Page 78 of Summer of the Viking

Her heart lurched. He knew how to play her body like a harp. Even now, despite everything they had shared, he was still trying to manipulate the situation. It pained her that he could.

‘Valdar. No.’

He released her with a sigh.

She moved away from him and straightened her gown. Once she had it arranged correctly, she turned around.

‘I’ve sent word to the king. He had to be informed that Northmen attacked us. I can’t hide what happened. I can’t pretend that it was outlaws or whatever else you might want to call them. The whole truth will emerge and the king will order your death.’

His mouth became a thin line. ‘I understand. What else could you do?’

‘When Lord Edwin returns, I mean to tell him the truth about what happened and the part I inadvertently played. I’m through with half-truths and lies.’

Valdar shook his head. ‘That would be foolish. It would put you into danger. Say nothing.’

She pulled her shoulders back. ‘It is the right thing to do.’

‘What is the penalty for knowingly helping a Northman?’

‘Forfeiture of the estate and, in extreme cases, death,’ she said in a defiant voice.

‘You are innocent. You thought I was from somewhere else.’

‘Did I?’ She pushed her hair back from her forehead. She had been so eager to believe he was anything but a Northman. But she had had doubts and she had refused to listen to them, allowing lust to blind her. She was guilty. ‘Lord Edwin had issued an order. Any stranger from the sea was to be killed. I went against that order to save your life.’

‘Rescuing a lone man? What harm could I have done? I was washed up on your shore in a storm. So what if I was born in a foreign land, in a country you had never heard of and one whose people held no grudge against you? What did I do except escape from a certain death? How are you responsible for Girmir’s actions? How am I?’

‘I don’t know.’ She wrapped her arms about her waist. ‘Once I did, but since I’ve known you, many things have changed.’

‘What if I had been a Frankish prince?’ he continued on, relentless in his attack. ‘Would your king risk war with the Franks simply because some nobleman declared all strangers must die?’

‘I’m not sure what you are saying.’

‘Rescuing me was the right thing. And my country is not at war with yours, even though it lies to the north. You should not be punished for saving me.’

She studied the knots in the table, rather than turning back to him. She had turned it over and over in her mind and she didn’t have an answer. ‘But my tenants deserve a better protector than me.’

He put his arms about her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. ‘The person who serves them best is you. You saved them from the Northmen.’

‘Lord Edwin will think otherwise.’

‘It depends on what the king says, not Lord Edwin.’

‘But you understand why we can never be alone again.’ She plucked at her gown. Everyone would be sure to guess where she had been and what she had been doing. ‘It is important. From now on, what happened today is a barrier between us.’

He hung his head. ‘I would defend you to my dying breath.’

‘Our people are enemies, Valdar. Enemies.’

‘Are we enemies, Alwynn?’

‘We are certainly not friends.’

‘Lovers.’

‘That is in the past.’

He went over to her, magnificent in his nakedness. ‘It will never be over between us as long as I have breath in my body.’

He raised her chin so she was forced to stare into his deep gaze. ‘Tell me now, sweetling. Tell me that there can be nothing between us.’

‘There can’t be.’ She broke her chin away. ‘Trying to force me won’t make it any better.’

‘Then what was today? A sweet goodbye?’

‘Autumn is coming. We both have other lives.’ The words tasted bitter in her mouth. The foulest of lies, but if she was going to save his life, he had to feel free.

She pressed her palm to his cheek and knew every touch would live in her memory. One day when she was old, she would get her memories out and lay them along in a pile. It was the best she could hope for.

‘Where will you go?’ he asked softly.

‘A convent will take me.’ She tried for a smile. ‘Hopefully they will let me work in the garden. I like to feel the sun on my face.’

‘And Merri?’ he asked softly. ‘Are you going to condemn her as well?’

‘I know what I am fighting for! I can’t lose everything.’

‘Why are you so afraid?’

‘Fear has nothing to do with it.’ She left the hut and went straight for Gode’s garden.

---