“Happily, my lord.”
After sitting down with the carpenter and gaining his cooperation, Finn quickly realized that the man could indeed do the job they required. He had made several some years past and knew enough of their form and function and the types of wood required to do a fine job.
The return walk to the village proved awkward, for Finn at least. What could he say to such a service as Dallan had done him? He was a true friend, Finn thought, and for the first time in his life Finn felt truly accepted by the people around him.
Dallan, Cormac, Diarmid, and Eva all treated him as one of them.
The thought of Eva brought a sharp twinge of guilt to Finn’s chest. He needed to tell Dallan the truth. He needed to admit his feelings to his friend. Had Dallan not acclaimed him as loyal?
Hardly, at present. But he could start now.
Decision made, he cleared his throat. “I’ve been talking with Eva lately of her past betrothals,” he began tentatively. “Have you ever considered arranging another match for her, should she want one?”
“Never,” Dallan answered too quickly. “And see her heart broken yet again? Nay, she made me vow to leave her be. That’s why she went to the nunnery. Not for the Lord, but for solace and distance.”
“But what if she changed her mind?”
“She won’t,” Dallan assured him. “And, honestly, I’d have to beat any bastard who tried. The only way she’d agree is if he’d already charmed her by some miracle, and I can’t abide that thought.”
Finn’s stomach soured. Dallan’s assessment struck true. His mind fumbled the remainder of the short walk for any way to explain his relationship with Eva, but it always came up wanting.
By the time they’d reached the tents, Finn had convinced himself it wasn’t worthwhile to rile Dallan over nothing. As he’d said, Eva had no interest in marriage, which meant she had no interest in courting either.
Which meant that upsetting Dallan over something that would never amount to aught would only create unnecessary tension. Eva had told him as much herself. Hadn’t she said she still wasn’t ready to consider marriage?
He fooled only himself in thinking she would change her mind for an Ostman peasant. So, he said nothing.
Determined, he vowed not to let anything further happen with Eva.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Eva was fairlycertain no one would die today. At least she could count on that. She also thought her pig-headed brother had a fair chance of failing the trial. She could only hope, anyway.
She’d had Finn explain it to her several times over, both the trial itself and the training they did to prepare for it. And still she could not comprehend how any person could do such a thing as leap over a tree.
As in the trial of defense, wherein the men defended themselves from spears in holes deep as their waists, this trial, too, necessitated the accommodation of each individual man. In order for each to undergo the same level of challenge, each man had found a branch of the proper length to be stuck into the ground and of a height with him. On the other side of each branch, a branch lower than their knees and higher than their ankles waited, suspended between a pair of much smaller branches. In order to succeed the trial, a man must jump over the tall branch and crawl beneath the lower one without touching them.
She, without the need to attempt it, knew she couldn’t do either. Based on the chatter surrounding her, she was not the only soul watching who thought as much. Finn had tried once, after she’d continued to question him, to get Eva to try jumping at least. She told him in no uncertain terms she preferred the harp to any sort of physical challenge.
He always offered. Whenever Eva spoke of something beyond her ken, to the best of his ability Finn presented her with an opportunity to learn it, to practice it, to better understand it. Since learning of her inability to swim, he had also suggested swimming lessons. She’d managed to convince him to put those off for now.
In truth, she had no desire whatsoever to learn to swim. She was perfectly content to stand upon the shore and gaze at the beauty of the water without ever breaking its surface. If, for some reason, shemusttouch it, dangling her feet would more than suffice. Even that set her nerves on edge. As much as Finn loved to remind her to be careful, it was hardly necessary. Eva was well aware of the danger if she fell.
The men took their positions behind the tall branches, each with his own, drawing her attention from her own musings. A clap of thunder sounded in the distance, and the sky clouded over ominously, but no storm yet came. Cormac nodded to the first of the twenty-two men, who, to Eva’s shock, jumped straight up and over the branch.
A collective gasp sounded from the crowd, followed by cheers as he crawled on his belly under the branch. Out of breath, he stood victorious. The crowd roared, hungry for more.
The next men went, attempting the same. Two failed and two succeeded before Finn’s turn.
Eva held her breath, her hands squeezing each other so hard her nails dug into her skin.
Finn didn’t even hesitate. The confidence in his hard stare made her heart swell with pride. He leaped over the branch. And he made it look effortless. He paused only a heartbeat before dropping onto the ground and crawling under the branch with practiced ease.
Everyone cheered again, their raucous enjoyment of the sport gaining momentum with each man’s turn. Finn grinned, his single dimple visible even from a distance. His fellow competitors, those who had already completed their trials, came up to congratulate him. But Finn paid them little heed. His eyes searched the crowd until they found Eva, piercing her with a questioning gaze.
She stood with the rest of the onlookers, clapping and smiling like a fool. Even with the entire village cheering him on, he desired her approval. Eva didn’t have time to contemplate that confusing thought. For all of the applause for Finn ended in a matter of moments, and her brother stepped up for his turn.
Once more, her breath hitched as his entire body worked in unison to propel him over the branch. The bastard managed the jump. And the crawl. Everyone around her shouted in encouragement, but Eva only clapped absently, frowning. She was proud of her brother, but if he didn’t fail a trial soon, he’d force her to make a decision she’d been putting off for some time now. A decision that grew more complicated with each passing day.
