The Heart's Warrior (35 page)

“When your eyes look like that, you make me think of taking you back to our special swimming pool so we can be alone again.”

Kerstin jerked as she turned to discover Jonas sitting close by her side. He had caught her daydreaming of their passion. Embarrassment heated her cheeks.

Jonas glanced at Thor in time to see him caress

Beata brazenly. Jonas looked back at Kerstin and his gaze dropped to her lips. Did he see desire shining in her eyes?

If he asked it of her, she would return with him to the 237

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pool this very moment. But she knew he must leave.

Because of Elezer’s arrival, the morning grew late and they must soon depart.

Jonas leaned close and she saw dark specks in his translucent eyes and felt his warm breath against her lips. Kerstin shivered and fumbled with her goblet, more than nervous. Was Jonas trying to bait Elezer into a fight? Oh, why couldn’t Elezer leave? Why had he ever come? King Hakon should have sent someone else here to Hawkscliffe.

Surveying the room, her gaze sought Elezer. He was nowhere to be seen. Hopefully he had returned to his ship, preparing for departure.

“Your thoughts wander. Do you look for Elezer?”

Jonas’s voice rumbled with raw fury. She felt the touch of his long fingers against her wrist and her gaze met his.

She opened her mouth to respond.

A shrill scream filled the air.

Jonas jumped to his feet, followed by Kerstin. She saw Orm, one of Jonas’s men, lying on the floor, his body convulsing in pain.

“Help him!” someone yelled.

Pushing her way through the crowd, Kerstin ran to Orm and hunkered down on her knees beside him. He clutched his throat as he gasped for breath. His foot caught the edge of a tall sewing loom and it almost toppled over before Thor caught it and set it right.

Kerstin tried to calm Orm as she felt his forehead.

Jonas stood by her side. Orm shook her hand off, his eyes wide, his pupils dilated. He gurgled as if his throat constricted.

“Orm, what did you eat?” she asked. “Can you tell me?” He choked and thrashed, unable to answer.

“How long has he been ill?” She queried the men

standing around him.

“He’s been odd for several minutes, now,” one

responded. “A moment ago, he thought there were spiders crawling all over him, and he claimed he saw a giant bird flying about the hall when we all know it wasn’t so.”

Hallucinations!

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Orm shook his head, his eyes rolling back in his

head. He made sickening gurgling sounds as he thrashed about. Then, he went still. He lay in the fragrant rushes, his eyes wide open, staring and glazed.

Kerstin murmured with despair. “Oh, it’s too late.

Why didn’t you call me sooner?” She leaned close and smelled his breath, then drew back with a gasp. “Deadly nightshade.”

“What is it?” Jonas asked.

Kerstin scrambled for her healing bag. If she hurried, there might be a chance.

People scurried out of her path. Her hands fumbled with the bag, spilling the contents all over the floor. She grabbed the atropine and hurried back to Orm’s side.

He appeared dead. His body relaxed and his hands

fell away from his throat to flop back onto the hard-packed floor and lay there limp and lifeless. His open eyes stared. Kerstin winced and placed her hand on his chest.

He had no breath.

Mixing the potion, she poured it into his mouth,

massaging his throat to get it down. She beat on his chest, rubbing his arms and hands briskly. “Live! Please, live.”

He didn’t move. Tears poured down her face and she pounded his chest in frustration. She hoped they would not blame her. “Please, don’t die. Please!”

A hush fell over the room. No one moved. Everyone stared at the dead man. Gone was the happy chatter. No longer were jokes bantered back and forth or food eaten or women fondled.

“He is dead?” Jonas asked in amazement as he placed a hand on Kerstin’s shoulder.

Kerstin tilted her head and wiped the tears from her cheeks. Lying on the floor beside Orm’s hand lay Jonas’s gold drinking horn.

She picked it up and studied it. Bringing it to her nose, she sniffed the contents, then ran a finger along the brim and carefully tasted it with the tip of her tongue.

She immediately spat it out.

Jonas hunkered beside her. “What is it?”

Kerstin lifted her gaze to his. “Why did Orm drink from your cup?”

