Viking's Love (61 page)

Rowan looked murderous as he entered the hall
looking about for his lady, and left without a word. Joran followed
the man out to the stables and eyed him in concern, having never
seen him so overwrought. The man’s stormy green eyes met his in
blazing fury.

“
Lady Ambryn is with child!” Rowan said
and Joran flinched from the news, knowing why his friend was so
angry.

“
It would seem she had a fair amount of
help in that regard,” Joran said quietly and eyed Rowan closely.
“What will you do now? If Harald learns of the child—”

Rowan laughed caustically, cutting off what
he would have said. “I hadn’t thought this far ahead when I took
her. I only thought she was the most beautiful woman I had ever
seen. I took her with me to Halfdon’s camp, and he informed me she
was Alton of York’s wife. I returned to York to find myself
attacked from every direction, and it was all those seeking her.
The Countess of York offered a thousand pounds of silver for her
return. They would have sought to marry Ambryn off again to get a
position of power again in Northumberland if she remained there. I
had no choice but to take her away. I have brought her nothing but
pain.”

“
So now that she carries your child,
you would abandon her? You would break her heart and make her hate
you? It would seem your plan has its own flaws, and you may not be
able to leave her so easily now, am I right?” Joran asked and
glowered at his friend’s guilty look.

“
You make it sound worse than it really
is, Joran,” Rowan argued hotly and flushed under his censure. “I
cannot take her with me! The risks are too great now! I will not
risk her or the child.”

“
How can you know the future?” Joran
eyed him balefully. “Did you tell her the truth at last about who
you really are? Lady Ambryn does not strike me as the type of woman
to be so faint of heart. She has remained with you despite your
ill-treatment of her. You found a more than worthy mate in
her.”

“
Why would she want my child, Joran?
Think of it? She knows only what she sees of me!” Rowan’s eyes
narrowed with anger. “I am not wealthy, nor am I worthy, and I
certainly have never told her that I wish to love her. She knows
all of this, and none of the truth, and does not care. Have you
considered she is merely using me to avoid another marriage trap in
the future? Her father still hovers in Whiltshire, do not
forget.”

“
Rowan, I do not know your Ambryn well,
but I do not think she would get herself with child by a man she
believes to be a penniless scoundrel for reasons other than the
obvious, only you are too pig-headed to see it! You have kept much
from her all this time. You leave her here, and you will destroy
her!”

“
Mayhap that will tell her once and for
all that I am not worth her sacrifice!” Rowan snapped and glared at
him. “If she believed she was just an amusement to me once and for
all, she would not waste her feelings on me any longer. She will
find another who will give her and the child the life I
cannot.”

“
Are you so sure you do not want her to
go with you?” Joran shook his head. “It would seem her actions have
said where her feelings lie. What will you do now?”

“
I leave once Wulfstan is dead. I will
not wait for Helmut to come for me,” Rowan said tonelessly and met
his gaze without flinching. “I leave Lady Ambryn here. We have
discussed this when I arrived, and nothing has changed in my plans.
It is more than imperative she and the child remain hidden
here.”

“
So, you just sail away and leave your
woman and bastard behind, how very noble of you, Rowan!” Joran
barked and glared at him. “You are right in one thing! You are not
worth her sacrifice!” He turned on his heel and left, leaving Rowan
to feel every bit the dishonorable snake he felt he was.

****

Allisande returned from putting all of her
children to bed and was grateful Joran dealt with their four
adoptive sons, for she was exhausted. She sighed and sat back in
her chair and saw Ambryn enter the hall and smiled at her
knowingly. Her green countenance and fainting spells had given her
away.

Rowan was angry, but he would deal with the
matter. She was happy for Ambryn, despite Rowan’s rage to discover
it. She prayed Rowan learned to accept it, for her friend dearly
suffered his recent rejection of her. The forlorn silver gaze made
her angry and she vowed to seek out Rowan and demand he cease
punishing the girl. Ambryn approached and she smiled brightly to
dispel the lines of worry between her eyes.

