Page 14 of Summer of the Viking

‘Your cottage?’

‘My old nurse’s. No one except me or Merri comes here these days.’ She knew she spoke far too fast, a bad habit from when she was small. She paused and took a deep breath. ‘You will be able to heal in peace.’

He nodded. ‘If anyone does come here, I didn’t come from the sea.’

‘Yes, you understand my meaning.’ She pressed her hands together. ‘There is something about lying which sticks in my throat.’

‘You found me on the shore, not bobbing in the sea. Therefore you have no real idea how I arrived there.’

‘It doesn’t take much imagination to guess.’

‘You are not breaking any law if you don’t actually know,’ he said quietly.

‘Is it better not to know?’

‘Sometimes.’

She caught a faint twinkle in his eye. His eyes were not just brown, but full of many colours. And they had come alive after his drink. She heaved a sigh of relief. He wasn’t going to die after all. ‘Is your country Raumerike at war with mine?’

‘I have never made war on your country.’ He pressed his hand to his chest. ‘I, Valdar, son of Neri, swear this. My solemn oath I give you.’

‘That isn’t what I asked...Valdar.’ The name sounded strange to her ears, but not unpleasant.

He pursed his lips. ‘My country has no quarrel with yours. Why would it? We have a sea separating us.’

The back of her neck prickled. He had come across the sea like the raiders, but he had come in peace. ‘And the attack on Lindisfarne by the heathen Northmen?’

His face instantly sobered. ‘I have heard of it. The whole world has heard about it. They took the gold and gave nothing but destruction in return. I have always believed it is wrong to make war on people who are not your enemies and have not harmed you. A simple creed, but I believe the right one.’

Something eased in her heart. She was doing the right thing—keeping his existence hidden and giving him a chance to heal.

He might be a foreigner, but he hadn’t come to make war against her people or to raid. Merri was right—he wasn’t a Northman. He was something else entirely. She released a breath. She wasn’t going to save him just to have Lord Edwin kill him. He was innocent and therefore he deserved a chance to return to his country.

‘Thank you for that creed.’

‘I need the beer-sodden shirt and the salt off me. It itches like you wouldn’t believe.’

‘Are you capable of doing it?’

‘I want to do it. I will find the strength to do it.’

She retreated two steps. ‘Surely it can wait. You were near death. You haven’t recovered enough.’

His face took on a look of grim determination. ‘I remain alive.’

Moving very slowly as if every muscle screamed in pain, he took the tunic off and discarded it along with his sword and belt. Alwynn discovered her feet were rooted to the spot. The sunlight hit his golden chest. It was muscular but not overly so. There were several scars criss-crossing his torso, but it was a warrior’s body and used to hard work, not soft and pudgy as her husband’s had become.

A dimple flashed in his cheek when he saw she remained there. ‘I will keep my trousers on, I think.’

She feigned an air of indifference. ‘You must do as you like. It makes no difference to me.’

He picked up the bucket and poured the remaining water over him. The droplets trickled down over his long hair, making him gleam. ‘You see, the salt goes when washed away.’

Her cheeks burnt, but she forced her chin high. ‘You took a battering in the sea. I wanted to see if I need to get you a poultice for the bruising.’

All colour fled from his face. ‘Are you a healer?’

‘I can do a bit, not as much as Gode or the monks, but I’m learning. I’ve an interest in herbs.’ She stared at the rough plaster wall of the cottage. Her troubles were none of his business, but she had found solace in gardening. Of all the things, the garden at Theodbald’s hall had been the hardest to leave. Her new garden was smaller, but she had brought a number of plants with her. When she was out there, amongst the perfumed flowers and gentle humming of the bees, all her cares slipped away. ‘I love my garden. I like to put it to good use and I like coming to Gode’s as well.’

He nodded, but pain flashed through his eyes. ‘I once knew a woman who healed.’

‘What happened to her, the healer?’

‘She married someone else and grows big with his child.’

‘And where does she live, this healer of yours?’

‘In the estate next to mine.’ His brown gaze held hers.

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