Chapter 8 #2
“Oswald is my sister’s husband’s brother.
As the family lives quite far away, I only met him a few weeks ago, at the wedding.
Somehow, that day, he convinced himself that a union between the two of us would make sense.
Two sisters married to two brothers, that sort of thing.
” She snorted, indicating she had seen right through the man’s plan.
“Of course, the fact that my father is reeve weighs a lot in the balance.”
Indeed. The prestige of a union with such a family would bring many advantages. Not that any man would need extra incentive to want to make this beautiful, stimulating woman his wife.
Stop! She might be stimulating, she was definitely beautiful, but she was a Saxon, the last person he should be worried about.
“I see,” he said through gritted teeth, annoyed that he could not quite focus on the conversation. “And you don’t agree that a union between the two of you would make sense?”
“No. He’s self-centered and petulant, nothing like my brother-in-law, Leofric, who is a good man and a good husband to my sister.
” She gave an involuntary shiver, which told him more about what she thought of the man than anything else.
“I will never marry him. I told him many times, Leofric told him many times, but he refuses to listen.”
“And now he’s decided that if you won’t be his wife, at least you will accept him in your bed and become his lover?” His tone was icy, Haakon noticed. Damn, he sounded as if he was angry at her. But he wasn’t, he was only incensed at the man’s presumption.
Thankfully, Gytha seemed to understand that.
She nodded. “Yes. That is why I decided to spend the night away, knowing that my father would not be here tonight. I feared something like this might happen. And to tell you the truth, Oswald…frightens me. That is the main reason I will never agree to marry him.”
Everything within Haakon snapped.
He would not have any woman frightened if he could help it, any more than he would have her hurt.
“You don’t need to fear him. Say the word and he will pay for his presumption.”
He will pay.
Gytha stared at the tall warrior in front of her, declaring himself her protector. This was a man she barely knew, a man she had been falsely betrothed to, a man she was attracted to, but wasn’t sure she could afford to like. A man who should not have cared about what happened to her.
And yet here he was, telling her he would protect her if she asked him.
He made it sound so simple. She’d been struggling with Oswald for what seemed like forever, and he was saying that she only had to say the word and the problem would be solved. Could she accept his offer, ask him to rid her of the man? It was tempting.
Haakon placed the candle on the floor and sighed. In that moment he was nothing like the arrogant, teasing man he could be at times. He didn’t have any boots on, his hair was all in disarray, as if he’d been dragged from bed, and he was looking at her with warm concern.
He’d said he would help her if she asked, and he clearly meant it. Something inside her melted. This Haakon she could afford to like.
Gytha bit her lip. Who was she fooling? She already liked him, far too much. That was the problem.
“No, I thank you but I don’t think killing Oswald would solve anything.” Though it would definitely put an end to the threat the man represented, her conscience would plague her till her dying day if she asked anyone to commit murder in her name.
“I never said anything about killing him,” Haakon’s voice was little more than a growl. “I only said he could pay for what he tried to do.”
Did she want to know what he meant by that? She wasn’t sure she would like it, so she didn’t insist. If he told her what he intended to do with the man, she would no doubt have nightmares about it for days on end.
“No. Please. I’m sure he will have learned his lesson after what happened tonight.” At least that was the hope.
“Mm. If you say so.” Haakon didn’t sound in the least convinced but, to her relief, he seemed content to let her choose the best course of action.
They remained facing each other for a long time, not talking.
The tiny, flickering candle at their feet was the only source of light around.
In the near darkness, Haakon appeared taller than usual, even more intense and handsome, almost menacing.
What would she have thought had she not known him?
Would she have worried for her safety? If she had been wary of being on her own with Oswald, who was nowhere near as intimidating, what should she feel when faced with the epitome of the Norse warrior her people still feared, even decades after the devastating raids?
No. Somehow she had the impression that she would always have known that this man could pose no threat to her safety.
Only to her senses.
Then, without warning, he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned a muscular shoulder on the wall next to him.