“
Has he returned yet?” she asked
hesitantly and Allisande shook her head. Rowan left for a ride to
Herricksson’s stronghold. He wanted to be as far away from Ambryn
as possible right now while he absorbed what she had admitted to
him that night.

“
He will learn to accept it, Ambryn, do
not worry.” Allisande smiled as she saw the tears. “You may be
surprised.”

“
You do not know him, I fear.” Ambryn
looked down at her hands in her lap. “There is much you do not
know. Things in the past I cannot speak of. He is right in this. I
did allow the child for a purpose.”

“
What purpose is that?” Allisande
looked about to make sure none listened.

“
I knew he sought to leave me. He has
never denied he would, and I knew he would have no choice but to
keep me now,” Ambryn admitted and a flush stole up her neck. “I
thought to trap him as he has said, but because I love him so much
I cannot live without him. I am as awful as he says.”

“
He has enjoyed himself at your
expense,” Allisande said harshly and shook her head. “It is his
fault. If he had kept his cock in his pants from the beginning, you
would not be sitting here debating your future alone. He should
have sent you back to your family long ago, and gotten his fortune
and been gone, and he knows it. He kept you with him, and he dares
blame you for the result? The absolute nerve of the man! Who does
he think he is?”

“
He has never pretended to love me,
Allisande,” Ambryn said softly, the pain in her voice was
pronounced. “I am the one who gave my heart to him long ago, and
refused to leave. He told me he had no need of it. I hoped to
change his mind, but he does not love me. You must leave it alone.
I will take care of my child and Rowan is free to go where he
will.”

“
We shall see about this! Do not worry
over it.” Allisande’s eyes narrowed in anger. Damn Rowan and his
faithless heart! When she was done with him they would be forcing
him to wed his lady.

****

The courier bird arrived from Hedeby. Joran
tossed the missive onto the table as they sat to discuss their
strategy to trap Wulfstan. Rowan knew Joran hadn’t read it by his
look of inquiry. Rowan opened it and read the missive with a low
curse.

“
What news, Rowan?” Joran saw the look
of rage in Rowan’s eyes.

“
It is from Helmut. Queen Grunhilde was
murdered by an assassin. Helmut dares not leave Hedeby now. I must
leave and make all haste,” Rowan said bleakly.

“
When will you sail?” Joran said
quietly, keeping his voice low so none could hear. “The sentries on
the fjord saw ships arrive this morning in Oslo. Wulfstan comes,
Rowan. You leave now, you meet him alone there.”

“
I await him here, and then go on my
way. We will finish this, for you,” Rowan said and saw Joran
visibly relax. Rowan knew the threat Wulfstan had been to him and
his wife. First things first, and he would seek Helmut in Denmark.
He owed Joran more than Grunhilde. He would see his friend and his
family safe. His thoughts turned to Ambryn, and he paled as he
wondered what he would tell her. The future was upon them all too
soon.

The news of Rowan’s claim to the royal house
of Denmark was unofficial, but Ulrich had sought aid from any man
ready to join them on the quest to Hedeby. Allisande knew the old
man suffered the queen’s loss, looking bleak to learn of her
passing.

Joran smiled as he left the pair and joined
her.

“
Do you go with him now?” Allisande
asked tightly, unable to keep from asking the question she dreaded
to ask since learning who Rowan was, still stunned to know they
harbored a king in their midst.

“
I am to stay and play nursemaid to his
brats,” Joran said with a grin that made her relax visibly. He
leaned down to kiss the top of her raven head. “He says there is no
greater honor he would ask of me than to keep his woman and sons
safe.”

“
What if it is a daughter she carries?”
Allisande said in outrage, but the relief in her gaze was
evident.

“
Rowan only makes boys. He is the sixth
son of a sixth son,” Joran said, looking appalled she suggested his
friend would produce a girl. “If Ambryn knows what is good for her,
she will give him only boys.”

Allisande’s reply was lost as a shout went up
in the hall. The Viking’s all fell to their knees, swords aloft as
Rowan filed past. Joran despaired of his imminent departure, unsure
what the future held for Rowan’s unborn child should he not
return.

