Viking's Love (59 page)

He noted Merta entering the hall and nearly
groaned aloud in protest when her green eyes lit up at the sight of
him. She rushed over, her pretty face wreathed in a smile of
welcome that died upon her lips at her brother’s words.

“
We have agreed to give Joran three of
our serfs to help his wife with her household this day, Merta,”
Garran said deliberately and his expression soured as her eyes
narrowed and she swung an angry gaze up at Joran.

“
You have married?” she asked harshly
as she glared at him. “I had not heard of it. Who did you marry,
Joran? Some sweet biddable girl you found in Oslo perhaps?” Her
angry words were greeted with a scowl as he looked down at his
former leman with irritation.

“
Allisande and I wed in England at her
family home,” he said coolly and enjoyed the way her eyes flared at
his callous words informing her he wed her former rival.

“
The slave you brought back on your
last raid? It will be a delight to inform all those at the next
gathering how you found your wife!” She sneered and her face
mottled with rage.

“
Allisande is my wife now and gets the
respect shown to a Chieftain’s wife, and I bid you remember that,
Merta,” he said and stared at her unkindly. “Instead of harboring
some hope I take you back to my bed, you would be better served
finding a husband who tolerates your barbed tongue!” He heard
Reysa’s scornful laughter as she listened from the hearth where she
sat.

Merta had no chance to reply as he thanked
her brother and his wife for their help and gestured for his men to
prepare to leave. He stepped around the glaring redhead and ignored
her as they bundled up for their journey.

The three girls arrived with their bundles of
belongings. They were all triumphant as they passed her. Merta
bristled as they came forward to hear his last words to her. The
blatant amusement the serfs flung at her made her face color with
fury. She stalked from the hall without a word, her head held
high.

Allisande was so relieved when the men
returned with the three girls in tow, she nearly wept at the sight
of them. She was haggard and dearly wanted a nap and a long, hot
bath. She eyed her husband with gratitude as Elwynn took the new
arrivals under her wing.

The women were clearly relieved to be out of
the Herricksson household due to Merta’s spite. Their enthusiasm
breathed new life into the hall.

Britta was the most talkative, and the
comeliest of the three. With her pale blonde hair and clear green
eyes, she would surely have Joran’s men in an uproar when they saw
her.

Cordella was a large-boned girl, and assured
her new mistress they would never go hungry with her manning the
kitchens.

Thora was the quietest, and the youngest. She
had a talent with needlework, and both Britta and Cordella declared
she could sew anything and skillfully. Allisande was delighted with
the help and left them with Elwynn to seek a restful nap and a bath
while the babies slept. Meghera entertained the children showing
them Alfred’s newest tricks.

The rat had become an expert thief. She
taught him to ferret away various items upon her request to the
delight and awe of the little boys who watched. Ewan lay dozing on
a mat by the fire. Allisande could see no better opportunity to
sneak away, and returned to her room where the steaming water the
men poured into the tub made her sigh in delight.

She had her head laid back upon the rim of
the tub after washing her hair with her eyes closed when Joran
entered the room quietly, and sighed appreciatively at the sight of
his wife in her bath. One violet eye opened, as she regarded him
with a lazy smile.

“
This is heavenly, Joran,” She sighed
and gestured to him boldly. “Would you not join me, my
love?”

He was already removing his clothes and
grinned as he flung them aside and approached to climb into her
bath. He lifted her to where she sat facing him with her legs
around his waist in the tub. He grinned as she sat upon him, and
felt himself grow hard instantly.

It had been weeks since they had time to
enjoy each other leisurely, and at night she had fallen asleep in
his arms. He was eager to show her how much he missed her, and her
sighs mingled with his for the better part of the day.

****

Wulfstan eyed Greta appreciatively as he lay
beside her, listening to her talk of Joran’s visit under hooded
lids. He arrived at Ivar’s home in Oslo only weeks after Joran
departed, and decided wintering there was of a necessity, for he
had no place else to go.

Ivar’s men were all with him in York and with
winter here, he need not worry about being hunted by his fellow
Vikings while he waited for the weather to clear. His eyes narrowed
as he calculated the price to gain mercenaries to sail up the fjord
to kill his hated half brother.

It would take time and training, and he was
frustrated he couldn’t go until the spring. His gold was running
out, and he realized he must be careful with it. Greta informed him
of all that he needed to know. He listened to her complaints about
Joran’s woman with a gleam in his eyes.

He would maim Joran, and make him watch as he
had his woman in front of him, and kill her before his eyes, before
he killed him as well. Ivar made the biggest mistake of all by
letting him walk out of his hall in York, for when it was over, his
favorite son would be dead.

He soon forgot about his thoughts of
vengeance as Greta’s delightful mouth worked its magic upon him and
sighed in delight. It was a pity he would have to kill all here
before he left, but he couldn’t risk the serfs informing Ivar he’d
been here.

Joran the Stonehearted had many enemies. An
attack upon his stronghold would not be looked at too closely if
none were aware of his presence here. Eric and Murdoch were growing
discontented after he gave them free rein to go after Joran’s
people as they would.

Killing the women had been a means of sending
a message to his nemesis. Killing two of his men had been for sheer
spite. Wulfstan had no choice but to wait until spring to finish
his quest to destroy Joran and his wife.

****

Allisande sighed irritably and spoke sharply
to the children running amok in the hall. Joran gazed at her
questioningly, for she had been more than a little moody of late.
It reminded him of her pregnancy with his son.

He eyed her with a twinkle in his gaze as he
let a finger trace her collarbone. He chuckled when she slapped his
hand away. She demanded he deal with their adoptive children before
they made her crazed.

“
It will only get worse when the new
babe comes, I would predict.” Joran met her wide, violet gaze with
a loving look and leaned forward to kiss her lips softly. “I can
always tell, Wench, because you grow thornier than a porcupine when
you’re breeding.”

