Einar sensed Inga growing agitated, so he stroked her hair until her eyes began to droop. Her breathing slowed as she once more burrowed into his chest.
“I won’t hurt your family, but family is not enough to stop me from one day creating a legend people speak of with awe.”
Einar never let himself fall into a deep sleep with Inga, fearing someone would discover them, but he relaxed and enjoyed having her next to him. He was not as convinced as he would have her believe that their saga would be one of the great ones, but he would die trying to make it so.
Eighteen
Lena looked around the sparring circle and sensed eyes upon her. She was certain it was not Ivar, although he had been keeping a closer eye on her since their return, even with Thor’s departure. As long as Inga remained in the homestead, neither Lena nor Ivar were convinced she out of danger. She swept her gaze across the warriors who were still fighting until she noticed Einar standing off to the side. She had not shared her suspicions with anyone, but she thought Einar and Inga might be having an affair. They were a similar age, and Einar had changed since Inga arrived. He seemed both calmer and more calculating than before. The young man had made her uneasy for years since she found him staring at her with unmasked lust, but she had hoped that as he grew into manhood, he would find a woman to ease his unspent energy. The only thing that kept Lena from being sure that he was coupling with Inga was how he still looked at her. Lena shifted to see if his gaze followed her. It surprised her when it did not. She glanced behind her to see who Einar was watching, and a smile twitched at the corner of her mouth to realize he had been watching Inga walk across the village center. He had not been watching Lena after all. She sighed with relief until Einar’s gaze locked with hers, and he smirked as if he read her thoughts. He turned away, and Lena looked back to see Inga watching them. The hatred in the young woman’s eyes was enough to make Ivar appear by Lena’s side.
“She seems to hate you even more than she did when she arrived. She has to have heard that we haven’t been together since before the blessing.” Ivar watched Inga slip into a storage shed. Lena and Ivar stood together long enough to watch Einar slip into the same building a few minutes later. “Do you believe they are having an affair?”
“Yes.” Lena’s answer was simple and without doubt.
“Then there is my reason to have her sent home.”
“What will you do about Einar?”
“Nothing. They are both young. He’s hardly more than a boy and filled with lust. She is attractive and lonely. It doesn’t surprise me that they found each other.” Ivar looked down at Lena, unsure how she would react to him acknowledging Inga was pretty.
“I can see why she draws men’s eyes. She is beautiful in a way that is far different from how I look.”
“But you still know that it’s you I crave, don’t you?”
Lena looked up at Ivar and saw the hesitation, the nervousness in his eyes.
“Do you think I want you any less because we haven’t been able to make love? Don’t you think I admire you even more for not being able to have you? Ivar, I’m not worried that your interest wanes.”
Lena caught herself before she laughed at the relief that flooded Ivar’s face. She was not about to admit she had feared that exact thing. The longer they spent unable to be together, the more she worried that he would realize he did not need her. She feared that he would find another woman, even Inga, who would be available to him.
“Lena, there will never be anyone else. Don’t try to fool me or yourself that you don’t fear we are drifting apart. I worry about it constantly.”
“But we’re not?” Lena’s voice was little more than a breath escaping her lips.
“No, we aren’t. I’m going to my father now, and I am coming to you tonight. I’m not going another night without sleeping with you in my arms. And trying to keep you from turning into an icicle did not count.”
“We can’t. Not until Inga leaves.”
“No. No more. I am not married to her. This was a trial, and it has failed. The blessing was to guide us as we attempt a marriage. We were never wed.”
“See what Jarl Soren says first.”
“I don’t care what he says. The winter solstice will be upon us in a few weeks. I will be married to you then, or we leave.”
Lena nodded and then squeaked when Ivar pulled her in for a searing kiss. It was the first one they had shared since Ivar found her alongside the road. Lena melted against him, her will to resist nonexistent. At the cheers of those around them, they broke apart.
“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” The chant went up as the warriors still surrounding them beat their swords against their shields as laughter filled the air.
Lena and Ivar looked around, shocked by their friends’ and fellow tribe members’ encouragement. It was the most lighthearted they had heard their people since before Thor arrived with his family and with Inga. Ivar was only too happy to oblige. He swooped in and gathered Lena into his arms as he pressed a tender kiss to her lips that snowballed into a fire of need between them. As the kiss drew on, the applause and bawdy comments were deafening. When they pulled apart at last, they rested their foreheads and the tips of their noses together, their smiles clear to everyone.
“About damn time,” a woman’s voice called from the crowd.
“Praise Freyja. They’ve come to their senses!”
Ivar and Lena brushed their lips together one last time before stepping apart. As they turned to look at the people who stood watching, they both noticed Inga standing outside the storage hut. Lena stiffened until she saw the young woman nod her head. Lena only stared. Inga’s attitude was so different from only minutes earlier when she glared with open malice. Lena wondered if Inga’s anger was in part because she was still stuck in limbo. Now Inga would have the evidence needed to either have Lena banished or killed, or she had reason to leave. Lena prayed it was the latter.
“She wants to leave,” Ivar whispered. “I saw the difference, too. She may still make trouble, but I bet she will demand an end to the trial.”
“I hope so.”
