MacAuliffe Vikings Trilogy 3 - Lord of the wolves (18 page)

“Perhaps it will happen—but it"s doubtable. I"m an excellent warrior.”

“Any man can be killed.”

“Aye, that is true! If only any lass could be silenced!”

“Truly, you will be made to pay for this!”

“Countess, I pay dearly as it is.”

“Don"t do it!”

“My mind is set.”

“Unset it.”

“Never. I cannot wait until the dawn breaks!”

“I will not go.”

“One way or the other, you will.”

Much, much later, with the sun breaking high in the heavens, Conar stood and watched as four of his ships set sail and seemed to reach out for the pink-streaked horizon.

He smiled and shook his head.

Dear God, but she had a will of steel!

Indeed, Melisande had sailed.

But he imagined they were just now loosening the linen sheet he had wrapped her in so that he might get her to the ship!

She had so loved to taunt him for being a Viking! It seemed ironic justice, indeed, that he could use his very Christian
Irish
heritage to bend her to his will!

He laughed loudly and then paused, remembering how he had felt, watching her with the young man by the wall. A tremor shot through him, and he wondered suddenly, fiercely, what she would be like when he saw her next.

What would those fiery violet eyes hold when he met their gaze once again?

Chapter Nine

Summer A.D. 884

“We near the coast!” Bryan called to his brother.

Conar, who had been facing the wind that had sped their journey eastward, turned at Bryan"s words, smiled at his dark, green-eyed brother, and saw the land before them.

English soil, land held by Alfred of Wessex, the now legendary king of England. It was also land that belonged to his brother Eric, won by casting his hand to the aid of the English king against the Danish he and his Norwegian and Irish family had battled so well.

Watching the shore, he felt the rise of his temper once again. After all these years
she
could still draw his wrath like no one he knew.

Conar had definitely meant to part ways with his young wife that morning at the fortress, but he had never imagined that following that morning, Melisande would manage to part ways
with him
quite so frequently.

Nor had he begun to imagine that she would manage to twist
his own family
so totally to her will!

He had returned to Eire soon after he had sent her there, fully expecting to find she had been an absolute terror, but that Bede, resolute, with her deep beliefs and tremendous energy, had found a way to deal with the girl.

But when he reached Dubhlain, he discovered that Melisande had taken a deep about-turn, charming everyone in the household, and so impressing Bede with the hunger in her young mind that Bede had taken her on a pilgrimage through the countryside, ably protected, he had been assured, by his brother and sister-in-law Conan and Marina, and a select guard of their best men. There was nothing to fear. Bede was delighted with the girl, Conar"s mother assured him.

“She"s such an incredible mind!” Erin said.

Incredibly devious mind, Conar thought. But he kept his silence, his mother seemed so pleased. He sat at their elegant table in the warm great hall of Dubhlain, and Erin slipped her arms around his neck. “I"m so delighted, and so saddened, too, of course. Tell me of these lands you"ve acquired. She misses home so! It must be a wonderful place.”

Perhaps he should be relieved Melisande was in good hands—and not in his own. Although his family had heard everything that had happened on the coast, he had sat with his father through the night describing the place, the battle he had fought there, and the aftermath.

“I saw to the strengthening and repair of the tower and the walls, added the strength of my men to an able force there. It is a commendable fortress, Father.

Manon knew how to build, how to borrow from history. He learned a great deal from the Roman ruins near him, and used it wisely.”

“And fell only to treachery,” Olaf mused, filling his son"s chalice with some of the rich wine he had brought back.

“The man who betrayed him is dead.”

“So I understand. But the man you slew had a son. You"ll have to take care in the future. You"ve made an enemy you"ll keep a long, long time.”

“Perhaps.” He paused. “That"s why I sent the girl here. Since I had never planned to stay and had sworn to aid Niall in his efforts to hold Eire together, I dared not leave her behind.”

His father leaned forward. “Don"t
ever
leave her behind,” he warned.

“She"s given you that great an amount of trouble?”

“Trouble?” His father sat back, smiling. “She has been the very example of an angel.”

“Melisande?”

“She"s won hearts all around her.”

“Father, lest she win
your
heart too completely, I should warn you that she despises Vikings of any make or breed, and it matters not in the least to her that I am only half Viking!”

A small smile tugged at Olaf"s lips. “Conar, your mother despises Vikings, yet we"ve been together these very many years and the ships that sail from our ports—with her full knowledge and blessing—are ships with the design of
my
country.” Olaf was silent a moment, then continued, “You were wise to send her here, for she is indeed a great prize. Though it is my understanding that this man Gerald was distant kin of your wife"s, and I imagine the laws of consanguinity should prevent a legal Christian marriage between Melisande and any of his heirs, it is true in this world that
holding
is the greater part of
having.

So if you would protect her and your new inheritance, you would be wise to have her with you at all times.”

“Or in safe keeping.”

“Aye, or in safe keeping.” Again Olaf was silent for a moment. “I"m not sure you are aware of all that you have acquired.”

“I am aware,” Conar said, “that she is an extremely clever creature, Father.

She has certainly managed well enough here.”

