Chapter Thirteen #2
When Svanna had stood there, looking at him in dismay while the pieces tumbled to the floor, he’d known that he wanted her with every fibre of his being.
He’d needed to lose himself within her. The need remained unquenched, which added a whole new meaning to fear.
The hurt, grief and guilt he’d experienced at Bridget’s death had nearly destroyed him.
He had no desire to experience that again and had actively avoided it, except the fates had mocked his hubris.
They had tossed in his path the one woman who could reach inside the ringfort he’d built around his heart.
He stretched out his hand, hoping to find Svanna’s warm body and draw her to him, but the pillow was cold beside him. He frowned. He sat up and looked about.
He swore loud and long. The tafl board had vanished.
He rapidly dressed and went in search of her, rushing through the ringfort with purpose and refusing to be distracted. The sun hitting the top of the round tower’s door showed he’d slept even longer than he’d initially thought.
He entered the tower and discovered Svanna teaching Birdie how to play a simplified version of tafl. His neck muscles relaxed. Svanna was fine.
He watched, soaking in the scene of his newly made family and marvelling at Svanna’s patience with the little girl as she slowly explained the move, obviously not for the first time, to Birdie.
His family. Like he’d dreamt of as a young man.
The blood pounding in his ears slowly receded and he regained control of his thoughts.
‘Is Birdie old enough for tafl?’ he asked when he trusted his voice.
Birdie gave a squeal and upset the board, sending the pieces tumbling to the rush-covered floor in her haste. ‘My papa! My papa!’
He hugged her tight, drinking in her little girl smell.
‘Mor Svanna is teaching me to play,’ Birdie said in a loud whisper. ‘I am…a…natural. But shh…a surprise.’
‘A surprise? For whom?’
Birdie tapped him on the chest. ‘You, silly Papa. You. You aren’t angry with me for touching the tafl counters like Nurse claimed you’d be? On Mor Svanna’s hair.’ She scrunched her nose. ‘Whatever that means.’
‘How could I ever be angry with you, little one?’
Birdie nestled her head against his and sighed.
Rand looked over Birdie’s curls to where Svanna was busy picking up the counters Birdie had inadvertently spilled. ‘Mor Svanna?’
‘Your daughter wanted a name for me.’ She shrugged. ‘I hope you don’t mind me taking the tafl board, but I learned to play when I was about Birdie’s age.’
‘You thought to teach her without consulting me?’
‘We are starting to be friends through playing.’
‘Then I approve, but, Birdie, you must help Mor Svanna to clear up,’ he said, lowering Birdie down. ‘You were the one to upset the game. You can reset the board.’
‘Will you help me, Papa?’
He reached for the king piece. It appeared warm in his hand, as if Bridget’s shade somehow approved. He pushed the fancy away and set the piece down rather harder than he should have done. ‘What if I play on your team against Mor Svanna?’
‘Mor means mother in the Northern tongue,’ Birdie said.
‘I know it does, little one. I grew up there.’
‘Oh, I’d forgotten.’
‘Who is going to be the ultimate winner?’ Rand asked after they’d managed to defeat Svanna on the second try.
‘Birdie is rubbing her eyes, a sign of tiredness,’ Svanna said in a low voice. ‘Later.’
‘You and I will settle it. Think about the appropriate forfeit.’
‘A threat or a promise?’
Rand captured her hand and squeezed it. ‘Most definitely a promise.’
At Rand’s signal, her nurse came forward and gathered Birdie up, saying it was time to feed the chickens as they were her responsibility.
Birdie’s eyes shone. She ran to Rand, gave him a huge hug and then a more tentative hug to Svanna, who hugged the little girl back.
A lump grew in his throat. Svanna was most definitely willing to play the mother to Birdie.
Another practical reason why agreeing to this strategic marriage had been a good idea.
Practical reasons, rather than reasons of the heart.
‘Mothering comes naturally to you.’
‘Does it?’ Svanna said, sitting back on her haunches. ‘I treat her like I wanted to be treated as a little girl. I know why you long to be with her, Rand.’
‘How long did I sleep?’ he asked, putting his hand to his head.
