Olofdottar remains my wife.’ Ash squared his jaw. ‘There has been no divorce. There will be no divorce. She is mine. What is mine stays mine. My father’s motto and therefore mine.’
‘Then you had best claim her, Ash Hringson.’ The old lady paused and gave a toothless smile. ‘Before someone else does. Next time, return sooner if you wish to keep the things which are rightfully yours.’
* * *
A prickle of unease coursed down Kara Olofdottar’s back. She wished she hadn’t given in to Valdar’s plea to marry at Sand with everyone watching their solemn oaths before Var’s high priest. Life would have been much simpler if they had married at Jaarlshiem beneath the spreading branches of the tuntreet as she’d suggested. She’d grown to love that old tree, the gnarled guardian of the estate who kept everything safe and prosperous.
Following the example of her late father-in-law, Kara told the tree all the news. Always. And thereby ensured that her undertakings benefited the estate. Her late husband had failed to tell the tree he was leaving on his ill-fated expedition and he’d also failed to return. She liked to think it made a difference.
She understood why Valdar wanted this very public declaration, but she hated crowds, always had done.
‘Are you all right, Kara?’ Auda, one of her closest friends, asked, giving her a searching look. They had met when Auda had first come to court, shortly after Ash had left on his ill-fated journey. Auda’s eldest was about the same age as Kara’s son. And her husband had died of a fever last spring shortly after Kara’s father-in-law’s funeral. ‘You appear lost in your own world. Still thinking about the horse my uncle forced you to examine when you arrived? It will recover. Horses always seem to after you have examined them. You have the knack.’
‘I’m merely about to get married in front of what feels like the entire kingdom.’ Kara smoothed her blonde hair back from her shoulder. It had been so long since she’d worn it loose that she’d forgotten what a nuisance it could be, constantly tangling and blowing in her mouth.
‘Everyone is interested in the beautiful widow from Jaarlshiem and what happens to her. It gives me hope that some day I’ll find another man.’ Auda clicked her fingers. ‘You and your bridal finery will keep the tongues wagging until it is Jul-time. No one will speak against this marriage or say that it was not done properly, if that is what you are worried about.’
Kara wet her lips. ‘Why would any speak against the marriage? We are both free to marry. Or do you know something about Valdar?’
‘My brother-in-law remained single until you came into his life.’ Auda laughed. ‘It is your uncle by marriage, Harald Haraldson, who concerns me. He plays more tricks than Loki, as my late husband used to say. He never forgave Harald for the diseased sheep he traded.’
‘Harald Haraldson is powerless to halt this marriage!’ Kara forced her hand to stay in her lap and not tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. She was determined her hair would be beautiful and not hanging like a witch’s for this marriage. ‘The king approves of the marriage. I’m hopeful the king will finally confirm my son as the rightful jaarl of Jaarlshiem once he sees that Valdar will protect Rurik’s interests.’
‘How can I help you to finish your preparations? It wouldn’t do to keep your new husband waiting. These Nerisons can become impatient when they want something.’
Right now, she wanted to run back to the security of Jaarlshiem; she wanted the nausea to retreat back down her throat and the panic to recede. She wasn’t a naïve bride of sixteen any more. She was a widow of twenty-three. She couldn’t afford the luxury of being unwed any longer. The very public marriage would show the entire kingdom, indeed the entire North lands, that she’d chosen a strong warrior to guard the estate until her son came of age.
While her father-in-law had lived, there had been no need to remarry as he had still commanded all of Raumerike’s respect. But now that he was dead, she knew she could not hold the lands without help. She had no choice—she had to remarry or risk losing everything she had worked so hard to keep these last few years. She had promised herself on her father-in-law’s deathbed that it wouldn’t be as he predicted with his final gasp of breath—that as a lone woman, everything would slip from her grasp and Rurik would inherit nothing when he came of age. She would succeed and prove him wrong.
‘Unpack my mother’s bridal crown. I should have done it before now, I know, but I had to look at that horse and then there were the final preparations for the feast and...’
‘Old crowns are the best. I had to make do with a simple wreath of flowers when I married.’ Auda clapped her hands together. ‘In a few days’ time you will wonder why you ever hesitated, Kara. Valdar confessed how many times he asked you. Was it fifteen or twenty?’
‘Seventeen—not that I kept track.’
The marriage made sense. Valdar was kind, steady and dependable. He never had any inclination to go Viking or even on long, distant voyages for trading purposes. Her father-in-law had proclaimed Valdar to have been born under a steady star, unlike Ash’s wandering one. He would be the right sort of father for Rurik—patient and caring, present instead of risking it all many leagues away. A man to lean on.
‘A pity Rurik isn’t here.’ Auda fastened the white cloak about Kara’s shoulders. ‘He would have loved seeing his mother looking like a goddess. And his first opportunity to see the capital.’
‘Jaarlshiem is safer. Fewer opportunities for mischief. My nerves are in shreds enough as is.’ Kara firmed her mouth and ignored Auda’s remark about looking like a goddess.
If she’d been more of a woman, Ash would not have gone. Ash would have stayed and made sure that he had a healthy heir. Her father-in-law’s bitter words just after he found out about Ash’s tragic death still had the power to hurt. Kara shook her head. Her late husband was the last person she wanted to think about today of all days. It was her wedding day.
A new start. A new chapter to ensure that Rurik grew up without fear. Jaarlshiem had been without a strong warrior at its helm for far too long. Ash Hringson belonged to the unremembered past and the girl she had once been. If she had been the one to die instead, her ashes would have barely been scattered on the tuntreet’s roots before Ash found another to warm his bed.
‘What has Rurik been up to?’ Auda gave an indulgent smile. ‘Surely he learnt his lesson after being caught out in that thunderstorm with a horse he could barely control.’
‘Trust me, you don’t want to know.’ Kara held up her hand. ‘But he worships Valdar. I hope he will be a calming influence.’
She refused to think about the narrow escapes her six-year-old son specialised in recently. The incident with the horse had been enough, but he had taken to defying her at every opportunity. Leaving him with Gudrun, Ash’s old nurse, had seemed like the best option. Gudrun was used to such behaviour. She often proclaimed how like his father Rurik was, particularly around his ears and nose.
Ash’s many scrapes were the stuff of legend. They first met because he had fallen while trying to recapture his falcon. The falcon suffered a hurt wing and Ash had brought the falcon to her mother rather than wringing its neck as his father had advised.
Her mother’s skill as a healer had been second to none and it had been the first time Kara had been allowed to bind up a bird’s wing while her mother had attended to Ash’s twisted ankle. Five months later her mother had died in an accident. Ash had spoken to Kara during the funeral,
