“The season for raiding, when my men will wish to go home.”
Oh.
“And”—he said it very softly so that, indeed, any straining ears would not hear—“ye mean to go wi’ them?”
She did not answer at once. She toyed with her cup of ale. She frowned at it.
Even when she did speak, her words skirted his question. “I have discussed it with Garik, who has heard from the crew that they do not wish to overwinter here.”
“Ah. Was there a possibility of that?” He should have thought. He should have realized that to be sure, the season would come to an end. She would go away with her men. They would not have forever together. He should have insisted on making the most of every moment, of being often in her company even if they did not lie together.
“Not truly, nei. These voyages we go upon, well, the men see them as adventures.”
Murdering and destroying were adventures. Could they be more different?
“With their adventures complete, they want to go home. To…to boast and flaunt their gains, to visit with their families and perhaps—be with women.”
“I see.”
“I wished to discuss with you—”
“When?” He could not prevent the question. “How soon will ye go?”
“It will be a while yet. The end of summer or longer, if the raiding holds good.”
So if she kept on slaughtering his fellow countrymen, he might have the chance to see her. It was insupportable. Unbearable.
She resumed what she’d begun to say. “I wished to discuss with you the duration of our alliance. Did you intend it for but this season? Or will it last into the next?”
Might she return, she meant. Could she sail back to him after the long, unendurable winter and once more take up residence upon that patch of land he’d allotted her?
He gazed into her eyes. “Hulda, so far as I am concerned, our alliance—what lies between us—is forever. Forever, do ye understand? No end, between us.”
He saw it then, the emotion blazing suddenly in her eyes as if the sun had burst through rain clouds. Did tears follow that light? Hard to tell, for she ducked her head over her ale cup.
“That is how I feel also. You will be waiting, if I return?”
If.She could not promise. Naught was certain.
“I will be waiting, Hulda. It feels as if I have always been waiting. Now that I ha’ found ye—touched ye—I will continue to wait as long as need be.” Constancy, he offered her, the constancy of love eternal.
“I wanted you to know, no matter how long the winter, I will not forget. And I wanted to say—” She broke off.
“We canna waste any more time,” he finished for her. “’Tis far too precious.” Now it was he who drew a breath. “I maun be wi’ ye.”
“And I with you. That, above all, is what I came to say.”
“The same place?”
“Ja. When?”
“’Twill prove difficult. There are eyes everywhere. Men constantly on watch.”
“Ja.”
He did not see how he might slip away. If he had, he would have striven to arrange it already, so fiercely did he ache for her. Yet, rashly, he said, “Soon.Soon.”
“I will assign my men to some repairs onFreya. Keep them occupied. I will say I must meet with you here. You do the same, saying you meet me at my camp. We will meet instead at the ruined hut.”