‘You slept through the night and most of the morning,’ Svanna said, walking over to a small loom. ‘I didn’t want to wake you to show you this, but I think you need to see it.’
Rand regarded the intricately woven braid with incomprehension. ‘Don’t tell me that Birdie is that accomplished. Even I know how hard it is to produce something of that intricacy.’
‘Rhiannon was working on it when she first came here, but abandoned it.’
‘Other matters in the south required my attention. I kept her safe here.’
‘Thorarinn appeared at some point. They fell madly in love, scarpered, before returning here after you’d departed.’
‘Speaking of which, have the missing pair been found?’
She shook her head. ‘I’d have woken you. You required your sleep more than meaningless updates.’
‘It has been a long time since I slept like that,’ he admitted. ‘Yesterday…’
She put her finger to her lips and shook her head. ‘Behind us. Be grateful for small miracles. If any little thing I did enabled you to sleep then I’m happy.’
‘How do you know that?’
Her lips turned up. ‘The excuse you gave when you told me to drink that potion.’
He held out his hand. ‘What have I done to deserve you? Let me give you a proper good morning kiss.’
She dipped her head and ignored his outstretched hand. ‘The weaving first.’
He frowned. ‘A jumbled mess.’
‘Your sister-in-law apparently gave it to Birdie and told her to practice on it as she no longer had any use for it.’
Rand studied the length of braid. Svanna obviously wanted him to see something rather than pointing it out. ‘What does it mean to you?’
‘A design from Agthir, favoured by Turgeis’s mother. A rune of his name.’ Svanna bit her lip. ‘Birdie’s nurse said that Rhiannon spoke of Turgeis several times before Thorarinn arrived and not after that. She considered him handsome. I suppose some must, but he has very coarse features.’
Rand stared at the braid. In a certain light, it vaguely reminded him of the braids he’d seen in Agthir. ‘What of it?’
‘I fear we might have discovered Turgeis’s spy.’
‘Turgeis’s spy?’
‘Someone must have told him about your intended journey to Islay, and I don’t think it was either of the missing kings. He waited for you. Was he going to capture your sister-in-law? Liberate her, as he’d put it?’
Rand resisted the temptation to roll his eyes. ‘A pretty tale from this bit of braid.’
‘Indulge me. Could Rhiannon have encountered Turgeis? Has he ever been at court?’
Rand pressed his fists into his eyes. How would he know?
‘Rhiannon only has eyes for Thorarinn. I returned from the South to find them cuddling together. Thorarinn said that he was offering her some comfort. We left here together and stopped overnight. At which point, they disappeared. I sent word back to Donaghmoyne to welcome them but keep them there. I had to ensure I arrived for the gathering of the kings.’
‘Does this happen to him frequently?’
‘Not as often as it used to.’ Rand stroked his jaw and then rejected the suggestion.
Why would the woman run away with Thorarinn if it wasn’t all-consuming love?
Like a worm which refused to die, he could hear Bridget mockingly saying that he was in the right place at the right time for her rebellion and love had only come later.
‘Part of me is pleased that he finally discovered someone who adores him.’
‘But could she have had a flirtation with Turgeis at court?’
He shook his head. Svanna was worse than a dog with a bone when an idea came into her head. ‘A remote possibility, but I don’t understand why it matters.’
‘Turgeis holds grudges,’ Svanna said quietly. ‘Your cousin has spirited two of his prey away. First you. Now Rhiannon. He is unlikely to forgive that. We need to find that couple before he does.’
‘My men are searching for them.’
‘The same men who were supposed to keep them here if they reappeared?’
Rand winced. Once again, Svanna had a point. ‘Where do you think they have gone? Speak plainly, Svanna.’
‘Hopefully, your cousin doesn’t see Dubh-Linn as a safe place from which to catch a ship to the North.’
‘He has more sense than that. He has a deep loathing for the sons of Drengr and a finely developed sense of self-preservation.’
‘But a deep love for his bride. He thinks you’ll be angry with him.’
Rand stared at the braid. He didn’t want to tell her about his sense of foreboding.
