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Sela watched the boat draw up and the fully armored men leap down, swords drawn.
Her heart went to her throat as she saw the lead warrior, recognized his armor and his sword with its intricate marking.
Vikar Hrutson.
She screwed up her eyes tight and then looked again, hoping he would be a ghost from her memory, but he remained. Deep down inside her, she had known he would be here from the first moment she had heard the dragon ships. Something had told her that her idyllic life of the last few years had ended. She had to face this and win.
He towered over the men; broad-shouldered, commanding. She had no doubt his face would be as rugged as ever. He had reached the rocky shore and stood there. Proud. Arrogant. Determined.
But why now? Why after all these years?
Viking Warrior, Unwilling Wife
Harlequin® Historical
MILLS & BOON
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VIKING WARRIOR, UNWILLING WIFE
MICHELLE STYLES
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Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Author’s Note
Chapter One
AD 794, Central Norway
‘Prepare shields! Raise spears! Unsheathe swords! The gables of Bose the Dark’s stronghold are on the horizon,’ Vikar Hrutson, jaarl of Viken, shouted to his men.
‘It is a serious step you take, Vikar,’ Ivar said in an undertone. ‘What if you are wrong? What if Bose desires peace with Viken?’
Vikar turned from where he studied the headland with its inlets and rocky islands towards Ivar, his fellow jaarl and co-leader of the felag. His dark green eyes regarded his friend and comrade. ‘The time Bose is at peace is when he sleeps. The raid on Rogaland was only the beginning. He has broken the truce and declared war.’
‘But will Thorkell agree?’ Ivar shifted uneasily. ‘It was pure good fortune we had stopped at Rogaland. My sister and her husband could never have withstood the raid alone.’
‘It was a victory for the felag, for Viken.’
‘It was your sword and shield that brought down Hafdan. He could have been acting alone. He sailed under his own standard.’
‘Only one man could have ordered that raid and he still breathes with his lands intact.’ Vikar tightened his grip on the railing, and looked towards where the dark walls of the great hall rose from the fjord. ‘Bose the Dark ordered that raid, that destruction. Hafdan would never dare draw a breath, let alone attack a Viken jaarl’s main hall without his express order. I warned Thorkell that Bose would strike again. It gives me no pleasure to be right.’
Ivar banged his fist against the railing. ‘Thorkell
