But two years of her own grief and anguish served her well in that moment of weakness. Ran righted herself and walked to where she’d tied the horse. Loosening the reins and gathering them in her hand, she prepared to mount.
And instead sank to her knees as the loss of her dear friend became real to her.
Einar had been kind to her so many times and in so many ways. She’d always known him in the way that kith and kin do—her brother had been Soren’s closest friend and their families spent much time together. He was well respected amongst those living here on Orkney and even her father sought his counsel on matters of business and farming.
When she and Soren had fallen apart, Einar kept in contact with her. Before she left and even while she lived elsewhere these last two years, he informed her about life on Orkney without her having to seek out the information. He told her of the important changes in Kirkwall and amongst her friends. And other than one line—a great wrong has been done to you—he never mentioned Soren or referred to the humiliating occurrence between them.
And now he was gone. Tears poured down her cheeks as she sobbed at the thought of never seeing the old man again. Of never hearing his wisdom or humor. Of losing another piece of her life. She released the reins and cried out her sorrow.
Hands clutched her shoulders. Strong hands guided her to her feet and then arms enclosed her and held her close. She knew the feel of them and the scent of the man who held her to his chest and whispered soft words. For a moment she allowed the embrace. Then, a shock stunned her. Stunned him from the expression in his eyes.
The glow around him grew brighter and from the way he stared at her, he saw something as well. The way her blood heated was familiar to her—he’d always affected her that way. Their passion had never been soft and gentle. Their joinings had always been hot and deep and shattering.
But this heat was different somehow.
Those watery voices returned and grew louder and louder as the very sea shouted her name from its depths. She turned and watched the waves grow violent as they seemed to throw themselves into the sky and dissolve only to rise again. Above them, the clouds swirled, dark and light, in small circles then larger ones, ebbing and flowing like the waves in turbulent eddies.
Her arm began to burn and it brought her to her senses. Ran pulled herself free of his embrace and the sea returned to its usual color and the sky cleared.
“I did not mean to . . .” Soren reached out to touch her again and then dropped his hands at his sides. “Your pardon, Ran. I should not have touched you.”
Ran shook her head and nodded and shrugged, completely overwhelmed now by the emotions seething within her. And from seeing him. And touching him. And smelling his scent. Had he not witnessed or heard what she had? Did he not see the changes in the world that she did? Earlier, he’d touched his arm as she did. And now?
If he did see or feel anything as she did, he spoke not of it nor acknowledged it at all. Backing away, she grabbed for the reins of her horse and managed to pull herself up onto its back. Soren watched her without saying a word, until she was ready to move around him. Why she’d ever thought she could manage seeing him, she knew not.
“I have no right to ask and you have no reason to agree, but it would mean much to me to see the letters he wrote to you, Ran. These last months . . . he has, he had been confused. I but wish to understand what he was going through. Think on it, I pray you.”
Ran felt the truth and the pain in his words and nodded. “I will do that,” she agreed. He stepped out of her path and she touched her heels to the horse’s sides, urging it to go.
She pushed all thoughts and questions out of her mind and rode as fast as she could back to Kirkwall. Allowing him to see the letters meant contacting and seeing him again. She’d lost control this time and she’d blame it on being surprised by his presence and the news about Einar. There was simply no explanation for the rest of what she’d seen though.
Seeing him in Kirkwall across the marketplace had shaken her; this encounter scared her for it demonstrated that not only would she always be in his thrall but that other strange things were happening to and around her. Things she could neither explain nor understand.
If only Einar yet lived . . .
Ran decided to worry on that later. For now, she must carry out the responsibilities and prove to her father that she was worthy of his faith in her. Soren Thorson and whatever was happening here on Orkney was a complication she did not need.
Five
Soren watched her ride away.His hands clenched and his body ached with the need to take her and hold her and have her. She was his. When she had been his, his life had been right. His life had been full. Just now, for the moment when they’d touched, he had become something else, filled with some heart-pounding power caused by her closeness. He even heard the clouds above calling his name and coming to him.
And Ran became something more. As the sea-colored glow shimmered around her, she stared at the waves and they threw themselves into the air in sheets of water against the turbulent sky. Her gaze on them, they seemed to dance and come to her.
She’d stepped back out of his embrace and everything ceased, as though the colors and the sounds and the visions had never happened. Was she somehow connected to the strange abilities his grandfather claimed Soren had? Thinking on it further, Soren wondered if that was why his grandfather kept in touch with her over these last two years.
Damning himself a fool, he cursed aloud—several times—as he paced around the perimeter of the stone building. He’d finally reclaimed his life after the debacle that was Ran Sveinsdottir. The terrible results and repercussions of the devil’s bargain he’d made could not have been foreseen or planned. Yet, he had lived through it all and regained control over his life only to see his life shattered once more.
Was it a coincidence that both times it somehow involved Ran? And his grandfather as well. Soren kicked the dirt in front of him and gazed down the road, watching the dust rise as her horse rode away.
It mattered little that Einar was dead now, not in the whole order of things. The agreement struck with Svein Ragnarson remained in place and too many would be harmed if he revealed it to her or anyone else. Many would pay for his weakness.
And Ran was indeed that.
Caught unaware when she entered the tower, he could not be blamed for his shock and his reaction. When she called out Einar’s name, no one could have been more surprised than him. The revelation that she’d kept in touch with Grandfather alone was astonishing but that there were letters was completely unexpected.
When Ran finally rode over the rise of the next hill and out of sight, Soren walked back inside the broch and looked around. If Einar had mentioned this place enough that Ran sought him here, it was significant, more so than he first thought. Climbing the steps to the top, he gazed out and watched her cross the distance toward the city. Every part of him wanted to chase her down and say everything he’d never had the chance to do. To make her understand the truth of it all. That she was his and always would be.
But that could never be.