The scouts should have returned by now with some sort of news.
If Turgeis knew Svanna was at Donaghmoyne, would he target her?
He rejected the notion as unlikely and the defences would protect her, unlike if they were out on the open road.
‘I did the only thing that could be done, which was to go to Islay. I intended to go after them when I returned. I left an order for their detention.’
‘Did Turgeis expect to see Rhiannon with you? Could that be why he pointed the sword straight at you?’
‘How should I know?’ Rand pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to think logically. His sister-in-law had always been flighty, flitting from one man to the next. Bridget had confidently expected her to settle as she grew older.
The scenario Svanna described sounded implausible, but it did explain. He hoped for Thorarinn’s sake that Rhiannon hadn’t suddenly developed cold feet or had been playing some elaborate game.
‘What does Turgeis know about Donaghmoyne?’
Rand shrugged. ‘She might have come here because she thought it was the last place anyone would look for her.’
‘Why did they go abruptly? Why did this messenger turn up and what did he say?’ Svanna tapped her finger against her mouth. ‘We’re playing tafl but can’t actually see the board.’
‘I wish I knew,’ Rand said, pleased to be able to admit a weakness in that way. ‘I wish I knew where my men were as well. I’d hoped one of them would return with information by now.’
‘If Thorarinn knew Turgeis expected Rhiannon to travel with you, then he might have been waiting for a signal that Turgeis had returned and went to ground. I presume it is well known that you keep your most precious belongings, including your daughter, here.’
Rand hated the way his insides twisted. Thorarinn would never intentionally put Birdie at risk. He was many things, but he never turned his back on family. ‘He wouldn’t do that. You speculate wildly.’
‘They left. Your men have yet to find them. From everything you have said about him, I don’t think Thorarinn is a traitor. I suspect that Rhiannon is frivolous, with few thoughts in her head beyond her own requirements.’
‘How did you form that opinion?’
‘From what Birdie and her nurse said, and what they left unsaid.’ Svanna spoke slowly, as if attempting to explain something blindingly obvious to a child. ‘It was an early lesson my foster-mother taught me—to pay as much attention to what isn’t being said as to that which is being said.’
‘And I didn’t?’
‘You failed to notice the fatal attraction the two shared.’
Rand pinched the bridge of his nose and attempted to control his temper.
Svanna made it sound as if it was his fault for being concerned with other matters.
He’d known nothing about the love affair until the couple eloped together.
He shifted uneasily. He wasn’t entirely sure that he would have stopped it if he’d known.
He might have counselled a different course, but ultimately, he knew Bridget had greatly desired her sister’s happiness.
She’d loathed the way their father used all his daughters as counters in his quest for power.
All Rhiannon had to do was mention her fears to him and he’d have helped her, but she’d failed to. He stilled.
‘Máel Sechnaill’s game-playing with his daughters must stop,’ he muttered.
‘Playing tafl or dice is fine in its place, but real-life consequences hurt,’ Svanna said softly.
He caught her hand and raised it to his lips. ‘Forgive me for being in a foul temper. I’m worried. It has nothing to do with Agthir or your appointed task.’
‘Has it truly been too long?’
‘It depends on how they find them or where. My cousin can be stubborn when he gets a notion in his head. I hope you are right and that they have not headed towards Dubh-Linn, but away from it.’
A loud banging resounded on the door. ‘My lord, you are required in the yard. News about your cousin, my lord.’
The muscles in Rand’s back relaxed. ‘See? They have been found and all is well.’
‘You should not have to face these things alone.’
He watched her under hooded eyes, wondering what he’d done to deserve Svanna’s loyalty.
Maybe it was simply her notion of duty, but he knew it would be easier to face whatever he had to with her at his side, and that knowledge made him wary—both of her and for her.
If Turgeis or anyone else wanted to hurt him, it was possible that they would use Svanna.
And what would happen when they were vanquished? a little voice asked. Would Svanna have any reason to remain in the marriage? Was that why she’d asked for a Northern marriage, one which could be dissolved? Having just found her, he wanted to keep her, and that chilled him to the bone.