His Captive Bride (17 page)

“Most women do not like to compete against men.” Hauk splashed his face and chest, and washed the back of his neck.

“Only because the men get so churlish when a woman wins.” Avril felt her mouth go dry as she watched the play of muscle and sinew across his back and shoulders, the water gliding down his tanned skin. “But I am not like most women.”

“Nay.” He sighed, and she was not sure whether it was admiration or chagrin she heard in his voice. “You are not.” He dunked his head under the surface, quickly, then straightened and ran his hands through his wet hair. “Gods, but the water is cold today.”

Avril could not reply, unable to stop staring at the glistening rivulets cascading down his bearded face, his chest, over the rippling muscles of his stomach. Fire bloomed in her at the too-vivid reminder of how he had looked last night—when he strode ashore like an untamed, golden god risen from the sea.

She glanced away, vexed that she was once again blushing like a maiden.

Mayhap he would believe the constant color in her cheeks had been put there by Asgard’s hot sun.

Keeping her eyes averted, she quickly sought a safe topic of conversation. “You have a great many books,” she said lightly, running her hand over one leather-bound volume. “I have been in the castles of lords and barons who did not have so many. They must have cost a great deal.”

“They did not cost a single coin.”

“You stole them?” She glanced at him in surprise.

He frowned. “I wrote them.” Turning his back, he reached for a length of folded linen on a shelf next to the rain barrel.

“Nay, you jest.” She shook her head in disbelief. “You wrote these books? These, with the sketches of European cities, castles and cathedrals and sailing ships—”

“Aye.”

“But how could that be? You said that no one left Asgard for more than six days.”

“True.”

“Then if you wrote these,” she said dubiously, “you must have barely had time to
glimpse
these places.”

He did not answer for a moment, rubbing his face and hair with the linen. “Most of them are from journeys made in my youth.” He paused. “Brief journeys.”

His voice was quiet, and he seemed entirely serious. Avril felt stunned, remembering what she had thought when she first found the books: that whoever had written them possessed an artist’s eye and a poet’s spirit.

Never had she guessed that the powerful, hard-muscled Viking warrior who had abducted her could be that man.

Glancing down, she studied the weathered volumes with their yellowed pages, and her brow furrowed. “But you could not have written these,” she said softly. “They are all so old.”

He tossed the damp cloth aside. “Salt air and sea winds take a merciless toll on paper.”

She had not thought of that. “And the other books?” she asked curiously. “The texts on hunting and astronomy, the discussion of Aristotle’s philosophies in Greek, the retelling of the Arthurian legends in French—”

“Mine as well.”

She blinked at him in astonishment. Not only did he have the eye of an artist and the spirit of a poet, but the mind of a scholar. “But how—when—have you managed to pursue so many different subjects? I thought you said your duties as
vokter
occupied your time.”

Shrugging, he rested one lean hip against a table beside the rain barrel. “As I told you before, time is something we have in abundance on Asgard. Illness is unknown here, food is plentiful, poverty unknown among us. So we do not have to spend our lives struggling to eke out an existence, or battling our neighbors.” He picked up a small stone sculpture from the table, turning it in his fingers. “We each have time for many interests and pursuits. And every man—or woman—is free to choose a trade according to his talents and skills, whether as shopkeeper or storyteller, merchant or farmer—”

“Or warrior and artist.”

He looked up, his gaze and voice gentle. “Avril, do you begin yet to see that Asgard has much to offer? Do you still think your homeland so much better?”

She lowered her lashes, realized her hands were clenched tightly in her lap. He was being kind to her again. Trying to make her feel at home here.

He simply did not understand that this could never possibly be her home.

“My home is with Giselle,” she said softly.

He was silent a moment.

Then he set the sculpture down on the table and changed the subject. “It is time to prepare for this evening’s celebration, milady. Let us not be late this time.”

Avril held back an exclamation of relief. She had been prepared to argue or cajole or sneak away for her rendezvous with her fellow captives.

He hunted through the piles of wedding gifts still heaped on the room’s tables and chairs, digging out a gown of pale gold edged with shimmering embroidery. Walking over to her, he held it out. “Wear the gold.”

She stood, about to protest that she was not going to allow him to choose her clothes. It was too personal, too intimate—

Then his fingers brushed hers as he handed her the gown, and she could not speak at all.

“The color will be most becoming on you,” he added.

