Lady of the Lake (25 page)

“And what is that?” Tala asked frankly.

“You have neatly avoided any mention of wanting or expecting love from this marriage of ours.” Edon held her hand against his chest, cradling her warm fingers in his callused one. “I do recall hearing you say clearly that you would honor and obey me all of your days, but I did not hear you say that you would love me.”

Tala looked stricken by his words. “But I did,” she insisted, too quickly to suit Edon.

“Nay, you merely mouthed the word, skipping over it as swiftly as you could.” Edon turned her hand over, exposing her palm. “I spoke at length of my feelings about this marriage of ours before. In my land there are time-honored customs that unite a husband and wife, as there are customs your people hold dear. Without them—that is, without holding to the traditions that we are accustomed to—there is not the feeling of solidity to the marriage ceremony. The vows ring hollow.”

Tala’s expression was as grave and serious as Edon’s. “Go on.”

Edon’s eyes were bright as a boy’s when they came back to Tala’s. “The thing is, I want very much for you to be my wife in all ways. I want no reservations between us, nothing to hold us back from becoming the partners and lovers that we have the potential to be.”

Again he paused, as though finding the right words were difficult for him. In the moment of silence Tala spoke. “There are some customs in this new service that were what I expected.”

“And what was that?” Edon asked.

Tala touched the ring he’d placed on her finger. “The symbol of eternity, a ring of gold that has no beginning and no end.”

“Ah, yes, that,” Edon acknowledged, touching his own ring.

Tala leaned a little closer to him and placed her fingers on his lips. “And the kiss sealing the union between us. That was very nice and certainly all that I expected.”

Edon smiled as her fingers slowly moved down his jaw to touch the cleft in his chin. “I, too, expected such a kiss to seal our bargain, making the union perfect.”

He kissed her again, more deeply and intently. He pulled back some moments later and summoned the courage to say, “There is no reason for me not to believe that someday you will come to love me, is there?”

How could she possibly not love him? Tala thought. She’d given over to her feelings the night he’d been struck by lightning. The thought of losing him to death had devastated her. She frowned as she studied his face in the soft glow of the precious candles gracing the trestle. Her dimples flashed briefly. “No, no reason at all.”

Edon let out a deep breath. “There was one custom that was missing for me. I fear I am too newly baptized not to need something more than mystical smoke and Latin blessings. I am a Viking, a man of the sword, a conqueror.” He removed his dagger from his waist. “There is one Viking custom lacking, and without it no life pledge between us is valid.”

Edon took her hand in his and lightly scored the plump mound of Venus beneath her thumb. Tala’s hiss made him bend his head and kiss the small wound, but he did not release her fingers as he cut his own palm. Then he clasped her hand in his, so that their blood flowed together.

“By the blood that beats in my heart I will protect you. By the mingling of our blood, our spirits are one from this
day forward, our bodies united in this world forever, my woman, my wife, my love.” Then he leaned against her and kissed her once more, his need and desire becoming heady and strong.

“Oh, Edon,” Tala whispered, pulling him as close to her as he could be.

“I love you, Tala ap Griffin, wife of Edon Halfdansson. No, hush, be quiet. You don’t need to tell me you love me.” Edon gathered her into his arms as he stood up. Her own arms tightened around his shoulders and she kissed him hard, enticing him to near madness. He laughed, saying, “I heard your frantic cries the night I was struck by lightning. ‘Haps the need to scream your love for me will come over you very soon, hmm? And this time nothing will stop me from gloating when my men congratulate me for making you yell how much you love me at the top of your voice.”

“How touching, Jarl Edon.” Embla Silver Throat sneered as she came forward out of the dark shadows of the hall. “As Odin is my judge, I can stand no more of this loathsome pulchritude. Set the witch on her feet and raise your hands over your heads. Both of you! The game is ended. I’m taking over and the two of you are as good as dead.”

E
don very carefully set Tala on her feet. The woman in the shadows had come armed. She had a Welsh longbow in hand, a barbed arrow cocked and aimed with deadly precision at Tala’s breast. Edon had no reason to doubt Embla’s accuracy with the weapon, especially not at such close range.