Allisande was grinning as she saw Rowan’s
look of unease at such a demonstration of honor from the Vikings in
the hall. Herricksson’s men were arriving. News the unofficial King
of Denmark was asking for many swords to pursue his crown in Hedeby
moved up and down the fjord.

It was a joyous day, but the knowledge a war
was coming made the revelry in the hall mild that night. Rowan was
speaking with Joran alone by the hearth when Allisande put her
children to bed and joined Ambryn.

“
Is it true Rowan will retrieve your
son from Whiltshire at last?” Allisande said in a whisper, knowing
how it tormented her friend to be denied the child since his
birth.

“
He has made it clear he will arrive
with an army to my father’s gates should he try to keep Stephen
from me,” Ambryn said proudly as her gaze sought out Rowan, love
shining in her gaze.

“
Rowan leaves when the matter of
Wulfstan is resolved,” Allisande said quietly, her gaze sad as she
met hers. “Can you bear having the child alone, Ambryn? The timing
of all this is not the best.”

“
It cannot be helped.”

“
We will all pray for his safe return,”
Allisande said quietly, patting Ambryn’s hand reassuringly, knowing
her friend was terrified for what the future held. “Rowan will not
fail.”

Joran was speaking in low tones with Rowan,
but his expression was filled with excitement to learn Rowan knew
of another like Meghera. He was sure the man named Fallon who had
taken such a strong interest in Ambryn back in York was also an
Embhide, saying his eyes gave him away, much like hers. They were
strange and glowing, disturbing him every since he saw him.

“
Make inquiries in York when you seek
your father’s sword in Ivar’s residence. Find the man. See if he
has any desire in meeting one of his own,” Joran said and knew
Rowan didn’t appreciate the other errand he made in York by his
disgusted expression.

“
Not only do I go there to steal back
my father’s own sword; I now play matchmaker to two fairies,” Rowan
mused with a grimace. “Anything else you would ask of me, oh
Chieftain, while it is still in your power to command
me?”

“
I will think of something before you
leave,” Joran said with a chuckle, knowing Rowan would be relieved
when he was his own man again.

Wulfstan’s ships were sighted as the alarm
was given. Five long ships arrived with nearly a hundred
mercenaries aboard to wreak havoc upon them. Joran was grim as he
crouched upon the bluff, sword dangling from his hand, his battle
axe ready. He nodded to those below. Oram and Terek and a handful
of his men waited upon the docks.

The horde he amassed on his own waited upon
the hill above the docks. Silence was all that greeted the ships
when they pulled into the dock. Vikings climbed over the railings
and Joran watched as they took to the water to reach his lands. He
sent up a howl that caused many more of his men to arrive and rush
to the bottom of the hill to join in the fray.

The clash of steel was the only sounds to be
heard and the shouts and cries of the wounded. Joran saw Wulfstan
on the bow of his ship.

“
I want Wulfstan. He is mine,” Joran
said darkly.

Rowan nodded and they watched as the long
ships approached. They stayed out of sight and drew back and Joran
whistled to his men at the top of the bluff to look lively as they
began to dock. There were nearly fifty Viking mercenaries who leapt
upon the dock and ran up the hill. When they reached the top, they
were engaged and taken by surprise. The clash of swords warned the
men who followed they lost the surprise in the attack and they drew
back.

Joran cut down every one that crossed his
path in his search for Wulfstan. Rowan held his own as well as he
felled two more. The mercenaries took three of his men before they
were pushed down the hill and forced to retreat, right to where
Ivar’s men snuck up behind them and soon they were sandwiched
between their forces and the battle was in full swing. Rowan’s men
did not look like much, but they were fierce fighters and many of
the mercenaries were felled beneath their swords.

Joran cut down one and with a sideways swing
and beheaded another, before he arrived at the bottom of the hill
in search of Wulfstan. Terek had his back to the long ship as he
fought with one of the mercenaries. Joran saw Wulfstan and shouted
to draw away his attention from the younger man, and their eyes
met. Wulfstan grinned and gestured to him with his sword.