Harlequin Historical September 2014 - Bundle 2 of 2: Lord Havelock's List\Saved by the Viking Warrior\The Pirate Hunter (46 page)

Cwenneth's hand closed about the knife. What was the first law of sword fighting? Never be distracted. Had Hagal learnt that lesson as well as Thrand? She had to try. She was in the right spot.

‘Justice! I want justice for all who died in the wood!' she shouted.

‘Justice! Justice! Justice!' the walls echoed back.

Hagal half-turned his head towards the noise. His sword checked. That heartbeat was all Thrand needed. He drove upwards with his sword and connected with Hagal's throat.

Hagal gurgled as he fell backwards.

‘First rule of sword fighting—never allow anyone or anything to distract you.' Thrand stepped over the body. ‘Do you understand what I was trying to teach you now, Cwen, back at the hut?'

‘Completely,' she answered, going towards him. ‘And we have nothing to fear from Hagal any longer.'

‘Yes, you are a free woman.'

His arms encircled her and held her tight. For a long moment, neither spoke.

‘Where is Hilde?' she asked, looking about her for the young girl.

‘She will be here,' Thrand said. ‘As soon as I suspected all was not going to go as you planned, I sent Hilde to fetch your sister-in-law. Let's hope she succeeded.'

‘What is going on here?' her sister-in-law's voice resounded in the hall. ‘Edward, this girl brought me Cwenneth's—' Her sister-in-law rushed towards where Edward had propped himself up against the table. ‘What happened here? Cwenneth has returned...unharmed?'

‘I made a mistake and believed the wrong man,' her brother gasped out, clutching his side. ‘Hagal the Red was the problem, not Thrand Ammundson. I made a mistake because Ammundson had bested me in battle and now I owe him my life. My sister saved us. She saved Lingwold.'

‘Hush. You have been stabbed. You need a healer.'

‘My
mor
is a good healer,' Hilde said, tugging on the woman's skirt with her free hand. ‘She healed my
far
. He told me. Aud will tell you that as well.'

‘Where is she?'

Hilde pointed to Cwenneth and with a doubtful frown her sister-in-law beckoned to Cwenneth. ‘Cwenneth, I can see you have returned a changed woman. You have acquired two brave children. Can you help my husband?'

Thrand gave her a little push. ‘Go on. Show them what you can do. Show them that you are not cursed.'

Cwenneth went over to her brother. The wound was less serious than she first feared. Rather than hitting his middle, the knife had glanced off his side and the cut was less deep than the wound Narfi had given Thrand. Yes, there was blood, but her brother should live once he sobered up.

‘Can you do anything?' Her sister-in-law wrung her hands. ‘I don't know how long it will take a monk to get here.'

‘I can try. I make no promises, but I suspect it is his destiny to live.'

Her sister-in-law narrowed her eyes. ‘You've changed, Cwenneth. I can hear it in your voice. The woman who left here would not have been able to stand up to Hagal the Red, nor would she put herself forward to try to heal anyone. You used to believe you were cursed. What happened?'

‘There came a time for me to take charge of my destiny, and I have. You make your own luck, sister dear. Thrand Ammundson taught me that.'

Edward grabbed Cwenneth's hand. ‘Will you forgive me, sister, before I die?'

Cwenneth resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She had forgotten that her brother hated any sort of pain. ‘If I dress it, it will be fine until the monks arrive. Goodness knows you have enough wine to pickle yourself, Edward. Some of this mess is from your spilled wine.'

‘What...what are you saying?'

‘I suspect you will live a long time, but hopefully less foolishly. And Hagal the Red is to blame for what happened here, not you.'

Her brother closed his eyes and his words slurred. ‘It is good to have you home, Cwenneth. It is where you belong, with your proper family. I have felt so guilty about sending you away. It was wrong of me. Do you forgive me?'

‘Of course I forgive you. Hagal fooled us all.'

* * *

Cwenneth worked quickly and bound up the wound. When she had finished, her brother gave a soft snore.

‘Cwen, will he live?' Thrand asked, coming to kneel beside her.

‘That wound won't kill him, but I say nothing about the alcohol.'