“That’s good,” Embla said smoothly, advancing carefully out of the midnight shadows. “Put the knife down on the table, Edon—slowly. No fast moves or I might be tempted to pierce the witch’s arm with this arrow. It’s poisoned, you know, but you might have guessed that… seeing as how you ransacked my possessions. And though I can promise you that a nick on the arm isn’t fatal, I can also assure you that her death will be agonizingly long and lingering.”

“What is it you want?” Edon carefully shifted away from the trestle, to gain the space to maneuver clear of the chairs and stools scattered about the hall. “How is it you escaped your pit?”

“So that was you I saw on the rim tormenting me, was it?” She tossed her head back, casting a wealth of tangled blond hair out of her eyes. Even in the half shadows of romantic candlelight, it was clear she had been through
hell and back. Her hair and clothes were scorched by fire and mud clung to her legs. “Had you come to gloat? Too soon, you fool. You led my devoted Eric straight to me.”

Embla tensed as Edon caught Tala’s arm. Embla let her arrow fly, and it sped across the room, landing in the back of Edon’s chair with a chilling thud. Tala yelped as Edon jerked her clear of the arrow’s path, pushing her behind him.

Eric the Tongueless lunged from the darkness and grabbed Tala, whipping her away from Edon’s protection. The giant slapped his hand across Tala’s mouth, silencing her piercing scream of alarm.

“Good boy, Eric!” Embla laughed gloatingly, at Edon. She notched another arrow in the bow as she commanded, “Stand where you are, Wolf of Warwick! Don’t be such a coward! It isn’t the woman I’m going to kill first. It’s you!”

“Why, Embla? What makes you think this will accomplish anything?” Edon straightened, not bothering to glance back at Tala. He’d heard the scrape of a steel blade leaving its sheath and knew without having to look behind him that the silent giant held a knife at her throat. “What is it you want, niece? The kings will never let you live to claim Warwick now.”

“Oh, aye, that’s a fearsome truth, isn’t it?” Embla growled throatily, her voice clearly abused by smoke and fire. “Here you are, come to reap the fruits of my labor, the wealth of this shire, its mines and bounty. You ruined everything. You even managed to kill the damn druid who served me even better than that braggart Asgart. Do you have any idea of the amount of gold that lies in the mud of the river Leam?”

Edon laughed bluntly. “I don’t see you wearing any of it.”

“Wear it? What kind of fool do you think I am? I’ve had every pound melted into ingots. Once the river Leam
was drained, it yielded tons of gold coins and jewelry, the torques of every king and princess of Leam since the bloody-minded Celts began their sacrifices a thousand years ago. I’d only just begun dredging it when that witch showed up at Offa’s lodge at Beltane and began stirring up her people.”

Edon glared at the woman. “So what has stopped you from taking your gold and leaving Warwick? Why have you come back? You’ll never depart alive now.”

“On the contrary, you are going to make certain that I leave Warwick very much alive. All of my ingots are carefully concealed inside the walls of this monstrosity of yours. Eric, quit fondling that woman’s breasts and tie her up. Do the work you need to do!” Embla ordered. “Then tie the jarl’s hands very tightly behind his back and see that a garrote is knotted at his throat.”

Tala’s heart hammered in her chest. She feared for Edon’s life. Embla would not let him live, she knew that. The lumbering Viking sheathed his knife, then jerked Tala around. She saw Harald Jorgensson staggering to his feet in the doorway of his sickroom. At the same time Sarina bounded up the open stairs, a dark and fearsome growl coming from her throat.

Eric grunted in alarm. Tala grabbed his hand as he raised it and sank her teeth deep into his filthy palm. She freed one arm and dug her fingers into his eyes. Howling, the giant struck out at her with his other fist.

Edon heard the scuffle break out behind him. His weapons hung on the wall at Embla’s back—his shield and swords, pikes and battle axes.

Embla saw his glance go to the wall behind her. She stepped to the side, her back to the open door where Harald Jorgensson stood on his feet—a pale apparition, apprising the scene before him.

“Do it, Harald!” Edon shouted. “Now, Sarina!”

Embla spun around. “Nay!” she screamed when she saw her husband standing in the doorway. “You’re dead!”

“Nay, Embla, lay down your bow!” Harald rasped. “Your reign of terror is at an end.”

