‘Maer hid things from me. My arrogance knew no bounds back then,’ he murmured. ‘Sigmund said she was far wiser than I realised. He was right.’
Svanna said nothing in return. He put another cloak over her. She sighed and settled against him.
In the faint grey light of the early dawn she seemed an odd combination of inner strength and fragile beauty. He’d been wrong before. She was not some Ice Maiden but a woman who guarded secrets well and controlled her emotions.
Looking at her generous mouth, sensations he’d long considered dead stirred within him. Some instinct had made him turn back and witness her difficulty. In that heartbeat he’d known that he wanted to live for himself instead of merely existing for his child, a feeling he’d not had since his wife had died. He briefly wondered what his daughter Birdie would think of Svanna, but then dismissed it. The pair were unlikely ever to meet as Birdie lived with her nurse in his ringfort, the most secure place in the kingdom to his mind, and he’d promised her mother that he’d keep her safe.
Giving in to impulse, he smoothed a tendril of hair from her forehead. ‘Who else knows, I wonder? I never heard a rumour, so I suspect it remains a closely guarded secret. But, knowing how Agthir works, I suspect there is some logic to it.’
She mumbled something indistinct.
‘Have Turgeis and his brothers guessed?’ he asked, fingering his suddenly throbbing scar. ‘Doubtful. Are they going to try and attack the soft underbelly of Agthir through you and your foster-mother? It gives me something to work with if they are.’
She murmured a few vague words about a garden which he did not understand.
He thought back to the mission the King had given him about ensuring the two kingdoms were united through kinship, a plan his cousin’s elopement with the intended bride had scuppered. But now three kingdoms were involved. Perhaps there was a way through the problem after all—an alliance between the three—but how?
He was grateful that most of the kinder and better part of him had been buried with his wife, with that tiny particle remaining for Birdie. It made it much easier to decide what he needed to do next. Somehow, he had to find a way to use Svanna to ensure Sigmund entered into an alliance acceptable to his high king. He would use any means necessary to ensure his daughter continued to be protected.
‘Next time I will succeed. It may be a long time coming but there will be retribution for what Drengr and his sons did before I die,’ he vowed, settling his arm about her thin shoulders and gently pulling her head more firmly against his chest.
She raised her hand in her sleep and snuggled closer, instinctively trusting him.
‘I made this vow back in Agthir and I mean to see it through. Many times, that vow has been the only thing keeping me alive.’
Chapter Four
When Svanna struggled to consciousness Rand’s arm was about her shoulders, her head pressed against his chest and her right hand splayed perilously close to his groin. The steady thump of his heart thrummed in her ears. The intimacy startled her as it closely followed her confused dreams.
It worried her that she had sought out his warmth in that way. She had never been one for such things, not after what happened in the garden that time with Turgeis. Every time she encountered a flirtatious man she froze, remembering how Turgeis had remarked on what he intended to do to any rival. She guessed that her nurse would call it ‘boastful young warrior talk’ and tell her to avoid him if she complained. But she’d always known that there was more to it than mere boasting.
She immediately drew back her hand and sat up. His arm fell away. She concentrated on straightening her gown and hoping he didn’t think she had somehow taken liberties.
‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…’ She swallowed hard and tried again. ‘I only planned to rest my eyes for an instant. Now the sun has risen on another day. The servants are beginning to stir.’
She silently prayed to the Norns that no one had noticed her intimate entwining with Rand. Maer had given her a lecture about how strict the priest was before she’d departed from Agthir. She’d not had the heart to explain that after what she’d endured, she doubted anything like that would happen. That attack had taken so much from her, including the ability to trust any man. Although she loved children, she doubted that she’d have any because to do so would involve an intimacy which made her deeply uncomfortable.
She risked a glance upwards into his face.
In the cold light of an Islay dawn, his lips turned up. ‘Easier than having you fall backwards. And an honour, truly, after your heroics of yesterday.’
‘Heroics? Hardly that. My love for my foster-mother compelled me to go in.’
‘Your queen is lucky to have one such as you. I’ve served in the high king’s bodyguard. Very few would have gone into a burning building to search for him.’ He dipped his head. ‘Your devotion to duty is beyond compare.’
His words flowed over her like honey fresh from the comb. Too often, Astrid and Sigmund seemed to take her devotion as a given, rarely offering her any praise or indeed thanking her for the risks she undertook. Lately, she had started to wonder if Astrid saw her as a tool to be used, rather than as a person she cared for, and she hated feeling that way because, deep down, she wanted to believe Astrid did care for her.
She wet her parched lips and tried to dispel the images from her dream of a warrior enveloping her in his arms to kiss her thoroughly. She needed to think clearly, not dwell on something which wouldn’t happen, and the last thing she wanted to bring up was the kiss he’d bestowed. ‘A compliment, I think.’
An unexpected twinkle showed in his eye. ‘Definitely.’
With nerveless thumbs, she undid the cloak and handed it to him. ‘I thank you for the loan of this. I hope it doesn’t stink too much of smoke.’
‘No news,’ he said, putting the cloak on his knees. ‘I’d have woken you if there was.’
‘Then my foster-mother lives another day. Good.’ She rubbed a hand against her temple. She started to rise and wished she hadn’t when the world gently spun. She blinked and it righted itself again. ‘I should change, or she will worry.’
‘I’ll wait until you return and take any message.’