“I wanted to speak with you. Someone filled my cup 239

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with ale and I didn’t want it, so I offered it to Orm—”

Jonas’s eyes narrowed, his jaw hard. Taking the horn from her hand, he also sniffed the contents, then wrinkled his nose. “It smells odd.”

He came to his feet, whirling about as he looked at the crowd. “Who filled my drinking horn?”

No one answered.

“Who filled my drinking horn?” he roared.

The people stared, their faces filled with helpless fear. Kerstin heard the words “poison” and “witch.” The women turned their frightened gazes toward their men, who shrugged and backed away. Suspicion glinted in their eyes.
No, not again. Please no!

Jonas turned and looked at her. His gaze hardened, his mouth curved in a disbelieving frown. “Kerstin?”

She shook her head and stood up. To see the

accusation in his stare was more than she could stand.

“Nay, Jonas. I didn’t do this.”

“You would poison me after what we have shared?

You would murder me even now?”

She backed away as he advanced, tears running

down her face. “Nay, I didn’t do it. I’ve been across the room. When could I have poisoned your cup?”

Tovi and Letta crowded close, their eyes crinkled with disbelief.

“It’s true.” Thor stepped forward. “I saw her across the room. She couldn’t have done this, my lord.”

Halfdan stood by Jonas’s side. “But what about

earlier? Who knows when she placed the poison in Jonas’s cup? She could have done it.”

He spoke true. For Orm to die so swiftly, he must have swallowed the poison earlier. He had been having hallucinations for some time and no one told her. If she had known, she might have saved him.

Elezer appeared out of nowhere and came to stand

beside Jonas. Where had he been?He frowned in

disappointment. “Kerstin? Is this true? Did you try to poison Jonas?”

“Of course not.” She trembled. Her blood ran cold.

Witch! Murderer!
She heard the words whispered amongst the crowd. The accusations vibrated in her ears 240

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like a shout.

“I’m not a murderer!” she yelled. “I’m a healer, not a witch. You have to believe me. Please.”

Tovi’s face whitened and her lips thinned. Letta

whimpered and wrung her hands.

“See she holds her magic bag in her hands.” Halfdan pointed to where she clutched her leather satchel with whitened knuckles.

Kerstin stared at him and her mouth tightened. “It’s been lying on the hearth for several hours.
Any
of you could have gone through its contents and obtained the nightshade.”

Of course. No wonder she’d found the packets spilled on the floor. Someone had gone through her bag in search of the poison. But how would they know what to look for?

Her gaze moved about the room and she stared at

each person. One of them was a murderer. One of them wanted Jonas dead. They knew she would be blamed for the deed. How convenient for them.

“No one knows how to use the poison better than

you,” Halfdan said.

“Even
you
could have poisoned him, Halfdan,” she said. His jaw clenched. “You’re the witch, not me. You murdered Bjorn. You let Sigurd die.”

A sob wrenched from her throat. She shuddered so

hard she could hardly stand as she backed away from them. She shook her head vehemently. “Nay, I tried to save them. I wouldn’t harm anyone.”

Halfdan had never liked her, everyone knew that.

Hatred simmered in his dark eyes. “You’ve killed many of our men with your bow and arrows.”

Prickles of heat dotted her flesh. “That was during battle. You’ve also killed my people during battle.”

She looked from one person to the next. Was there not one who believed her?

“Jonas,” she whispered, reaching a hand toward him.

He stared at her, unmoving, his face white with anger.

“Take her,” Halfdan ordered. “We’ll burn her at the stake.”

A blaze of terror tore through her and she strangled the satchel with her hands. Would Jonas let Halfdan kill 241

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her? How could Jonas believe her guilty of this heinous crime?

“Get away.” Brandishing a kitchen knife, Letta

charged the advancing horde. She stood in front of Kerstin. A wild light flashed in her eyes.

The people backed away and Halfdan gestured at

Kerstin. “See, the witch has even hexed Letta to make her insane.”

Jonas continued to stare at Kerstin. Why didn’t he say something? He had interceded before when Sigurd tried to have her burned. Would he help her again?

“Stay out of this, woman.” Halfdan sneered at Letta.

