aware that one wrong word and the chance would slip through her fingers. ‘I hope that is a good thing. Finding your charm seemed to alarm you more than anything.’
He took a stick and stirred the fire so that bright sparks leapt in the air. ‘Night-time is the right time to sleep. We can speak in the morning as we cross the channel to Ile.’
‘My mind races far too much to sleep,’ Ragn admitted, pressing her hands together to keep them from trembling. Gunnar’s mood had improved from earlier and there was an intimacy about the night which would vanish with the sunrise.
‘It is good that you will be going north in the spring. You have worked too hard on this hall to risk losing it for the want of a little thing like a bride.’
His eyes flickered to the stone man. ‘The bride I choose, not one which is foisted on me by well-intentioned friends.’
‘Did I say differently?’ She swallowed hard and tried to ignore the tightening of the knots in her stomach. ‘When you go north, you will leave this place empty. You need someone you trust to look after it. A caretaker to ensure it remains in good order.’
‘Eylir remains in the north.’
‘I meant me. I know how to run an estate. My husband used to leave me in charge when he went...when he went away.’ Ragn watched the glowing embers.
‘When your husband was off warring.’
‘That and other things. He served the King and was required at court.’
‘At court without you?’
‘Someone had to ensure the smooth running of the estate.’ She forced a placating smile. She needed to keep this conversation away from her past for both their sakes. ‘If you give my sister and me a place to stay, we will have every reason to be loyal.’
‘When I return, will I find my hall standing? The scarring on your limbs makes me believe your last hall burned to the ground.’
Ragn kept her chin up. ‘We were the only ones to escape the inferno. My servants...the loyal ones...perished.’
‘You carried her, shielded her.’
She fingered the indentations on her neck. The burns no longer hurt as they had done when they’d sheltered in that barn, but they still sometimes pained her. ‘How did you guess?’
‘Simple enough.’ He moved closer and his breath brushed her cheek. ‘Your hair is short while Svana’s remains long. You have scars. She doesn’t. Her right foot twists inward. She moves quickly enough so I’m guessing she was born with it, but outrunning flames would be beyond her.’
Ragn bowed her head. ‘The fire took hold quickly. A few more breaths and we would have died.’
He nodded. ‘How far did you carry her?’
‘A tale for another day. I ensured she survived. That is all you need to know.’
‘Quarrels with your husband? You must tell me the truth if you wish to stay here. Trust me.’
Ragn drew a shuddering breath. Where to begin and what to leave out. ‘My late husband quarrelled with his brother over his inheritance. My brother-in-law became determined to win at all costs. When his petition to the assembly was refused, he had my husband murdered and sought to take the lands. When I defied him and refused to leave the hall which had been my childhood home, he had it burned, leaving us for dead.’
‘Does he still consider you dead?’ Gunnar asked quietly.
That question had circled around her brain for days. ‘I must believe so. No one searched for us after the first night. Once I’d healed enough to walk, we made our way to Kaupang. Trana was the first person I encountered there and she offered a way out. It was better for everyone that we go.’
He tapped his fingers together. ‘Don’t you care about regaining your lands?’
‘I learned that day that the people you love are more important than any land. He is welcome to all of it—the part that was his father’s and the greater part which belonged to my family.’ She leant towards him. ‘I can keep this hall safe, better than safe. I can make this hall a place your bride will run towards instead of running from. Give me a chance to prove it.’
His eyes narrowed and for a horrible heartbeat she worried she’d overstepped. ‘Why here? What is special about this hall?’
‘I trust my sister’s instincts much as you trust your dogs’. She is convinced she will see a nisser. It will give her a chance to regain her strength and put meat on her bones.’
He nodded. ‘Fair enough.’
The breath whooshed out of her. He had not questioned her more about Svana and why she’d been incapable of running beyond her foot. Maybe he would never need know about the affliction she’d caused Svana. Maybe he would not need to know about Vargr and the power he now enjoyed as one of the King’s closest advisors. All those things happened a world away. It was the present which was important, not the past.
‘Then we may stay? Beyond tomorrow morning?’
‘I expect you to work hard.’
‘Hard work was never my problem.’
His eyes skittered to where the stone man perched. It appeared as if the man was grinning broadly. The firelight flickered and the expression disappeared.
‘You may stay until I bring my chosen bride home. I won’t have her displaced.’
She held out her hand. ‘Done.’
‘Done.’ His fingers curled about hers, strong and safe. The warm liquefying of her insides that she’d had when she returned the amulet increased. Her breath left her with a gasp. She stumbled forward. His mouth loomed large over hers and his arms came about her.
She rapidly pushed against him before her bones completely melted into him, before she begged him to kiss her and make her feel desirable. Before she made a fool of herself. ‘We agreed—marriage between us will not happen.’
Her voice was far too breathless for her liking.
His arms fell to his side and the cool air rushed between them. ‘Is there harm in sharing a kiss? I have shared many pleasurable kisses and remain unmarried.’
Ragn schooled her features. Hamthur’s taunts about her passion-killing abilities reverberated in her brain. ‘I know where such things can lead, particularly in the night. I refuse to jeopardise our agreement by adding coupling into it.’
‘Is it Eylir? Are you waiting for him?’ He stroked his chin. ‘Aye, I can understand that. Commendable even, but Eylir is a flighty man, constantly falling in and out of love.’
The lie trembled on her lips. Eylir was pleasant looking, but he was not the sort of man who made her blood run hot.
‘Eylir?’ She rapidly shook her head. ‘No, it is not him.’
His eyes were hooded. ‘Then what is it? A kiss to seal our bargain will not lead anywhere...unless you