Two monks arrived. The elder one praised the neatness of her bandaging, making Cwenneth absurdly happy. But with the monk's arrival, Cwenneth became aware the mood in the hall had altered. The faces of the men and women showed little relief or friendship. In the time she had been treating Edward's wound, they had closed ranks, sealing off not only Hagal's men's retreat, but Thrand's way out as well.

‘May I have a moment with Lady Cwenneth in private?' Thrand asked before Cwenneth could mention the danger he faced. ‘I have no wish to outstay my welcome.'

Her brother nodded, his face creased with pain, and whispered something to her sister-in-law, who nodded.

‘You may use my husband's private chamber. You may take as long as you wish to say goodbye.' Her sister-in-law laid a hand on Cwenneth's sleeve as she went past. ‘Take care. We are family and we're delighted to have you with us again.'

‘I make my own decisions, sister.'

‘Yes, yes, but I don't want you to feel obligated to a man like that. He is reputed to have a stone for a heart.'

‘You needn't worry. Obligation is the last thing I feel towards him.'

* * *

Cwenneth followed Thrand with a sinking heart into her brother's private chamber. Thrand was going to leave. He could see she and the children would be looked after. She felt the walls of the room press down on her. Hagal was dead and there was no longer any pressing need for her to go to Iceland. She should be rejoicing, but all she wanted to do was find a way to keep him with her and hold fast to the dream they once had.

He closed the heavy door with a loud bang and crossed the floor to her. ‘Your sister-in-law lies. I do have a heart and I do care. I care passionately about what happens to you. I used the wrong words earlier. Can you forgive me?'

‘Forgive you for what? You saved my life. You were right. I needed your help.'

His arms came around her. ‘We defeated Hagal together. Together we are far stronger. It was right to act as you suggested. Waiting until Jorvik would have been wrong.'

‘My sister-in-law has offered me a home. The children as well,' she said moving out of his embrace. There had to be a way of getting him out of here alive. Later, she'd find a way to join him, if it was what he truly desired. ‘We will be safe here...in case you were worried. You can go in peace.'

‘Hagal has ceased to threaten you. You can live here in safety and without fear of reprisal.' His face began to look like it was sculpted from granite. ‘I will ensure that. Lingwold will be safe from Norse raids.'

Cwenneth put her hand to her mouth and tried to hold the sob back. Thrand's dream of a farmer's life in Iceland seemed to have vanished like the mist on a spring morning. She raised her chin and refused to beg. ‘Then I must wish you a good life. You will be able to go back to doing what you love best.'

He put his hands on her shoulders, preventing her from moving. ‘Without you, I have no life. I wanted to say that before you started on about you staying here so I can get free or some such nonsense. It is not going to happen. We are a family now and families stay together. The children, you and me. Together.'

She completely stilled. A lump rose in her throat. ‘Together because of the children?'

‘No, because of you. You are the heart and soul of my existence. Until I met you, I was so preoccupied with my need to revenge my family that I forgot to live. You showed that there is more to life than vengeance and war. You made me want to live.'

Cwenneth's heart began to thump so loudly she thought he must hear it. ‘I made your family? You fought today to fulfil your vow.'

‘Earlier I got the words wrong and I am making a mess of it again.' He gathered her hands in his and held them tight. ‘The next time you even think about throwing your life away to save mine, think about this—without you, I am nothing. Before you, I only had hate in my heart and with you, my life has begun again. I was able to fight today not because I wanted vengeance for my parents, but because I wanted to protect my family. And the heart of my family is you and always will be. You're my everything.'

‘Always?' She stared at him.

‘I tried to show it to you, but I will say the words, if you need to hear them. Believe me, please.' He went down on one knee. ‘I love you, Cwen, and I won't leave here without you.' His eyes softened, and she wondered that she ever thought them dead or full of ice. They were warm; they were eyes she could drown in. ‘With you I have discovered what it is like to live again. I had become one of the walking dead, and my parents never wanted that for me. They wanted me to have a life as full as theirs was.'

Her breath caught in her throat. Thrand loved her. Truly loved her. ‘I love you as well, Thrand. Very much.'

