Chapter 10
Gytha was surprised to open her eyes to an already declining sun. Had she really slept most of the day away?
Her father had come to see her after breaking his fast, telling her he would be back on the morrow and she was free to go back to her own room.
At first she’d stayed where she was, in the little space he used to conduct his affair, not sure she would be able to bear the memory of Oswald towering over her, fists raised and ready to strike if she went back to where it happened.
Then she decided she was being silly. After all, she couldn’t stay away from her room indefinitely.
The sooner she found the courage to go back, the better.
Forcing herself to ignore what had happened earlier—and what could have happened—she’d entered the cleaned, silent room.
The bed had been made, a basin of water and a pile of linens were ready on the table, and the brazier was burning again. Everything was as it should be. Relieved, Gytha had stretched out on her bed and fallen asleep with Haakon’s comforting scent in her nostrils.
As soon as she stood up, she decided that a wash and a change of clothes would do her good. Once she had put herself to rights, she braced herself for an evening alone with Haakon, who had promised to stay the night to guard her.
She found him in the great hall, sitting in front of the fire on a folding stool, his long legs stretched in front of him.
At the sound of her footsteps, he lifted his head and allowed his gaze to wander over her.
Her core tightened under the scrutiny. Never had she imagined a man would be looking at her thus, with such naked intent and appreciation.
“Haakon,” she breathed, not quite knowing how to behave. In that moment she was not the reeve’s daughter, she was just Gytha.
He stood up, tall and confident. “Saxon.”
Oh, that word in his mouth! She could have sworn he had just paid her the most heartfelt compliment—or ordered her to spread her legs for him. It made her both blush in delight and heat up in lust.
Fortunately, he didn’t seem to have noticed her confusion. Making the most of the reprieve, she turned to the fire on the pretense of warming her hands.
“Did you find out what happened to Alfred, then?” she asked, seizing on the first subject that came to mind.
“Yes. The people in the next street told me they had found him in front of their doorstep in the morning, lying in a pool of his own blood.”
“Oh no!” Gytha’s hands flew to her mouth. This was not what she had expected to hear and she was horrified. “Is he—”
“Forgive me.” Haakon looked stricken. “That was poorly done of me. It’s not as bad as my answer suggested.
Though he was seriously injured, he will live.
Apparently, he heard a noise in the night and went to see what it could be.
In the dark alley, he was set upon by ruffians who robbed him of his valuables and left him for dead. ”
The poor man. He’d risked his life for her and the worst of it was, because she had been with Agnes, his watch had been for nothing. He’d been guarding an empty house, or at least one where the sole occupant, Haakon, had not needed any protection.
“So his disappearance had nothing to do with Oswald?”
“No, it appears not.”
Gytha was not exactly relieved, considering how badly Alfred had suffered, but she had wondered if her attacker had bribed or somehow fooled the guard into letting him in, or even killed him in order to gain access to her room. Now she knew the man was not to blame in any way, and he would live.
“I’ll go see him tomorrow, thank him for doing his job so conscientiously and tell him how sorry I am that he was injured.”
Haakon nodded his approval. “Now. Are you hungry? I bought some bread and cheese this afternoon and made an omelette with some of the dried herbs your father used to make a tisane,” he told her, looking wary lest she would think this odd.
“My mother often does this, arguing that what is good to drink is also good to eat. I hope you’ll like it. ”
“I’m sure I will,” she reassured him. “It makes so much sense that I’m not sure why I never thought of it myself. And yes, I’m hungry, thank you.”
Very hungry, in fact, which was no wonder, considering she hadn’t eaten anything since the evening before at her friend’s house.
“I’ll get everything ready.”
Before joining Haakon at the table, Gytha took the precaution of lighting an extra candle, remembering how he had appeared too intense to bear in the soft glow of a single flame that morning in the corridor.
The fire provided some light, true, but it was behind him and she needed to see as clearly as she could.
Because she was more intimidated than she had ever been and darkness would only make it worse.
How could she make normal conversation with a man like Haakon, a man who had kissed her with soul-stirring passion, not just once, but twice?