Sarina sprang at the Viking woman, her growl deadly and terrifying. Embla’s bow swiveled from Harald to the dog. Harald, too, lunged at her, his weak fist grazing the hand that held the bow steady. Embla’s poisoned arrow thudded into the wooden door at her husband’s back. She screamed as the hound sank her teeth into her arm.

Then all hell erupted. Edon caught his sword in hand, spun around and, yelling like a wild berserker, went after the man that tormented his wife. Rig, Maynard and Thorulf burst into the hall, hot on the wolfhound’s tail. Edon’s sword cracked down on Eric the Tongueless’s shoulder as he drew back his arm to strike Tala again.

Eric’s arm dropped. His howl matched Embla Silver Throat’s shrieks as the dog tore her necklace from her throat and ripped into flesh and blood.

Turning on Edon, Eric flashed his dagger in his left hand, lunging forward.

“No!” Tala screamed. “No!” She leaped onto the mute’s back, dragging him back. Edon’s sword thrust up-ward, puncturing the villain’s belly. He let go of his sword, jumped back and swept Tala away.

Eric fell forward onto the hilt of the sword. Ten inches of bloody steel poked out of his back, where Tala had been clinging to him mere seconds ago.

Edon lifted Tala higher in the air, roaring at the top of his voice, “Don’t you ever do that again!” He shook her fiercely, then crushed her in his arms, overcome by the terror of what could have happened to her as his moving blade impaled Eric. “You little fool!”

“Hold, Sarina, stop!” Jarl Harald fell to the floor, grasping the wolfhound’s neck, trying to pull her off the woman struggling underneath the dog.

Tala threw her arms around Edon’s head and neck. “Oh, my love, I nearly lost you for good.”

Edon allowed her to rain a hundred desperate kisses on his face, his brow, his cheeks and his mouth. It made no difference in the rage frozen on his features. He could have killed her. Didn’t she realize that?

“Edon!” Harald shouted in desperation. “Call off your dog!”

Rashid and Thorulf both issued commands to the enraged wolfhound. Their combined strength hauling on Sarina’s collar wasn’t enough to pull her off. Edon patted Tala’s cheeks, examined her belly and her arms, making certain she was all in one piece and all right before he looked to the struggle between his men and the hound. He needed the time to compose himself.

“À
moi,
Sarina, heel!” Edon softly issued the only command the wolfhound would obey. Sarina barked wildly a moment more, then turned and padded on clicking paws to Edon’s side. She sniffed his hands, whining, thumping her tail on a piece of furniture, awaiting his approval.

“Good dog, Sarina!” Edon had to let go of Tala to calm his pet and praise her. The wolfhound woofed and jumped up, putting her paws on his. shoulders, licking his face. “Now sit.”

Edon then guided Tala to his chair and set her down, kissing her trembling mouth. Raising one finger in a command to stay, he turned to assess the damage to his house.

“That was a surprise I could have done without.”

The jarl’s dry understatement brought the attention of each of his captains to him. Rig, Maynard and Thorulf cast uneasy, sheepish looks between them.

Harald collapsed at the side of the woman he had married. Rashid bent over Embla, pressing a thick, folded cloth to the woman’s bleeding throat. Embla stared at the blood on her chest with horrified eyes.

“Damn you, Embla,” Harald cursed her. “You just don’t know when to give up, do you? Send for a priest!”

A strangulated sound gurgled from her mouth.

Tala turned away, sickened by the sight of so much blood and horror, and saw Venn and Bishop Nels burst into the upper hall at the same time.

“What’s happened?” Venn came to Tala, asking questions, confused by what he saw and agitated because he had missed all of the action. The warriors had formed a solid flank between Jarl Harald and his wife and Edon. King Guthrum moved to Edon’s side, putting his hand on his shoulder.

“Clear this hall,” the king commanded. “Edon, take your bride from the sight of this. I’ll handle it from here.”

Edon nodded, accepting his brother’s command. He turned to Tala and assisted her to her feet. Rig and Eli rushed ahead of him, bringing lanterns, checking that the chamber was empty of all threat and danger.

“I need water to wash,” Edon said as he guided Tala inside the bedchamber. She was shaking badly as he set her down on the edge of the bed. He gripped her hands in his as he knelt before her. “Are you all right, my love?”

