“Inga, sit down. There is nothing to pay from me, but you attacked a free woman. I am no thrall. You have no right to touch me unless you intend to fight me. We both know who the victor will be.” Lena’s tones were even and low as she scrubbed her hair. She finished with hushed tones, “I’m no one’s whore, and you have no husband.”
Inga was not finished lashing out at Lena.
“I do have a husband, as my father and Jarl Ivar have already signed the papers. We are wed but for the blessing.”
Lena’s heart lurched, but she forced her face to remain passive. She poured fresh water over her head from the urn next to the tub. When she stood, she allowed Inga to finally gaze upon her figure. She was lithe where Inga was stocky. She was tall where Inga was short. She was agile where Inga was sluggish. Lena intended to show Inga what Ivar had already proved he preferred. Inga gasped, her face going from scarlet to ashen in a matter of heartbeats. Lena walked towards Inga and leaned sideways to whisper in Inga’s ear.
“I would eat a few less sweets, so Ivar can find your sheath; otherwise, his sword will continue to find mine.”
Lena wrapped a drying linen around her and pulled the bathhouse door open, caring little that she was about to walk across the homestead virtually naked.
Four
Ivar looked up to see Rangvald Thorsson and Signy Thorsdóttir running towards him. He and Rangvald were the same age, and he liked the other young man. His sister Signy was beautiful, but her uncanny gift of second sight frightened him a little.
“She’s in there!” Rangvald called as he and his sister came to a halt before him. “Inga.”
Ivar’s eyes opened wide as Signy made to push open the door, but stumbled as a woman yanked it open. Ivar turned to see Lena stepping outside with only a drying linen wrapped around her.
“Hello, Rangvald. Signy.” Lena greeted them with a warm smile, but it faded. She stepped away from the others and flung over her shoulder, “Your wife is awaiting you.”
Ivar glared at Rangvald before reaching for Lena.
“That’s why we were running,” Rangvald panted.
Ivar did not hesitate to sweep Lena into his arms then march to her longhouse. He pushed his way into the house before kicking the door shut. He deposited Lena on the ground and pursed his lips into a scowl when she glowered at him. Lena spun around and approached an older woman sitting beside the fire.
“Amma, you look well,” Lena greeted her grandmother with a kiss on her cheek.
“Lena,elskan min, you are home.”
Lena’s heart swelled whenever her grandmother called her “my darling.” It reminded her of her mother, who died giving birth to Lena’s younger brother when she was four. It was one of the few memories she had left.
“I am, Amma.” Lena looked into the clouded eyes as her grandmother’s gnarled hands ran over her face and shoulders.
“You’re soaking wet! Ivar, why are you letting my granddaughter walk around with sopping wet hair?” Her grandmother gasped when she touched the drying linen wrapped around Lena’s body. “And without clothes?”
“That is why I brought her directly home, Amma.” Lena’s grandmother invited him to call her by the term of affection soon after they began their relationship. He had known the woman his entire life, and she was like a grandmother to him. It was not a stretch for him to think of her as such. However, knowing Inga was within the gates gave him a sickening feeling. He would lose the privilege of being part of Lena’s family the moment he married Inga. He glanced up at Lena and feared that moment had already come.
“I didn’t take any clean clothes into the bathhouse with me.” Lena tried to soften her tone for her grandmother’s sake, but she was still fuming.
“I may be blind, child, but I am not dumb. Something has caused a rift between you two, and I would imagine it comes in the package of a spoiled jarl’s daughter who wants what isn’t hers.”
Lena shrugged, then remembered her grandmother was unable to see her.
“I had an encounter with Ivar’s wife, and it was not pleasant.”
“Stop calling her that. She isnotmy wife.” Ivar crossed the room in a few long strides and took Lena into his arms.
“But she is. She told me your father and hers have signed the papers. All you need is the blessing.”
“That’s not true. If it were, my father would have been crowing about it before we even stepped on the deck. She said it to hurt you.” Lena nodded and tried to pull away, but Ivar did not loosen his hold. “What else did she say, Lena?”
Lena bit her lower lip and shook her head before tilting it towards her grandmother.
“That was all I remember. I’m getting cold. I should get dressed.”
“I’m sure her fingers are too cold for buttons, Ivar. She could use help, and my old fingers work about as well as my eyes.”
