“No, silly! I mean, have you found someone like I have found Wulfric?” She nudged her elbow playfully. “I seem to remember you mentioning a Thorfinn last time we met?”
Thorfinn, Knut’s brother. Yes. Yet another man who’d caught her attention, another man who’d paid no heed to her. Aife picked a mushroom from the basket and rolled it between her thumb and forefinger. Was her cousin determined to make her feel bad by reminding her of her past failures? Apparently so.
“Thorfinn got married last year, to Rowena,” she said eventually. The woman he’d been in love with all along. How had Aife not realized he’d already found the woman of his dreams? From the start, she’d been fighting a losing battle.
“Oh, dear, yet another man who could not see what a gem you are. Who was the other one you were interested in? Was it Haakon? Or Ralph? I forget. Well, not to worry. I’m sure eventually someone will see that a woman doesn’t have to dazzle to be a good wife. I actually think most men would prefer to marry a plainer woman, who will not stir the lust of all the passing men and cause them endless worry. It makes for an easier life.”
The mushroom was reduced to a pulp when Aife bunched her hand into a fist. How had her cousin turned into such a viper?
“How did you and Wulfric meet, by the way? You never told me and I cannot deny that I’m curious.”
Though she was loath to hear more about the man, she would, if the alternative was having to explain that she feared no one would ever see what “a gem she was.”
“Oh, you’re right. I did tell you he was a friend of Eowald’s, but I never told you about the day he finally declared his love to me, did I?”
Aife gritted her teeth while Edita launched herself into a detailed—and highly inappropriate—explanation of how theman had pounced on her during the Midsummer celebrations, mere days after his friend’s funeral.
By the gods, it was going to be a long afternoon.
I’m sure eventually someone will see that a woman doesn’t have to dazzle to be a good wife.
Torsten clenched his jaw. Had the woman truly said such a spiteful thing to her own cousin? Of course she had, he knew he had not misheard. In fact, placed where he was in the communal smoking room, he’d had no choice but to hear the whole excruciating conversation the two women were having by the bridge just behind. He’d even sneaked regular peeks through the door to see how Aife was dealing with the deluge of thinly-veiled insults.
Not well, if the expression on her face was to be believed.
She’d told him the other day that she had wanted to put her cousin from Mercia back in her place because Edita often mocked her supposed lack of appeal. He had not doubted her, there had been too much emotion in her voice when she’d explained what she felt, but this was a lot worse than he had imagined. The woman was going out of her way to make herself look good, and in the process was making Aife feel lower than dirt. There was no mistaking the self-satisfied look on her face or the scathing words. Worse, he could see from the lack of spark in her eyes that Aife thought Edita was right, and no one wanted her.
Well, it would not do, and enough was enough.
He had been angry at the time for the deception she had played on him, but he could see that she had not lied; she really was convinced she could not capture any man’s interest. Kissing him to silence her cousin’s taunts had not been her best idea, but he understood now that she had genuinely not meant to hurt him. And she was right, they were friends, and he had no feelings for her, or at least he was notsupposedto have feelings for her.How could she have suspected that he would take it so badly? Only a few days ago he would have laughed the whole thing off and told her she was welcome to kiss him as much as she wanted because it didn’t mean a thing.
Yes, but a few days ago, he’d not stroked himself to release while listening to her laughing. A few days ago, she’d not been the woman responsible for the best, most wicked moment of his life.
Still, none of this was her fault. He should apologize to her for barking at her, find a way to make amends. And he knew just how.
Just then he spotted his brother Sven exiting his hut in the distance. Perfect. Any other man would have done, but he knew he would easily goad his hot-headed brother into action. This was the perfect opportunity to put Edita back in her place and let out his frustration at the same time.
Making sure the two women could not see him, he exited the smoke room and signalled to his brother to hurry to his side. Worried by the urgency of the gesture, Sven almost ran to him. “What is it?”
“Hit me.”
Sven arched a brow at the admittedly odd request. “I’m sorry?”
“Hit me. Now. Don’t think about why, just do it. Or will I have to tell you exactly what a bastard you can be sometimes to motivate you?”
A scoff. “That won’t be necessary, I already know that. And I can definitely hit you if that’s what you want. The question is, can you take it?”
With those words, Sven threw the first punch. But because he did not really put his heart into it and Torsten had been prepared for the blow, he did not find it hard to block it.
“Come, is that all you have? Perhaps I should have gone to Ulf,” he teased, using their thirteen-year-old nephew as bait. “He would have done a better job of it.”
Grinning, he pushed at Sven’s chest. His brother stumbled backward and cursed between his teeth. His next punch was in earnest, and this time, he did make contact with his chin. Torsten’s head snapped to the side and he groaned. By the gods, but that hurt. This might not have been the best idea he’d ever had. Suddenly he sympathized with Aife. It seemed that it was all too easy to make wrong decisions while in the heat of the moment.
Just as he was straightening his back and preparing himself to receive another hit, he heard a cry coming from the bridge. The two women had seen him and Sven fight and they were wondering what was happening. Finally! He didn’t want this to go on for longer than necessary. His little brother was no weakling, and now that he’d been baited, he would not relent. But Torsten could not allow him to come out as the victor.Hehad to win, that was the whole point.
“Yield,” he told Sven under his breath, crouching into a defensive position.
“Never. You wanted a fight, you’re getting a fight.”