The last time they had been alone, he’d rubbed her aching flesh over his steel hardness and told her he wanted to…
to impale her on his cock. Oh dear, would that shocking sentence haunt her thoughts for the years to come? It was all too possible.
To add to her confusion was the fact that they were alone and sat at a table where she had only ever sat with her family before. It was very intimate.
She took a piece a bread and said the first thing that came to her mind.
“Your father is the only Saxon man living in the Norsemen village, if I remember correctly?”
“Yes.” Haakon cut himself a slice of cheese and gave a side smile, as if enjoying what he was about to tell her. “How he met my mother is rather unusual.”
“You told me they had met when she pretended to be his lover?”
He had told her as much after she had played the role of his betrothed for Edita’s sake, and she had thought that story unusual enough.
Was he about to reveal that he had lied to set her mind at ease?
She hoped not, as she had liked to hear that Caedmon and Ingrid’s meeting had been similar to their own.
“I did, but I didn’t tell you why he was in the village in the first place, did I?” She shook her head. Indeed he had not and now she was curious. “My father had gone to live in London but he came back after a few years to be with the woman he loved, a childhood friend called Frigyth.”
Frigyth? The name was familiar. But, it could not be who she thought. “Not the one married to Wolf’s friend, surely?”
“The very same.” Haakon’s smile broadened.
“He had hoped she would come see to him as more than a friend but when he arrived and saw her married to Sigurd, he understood that there would be no swaying her. So instead of succumbing to despair, he fell in love with my mother who had, as I said, helped him escape an accusation of theft.”
“Well.” Gytha wasn’t sure what to make of this.
It seemed odd, almost sacrilegious to fall in love with someone while your mind was full of someone else.
“And Sigurd didn’t mind a man who’d lusted after his wife settling into the village?
What about your mother? Didn’t she worry your father would—” She stopped, feeling very intrusive.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t ask. It’s not very polite.
” Besides, Haakon had already told her his parents were very happy together.
“It’s all right, you’re not being rude, merely taking part in the conversation.
I have wondered he same thing myself, many times.
” Haakon laughed. “And no, nobody minded. But I take it from your questions that when you marry, you would not like to live too close next to your husband’s former conquests? ”
When she married… At the moment this seemed like a distant possibility. All her friends had long found a husband. Eadhild had been the last, and she was now married as well. Would it ever be her turn?
“Well, you are wrong. I would trust him to stay true to me, even when surrounded by women ready to pounce on him.” What point would there be in a marriage built on doubt and resentment? “Because I would not marry a man I did not trust to have eyes only for me in the first place.”
“That is very wise of you.” Haakon’s eyes were glittering.
Damnation, perhaps it had not been such a good idea to light that second candle.
It only made his beauty more glaring. “If you caught him dallying with another woman you would likely skewer him with one of your ubiquitous needles or whack him with a dog bone, or do whatever you deem fit. In those conditions, any man who did marry you would be a fool to look elsewhere. Not that he would want to, I imagine.”
Gytha swallowed. In a few sentences, he had revealed his admiration for her and set her body aflame. Quite an achievement.
This conversation was becoming too dangerous. And the way Haakon was looking at her too enticing. How could eyes the color of ice provoke such heat inside her? How could a man make her insides quiver without even touching her?
After an odd beginning, the two of them had become inexplicably close.
With a measure of shock, Gytha realized she liked this man more than she had liked any she had met since she had been old enough to take an interest in men and was already in too deep to protect herself from unwise feelings.
He could be infuriating but he was also kind and protective.
She felt inadequate and clumsy in his presence but that was not of his doing.
And he made her feel beautiful, brave and intriguing when it mattered.
He never hesitated to offer his help and he was not above showing his vulnerability.
It was as if he had been created to test her resolve not to get involved with anyone until her father was no longer reeve.
“Your idea of putting herbs in the omelette was inspired,” she blurted out. “That hint of lemon balm is delicious. I think I will experiment myself next time I make one.”
“Thank you. I’ll be sure to tell my mother you approve.”