Authors: Phoebe Conn
Enraged by what she saw as an arrogance he had no right to affect, Grena leapt to her feet and refused even to consider his request. “I’ll see her dead before I’ll give her to you.”
Although blinded by tears, Berit couldn’t believe her mother’s ugly vow and fought to make her take it back. “I will marry no one else, Mother. Erik is the only man I’ll ever take for a husband, so you’d be wise to let us marry now.”
“Never,” Grena screamed. Then, searching her daughter’s face for the truth, she thought she had guessed it. “What did you mean to do? Did you think if you were carrying his babe I would give you to him willingly? If so, you were not only incredibly stupid, but wrong as well.”
Horribly embarrassed by her mother’s hostile accusation, Berit shook her head as she battled a fresh torrent of tears. “It wasn’t like that at all.”
“Oh, really?” Grena responded sarcastically. “You’re still a virgin then? Is that what you’re saying? Well, speak up or I’ll satisfy my curiosity about the matter right here in front of everyone. It will take only a moment.”
“That is enough, Grena,” Freya commanded sternly, as shocked by her sister’s behavior as she was to discover Erik and Berit’s romance. “I can understand your rage, but I will not allow you to behave in so shameful a manner in my home. I think we should all go back to bed and then meet to agree on some rational plan in the morning.”
“Rational plan?” Grena scoffed. “I already have a plan. Jørn will punish Erik for this disgrace. He’ll make him pay for it with his life.”
Paling at so vile a threat, Freya found it difficult to catch her breath. Sinking down onto the nearest bench, she closed her eyes for a moment in an attempt to find the calm that had just eluded her. Frightened, Dana rushed to her mother’s side and hugged her tightly.
“Must you be so hateful?” Dana asked her aunt. “Can’t you see you’re making your sister ill?”
“And who are you to tell me what to do?” Grena hissed at her niece. “You have been on Erik’s side all along. Berit hasn’t been out riding with you, has she? She’s been meeting Erik while you were the one who appeared at my door to make me think she was passing the time with her cousin, not her lover.”
“Oh, Dana, that isn’t true, is it?” Freya searched her daughter’s face, wanting to know the truth, but she was devastated when she saw it in Dana’s averted glance.
That her mother clearly thought her incapable of tricking her aunt so shamelessly pained Dana deeply, but rather than confess her guilt she looked to Erik for help.
Seeking to put an end to a scene even more wretched than the one he had once imagined, Erik tried again to soften the harshness of Grena’s mood. “Let’s leave Jørn out of this, Grena. We are close friends and I don’t want to fight him for any reason, especially not for loving his sister. Now I mean to have Berit for my wife. There’s no disgrace in that desire, nor the fact we are in love. Name whatever price you want. We can come to terms and arrange for the wedding right now.”
“Must I repeat myself endlessly before you will believe what I say? You will never marry Berit,” Grena vowed through clenched teeth. “I’ll not stay here a moment longer either. I’m taking Berit and my boys home.”
“I won’t go,” Berit protested instantly.
That Dana had not immediately denied being involved in Erik and Berit’s love affair had shocked Freya so deeply that she was not merely stunned, but physically ill as well. Now more readily understanding her sister’s feelings of betrayal and sharing them, she had to force herself to speak. “I want you to go home with your mother, Berit. We are all too upset to make any decisions about your future now. Perhaps in a few days we can meet again and decide what is best for us all.”
When Freya looked toward Erik, her disillusionment was so plain it broke his heart. She had always taken his part, even when no one else would, but it was clear she felt he had violated her trust and had been deeply hurt by it. He had hoped to win her approval for his marriage to Berit, but now he feared that might be impossible. If Freya did not approve, then she would not loan him the sum he would need, despite her promise to do so. Realizing the woman he loved was out of his reach for the time being, Erik released Berit and stepped back.
“Do as your mother says, Berit. Go home, and I’ll set everything right as soon as I possibly can.”
