To give him credit, Selig wasn’t paying the girl any attention—which meant absolutely nothing as far as Erika was concerned. Ivarrwas there to greet him, and he’d moved off to speak with his friend, leaving her alone to meet the women of what was, theoretically, her hall.
The trouble was, she doubted she would have much say in this hall. There was even the possibility that she would be made to wear those damned chains again, which would leave the servants in no doubt as to how little authority she possessed. But until that happened, or her husband said otherwise, she would go on as if she had a normal marriage, with the normal responsibilities that came with it.
“Here, now, out with those muddy boots,” Golda was suddenly shouting. “Clean them or take them off, but you will not be tracking that filth acrossmyfresh rushes.”
Erika turned to see who the culprit was, and was a little shocked to find that the only one who had just entered the hall from outside was Turgeis. He was late because he had taken their horses to the stable, and it was likely in the stable that he had picked up the filth Golda objected to.
Turgeis merely gave Golda a hard look, then proceeded to do as he had been told. What Erika found amazing was that Golda had not been the least bit intimidated by him, had actuallyorderedhim; to Erika’s recollection, no one besides her had ever done so before.
Selig had also witnessed the scene and was just short of laughing over it when his eyescaught Erika’s and he kept his humor to himself, deciding she wouldn’t appreciate it about her friend’s scolding. Why he should consider her feelings on the matter he wasn’t sure, though mayhap it was because he was suffering a little guilt over what he had almost done.
He had planned to free one of the women to be his housekeeper, with authority over the others, and he had done so. He had a wife to supervise the servants now, but this wife he had had no intention of giving any authority whatsoever, or at least that had been his plan. Now he felt uncomfortable with the notion of denying her the rights that were her due. So he decided to say nothing on the matter and see if Erika would take up the reins of the household without his leave. Golda certainly assumed she would do so.
If he still wanted revenge, and he was not exactly thinking along those lines now, he could keep it on a more personal level. The fact was, the more time that passed since his marriage, the less Selig was able to retain his anger. His good humor was returning instead, in abundance, to the point where he even found Erika’s displays of temper amusing, and he was having more fun teasing her about what he might do, rather than doing it.
As he watched her mount the stairs, one of the women escorting her, he was glad he had not set the stairs behind a wall, where they wouldn’t be visible from the hall. Her liftedskirt revealed slender ankles and once, twice, a portion of the shapely legs he had come so close to having wrapped around his hips. She was a woman of volatile passions, with fires easily kindled by a man’s touch. How many men besides him had found that out? The thought was absolutely infuriating.
“Is it revenge you married her for, or do you just want her?”
Selig turned at Ivarr’s teasing question, prompted because Selig had been unable to take his eyes off her. He was embarrassed to be caught ogling his own wife, and the more so because he had no answer to give his friend. He simply didn’t know anymore.
“You do not care for your husband?”
Erika stiffened at the question, which drew her from her perusal of the large bed. She would learn that, like many of the other furnishings, it had recently come from Hedeby. But the bed, suitable for a lord, was not the only thing that told her she had been shown to Selig’s chamber. His coffer was also there, the one that had been carted ahead by one of the Wyndhurst servants, the one that contained his clothes and hers combined—and those damned chains.
Golda had asked Magge to show her to her room. Lida had interrupted to say she would do it. Neither of the other two women had objected. Erika had thought nothing of it either, though she should have. A woman like Lidanever did anything without an ulterior motive, and Lida’s motive could be guessed at. Erika wasn’t inclined to oblige her.
“Your question is impertinent,” was all she said, intending to say no more.
“’Tis obvious you do not,” Lida continued, undaunted, her tone almost purring. “Anyone can see that. And we know he was forced to marry you.”
“Hewas forced! If anyone was—”
Erika cut herself off, furious now that she had taken the bait, despite her resolve not to. She was not going to discuss her husband with this woman. But another reason for Lida’s boldness suddenly came to her.
“My brother, Ragnar, was here yesterday. Did you make his acquaintance?”
“Nay. I am saving myself for Selig.”
Erika’s face reddened. So much for her second assumption. The first had been accurate, and there wasn’t much she could do about it when her own position was so in doubt.
Still, she was the mistress here, for the moment. “That isMasterSelig to you.”
Lida laughed and couldn’t resist bragging a little. “You will find, lady, that I can call him anything and he will not mind. You will also find that he will be spending his nights with me.”
To say something like that to the lord’s wife guaranteed some sort of punishment—unless it was true. “Get out of my sight.”
Lida just smiled and sauntered to the door. There she stopped to glance back, not at Erika,but at the room. Her look was positively possessive.
“Enjoy this chamber for the while, but know that I can have it for myself whenever I like. Whatever I ask for will be given me by your husband. Do not doubt it.”
Erika didn’t doubt it. And now she knew how Selig planned to further humiliate her.
Chapter 38
SELIG WAS TRYINGto honor their bargain, he really was, but it was becoming more and more difficult with each passing day. He had given up his room to Erika, knowing he could no longer sleep with her near and not touch her. But he was getting tired of finding other places to sleep.
And that damned wench Lida was becoming a nuisance with her stalking him and caressing him at every given opportunity, when all he had done was smile at her once in the way he smiled at any woman. He had actually had to tell her he was not interested. And it was true, though it didn’t end her pursuit, since she chose not to believe it. But her sensual brazenness reminded him too much of himself.
