“I will not pass judgment?—”
I, however, do not have time to finish because Ulf wraps his arm around my waist and draws me into his chest. The heat of his body and the cadence of his heart have me biting my lip to stifle my moan.
“Princess, you talk too much. Save your manners because they are wasted on heathens like us. I don’t need an excuse to spill Christian blood.”
“It is not only Christian blood we spill,” I remind Ulf as I attempt to quash my desires. Being pressed this closely to him is driving me to the point of insanity.
“I do not discriminate,” he replies with an arrogant grin. “I hate everyone.”
He soon turns serious, and with a hesitant touch, he runs his thumb along the apple of my cheek. “Besides, I will always fight alongside you.”
“Even if it is to find Skarth?” I ask because their friendship has always bordered on love/hate.
“I will do anything for you, ástin mín,” he professes, eyes locked on mine. How that moniker affects me so. “But I must ask, what if Bodil was right—what if Skarth does not want to be found?”
He asks this not to be cruel. On the contrary, he asks this because he is trying to protect me from a very probable fate. But Skarth has been on a sabbatical long enough. Now, I need the warrior that he is. But more importantly, I need him to be a father.
Is Ulf hiding something from me? What does he know of Skarth that he does not want me to know?
I swallow past the lump in my throat. “He does not have a choice in the matter.”
Six
Skarth the Godless
“Yer gonna fetch a small fortune at market.” A Wessex soldier laughs as he yanks at the rope around my neck.
I’m being dragged behind his horse to his camp, where fifteen of my people are being held captive. That is the only reason I “allowed” this bacraut to capture me.
No matter how many people I free, ten more will take their place. The Saxons will not surrender. This is the only way they can rule over us in a war against us since they cannot win. We have proven this time and time again.
But they can capture and sell us as slaves to appease their filthy appetites.
This is a new horror I cannot tolerate. I cannot sit in silence as my people are exploited this way. The sacrifices made were not for nothing. I did not give up my family for this. This is not the world I wish for my sons to grow up in.
So I fight.
I fight for my people’s freedom.
I fight for my sons’ freedom.
And in the interim, I sacrifice my happiness. I sacrifice a life with my hugrekki because this is not the England she bled for, and I’ll be damned if her efforts were in vain.
I cannot be with her.
Our story never did end that way, but by doing this, I can help protect her beloved England, the country we have both sacrificed so much for.
The two soldiers who captured me are rogues. They fight under another leader, one I have yet to uncover. No matter who I torture, they are loyal to their new “king.” This troubles me because it means Emeline may be in danger.
Once I free my people, I will ride to Northumbria. I do not expect her to welcome me with open arms. I expect her to want to cut off my head for keeping away for so long. But the fleeting moments with her hurt more than staying away.
She is everything I want but cannot have because she was always destined to rule and rule without a man by her side. A Northman ruling alongside her cannot be. Therefore, Emeline and I cannot be. But being without her, I’ve lost my heart because it’s hers—it always has been.
So I return to Northumbria to share news of my findings with Emeline, but I also return to stay…if she will have me, that is. I do not expect her to be without any suitors. But I will have no issues cutting off their arms and beating them to death with them because it’s time I reclaim what is and what has always been mine.
But I know it will not be easy.
Emeline will no doubt punish me for my absence in the most delicious of ways. The thought stirs an insatiable hunger in my belly because I have not loved another woman since Emeline.
