“But it isn’t our way,” Elene corrected. “We Orcadians do value a woman being a maiden on her wedding night.”
“I still wouldn’t care.”
Elene exhaled a puff of air. She doubted Liam would feel that way if she weren’t. She doubted they’d be lying together if she wasn’t.
“I wouldn’t.” Liam brushed a soft kiss against her lips. “I was wrong about my impression, and now I know. But the first time we kissed, I knew you’d had some practice. I thought you weren’t an innocent, and I realized I didn’t care. It was only later when you told me, then the first time I touched you, that I knew you were still a virgin. Whatever draws me to you is far stronger than any maidenhead.”
Elene heard the conviction in Liam’s voice and recognized the steadfastness in his gaze. She’d met no man who would say and believe such. Feeling more assured, she continued. “The way Gunter talked to me that night, I thought he meant he wanted me to marry him. He talked about coming back to Norway with him and the life we could build with a family. It still seemed outrageous that a member of the royal family would consider someone so far beneath him, but he was so convincing. I told him I had to think about it.”
Elene hadn’t noticed that she’d fisted Liam’s leine where her hand rested at his waist. But her fingers cramped, and she realized she’d grabbed hold as her anger and regret grew.
“Two days later, a dragon boat arrived with a message for Gunter. I was returning from hunting and curious about the excitement. As I walked up, I realized it was a messenger. I understand enough Norse to follow most conversations. The man announced Gunter had another son, a bairn born a sennight earlier. I thought my heart stopped.Another.He already had a child. One that sounded like he acknowledged and a new one that he was excited for. I told myself that plenty of men had mistresses, and perhaps he would even give her up once we wed. I told myself I would accept any of his bastards since they were children, and no one chooses their parents.”
Elene’s grimace made it clear she thought of her own mother.
“I can’t imagine that shock,” Liam whispered.
“Oh, it gets far worse. I walked up to the group to congratulate Gunter on becoming a father again. One of his men asked if I would be next, and they all laughed. I said not until we married. It was with those words, my world shattered. A warrior woman cackled. It wasn’t a laugh. It was definitely a cackle. She said Gunter doesn’t believe in marrying more than one woman, and she was already his wife. All I could do was stare. I tried to sort through everything. Gunter was already married. His wife clearly didn’t care if he had mistresses. He didn’t mean to marry me but make me his mistress. And it sounded as though he had more than one.”
Elene sighed a shuddering breath. Liam’s soft kiss reassured her that he wasn’t judging her as she feared. His slight nod encouraged her to continue.
“I looked at Gunter and dropped my catches—I remember there were three squirrels and a rabbit—and asked him what he’d planned for me. He laughed and said that as a free woman, I would be his concubine. I thought my head would explode. I asked how many he already had and what that meant for me. He shrugged and said that he had five. One had died three months earlier, and he allowed another to marry. He had seven children among those five remaining women, at least that’s how many he knew for sure and acknowledged. He said I would live among these women and work within the village. He said he would visit me when he wanted me. Then he shrugged again. I knew before he explained that I would never go to Norway with him, but I needed to know. I needed to know just how stupid I’d been to believe a prince would marry me.”
“You weren’t stupid. You were naive and manipulated,” Liam corrected.
“I felt stupid. And in front of his people, all who realized I thought he meant to marry me, he humiliated me. They laughed at me. Disappointment, shame, and embarrassment brought out my temper. I remember so clearly how I felt and what I said.”
Elene’s lips flattened, then pursed as her brow furrowed. Liam watched the anger return as her eyes narrowed.
“I told him, ‘Since you have so many women already, it’s not worth me traveling so far to share a man with a small prick. Had you made me a princess, I might have put up with the disappointment, but I couldn’t be bothered now.’ I stunned everyone, including myself. I spun around and marched away, but I made it a few feet before he grabbed my arm and dragged me across the village to my fields. I thought he would beat me. I thought he would kill me. I remember what he said, too.”
Elene closed her eyes, taking a slow, even breath. When she opened them, she looked beyond Liam’s shoulder and into the fireplace.
“He said, ‘You will never embarrass me like that again and live. You are coming back to Norway, but I’m selling you. You’ll come as my bed slave, and I’ll fuck you until you scream in agony that you can’t take my prick anymore. Then I will sell you to the oldest, cruelest man I can find who will beat you and force you every night until he dies. Then you will be passed to his sons. If I choose to, I will find you whenever I want, and I will remind you just how big my prick is.’”
Liam’s hand that stroked Elene’s hair froze. Shock immobilized him. He’d known something passed between Elene and Gunter that was severe enough to make her believe the Norseman intended to sell her. He hadn’t imagined the threats Gunter made, but he believed every one.
“This happened a year ago, and you’re still here?”
“Androw and Janet hid me when it was time for the Norse to leave. Gunter was too furious with me to stay near me, so he’d left me in the field that day. I avoided him when I could, and he believed I couldn’t get away from him. When he couldn’t find me, it forced him to abandon his plan at the time. He had to catch the tide because his brother expected him home by a certain day. When he came back three moons later, he pursued my mother. He cares naught for her. He did it to hurt me to, to scare me into submission. He knew that if he took my mother, that meant taking Katryne and Johan. He knew I wouldn’t let them go. I knew he hadn’t changed his mind about me. He just added to my punishment.”
“And you didn’t go then?”
Elene shook her head. “He couldn’t take us. He was going to Shetland, then back to Norway, but not to his home. He couldn’t feed us and house us. He knew that. He knew it would torment me, leave me terrified of when it would happen. He’s done that thrice so far. But this time, I know he meant to take us. The only reason I considered leaving Katryne and Johan behind was because he’d said he would raise them as his own just to make me suffer. My mother either doesn’t understand or doesn’t care that he already has a wife and five women he swives. The Norse rarely trade slaves anymore, so I didn’t fear my brother and sister being sold to retaliate if I escaped. I’ve heard enough over the years to know that people oppose buying children in particular. But now—now I know he can never get near any of us. Now I fear he would kill them before my eyes.”
“With a noble wife to bear him legitimate heirs, and sons he already acknowledges, it wouldn’t matter if he took a second wife. But I thought they ended that practice ages ago when they learned that Christ is our Savior.”
“My mother will never marry him. She’ll be another concubine.” Elene shrugged a shoulder. “Who knows? Mayhap there’ll be some type of ceremony, and she’ll become his favored leman, but I doubt it. His true wife said it herself. Gunter would never have two wives.”
“If Androw and Janet helped you the first time, why were they willing to let him take you now?”
“Because Gunter found out a few months ago that they hid me. He threatened to end all trade with our village and to ban other villages from trading with us. Androw can’t afford that, and I would never accept that. We know Gunter believed someone hid me this time, but Katryne knew I left. I didn’t tell her how or where I was going before I hid in the wagon. I haven’t had a chance to ask her what she said to them.”
“Do you think she told them you ran away?”
“If she had, she would say I went toward Shetland.”
“That still wouldn’t have given you much time before Gunter started searching.”