“However she may exasperate you at the moment, Conar, she is a stunning young woman. A greater prize than any plot of earth.” Olaf rose suddenly, situating cups and bowls of fruits to create a map. “Your land, Eire, Alfred"s Wessex. And here, Ghent, Bruge, the Danish bases. Now look to the past and the lawlessness that has taken a firm foothold on the coast. Keep an eye upon history, Conar. Not since Charlemagne has there been a leader to give real strength to your Frankish kingdoms. When Louis the Pious died and all the land was divided between his sons, the way was let open for the Danes. For it must be said, I admit, of Vikings, son, that most are mercenaries and will fight for any army that will pay. Oft enough men of all nationalities hire the very invaders who plague them at other times to battle their own people when there is war within the realm. Now, with Alfred having stemmed the tide in England, great armies of invaders are left with nothing but conquest on their minds. That will leave us all looking to our defenses in the years to come. And you, Conar, will definitely need to see to it that your wife is kept from the hands of those who might too easily see her marriage annulled and find a way to force another upon the church. I warn you, with or without such fine property—and hers is extensive, offering a fine, deep harbor!—your young wife is a prize for others to covet. Look to her well-being.”

“Well, I would do so now, Father, but she has managed to receive your permission to travel about the countryside.”

“I had not imagined that you would object.”

He lifted a hand. “I don"t object.” He didn"t, of course. He had wanted her out of his hands.

Yet he was somehow disturbed. He didn"t want to be bothered by her, but still …

His father didn"t need to give him warnings about her. He wanted her beneath his own watchful eyes, though he thought that she had to be quite safe with Bede.

It was good to be home, yet it made him nervous to know that she traveled away from him, even in his brother"s custody, for peace had been tenuous here since his grandfather"s death. Indeed, he had not been home a fortnight before they were called north to help his Uncle Niall repel invaders who had come to stay in Ulster.

The invaders fell before the show of force sent from all the Irish kings. The campaign seemed a long one, but the losses were not heavy—they were learning how to fight their enemies, and many of the Irish who had once been his father"s enemies were now his strongest supporters, fully aware that Olaf the White knew how to plan strategy against their mutual enemies, the Danes.

Olaf stood with his brother-in-law, Niall of Ulster, acknowledged as the Ard-Ri since Erin"s father"s death, and their loyalty to one another helped hold the ties created among the Irish. It was a good campaign, a successful one, but it seemed to stretch forever, and though his father had returned home at intervals, Conar had felt compelled to stay with Niall until the bitter end. The time he had spent on the Frankish coast seemed to have slipped away from him. He was deeply possessive of his property, but his actual holding of it was going to have to wait. It was all right, he was certain. Messages came from Swen to Dubhlain, and from Dubhlain to Conar in the north. He had nothing to worry about. The fortress on the coast of France was in good hands.

So was Melisande.

He gave her little thought.

By the time he returned to Dubhlain it had been a good two years since he had seen his bride. To say the least, he"d been quite startled by her. She"d been with his mother in the great hall when he"d returned, so quiet and dignified that he hadn"t even seen her at first. But when his eyes fell upon her, he wondered that he could have missed her.

She had changed greatly within the time that had passed. Her slenderness had taken on stunning new twists and turns, her eyes seemed to have deepened in color. Knots seemed to twist in him at the sight of her. She might still be young, but she had taken on the form of a vixen. Everything that he had been told was so true. She was incredibly beautiful. Her coloring was so startling, her bone structure perfect.

And her eyes, of course, were a tempest, no matter how silently she stood, staring at him. She hadn"t forgiven him, not a whit.

He was somewhat amused by her calm and easy demeanor when they met.

She accepted his kiss of greeting on each of her cheeks and asked politely after his welfare. Still, it seemed, she escaped his presence as quickly as she might.

He was surprised, therefore, when he ordered a bath, to find her entering his chamber, keeping her distance, but managing to make her demands.

“I have been here over two years,” she told him.

Weary, he wondered why she was plaguing him at such a time. He set his linen bath cloth over his eyes and leaned back against the rim of the wooden tub he"d had brought to his own room in his father"s manor. “Indeed,” he murmured.

“I came here as you commanded—”

“You came here because you had no choice.”

“But I have been an excellent student and a very good guest, as you"ll discover if you ask your mother or father.”

“My father the Viking?” he mocked.

He heard her coming closer to the tub and was somewhat surprised. She didn"t make him feel terribly secure, and he pulled the cloth from his eyes, watching her carefully.

“Just what is it that you want?”

“I want to go home.”

He closed his eyes, leaning back again. So that was it. He heard the whisper of motion as she came closer. He was startled when he felt her hands upon his back, fingers curled around the bath cloth and soap, and working a surprising magic upon the tenseness in his shoulders. “I"m aware, of course, that you may have loyalties that bind you here, but I think it
necessary
that I return home soon.”

“My neck,” he said.

“What?”

“Go a little higher. Rub here.”

He felt her fingers move surely against his neck. Knots seemed to ease out of it. She was very good. He imagined she must have rubbed her father"s shoulders often enough, and since she had loved him so dearly, she had learned to give comfort.

No matter where she had learned it, it was quite a touch!

He was suddenly very aware of the changes that had already taken place in her. Her scent was sweet.

Her touch was damned sensual.

He grit his teeth, staring down at the water, aware that all the tension she had eased had crept back into him. Lots of it. New tension. One particular tension that seemed to be standing near painful alert at this moment.

He almost groaned aloud, yet remained in disbelief. It seemed to pound into his head that many men would think her well
over
the age to be a true wife.

Not yet, not yet! As long as he did not make the marriage real, he need change nothing in his own life. And not far from his father"s house, just outside the walls of Dubhlain, was a small farmhouse, and within it, a slim golden blond widow named Bridget who had offered him comfort often enough. She demanded nothing of him. He wasn"t ready to change things.

But those delicate fingers working against his flesh still made him feel the birth of fire. And a new thought, one he had not imagined coming so quickly.

Soon …

He could take her now, he’d have every right. She had certainly grown to an
impressive level of maturity.

“So?”

“So?”

“May I go home? I"m sure that someone within your father"s household would be willing—”