“No, I don’t want to leave you.” The sorrow in Erik’s eyes mirrored her own, but as Berit reached out for him, he brushed her hands aside and again stepped away.
“I think you better leave, Erik,” Freya suggested in an attempt to separate the couple, and she was greatly relieved when the young man turned and left the hall. “Now, won’t you please stay here until morning, Grena?”
“No,” the distraught woman responded. “That’s impossible after what’s happened. We must go, and as long as Erik makes his home here, we won’t ever come back.”
Dana’s glance followed Erik as he walked by, her heart going out to him, but when she saw Soren standing in the shadows at the doorway her spirits sank even lower. He was clever enough to realize what Erik’s absence the other day meant, but would he recall that Brendan had been gone for a while as well? The cold light in his eyes as he looked toward her told her that he did, and as Grena gathered her children to depart, Dana could do nothing but hope Soren would keep still until she had had a chance to convince him their mother had more than enough problems already without his adding to them by revealing what he knew about her daughter.
When Brendan awoke, he found Erik seated by the hearth. There was no fire burning, and the young man was merely staring into the ashes with the most sorrowful expression the Celt had ever seen. Fearing some calamity had occurred during the night, he rose from his bed and went to him.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, the softness of his voice promising sympathy, whatever Erik’s plight.
While only the previous afternoon Erik had despised Brendan thoroughly, he needed to confide in someone too badly to recall his feelings for the man now. He admitted nothing but that Grena had found him with Berit and in the terrible confrontation that had followed had vowed to see him dead. “I can’t predict what Jørn will do, but I’ll not fight him if I have any choice. We’ve always been the best of friends.”
The problem Erik had described was so much worse than anything Brendan had expected at first that he didn’t know what to suggest. Then, taking a seat nearby, he offered what help he could. “I’ve never seen Jørn fight, but I know from experience how tough an opponent you are. If you’ll trust me with a sword, I’ll help you prepare.”
“A sword?” Erik asked, seemingly in a daze.
“Yes, a sword. Isn’t that the weapon Jørn will choose?”
“Probably. He’s very good with a sword.” Erik glanced toward the Celt. “But I’ve never even held one, let alone learned how to use one in a fight.”
While Brendan found that difficult to believe, he soon grasped the reason why. “I suppose Haakon taught Svien and Soren how to defend themselves, but didn’t bother to teach you?”
Glancing back at the ashes which so closely resembled his dashed hopes, Erik nodded. “Something like that.”
“Well, Jørn isn’t expected home for several weeks yet, and if you’ll trust me not to hack you to bits, I can teach you to use a sword as well as you do your fists. In the meant time, what about Berit? Is her mother likely to beat her?”
The question made Erik wince, for he knew Grena had been angry enough to take out all her frustrations on the beautiful young woman he loved. “I’m afraid so.”
“Do you want to go and get her?”
“What do you mean? Just ride over to Grena’s and bring Berit back here?”
“Why not? It doesn’t sound like Grena can get any more infuriated with you than she already is.”
“Probably not, but Freya wouldn’t allow it, and I need her help too badly to make her angry with me too. Or more angry, I should say.”
“Freya is mad at you too?”
“She expected better of me,” Erik revealed with a sigh.
“Better than what? Did she think you incapable of love?”
As Erik glanced toward his companion, he was surprised by his sympathetic frown. “None of this concerns you, Brendan.”
Insulted, Brendan resorted to his own tongue for a bitter oath to express himself before replying in words Erik could understand. “I belong to Jørn, and yet I am here with you. If you two are going to battle to the death, then I’d say I’m right in the middle of it.” That was a decidedly minor cause of his concern, but he knew Erik didn’t want to hear him mention his regard for Dana as the reason for his keen interest in her half brother’s plight.
“You’re right. Perhaps I should send you back to Grena’s now, before things get any more complicated.”
“No!” Brendan argued forcefully, but Erik easily guessed why he was so adamantly against leaving.
