Page 72 of Summer of the Viking

Oswy gave a huge smile. ‘I will get the water for our local hero. Did you see the way he cut down that brute of a Northman?’

He trotted off faster than she’d seen him move for many years.

‘Why did you fight him?’ she asked. ‘What did you hope to gain?’

Valdar sat up, cradling his arm. ‘I fought to save you. The only way I could do that was to challenge Girmir. I’d hoped that would be enough to stop them all, but the others were too far gone. They called me a traitor because of you. I have no remorse about their fate.’

‘I will take your word for that. I know what he and his men did in that farmhouse.’

He gave a faint nod and raised a hand to touch her, but she backed away. ‘The villagers will be talking about how they routed the Northmen for ever. It took all my doing to persuade them not to go into their fishing boats and travel northwards.’

Her heart knocked against her chest. She had to hope that no one else had guessed about his true allegiance. Not while the blood was running high. He would be killed without question if any of the villagers suspected the truth.

‘Were they your friends? Girmir and his men?’

Slowly he shook his head. ‘You know the answer to that. I did not bring them here and I did not betray you.’

Alwynn bit her lip. She had trusted him and he wasn’t the person he’d seemed to be at all. And yet he had saved her life. He had confronted that horrible barbarian and beaten him. He had stood between her and the other men, prepared to battle. Her stomach revolted.

What had Valdar’s true purpose here been? Did she even want to know? He had used her, but then he’d saved her life. She owed him something for that. Her head pained her so dreadfully that it was hard to think straight. ‘I don’t know you, Valdar. I thought I did, but you are a different person entirely. I’ve no idea what sort of man you are.’

He reached out and put her hand against his chest. Under her palm she felt the steady thump of his heart. ‘Do you feel that? My heart is true, Alwynn. Always. It beats for you and you alone.’

Her hand rested against his chest. She could feel its rise and fall with every breath he took. Her heart desperately wanted to believe, but she knew she couldn’t.

Her trust had been shattered. With Theodbald, she’d had the excuse of being young and a wife. There was no excuse with Valdar. She’d lusted after him and that had blinded her to his faults. She hadn’t listened to any of her doubts and she’d never questioned.

Thinking back, she suspected that Gode had tried to tell her that first day she visited the hut, but she hadn’t wanted to listen. She could have asked him about the words he’d called out in his sleep. She could have questioned him about how he knew so much about the habits of Northmen raiders. If she had...they could have been prepared. The farmhouse had burnt because she’d been too cowardly to ask basic questions. She put her hand to her aching head. The guilt threatened to overwhelm her.

‘Alwynn?’ he asked, uncertainty creeping into his voice. ‘Are you listening to me?’

She withdrew her hand. If she wanted to keep her wits about her, she had to keep from touching him.

‘Why were you here if not to rob and murder? You are a long way from your homeland, Valdar. You came for a purpose. From the looks of Girmir and his men you didn’t come to make friends.’

‘You ought to believe me when I say that wasn’t it at all.’

‘Why? You lied to me. In the worst way.’

‘I merely let you believe what you wanted to. If it was a lie, it was a lie of omission. I couldn’t take the risk of telling you the truth. I thought once you knew me, you’d understand the sort of man I was.’ He made a helpless gesture which reminded her of her late husband when he was caught in a lie. ‘This thing between you and me, it wasn’t supposed to occur. But it did and it has been the best thing ever to happen to me.’

This morning, his words would have set her heart fluttering. Now she realised they had no more meaning than a bard’s tale.

‘I never asked you to. It was all about a quick roll in the hay. Something to satisfy an itch.’ Even as the words poured out of her, she knew they weren’t true. It had been much more than that to her. It was why her heart felt as if it was in a thousand pieces. ‘We have finished now. You and I.’

He caught her wrist and held her with a firm but gentle grasp.

She twisted her hand. ‘Let me go.’

‘Never cheapen yourself that way again!’

His face went white and he swayed slightly. Instant remorse filled her soul. He might not be the man she thought he was, but he had saved her life and it had nearly cost him his own. It could still cost him his life. She needed to get him away from here. Soon all the village and the countryside would know he was a Northman.

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