could not expect to stay here for ever, but he had only ever said it when he was in drink and then he’d sober up and beg her to stay for ever. And she had assumed that when the time came, he would at least have given her a choice, that he’d let her find her own life’s partner, not simply sell her off as if she were one of his sheep or a length of cloth. The whispers about how his wives had died swirled around him. How he had showed them no respect when they were alive and even less when they were dead. Thyre drew a shaky breath. She refused to give up on her dreams and accept a life of servitude.
She would find a way to outrun her fate. Her life would be something more. She simply had to discover it.
Dagmar stumbled in, wild eyed with her hair about her shoulders. She appeared to be gripped in some sort of trance, muttering and wringing her hands.
‘Is there something wrong, Dagmar?’ Thyre pushed all of her own problems to one side. ‘Has one of the Viken attacked you? Broken the rules of hospitality? Are we going to be burnt in our beds? Should we be hiding the arm rings? Running to the woods and hiding?’
Dagmar muttered something, before Thyre saw her hand close around a knife. She held it out in front of her, the point turned towards her breast.
Thyre blinked twice. Her mouth went dry. She swiped her hand over her eyes and willed the apparition to be gone. But Dagmar still stood there gazing at the knife, muttering, seemingly oblivious to her. ‘Dagmar! Answer me! We can do something!’
Dagmar raised her chin slightly, but ignored Thyre’s outstretched hand. Thyre allowed it to drop to her side.
‘There comes a time in woman’s life when she knows that she has found the one man who will make her happy.’ Dagmar looped her hair behind an ear. ‘I always thought Father would let me make my own choice, but he is determined to make the Viken pay and in gold. He wants me to share the Viken’s bed!’
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