He heard her cry of distress, but he did nothing, merely asked, “Why do you care? I would pay even more for Taby. He is worth a great deal to me.”
She said nothing, indeed words, for the moment, were beyond her. She saw her dreams sinking swiftly into the raging current of the North Sea.
Merrik chuckled. “Taby told me again this afternoon that he was a prince. He stuck his chin in the air and all but strutted when he said it.”
Utter silence. That was odd, he thought. Surely she should at least laugh or say something about Taby’s imagination.
“He told me he would allow me to continue taking care of him. Then he ruined his princely image by jumping at me and winding his arms around my neck. I nearly dropped him, for I was sharpening a scythe we will be using soon in the barley field.”
He heard her breathing, sharp and shallow. He said easily, “The meal you prepared was beyond anything our people have ever eaten. I imagine that Thoragasson, when he discovers who added girth to his belly this evening, will want to buy you. Just imagine, Laren, he would gain both a cook and a skald.” He paused a moment, then added, “Your value rises with each passing day.”
“And I am your concubine.”
“Aye, that too. I doubt there is much envy there, for you are still too skinny.”
“You allowed all the Thoragassons to see you take me into this sleeping chamber with you. If you are betrothed to Letta, why would you wish to hurt her by doing it?”
“I believe a woman should know that a man will always do as he wishes. If I wed with her, she won’t be surprised when I take other women to my bed.”
“You are like Erik, then.”
“Oh no,” he said, then wished he’d kept his mouth shut. “What is wrong with my brother? Other than his wanting to bed you?”
“He strikes Sarla.”
“Nay,” Merrik said slowly, turning now toward her, for she had his full attention. “Erik is used to having what he wants, but to strike Sarla is absurd. He is a brave man and he is my brother. You are making that up because you dislike him so very much, because you fear him.”
“Look at her face.”
“You are wrong.”
“She said that he hits her whenever she displeases him. He hit her three nights ago when you kept me from him. It was his disappointment, she thought.”
Merrik struggled with her words, with the image her words provoked in his mind. Erik strike gentle Sarla?
Laren sighed. “If she proves barren, I doubt not he will kill her, that or simply send her back to her family. How long does a man give a woman to bear him children? Three years? Perhaps four?”
“No, he would not do that. Cease your tales, Laren, for I will give you no silver pieces for your stories. If you wish to, though, you could tell me who you are and where you come from.”
“Perhaps once I am free of you, Cleve and Taby with me, I will send a messenger back to you, for then I would have nothing more to fear from you.”
That nearly sent him over the edge. “Your damned arrogance and pride! You gall me, woman. You fear me? For what reason? Have I ever hurt you? Damn you, I did not take you when you offered yourself to me, and you were more than willing, were you not? No, I didn’t take you because—”
He seemed to realize that what he intended to say wouldn’t result in the conclusion he sought. He shut his mouth.
She said flatly, “You didn’t take me because you find me ugly.”
“That is not true.”
“The other reason you didn’t take me is because of Taby. You love a child who isn’t even of your blood. He could be the son of a savage from the stinking bogs of Ireland, stolen by Viking marauders just like you and your kind. I will accept that you care for him even though I will never understand the depths of your feelings for him. What did you do, Merrik, promise him you would protect me as well as him? Did you swear to him you wouldn’t ravish me?”
“You should select another word.Ravishdoesn’t apply to us.”
She sucked in her breath, fleeting memories of those incredible feelings whirling about the edges of her mind. “Even if I threw myself upon you naked, you would do nothing. You would cast me aside.”
Merrik frowned into the darkness. He said slowly, carefully selecting his words, “You sound as if you want me to take you, make you my concubine.”
Ah, she thought, here was the rub, here was the truth, unmasked, but she wouldn’t admit it to him. She merely laughed, saying, “Perhaps I would want you to take me just one time so that I would know what it is all about. Then it would be enough. Then I could forget about it. But know this, Merrik, I would never want you for anything more than just a brief diversion, an amusement for just a single night that might please me as much as a good story.”