The husky depth of his voice made her heart flutter. She suddenly had to fight an urge to reach up and touch those dimples, to run her fingertips over the whiskers that darkened his strong, square jaw.

A muscle flexed in his cheek, as if he felt her touch there, though she had not moved. She felt his body tense. His sky-colored gaze settled on her mouth and her breath caught. He leaned closer, angling his head.

A voice at the door calling in Norse made them both freeze.

Hauk looked toward the entrance and Avril darted out of his reach, the gown clutched in her shaking fingers. Their visitor was Marta—and from her tone, the little girl seemed impatient about something.

Hauk spoke quietly to the child and sent her on her way before turning to translate to Avril. “Marta reminds me that I have kept her waiting rather a long time. I am supposed to be fetching her troublesome pet.”

Her heart beating too hard, Avril nodded and turned away, not trusting herself to speak.

He walked over and scooped up Floyel, who bleated in alarm at being lifted so high above the floor.

“I will leave you to dress, milady,” Hauk said as he headed for the door.

Watching him cradle the small bundle of gray fluff in his massive, muscular arms, Avril felt an unexpected knot in her stomach. Curious to know where he was taking the animal—and half afraid he intended to make sweet little Marta take the creature back—she followed him.

Peeking out the door, Avril covered her mouth to stifle a sound of surprise.

He had not spent the day repairing Ildfast’s stall; he had been adding a small shelter for Floyel.

Despite all of Hauk’s cursing and bluster about the animal last night, especially as they had cleaned up the mess Floyel made, he was naught but gentle as he carried the bawling reindeer out to its new home. He set Floyel down in the shelter, and Marta looked delighted, hugging her pet.

Then she turned and hugged Hauk with equal enthusiasm.

Avril could only see him from the back, but she noticed him flinch... then he bent down and hugged the little girl close.

Avril’s vision suddenly blurred, her heart beating unsteadily.

He was not at all what she had once believed him to be. He was not a ruthless, harsh Viking warrior but a man of gentleness and soft heart. She wondered why he tried to keep that side of himself hidden, like the books he kept shut away in the trunks.

Turning, she pulled the door closed and forced the perplexing question aside. She had to get ready for the celebration, for her rendezvous with the other captives. Hauk would have to remain a mystery to her, forever.

Because she and Josette and the others would be leaving at the first opportunity.

“I
cannot believe three more of our fellow captives would abandon our cause,” Avril said mournfully. Walking beside Josette, she struggled to keep her voice low, despite the music of pipes and harps and drums that filled the night, and the noise of men, women, and children all around them, laughing and singing and conversing. Torches brightly lit the clearing on the outskirts of town. “
Three
more, Josette. That leaves only... God’s breath, it may leave only you and I to make the voyage.”

Josette was apparently as troubled as she, for she offered no comment, her attention on the orange she was eating for dessert.

The three women Avril had just referred to moved to the center of the clearing—with their captors—joining a group that had gathered to dance, now that supper was finished and the trestle tables carried away.

“Look at them,” Avril lamented. “When I spoke to those women but two days ago, they were all eager to escape—and tonight they tell me they do not wish to leave. All they can do is stare at their
husbands
with absurd grins on their faces, acting like... like...”

“Happy new brides?” Josette offered meekly.

Avril muttered an oath. “By the suffering saints,” she sighed in exasperation. “I never expected
all
of them to be so quickly bewitched.”

A hearty male cheer went up behind them, and Avril glanced over her shoulder. In addition to dancing and music, the townspeople were being entertained by jugglers and ballad singers and storytellers, and some of the men had formed a group off to one side, challenging each other to tests of strength. They were currently lifting and throwing boulders, huffing and grunting and roaring with the effort.

Hauk stood among those watching the sport, talking to his friend Keldan and to others who came over to bow or shake his hand or slap him on the back, all smiling broadly. People had been greeting him happily all night. From everyone’s reactions, it seemed as if many had not seen him in some time.

Avril felt grateful to have finally gained a bit of distance from him. Sitting next to Hauk at supper, she had barely managed to say a word or eat a bite, too aware of the husky sound of his voice, the tangy pine scent of the soap he had used for shaving, the way her stomach knotted every time he leaned near to refill her cup. And every time he looked at her—

Just as the thought entered her mind, Hauk happened to glance her way. He had been keeping a close eye on her since she left his side. Their eyes met across the crowd, and the air around her seemed to shimmer with warmth, as if there were no distance between them at all.