“You ought to know Dana is as miserable about this as I am. Both Grena and Freya know she lied to them to help me see Berit. I don’t think Dana has ever lied to anyone until now, and naturally Freya is deeply disappointed in her.” Bone weary, Erik closed his eyes for a moment, but instantly Berit’s tear-streaked face filled his mind’s eye. Tormented by her sorrow, he quickly blinked her image away.
“I fell in love with a woman I had no right to have, and not only have I made her suffer, but her family and mine as well. I would leave home today, but I’ll not let anyone think I haven’t the courage to face Jørn.”
“Leave? Have you lost your mind?” Brendan rose to his feet and, taking a firm grip on Erik, hauled him to his feet. Keeping his hands on his shoulders, he offered what he considered much needed advice. “Grena is a selfish, conniving shrew, and from what I saw of Jørn, he’s no better than an arrogant fool. How can you even consider leaving Berit with them? What if she is carrying your child? Would you leave her to face that disgrace alone?”
Erik was already so unhappy Brendan’s hostile questions didn’t make him feel any worse. “No, I’ll not leave her. My only hope is that eventually Grena will allow us to marry. I’ll use whatever chance I have to convince her it’s her only choice.”
“That’s better,” Brendan assured him with an encouraging grin. “What you need is some sleep. Go to bed. We can return to your new house this afternoon.”
“The new house?” Erik could barely recall the high spirits in which he had begun work on the home he had wanted to give Berit.
“Go to sleep, Erik. Everything will look better when you awake.” Brendan steered his weary companion toward his bed, and Erik was soon sleeping soundly while Brendan was wide awake and cursing the fact he would be unable to see Dana until she came to him. He wanted her to know he would do his best to help Erik, and he hoped she would understand he would do it to please her.
As he prepared his breakfast, Brendan couldn’t help but think how lucky they had been that Dana had refused to meet him during the night. If her absence had been discovered during the row over Berit and Erik, then he knew he would be in even worse trouble than Erik. That Dana was sharing Berit’s disgrace troubled him too, for he thought her loyalty to her half brother and cousin were commendable rather than shameful. He felt a twinge of guilt himself then, for he knew he had chided Erik for meekly accepting his fate rather than seeking to change it. Well, Erik had heeded his advice, with the worst of results, and rather than shoulder part of the blame, Brendan vowed to see the young man marry the woman he loved, although he had no idea how he would go about it.
When she retired to her sleeping chamber that night, Dana knew no matter how long she lived she could not possibly spend a worse day. She could not forget the ugly things her aunt had said to Erik. Knowing he did not deserve the abuse, she was glad the spiteful woman had vowed not to return as long as he lived there. That did not lessen her fears for Berit, however, for she knew her cousin must be suffering terribly as a result of her mother’s vile temper.
As for her own mother, Dana had hoped to make amends with her, but after Grena had left, the dear woman had retreated to her bedchamber and refused to speak with her all day. Soren had gone back to work on Erik’s new house without telling her good-bye. Even though she suspected he was mad at her too, she was grateful he was keeping his reasons to himself.
That night Thora was again sharing their mother’s bed, and Dana couldn’t help but regret that she no longer had her sister’s delightful innocence. Thora had known only that her mother was unhappy and had wanted to be with her. As a contributor to that unhappiness, Dana had not been allowed the same privilege. That she had secrets far more incriminating than those concerning Erik and Berit only served to deepen her feelings of isolation.
Her one consolation was that Brendan could no longer threaten to go to Grena if she failed to meet him, but for a reason Dana couldn’t begin to understand, she actually wanted to see him. She had thought of him all day, wondering what he thought of Erik’s plight, and if it had made him more sympathetic to her own. The need to speak with him outweighed her fears, and certain her mother was too angry with her to seek her company in the middle of the night, when the house grew still, she left and rode her mare to the woods.
When Brendan reached the spot he now considered theirs, he was both surprised and delighted to find Dana already there. “I didn’t mean to keep you waiting,” he offered by way of apology. “It was only that I didn’t expect you to arrive so soon.”