when I walked too close to the door frame just now,” she blurted out. “And I could not seem to unhook it on my own, so I?—”
“Yes,” Sven snapped, as if he hadn’t enjoyed her cutting through his explanation. “As I said, I was about to help her remove?—”
“Iwill do that, andyouwill wait outside.”
The words were little more than a growl and all of a sudden the man blocking her view vanished, presumably pushed away by a hulking blacksmith. A heartbeat later Magnus was standing in his place, just as tall, just as forbidding, but not half as frightening. All the tension left Agnes’ body in one rush. With him she was safe. He would help, and he would not rip her dress to shreds or throw her on the bed to claim any dubious reward afterward.
As if to prove her right, Magnus started to tug at the material of her gown without a word. Anger was radiating from his body, an anger she wasn’t sure was directed at Sven. It might be directed at her. A moment later, she was free.
Not daring to face his ire, she kept her back to him. “I swear nothing was about to?—”
“You and Sven can do what you want.”
“But I do notwantto do anything with him! That’s the problem,” she cried out, turning around at last. She could not bear to have him think she had been about to beg his brother to take her to bed. “He made it sound as if I did, but I don’t. I would have run away, only, I was trapped, as you saw, and he?—”
“Did he touch you?”
“N-no.” But he might well have, had Magnus not arrived. She would not have put it past the man and his hand had already been on her, in much too low a place to pass as innocent. However she did not think it a good idea to point it out to Magnus, who already sounded mightily aggrieved. “He only scared me. For a moment I didn’t know what to think. I’m not even sure he wanted to do anything other than tease me or upset you.”
“I’m sorry he scared you. Sven is...”
Magnus let out a sigh instead of finishing the sentence but she thought she understood all the same. Sven enjoyed getting the upper hand over his brother, and he’d jumped on the opportunity to upset him. She had only been a tool in his petty games, most likely he’d felt no real desire for her.
“You’re right, he wouldn’t have hurt you, he’s not a dangerous man. But for all that, he enjoys riling me, and if he thought that you and I... That is, if he thought you were my...” He waved his hand as if unable to find an acceptable way to say what he wanted to say. Again, there was no need. She understood all too well. Sven had thought the two of them were lovers. “There has always been this competition between us, and he is confident in the fact that he nearly always wins. He will have wanted to see if he could make you choose him instead of me.”
“Yes, I think that’s exactly what he wanted,” Agnes said in a breath.My brother will have his hands full with you. That was what he’d said, which proved he’d thought they were a couple. She shuddered at the man’s presumption and forgot to be embarrassed. He’d thought she was his brother’s lover, and yet he had tried to seduce her. Magnus was right. He did like to rile him and get the upper hand over him. How despicable. “But how could he suppose I would do such a thing? Prefer him to you?”
If she really had been involved with Magnus, why on earth would she have jeopardized what they had for a man she didn’t even know, who was arrogance personified?
There was a silence before Magnus answered. “Because most people do.”
“Most people?”
“Our parents, for one. Sven has always been the perfect, oldest son. Perhaps because he is the image of my father, in looks and personality, he’s always been the favorite. I was only ever a replacement at best, a disappointment at worst.” He made a grimace. “It’s not just them, though. I told you. People usually do not choose me.”
Agnes stared at him in disbelief. Who in their right mind would choose anyone over him? Much less an overbearing, overconfident braggard? In her opinion, there was no contest.
She shivered, and Magnus took a step forward. They were now almost touching but she didn’t step back. She would never step back from this man.
“Are you sure you’re all right? He didn’t frighten you too badly? I saw how he was holding you.” He growled, as if the idea displeased him.
“A-a little.” There was no point in lying. When she had felt the man’s hand on her and heard him talk about rewards, she had taken fright. For a moment it had looked as if her worst nightmare had come true. “But then you arrived. I’m all right.”
She stayed very still, resisting the urge to burrow into his chest. It was not just the relief of having him come to her aid that made her want to hug him, it was the pain she’d heard in his voice when he’d said no one ever chose him. She knew about that, about never being seen as worth considering. Magnus appeared so different from her, so much stronger, she’d had no idea that they would have this in common.
He nodded, as if thinking the same thing and not knowing what to do with the revelation either. Then he seemed to get hold of himself and looked at the chaos in the room.
“Why are there are turnips and onions everywhere?” His lips quivered. “Did a Saxon farmer come to request a metal fence to put around his vegetable patch in my absence?”
She smiled at the jest, enjoying the restored companionship between them. “No. It’s all my fault, I stumbled and dropped the bucket I was carrying. I’m sorry. I told you I was clumsy.”
“No.” His smile vanished as he took in the quantity of vegetables on the floor. “You simply take on tasks you should leave to other people. Next time you have to carry such a heavy bucket, you call me, you understand?”