“No,” Tala said as she burst into tears. She threw her arms around his shoulders, clasping him to her. “That bitch was going to kill you!”

Edon slipped his arm around Tala’s waist, holding her as tightly as she held him. “Don’t be foolish, love, I’m not so easy to harm. It was a mad thing for her to try to do—to kill me in my own house. There, there now, be quiet. Stop this crying.”

“But Edon…” Tala shook her head and kissed both of his cheeks. “I hadn’t told you that I love you. Don’t do that to me again! I could have died from fear of losing you.”

“Ah, that bad, was it, love?” Edon chuckled, delighted by the hard-won although frantic declaration of her love. “If that is what it takes to get you to admit what you feel for me, then I shall have some villain tucked behind every
door in Warwick, just so you will scream you love me when I have defeated the lout.”

Tala dashed her hand across her eyes, sniffed and leaned back, looking at his undamaged face. “You will do no such thing!” she commanded. She touched his brow, smoothing his black hair away from his eyes. “Why do you call me ‘love’?”

“What else am I to call the only woman who means everything to me? Do you realize that you attacked a man four times your size with nothing more than your teeth and your fingers?” Edon caught her hands and kissed the backs of her knuckles. “You, a puny little princess, trying to kill a Viking with your bare hands.”

“He was going to hurt you.” she replied, justifying her actions.

Edon lifted his hand to touch the swelling bump on her cheek, where Eric had struck her very hard. The rage inside him bubbled to the surface. He took hold of Tala’s hands and held them still between them. His face was dark and very serious. “You will never do that again, understand? Say that you do, Tala, because I don’t think my heart could take another near miss like that.”

Tala wasn’t certain she knew just what he was talking about. She swallowed and nodded her head. She thought the best thing to do was just agree with him. “Yes, Edon,” she said. “I understand.”

He could tell by the fear and confusion in her eyes that she really didn’t comprehend. Maybe she thought bodies were made of solid bone and that tempered steel didn’t go through human flesh the way a table knife slipped through butter. He took a deep breath, feeling calmer. Perhaps a little more explanation and she would understand his point. Sometimes there was no help except to fight things out and settle them once and for all. Though he wanted to live in peace with everyone, he couldn’t guarantee that everyone in this world would live in peace with him.

“The point is, love, I had everything under control. That
scream of yours alerted everyone downstairs that there was trouble. Harald was resting in his room and I knew Sarina would come to my aid shortly. You didn’t need to jump on Eric’s back to protect me from his puny knife. I can fight very well. But I prefer to fight on my own terms and at my own pace. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Edon,” Tala said.

She still didn’t get it. Edon shook his head. “In the future, should you ever find yourself in the same shire as I am when a fight erupts, you will keep perfectly still. You will not stick your fingers in someone’s eyes, pull his ears or bite his fingers and hands.”

Tala’s fingers wiggled inside the tight restraint of his grip. Edon tugged on them, holding her still.

“Yes, Edon,” she said, as if right on a cue. His scowl deepened.

“More important, lady, you will never, ever jump on the back of any man I am fighting. This is the only time you will ever hear me issue such an order. I am perfectly capable of settling my disputes without your assistance. Understood?”

Tala tilted her chin a little, staring at his eyes, then she nodded. Since he wouldn’t let go of her hands, she leaned forward and kissed his mouth again. This time she lingered over his hard mouth, which didn’t soften, not one little bit. She lifted her head and said, “You are so supremely arrogant, Viking!”

Tala kissed him again, and this time his strong arms encased her so completely she thought the life was going to be squeezed out of her.

“And you are a wild woman, perfectly suited to an arrogant Viking.” Edon lifted her in his arms as he rose to his feet. She clung to him, refusing to release his mouth, deepening the kiss between them.

A moment or two later, Edon heard the door shut at his back. He lifted his head and looked as his wife’s face. “Come, love, Eli has left enough water to wash the scent
of battle from both our hands. The night is now ours to enjoy. Nothing will intrude again, I promise you.”

“Nothing?” Tala asked as she began to pull the laces out of his tunic.

“Nothing,” Edon said with grave assurance. To make doubly certain that fact was truth, he put the bar on the door, guaranteeing their absolute privacy. Tala suppressed a small chuckle, preferring to remain as grave and serious as he was.