“We’ll kill the witch and you’ll be free of the hex she’s put on you.”

Letta locked her jaw. “I’m only crazed with grief from losing my children. Kerstin has never done anything to me except show me kindness. You’ll not harm her, do you understand me? Now, get back!”

Kerstin touched Letta’s shoulder. “Letta, you’ll be hurt.”

“Hurt?” The woman repeated as she glared at

Halfdan. “I don’t matter, Kerstin. You’re so good and kind. All you do is help people and they repay you this way. You mustn’t be blamed for something you didn’t do.”

Why was she so certain Kerstin hadn’t tried to poison Jonas? Had Letta done the deed?

Dread thudded in Kerstin’s heart. When would this end? Moving fast as lightning, Jonas disarmed Letta in one, swift move. She screeched, clawed and bit as two men took her arms and pulled her away. “Don’t believe it, Jonas. You’re Kerstin’s husband. You owe her your loyalty.”

“Please don’t hurt her,” Kerstin called to the men as they dragged Letta from the hall.

Jonas dropped Letta’s knife to the floor. His

expression was remote. Closed. His eyes hardened, his mouth tight. Kerstin had seen him look this way when he fought in battle. Determined and resolved.

Chilling.

Elezer stepped forward. “Jonas, Kerstin wouldn’t do this. I could have as easily done it.”

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A lump clogged her throat. Now Elezer defended her, but it was too late. They had lost so much.

“Yes, you could have done it.” Jonas’s gaze held the brutal calm before a storm.

Elezer backed away.

Kerstin could see Tovi standing beside the fire pit.

Her eyes were somber, her mouth stern. As always, she awaited her son’s judgment.

Haki stepped forward. “Jonas, I don’t believe Kerstin did this. She’s been good to my family. I’ve watched her tend little Ota and Gudrid until she nearly fell over from lack of sleep and food.”

“You don’t want to condemn the wrong person,”

Astrid exclaimed. “If we have a murderer amongst us, don’t be hasty.”

Halfdan made a rude sound in the back of his throat.

From his expression, it was easy to tell what he thought of these statements.

Bless Haki and Astrid for defending her. Gudrid

stood beside them, nodding in agreement. They believed in her.

Tears burned Kerstin’s eyes and she blinked them

away. Finally. Finally, she had friends here. But what of her husband?

****

insides boiled with emotion. He tensed his shoulders, his jaw stiff. Kerstin pined for Elezer, but Jonas never believed she would try to murder him now that they were married. All his old uncertainties sprang up inside him like a rattling giant. Those closest to him had suffered and he couldn’t get Kerstin out of his mind. She must have cast an evil spell on him to cause such destruction in his life. He had no other explanation. He didn’t know what to believe anymore.

“Go to our room.” His words no more than a harsh

whisper, the sharp edge of fury remained in his tone.

Did only Kerstin know how to administer the poison?

Who else could have done this? How he wished he could blame Elezer for the deed, but that man had left the hall some time ago and returned after Orm fell.

Jonas watched her turn and walk to their chamber, 243

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her head held high, her shoulders pressed back.

How he loved her. In that moment, he realized how much he cared for her. And she loathed him.

When had it happened? In the beginning he hated

her, and yet, that first night at Moere, when he watched her bathe, he began to love her. Yet he couldn’t trust her.

Now he understood why he was so jealous of Elezer.

Because he
loved
Kerstin—and he would never win her love in return.

The poison hadn’t been meant for Orm. It had been meant for
him
.

Jonas thought of something he hadn’t considered.

The pieces fit so well. Of course! He must be a fool not to have realized it before.

Turning, he left the room, determined to be patient.

He would watch and wait and let his plan catch the culprit and root out the traitor in the process.

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Kerstin rose from the bed and paced the confines of her chamber. She wrung her hands as the hours passed.

Why didn’t Jonas come for her? Surely he wouldn’t leave for York without bidding her farewell.

What would he do when he returned? Would he kill

her or send her into exile? How could she live without him? Pressing her fingers to her lips, she trembled with the knowledge that she loved him. Somehow, in all their tribulations, she had come to care for him more than her own life. Her body shuddered with the revelation. She loved him only to lose him.