He gave a half-smile. ‘You love me? How could you?'

Cwenneth's heart opened. ‘Very easily. I want to go with you, to be your woman, to follow you about even though I will have no dowry, nothing to recommend me. I want to be a part of your family. Our family.'

‘No, not my woman, my wife,' Thrand corrected. ‘We will marry, Cwen. Come with me to Iceland, sit by the fire and grow old with me. I need you beside me for the rest of my life.'

‘I would like that that very much.' She leant her head against his chest, breathing in his familiar scent. ‘I have loved you for a long time. I believe I fell first when you healed my blisters. I had thought my heart was buried alongside Aefirth and Richard, but I see now that I was wrong. A small part of me will always love them, but hearts expand and grow. You and the children have become my family, the people I want to spend the rest of my days with.'

‘The first time I saw you when you were caught in the thorn bush, you made me feel something beside the deadened dull emotion which had been my fate for so many years. I thought I had banished all feelings years ago and you taught me to love again.' He put a gentle hand to her cheek. ‘You taught me to believe.'

She laced her fingers with his. ‘Shall we go out and let them know our decision?'

‘Together.'

‘Yes, together.'

Cwenneth walked out of the room, holding Thrand's hand. Her sister-in-law raised her brow in surprise as the entire hall fell silent. Even the monks tending to her brother stopped.

‘We are leaving. You may try to stop us if you wish, but I hope you don't. I am going to Iceland to be with the man I love. I have made my choice.' She held out her hands and both children ran to her. Thrand picked up Aud and put him on his shoulders. ‘I have chosen my family, my true family of the heart.'

As the crowd parted they walked out of Lingwold together without a backward glance.

Epilogue

A farm in the east of Iceland a year later

T
he late-evening sun shone down on the newly constructed longhouse. Although it was mainly in the style of Norse longhouses, there were a few Northumbrian touches here and there. It had taken several months of hard work for Thrand and his men to build it once they arrived in Iceland, but Cwenneth thought it well worth the wait.

Cwenneth drew a deep breath, enjoying the rare moment of calm. Aud and Hilde were tucked up in bed. The household chores were done.

Thrand had allowed her to select the spot for the house and had been surprised at her choice. When she asked why, he said that the situation reminded him of something he'd seen in a dream once and then he confessed about the dream he had had in the hut when he had lain injured the previous year.

‘Here you are,' Thrand said, coming out of the house, carrying a bundle. ‘There is someone who wants to see you and show what she can do.'

She smiled and reached for their daughter Sinriod, who had been born a month ago. They had named her after Thrand's mother. If she had had any lingering anxieties about the curse, it had been laid to rest the first time she felt Sinriod kick in her womb. But Cwenneth knew even if she had never had Sinriod, she would still have felt blessed. She had her husband and her two children of her heart. Sinriod simply added to her happiness and contentment.

The baby opened her eyes, blinked and gave a huge smile at both her parents.

‘She's smiling. Properly smiling. What a very clever girl. How long do you think she has been doing that?'

Thrand put an arm about her waist and pulled her and Sinroid close. ‘After I finished my chores, I went in to check that our children were all asleep and this little one smiled at me. She wanted to come out and see her mother.'

‘If she had smiled at Aud or Hilde, you would have heard the excited shouts from here to Reykjavik and possibly even to Bernicia.'

Thrand laughed, sending a warm tingle down her spine. ‘They are both very proud of their baby sister.'

Cwenneth leant back into his embrace and looked up into his summer-blue eyes. Over the past year, the shadows had slowly faded from his expression. ‘And why shouldn't they be?'

‘You were looking pensive earlier this evening. Is there some reason why?'

‘It has been a year since my caravan was attacked.'

‘Only a year? It seems like a lifetime ago.' His arm tightened about her shoulders. ‘It is hard to believe that I once thought my life should consist solely of war and vengeance. Through you, I learnt the best revenge is a life well lived with people who love you.'

‘My thoughts exactly.'

They stood there, watching their baby daughter smile up at them, and knew that all was right in the world because they had each other and their growing family.

* * * * *