Allisande smiled ruefully, and mentally
calculated her husband’s calculations were correct. She gave him a
look that said such matters were none of his business, but sighed
and realized he was right. Their extended family was indeed
growing.

Joran intended to add on to their home in the
spring to allow for it. She was grateful he intended to put their
room in the new addition and give Meghera their old room.

She looked forward to a new child, but
despaired of what she would do with a baby in the furor that
existed within their home. Her son was already pulling himself up
on furniture and moving around the trestle table in wonder, with
Cassia fast on his heels.

Soon the pair would join the four who
cavorted with Thor in the hall and created such havoc. The Vikings
groused into their tankards of their home being overrun with
children. She smiled and sighed contentedly, and estimated her
daughter would be born in late summer.

Joran raised an eyebrow at that, and declared
he needed more Vikings in his household now, not maids.

“
I will have our daughter, and it is
not for you to say.” She glowered at him for he teased her with
future raiding every chance he got. “I think the five you have
coming up enough to train!” Her words were cut off as the din grew
to such a level that she couldn’t hear herself think. She shouted
at them all to be silent. Joran chuckled as he took her hand and
kissed her palm.

“
Easy, Wench, you work yourself up when
you know it will only last a minute before they begin again.” Soon
the boys were making as much, if not more noise. She rolled her
eyes.

“
I cannot take it anymore!” She rose
from the table. “I am going to lie down for awhile.” As she walked
away she eyed him over her shoulder with a suggestive look he grew
to look forward to. “Are you not coming?” He rose hurriedly as he
followed her from the hall.

The months passed and soon spring arrived.
The construction upon the longhouse gave the Vikings something to
do as well as the planting of the crops. Everyone was bustling
around with their tasks as the sound of hammers against wood and
sawing drowned out everything.

Joran returned from Oslo with a trio of male
serfs with him and extra provisions for the women. He had several
bolts of fabric, and all were excited when Thora promised new gowns
for all.

Allisande gazed down at her enormous abdomen
and sighed as she waddled about and wondered for the umpteenth time
if her child was too large. Joran seemed delighted at the prospect
of her having a strong, strapping son.

She glared at him and he teased her
unmercifully with his predictions she carried a giant Viking within
her. She warned him if she carried a giant, he could deliver it.
She stomped away with him laughing as his men worked laboriously to
expand his home.

Joran was standing out front as the roof was
raised and put on the addition when he saw the long ship
approaching from the bluff. He glowered as he recognized the
grinning Viking on the deck and sighed depressively.

Leave it to Rowan to show up when the work
was done with his hand out. He frowned when he saw that Lady Ambryn
was with him at his side, and looked none too pleased to be there.
Rowan and his rag-tag group of Vikings were made welcome.

Seeing Lady Ambryn’s amount of baggage being
brought up the hill made him curse under his breath. The barracks
were full with Ivar’s men still there. The new serfs had Grogan’s
old cottage. The only thing to do was to make the couple
welcome.

Allisande would not like it, but they would
have to remain in their old room a while longer to accommodate the
couple. He glowered as Rowan approached with the platinum-haired
noblewoman behind him, who looked at the center of his back with a
murderous glare in her pale, silver eyes.

It was obvious a year not improved her
feelings for her new benefactor. Rowan gave her a menacing look.
Rowan gestured towards the hall and told her to make herself of use
and put his things away. Learning the ridiculous amount of baggage
was Rowan’s and not the woman’s made Joran glower at the handsome
Viking.

“
What do I owe this visit, Rowan? I
would think you would be in York with my father securing the city
and making a home for your lady. What are you doing back in
Norway?” Joran asked as they walked towards the hall.

Rowan eyed him worriedly and gazed after Lady
Ambryn with an expression he couldn’t decipher. He explained in a
low voice he couldn’t take her to York, for her dead husband’s
family was there and would seek to harm her.

“
What does that have to do with you
being here?”

“
I hoped you would have need of another
sword arm, for the woman has threatened to swim away if she
continues to live on my ship,” Rowan said with an amused chuckle
and his smile faded. “I have no home. I have followed Ivar since I
was fourteen making war. I find I have nothing besides my ship, a
woman who harps on me, and my sword. I have little else of my own.
Now that Ivar has disappeared, I have no means of making my
way.”

“
What do you mean he disappeared?”
Joran said in concern, and his eyes flared to hear Ivar was
missing. “Where has he gone?”

Rowan shrugged and said he had just packed
his things one day, informed his brothers he was leaving. It was
the last they had seen him. He arrived in Oslo to learn from his
men he wasn’t in residence, and continued on to his home in hopes
of finding a situation for himself and his lady.

Joran had seen Rowan fight in the past and
had no doubt a force such as his would be welcome in light of the
threat Wulfstan made, but the resentment he still felt about
Allisande’s running away with him made him question the sanity of
letting the man stay on.

Allisande would like it, seeing an ally in
another Englishwoman under his roof. He wondered at his father’s
disappearance, and remembered his message to Allisande, and knew
where Ivar was. He relaxed and grinned as he and Rowan entered the
house.

Lady Ambryn was sitting on top of some of
Rowan’s bags, and looked at him venomously as she informed him she
wasn’t his servant. Rowan eyed her darkly. Joran hid a smile as he
dealt with his lady while he sought out his wife.

He found her packing their old room up, and
winced as she turned and smiled happily, telling him of how much
more room they had in their new chambers. She froze at his dismayed
expression.

“
What do you mean they are staying on
for awhile?” She wailed and waddled adorably in front of him as he
informed her they needed the space for Rowan and his lady. “They
can have the room up here! I have been packing all day to move to
our new room, and I will not give it up for Rowan!”