“How I want to stay here and do that all day,” he sighed before claiming another languid kiss. He leaned forward, pressing Lena into the mattress. He yanked the sheet out of the way and climbed over her, coming to rest his weight on his forearms. “I’m going to make love to you again, my darling.”
“No, you’re not,” came a booming voice from the other side of the door. “Ivar, I’m serious. I’ll drag you out of there if it’s the only way to save Lena.”
Ivar’s head dropped as he shook it. “He’s right,” he whispered.
“I know.” Lena kissed his forehead before pushing him away.
They hurried through their morning ablutions and dressed quickly. The three friends had only stepped into the open clearing in the middle of the homestead when horses galloped through the gate. Ivar swept his gaze over the visitors, looking for Rangvald. He did not spare a glance for Inga, and he heard a gasp from one rider. His gazed shifted, and he saw blazing hatred coming from his betrothed’s eyes. She had perceived Ivar’s disinterest as a slight, and he did not feel guilty. He smiled, but the warmth never made it to his eyes. He looked once more for Rangvald and found him mounted with Lorna seated before him. Lena was already moving towards them, but she halted when Inga’s voice filled the air with her whining tone.
“What is that whore still doing here? Father, you promised me Jarl Soren had dealt with her. Why was she walking out of a house with my husband this morning? She walked out with two men? Is that the man my husband is? He likes to share? He won’t be sharing me.”
“If you don’t shut up, Inga, you won’t have a husband to worry about,” Rangvald growled as he dismounted, then helped Lorna to the ground. Rangvald and Lorna stepped forward, and Ivar and Lena greeted them.
“She’s a right wee beastie, that one,” Lorna whispered.
“I heard that!” Inga bellowed as she turned in her saddle to see her brother and the others. “You’re no better than her. Worse even, since you’re a savage and a whore.”
Rangvald was beside his sister’s horse in a heartbeat, lifting her from the saddle. He leaned close enough that no one heard, but Inga’s face blanched, and she nodded when Rangvald straightened. She did not utter another world.
Soren and Disa stepped forward to greet their guests. Disa was still a stunning woman despite a hard life with an angry and spiteful husband. She had lost three of her four children, but she continued to serve her people despite her everlasting grief. Disa moved to greet her guests. She ushered Inga, her mother, and Signy toward the jarl’s longhouse, but before she walked away, she turned back and waved for Lorna to join them. Disa turned a sad smile toward Lena as she waited for Lorna.
Torn between her friend and being accepted by a noblewoman, Lorna was not sure where to go. She looked back at Rangvald, but he was talking to Ivar and his brothers Harold and Sven. The entire family had traveled for the wedding. Lena nudged Lorna toward the longhouse.
“Go. You are to be part of their family. Claim your position now. Disa will take care of you, and she will make you welcome. I’m certain Signy will appreciate having you there. She is so different from the spitefulness of her sister and mother Ulfhild.”
“She is. It’s hard to believe she’s related to them. It must be her gift.”
Lena nodded. She had thought more than once that she might ask Signy what she saw of her own future, but she feared what the young woman might tell her. Lorna followed the other women, and Lena remained only to find the men had moved away to tend to the horses. They left her standing in the middle of the green by herself. It seemed to signify her life at that moment.
“I don’t envy you one bit,” Rangvald laughed as Ivar glared at him. “She’s my sister, but she can’t leave soon enough. She’s wretched to Lorna and Signy.”
“And you think she’ll be better here?” Ivar looked over his shoulder to see the group of women walking into his family’s longhouse. He also noticed Lena standing alone, looking tiny against the village backdrop. He wanted to go to her, whisk her away, and take her to a place where they created their own happy family. Ivar watched as she glanced around and then, shoulders hunched against a cool breeze, walked back to her own longhouse.
“I wish there were another way to seal this alliance, rid us of my sister, and spare you a disastrous marriage like our own parents have.” Rangvald shook his head as he continued to curry his horse.
“I’ve been trying to think of a solution, too, but even if I didn’t marry Inga, my father still wouldn’t consent to Lena. He’d just find me another jarl’s daughter to marry.”
“She’s still very young at only sixteen. Perhaps, away from our mother, she will mature into a warmer, more caring woman.” Sven spoke up for the first time. He was the youngest of Rangvald’s siblings, but favored Rangvald and Signy’s temperament more than Harold’s and Inga’s. Sven did not look convinced, though, when he finished with “One can hope.”
“My mother might be a good influence on her as far as being a frú to my people, but the animosity between my parents won’t teach Inga any lessons on how to be a good wife.” Ivar’s stomach twisted and bile rose in his throat as he thought of Inga as his wife. He barely stood the thought of being in the same room as her, fully dressed at that. He did not want to picture having to bed her. He imagined she would issue commands throughout the entire coupling while lying like a dead herring, not even twitching.
“Take a firm hand with her,” grunted Harold. Ivar nodded but did not dare to look in the other man’s direction. No one missed the irony of his comment. He had lost one of his hands during a raid in Scotland, when he attacked Lorna and her mother and Lorna defended herself. Ivar wondered how that family dynamic was working out. He glanced at Rangvald, but his friend gave a quick shake of his head.
“My sister needs a man who will teach her some sense, and a firm hand is the only way to do it. Our father has spoiled her,” Harold continued. “While Father may fear few things, he shies away from Signy. He worries she will tell him his fate, and it won’t be one he likes. Instead, he dotes on Inga. She has our mother’s tongue and can do no wrong in Father’s eyes.”
“If I didn’t know better, I would think all three of you are warning me away from your sister. What would happen to the alliance?”
“Father hasn’t thought to ask any of us how we feel about your tribe. He assumes we carry the same dislike and distrust that he always has.” Harold glanced over his shoulder before lowering his voice. “Neither my brothers nor I care to keep the dispute going. We see no sense in losing more warriors and cattle. We would rather come to an agreement where we are all satisfied, and no one is shackled to our sister.”
“Would you swear to an alliance once you are jarl? Even if I didn’t marry Inga?” Ivar was unconvinced by Harold’s suggestion. If it had come from Rangvald, he would have believed it, but he trusted Harold as little as he did his father, Thor. Unfortunately, Harold was Thor’s heir, not Rangvald.
Rangvald read the skepticism in Ivar’s face and his voice. He stepped forward and extended his arm. Ivar looked down at it before clasping his forearm in a warrior’s handshake.
“You have my word as my brother’s second-in-command and one day the captain of his warriors. If we can convince our fathers to end the feud on the promise that the next generation has already agreed to cease our hostility, perhaps Father can marry off Inga to someone else.”
“And if that doesn’t work, perhaps we suggest Signy instead. She is the older sister,” Sven suggested.
“No,” Harold and Rangvald responded at once.
