Page 75 of Summer of the Viking

Valdar rapidly explained about Horik, the mutiny and its aftermath. How he’d known that they would kill him and how he hated that he’d failed his friend. How he’d changed the stones and taken the boy’s place. How he thought the ship had continued towards home without him and how he’d planned to go back and denounce them after he’d fulfilled his obligation to her.

Despite everything, he could see Alwynn listening. Silently he pleaded with her to believe. He had never felt so naked and vulnerable before a woman. He was utterly defenceless against her and she could kill all his desires with a glance.

When he finished his recital, she was quiet.

‘Well?’ he asked into the silence.

‘Girmir killed the boy you sought to save?’

‘Apparently. Girmir went mad after the mast broke in the storm. He’d thought that the gods should have been appeased by offering them my death. Then he slaughtered the last of the decent men. From what I could gather, once they reached the shore, the lad ran off into the woods to escape Girmir. Only Girmir returned. I spoke the truth when I said that no Northman stole sheep. It doesn’t make any sense why they would. Maybe one if they were starving, but not a whole flock. Someone else is blaming the Northmen for stealing sheep.’

‘How convenient.’ Her mouth twisted. ‘We came here to plunder and possibly rape, but not to steal sheep.’

Valdar collapsed back against the bedding. The memory of her eyes would haunt him. The time had come to explain. He no longer risked losing her. With each breath she slipped further away and he hadn’t realised how much he needed her. ‘Believe what you like, but I’m a warrior and make war on warriors who threaten my home and my family. I am also a merchant who knows the value of trade. I came in search of gold and new markets for my goods. My lands produce amber, soapstone and fur. I am proud to be from Raumerike. It is a good land filled with good people. I may have failed my friend when he was murdered, but you made me believe that I could be a worthy man again.’

‘Those men came to kill, not to trade.’ A violent shiver went down her back and she ran her hands up and down her arms. ‘He was going to...going to...’

He wanted to grab his sword and run Girmir through again. The sheer violence of his reaction astonished him. He concentrated on the way the light hit her hair.

‘We came to trade, but then there was a mutiny. Every land has its share of bad men, even this one. I should have seen the signs in Girmir earlier. I should have held the watch like Horik wanted me to, instead of switching with one of the other men because I was exhausted from squinting into the sun and navigating. But Girmir could also be quite amusing, charming, convincing. It was easier to laugh and turn a blind eye. For my shame I never expected him to go as far as he did.’

‘But he actually meant it.’

‘Once it started, there was little I could do. At first, I thought one of the other men would defeat him. Horik had two close kin sailing with us. But Girmir had arranged for their deaths.’

At her incredulous look, he added, ‘They needed me alive to navigate. They took my sword and knives. But despite Girmir’s promises, I knew I would never step foot on the shore of my home again. He would have slit my throat as soon as we spied the shores of Raumerike.’

‘How did you get away?’

Valdar put a hand over his eyes. ‘When I thought Girmir was about to sacrifice the boy, I rigged the draw so I was chosen. The boy kept my bonds loose and I was able to wriggle free and swim. That lad saved my life and Girmir killed him. I should have taken him with me. I could have kept him alive.’

‘You barely survived—a young lad would have had no chance. But the storm washed you ashore where I discovered you. Where I was all too willing to believe your lies.’

Each word cut into his soul. He knew he deserved them and more for what he’d inadvertently done to her. He wanted to get his Alwynn back, the woman who believed in him and cherished him. This summer had shown him how precious a good woman was. And he could feel her slipping away from him with every breath he took.

Valdar reached out to her. ‘You were and are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen. I thought you were a Valkyrie when I first saw you. A shield maiden of Odin. But you are better than that. You are flesh and blood. The time we have had together...’

Alwynn put two fingers against his mouth, stopping him before he said something that they’d both regret. She should never have come. It would have been easier if she hadn’t. But just to hear the possibility of those words sent her heart soaring and she hated that her feelings for him still had life.

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