Page 24 of Summer of the Viking

His fingers itched to reach out and smooth the worry lines from her forehead. He kept them resolutely at his side. He was not going to become involved with her. He had given Kara his heart and she had only wanted to use him. He had no idea what Alwynn wanted from him. All he knew was that he wanted to protect her and pay back his debt. Then he would leave. This time, his heart would play no part. He was behaving no differently than if she was a man.

A tiny voice in the back of his brain called him a liar, but he chose to ignore it.

‘A healthy scepticism can be a good thing.’

‘I wanted to believe that everyone was honest and no one would seek to take advantage of a widow.’ She screwed up her nose. ‘I feel naive.’

‘Not everyone is a cheat.’

‘Oswy swore to me only last week that he had no fine flour left. And when he thinks I will marry a warrior, suddenly there is fine flour.’

‘And he will do the right thing.’ He gave in to temptation and touched her shoulder. Her flesh trembled under the thin cloth. He let her go. ‘More than the right thing.’

‘I wish I felt that way.’

‘Remember, in the end he didn’t cheat. He decided his interests were better served in standing with you than standing with someone else. Do you know who might have enticed him? It is not easy for a miller to travel.’

Her jaw jutted forward. ‘I have a good idea who might have induced him. Lord Edwin.’

‘Then your quarrel is with him rather than Oswy.’ He stared over her shoulder. ‘My father used to say that if you were going to fight, make sure you fight the right person.’

He gave an inward smile. Even now, years later, he could hear the exact intonation of his father’s voice as his mother patched up his knuckles from a fight. Valdar had questioned why his father had attacked a farmer rather than the sell-sword who had taunted him. Oswy was like the sell-sword. Alwynn’s problem was with his master.

She blinked up at him. The dark lashes were the perfect foil to her green-grey storm-tossed eyes. ‘You think I shouldn’t punish Oswy?’

‘What good will it do? He has paid you what he owes with only a slight delay and I know not to be taken by his excuses in the future. The fine flour might have been genuinely mislaid. And rumours of betrothals always swirl when there is a beautiful widow involved.’

The faintest pink coloured her cheeks. ‘I suppose you are right...about giving him the benefit of the doubt, I mean. I must assure you, though, that I am no beauty.’

‘How might this Lord Edwin seek to destroy you?’ he asked instead, trying to focus on why he was here and not on the shape of her mouth. ‘What will he do next?’

With Kara, it had been relatively straightforward about who the rival for her estate was. Was it so simple with Alwynn? Could he do this one thing for her before he left? He hated to think that she might be alone without any male support. He had seen what could happen.

She shook her head. ‘Your fight is not with him. You are merely here to make sure all my rent is collected on time. If that is done, he won’t be able to touch me.’

‘And next year? Or the year after that?’

‘Let me worry about that. One harvest at a time.’

The sunlight caught her hair. It wasn’t just black but many different shades of brown and black intermingled. He itched to reach out and capture it. He wanted to pull her into his arms and whisper that she should trust him to do the right thing. And yet if she knew the truth about his origins, she would flee.

‘And if it comes to a fight?’ he asked instead.

‘You will need your sword back if you are to be my steward.’

‘I have no plans to put anyone to the sword.’ He clenched a fist and thought of how his father had acted—the men he’d put to death for less. He and his brother both had vowed not to be like that. And they had both succeeded. Their farms prospered. His sister-in-law proved more than equal to the task of looking after the farms when he was away. But everyone knew when he returned that he would insist on a full accounting. ‘The threat of violence is often more powerful than actual violence.’

‘But it is a symbol.’ Without waiting for an answer, she hurried away. ‘Wait here.’

Before he could protest, she had gone.

When she returned, she carried his sword. She held it out to him, balanced on outstretched arms. He tilted his head to one side. Horik had been with him when he purchased the sword. They had laughed about the many battles they would fight together. Someone needed to avenge his shade. Valdar could not start afresh until he’d laid his past to rest. The gods had spared him for a reason. If he forgot that, he would be in trouble. He had a second chance to make things right. He would not be granted a third one.

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