Her heart fluttering, she dropped her gaze to her sapphire-blue skirts. She had refused to wear the gown he had chosen for her. Nor had she donned the silver wedding brooch he had given her the night of the
althing
, the one Josette and all the other new brides were wearing.

Avril feared that if she allowed herself to give in to such requests, to please him in such small ways, she would be unable to keep herself from giving in to him, and pleasing him, in far more meaningful ways.

She clasped her hands tightly, until her wedding band left an imprint on her palm.
She had to return home to Giselle.

Even if she and Josette were the only two left to make the voyage.

“What of the Italian girl?” Josette asked as they stopped to watch a juggler and his dog perform tricks. “If you could find her, I am certain she would help.”

“I already found her,” Avril said ruefully, “and I am afraid she will not be joining us. I also managed to speak to the English lady before supper was served, and you will not believe what
she
said. It seems she was traveling through Antwerp on her way to join a convent. She feels it is God’s will that brought her here, so she wishes to stay and try to convert these people to Christianity.”

“Oh?” Josette nibbled at the last bite of her orange. “That seems... noble. But... but there are still the other two captives, are there not? The other two who said they wished to escape—”

“The ones who did not even attend the feast tonight? They have not been seen all day.” Avril sighed. “And unfortunately, I think I know what may be keeping them busy elsewhere. I am afraid we can no longer count on them either.” She frowned as they walked on. “It seems rather foolish to hold a celebration to
welcome
the new brides when a third of the new brides do not even attend.”

“One of the townspeople told me that this celebration is normally held the night of the
althing
,” Josette said, “but it was postponed out of respect for two men who died during the voyage to Antwerp.”

Avril shook her head. “So they risk even
death
to kidnap a wife,” she said under her breath. “I still do not understand it.”

She glanced over to where Hauk stood watching the other men enjoy their competitions, remembering how tense and curt he had been that first night. She wondered if the loss of the two men had grieved him, if that could account for his ill humor that night.

A tap on her arm made her turn and look down. A boy of about eleven was holding out a folded piece of parchment. Saying something in Norse, he thrust the paper into her hands.

“What is it?” Josette asked.

“I do not know.” Brow furrowed, Avril opened the page to find two lines written in French.

I wish to speak with you. The child will show you where. Nina.

She glanced up, wondering what Nina could possibly want with her. Searching the crowd, Avril did not see her—but she did notice Hauk looking this way again.

Keeping her back to him, she folded the note and slid it into the sleeve of her gown. It would be impossible to go anywhere without him following her.

“Thank you,” she said to the boy, “but Nina will have to wait.”

“Who?” Josette asked curiously.

“No one of importance.” After sending the lad away, Avril linked her arm through Josette’s and led her onward through the milling townspeople. She stopped near a group gathered around a piper, whose playing was both merry and loud enough to drown out their conversation.

Avril took Josette’s hand, giving it an encouraging squeeze. Her friend had been uncharacteristically quiet this evening. “Josette, all will be well, I promise. Do not be afraid. We do not need the others. You and I can manage on our own.” She smiled. “Think of it as an adventure, the sort we always loved when we were small—the two pirates of Morlaix ride the high seas again.”

“The two pirates of Morlaix.” Josette’s expression was wistful. “We had such fun in those days, Avril. You have always been my closest friend—”

“And I always will be. And I am sure we will reach home safely. Using Hauk’s boat will make our journey much easier and less dangerous.”

“But...” Josette glanced away, chewing at her lower lip. “You said you do not even know where his boat is.”

“True.” Avril flicked an irritated glance in Hauk’s direction. “He would not let me venture out today, but mayhap on the morrow, when everyone is tired from the festivities, we will be able to slip away and search for it. I was able to find out from Hauk that Antwerp is no more than three days distant,” she whispered. “Were you able to discover any helpful information? Did you learn aught from Keldan about which direction we must sail to reach home?”

“Well, I—” Josette cleared her throat. “Avril, I have been trying to think of a way to tell you this. Today I...”

“What, Josette? What did you learn today?”

Josette blushed to the roots of her brown hair.

And Avril felt her heart thud against her ribs, suddenly guessing that her friend had not been quiet and awkward tonight because of fear about their upcoming voyage.

“Josette,” she said hollowly, full of dread. “What have you and Keldan been doing since I saw you last?”

“Berries!” her friend blurted. “Today w-we were picking berries.”

