Chapter 9 #2
The comment wrenched a chuckle out of him. Did she really think he had not noticed? “Yes, I can see that.” And feel it. She had gone completely limp against him, a soft bundle of loveliness. “’Tis no issue. Just close your eyes. We have a little while to go yet.”
“Does Rastok know where we’re going?”
“Ratatoskr,” he corrected, feeling his smile widen even further. Really, she was irresistible. “He doesn’t, not from here, but I do. Don’t worry. You’re safe.”
“Mm. I know. I’m safe with you. Always. Thank you.”
It took longer to get back home than it had taken to go to the beach, because in the dark and with a sleepy Ylva in his arms, Ulf could only walk.
Not that he minded. It felt right to have her against him, all relaxed and warm, with her hair smelling of the sea, and tickling his nose.
Once they arrived at the hut, he would have to let her go and settle in his furs by the fire pit.
Whether he would manage to fall asleep was another question. He felt anything but tired.
Eventually, they reached the sleepy village. Everything was quiet, telling him that it had to be much later than he had realized.
“Ylva,” he murmured when they stopped in front of the hut. “We’ve arrived.”
“Mm.” She grunted but she didn’t move.
Once again, he smiled. Had he spent the whole day smiling? It seemed so. “I can carry you to the pallet if you want but I need to dismount first,” he explained. “So you need to hold yourself up just a moment.”
“Yes,” she said, sitting up so he could slide to the ground. “Carry me. I like it when you carry me.”
He liked to carry her as well. Especially carry her to his home. It felt right. Yes, he reflected, as he entered the hut, something had changed this day. It felt as if she were now part of his life.
“After the wonderful day I’ve had, I want my dreams to be populated by happy thoughts,” she mumbled while he deposited her onto the pallet. “So, please, lie with me a while, tell me about your childhood. I think you had a happy childhood.”
“I did.” Another smile. “But I need to go see to Ratatoskr first.”
“Oh, of course. Silly me. Give him a kiss from me, thank him again for today. Then come back, please.”
“I will.”
As if he would ever refuse such a request.
Ulf was sure he had never been that quick to unsaddle his horse, lead him back to the field and make sure he was fed and watered. He gave him the usual pat on the rump before leaving and turned to the gate. At the last moment, moved by mischief, he planted a kiss on the gelding’s neck.
“Thanks for making a wonderful woman very happy today, my friend,” he whispered. “I bet it felt good to have her sit on you instead of a big lout like me.”
And damn it, he did smile again.
Ulf rushed back to the hut, hoping Ylva had not fallen back to sleep yet, for he was very much looking forward to a conversation with her. Soon, he was lying next to her, in the warmth of the pallet. She still seemed sleepy but she had waited for him.
“Tell me about your childhood, then,” she said, “surrounded by your brother, your two lovely sisters and your parents, Steinar and Cwenthryth.”
“Cwenthryth is not my mother,” Ulf started. “My real mother was a Norsewoman called Astrid. She was my father’s first wife. But she died when I was twelve, poisoned by her lover.”
Ylva’s eyes flew open at the same time as a gasp escaped her lips.
Evidently, all thoughts of sleep had vanished from her mind.
Ulf could have kicked himself. What had possessed him to give such an honest answer at this time?
She had wanted to hear a story of happiness to lull her into sleep and she was told his mother had been unfaithful and then murdered by the man she had preferred to her husband.
“Apart from that, you’re right,” he said, in a desperate bid to make amends. “My childhood was happy. More than happy.”
For good measure, he drew her against his flank, hoping his presence would help soothe her. It was only when he felt her against him that he realized he had been waiting for an excuse to touch her.
After a while, she relaxed in his arms.
“Did you go running in fields until you thought your chest would burst? Did you sleep at night in the woods? Did you go swim in the sea on sunny days?”
The questions caused Ulf’s chest to squeeze. It was not hard to guess that these were the things she had longed to do while trapped in Mildred’s house. So he indulged her, gave her a sense of what her childhood should have been like.
“Yes, I did all that and more. I fished for trout in the river with my father, played in the tree house with my brother, went to the beach with my friends, learned to ride with my grandfather. I cooked rabbits on huge fires, I gathered honey, herbs and mushrooms in the woods, I slept under the stars. I even wove a flower garland once, for a girl I wanted to impress. I hated doing it and the result was as poor as you imagine it to be.”
She gave a giggle, which was what he’d hoped. “I’m sure she loved it anyway.”
“She did not. She threw it in my face.”
“Oh no!”
“Oh yes.”
The hold around her tightened. He wanted to ask if she remembered anything from her life before she was taken as a slave but he didn’t dare.
This was the last thing he should mention right now.
Nevertheless he could not help being curious.
Did she know who her family had been? He didn’t know whether to hope for it or not.
Ulf decided to tell her one last thing before she fell asleep. He would do what he could to ensure she did get her dreams populated by happy thoughts.
“My brother is not yet fifteen but he has already decided who his wife will be. A girl his own age called Asta, who was born in Denmark. She arrived in the village at the age of ten and I think he’s been in love with her ever since.
” He snorted at his choice of words. Maybe not in love, exactly, as they had been children, but they were definitely in love now.
He wouldn’t be surprised if they had already started to play less childish games together.
“I expect he will marry her as soon as he can.”
“That is such a beautiful story. It must be wonderful to…”
“Sleep, Ylva. You need to rest.” She had gone slack again and could not finish her sentence.
“Stay with me.” A simple request.
“Yes.” A simple answer.
He placed his lips on her forehead and was asleep in moments.