Just like that, the tension dissipated. His body suddenly relaxed and she knew what was coming.
He would revert back to his usual teasing manner.
She would have to brace herself for his jests rather than worry about the effect his proximity created within her. It would be a welcome relief.
As soon as he opened his mouth, she was proven right.
“You could thank me, you know, for sparing you from Oswald’s advances. Had I not been in your bed when he entered the room, you would have been the one lying in it when he decided it was time to act on his desires.”
Oh Lord. That was too dire to contemplate. The thought made Gytha reply more curtly than she would normally have.
“Had you not been in it, the bed would have been empty and he would have left. I told you, I had planned to spend the night away, specifically to avoid having to see him. It seems that I was right to be cautious.”
She had gone to her friend, Agnes, at the end of the street, only coming back when dawn was not far away.
“Have you told your father how insistent the man is?”
“No. He knows Oswald wants to marry me, of course, and why, but I have not revealed the extent of his obsession.” After her mother’s death and his ever-demanding work, her poor father had enough to deal with.
Haakon nodded, then gave what might have passed for a pout in someone less fierce. “No thanks for me, then?”
Gytha lifted her chin. “No.”
Why was she being so contrary? She was grateful, undeniably.
But she hated seeing him ask for her gratitude, showing her that she had been woefully remiss for not thinking of it herself.
She hated him pointing out how desperate her situation was, because unfortunately, she knew it all too well.
If Oswald was not above coming to her bed when he thought her defenseless, what would happen next?
She could not deal with the answer to that question, so instead she addressed Haakon.
“But I do have a question for you. What were you doing in my room, in my bed, I should say, in the middle of the night?”
This was what she had been wondering about from the moment he had told her he’d been the one under Oswald.
Haakon took in a deep inhale and tried to calm the beating of his heart.
Trust Gytha to make it appear as if he was in the wrong instead of thanking him for what he’d done. It was like it had been with Rowena. She had assumed he had a nefarious idea in mind, rather than accept that perhaps, there was a good reason for what had happened.
“I was waiting for you,” he said curtly, deciding she didn’t deserve to be told it had not been his decision to go to her room. As to lying on her bed, he had only done so to get the rest he’d earned three times over after the confrontation with the slave trader.
“I see.” Had her eyebrow arched more, it would have disappeared under the line of her hair. “How is that different to what Oswald was doing, I might ask?”
“Because I don’t mean it like that and you know it!
” he snapped. How dare she compare him to that bastard?
Forget beautiful and stimulating, this woman was maddening and he should stay well away for fear of losing his mind.
“I had no intention of pouncing on you like a beast. You know that Wolf asked me to come to give information to your father.”
Far from being chastened, she snorted. “Did you intend to go find my father in bed also? Or did you reserve that honor only to me?”
“Damn it, woman! Why must you vex me so all the time?”
“Because you let me. And I think you enjoy it.”
This confounding answer caused Haakon to still. She was right. Had he been indifferent to her, he wouldn’t have let any of her taunts vex him. He would not still be here, waiting for the next insult or shocking comment to come. He would have retaliated in kind. What did that say about him?
That he was an idiot.
Heart heavy, Haakon looked through the window. It was starting to get light outside. A new day was just dawning, and he was already feeling drained.
Why had he come? Sven had offered to deliver the message to the reeve in his place but he had refused. Fool that he was, he had not wanted to miss the opportunity to see Gytha.
And this was the result. In less than an hour, he’d found himself under a man intent on assaulting him, he’d been denied the thanks he was owed for coming to the woman’s aid, and worst of all, he’d been accused of wanting to take advantage of her himself.
This was hopeless, and only went to show he’d been right to vow to stay away from fickle, ungrateful Saxons. Associating with them only lead to disillusion.
“I’m leaving,” he said, his voice flat. He refused to let Gytha see how much she had hurt him with her accusations.
“Tell your father to come see me and Wolf at the village as soon as he can. I will not wait for him. After all, whether he finds out what happened today or three days hence makes little difference.”