“All day?”

Josette had turned as red as a berry herself.

“God’s breath, Josette, tell me he did not—”

“Nay! I... h-he only kissed me. And... and...” She stared at the ground as if fascinated with the toes of her slippers. “Well, he is a carpenter, you know, and...”

Avril regarded her in complete puzzlement.

“He has...” A hint of a smile curved Josette’s lips—the same blissful smile all the other brides had been wearing. “Very sensitive hands.”

Avril felt as if one of the boulders the men were throwing had landed on her. “Josette, you cannot be thinking—nay, we must return to France! I have to get home to Giselle, and you—”

“What?” Josette raised her head. “What do I have waiting for me at home in France?”

Avril frantically searched for a way to make her see reason. “Your brothers! What about your brothers? I am certain they are mad with worry that you are missing.”

“Aye, I am certain they are mad.” Josette nodded. “Mad that I have caused them such trouble. Mad at the thought that they might be asked to pay a ransom to get me back.” She shook her head, sadness in her eyes. “My family is not like yours, Avril. They never were.”

“I know that. Oh, my friend, I know.” Avril took both of Josette’s hands in hers, holding tight. “But you cannot be thinking of... of...”

“Of accepting a sweet and caring and gentle man as my husband?”

“He brought you here against your will!”

“But is that so different from the way women marry in France? If I were at home, my brothers would be choosing a suitor for me. From the day a woman is born, her father or brothers or overlord rules her life.
They
decide what we do and where we live and whom we wed. What woman
ever
lives by her own will?”

“
I
live by my own will,” Avril declared hotly.

Josette pulled her hands free of Avril’s. “Your own marriage to Gerard was an arranged match.”

“That was different.”

“Why? Because you fell in love with him? Because he made you happy? Avril, I remember your letters from the weeks after your wedding—how you spent all your time fighting with him, crying, wanting to come home to Brittany because you thought you had made a mistake.”

Avril folded her arms and looked away, uncomfortable at the reminder, barely able to remember that time in her life when she had so disliked Gerard. It seemed as distant as the stars that speckled the night sky overhead.

“And then you grew to love him,” Josette continued softly. “I have to confess, I never truly understood how your feelings for him could change so completely.” Whispering, she glanced over at Keldan. “Until now.”

Avril did not know what more to say. She felt helpless, stunned.

Lost.

“I have been happy here,” Josette continued gently. “Happier than I ever was at home. Asgard is such a peaceful place—have you noticed that no one carries weapons?”

“Nay.” Avril had not noticed. She glanced at the people milling around, at the men on the other side of the clearing.

Not one was carrying a sword, or even a knife.

Except Hauk, who was armed with both.

“How
odd
.” She frowned. “These Vikings do not at all match the savage reputation their kind have earned over the centuries.”

“Aye. Apparently fighting is not allowed among these people,” Josette said. “Any disputes are settled by their council of elders. There are no wars here, no battles. They take their laws most seriously.”

“But, Josette, I still think you are making a mistake. There is too much we do not understand about this place and these people. Such as where all the
older
people might be.” She studied the crowd, noticing again that only a handful were beyond their middle years. “They may have some sort of shortened life span. Or mayhap the men die at a young age,” she added, seeing a few couples in which the wives seemed older than the husbands.

Then another fact struck her, one she had not noticed before. “And do you see any young children here? Or any babies? I do not think I see anyone younger than... than eight or nine.”

“The littlest ones would all be abed by this hour, would they not?”

“True,” Avril admitted. “But, Josette, do you not see that you cannot—”

“Avril, please. Do not try to change my mind. I have always allowed others to make my choices for me. For once, I...” Her voice faltered, then grew stronger. “
I
am making a decision for myself. I want to stay here. With Keldan.”

Avril’s throat felt dry. Her voice became hoarse. “Josette, you have been my closest friend since I was... since I was old enough to know what a friend is. How can I simply leave you behind?”

 “I do not want to lose you, either, my beloved fellow pirate of Morlaix.” Josette hugged her. “But I cannot go with you.”

“And I cannot stay.” Avril held on tight.

“I know. I am sorry that you have to do this alone.” Josette stepped back, wiping at her eyes. “But I will do whatever I can to help you, Avril. I promise I will find out the information you need and bring it to you as soon as I can.”

Avril could only stand mute as her most cherished friend hurried off into the crowd—toward her husband.

~ ~ ~