She kept her eyes squeezed shut, waiting for the inevitable strike.
“No!” she heard Ragnar yell.
Her eyes flew open, and a gasp resounded from her attacker. The point of the spear thrust and Elena cried out, feeling harsh pain at her throat.
Seconds later, the man fell to the ground. Blood poured from his back and she turned to see Matheus holding his father’s own blade. Tears flowed down the boy’s face, and his hands were shaking as he dropped the knife.
By the gods, not this. Matheus had killed his own father to save her.
“It’s all right,” Elena murmured to him. “You can put the knife down. I’m all right.”
The boy obeyed, sobbing as he threw himself into her arms. It was the first show of affection he’d ever given, and she wept against him. She’d never known that he would defend her orrecognize that she’d wanted to help him. She kept speaking words of comfort, soothing him as she held Matheus close.
He understood that she wanted to keep him safe, that she wanted to be a mother to him. Though she’d only had him a short time, he’d known she would not harm him. Her heart broke for the suffering he must have endured at the hands of his parents.
But it was over now.
Ragnar stood by the door, his sword still in hand. She raised her wet eyes to his, but there was tension in his expression. He walked toward them, and Elena stood straighter, still holding Matheus against her.
“Are you all right?” he asked, tilting her chin back to see the cut.
Elena nodded. “It’s not deep,” she reassured him.
Ragnar found a cloth and wiped the blood away.
“He could have killed you.” His voice was heavy, while his touch remained gentle.
Elena went motionless, caught up in the way he stared at her. She breathed in the scent of him and the urge came over her to bring his mouth down to hers.,“No, he couldn’t have. You were there to defend me,” she said.
But when she tried to embrace Ragnar, he held back, keeping a stoic distance. Something was troubling him, but he wouldn’t say what it was. Did he blame himself for the attack? Neither of them could have known that Matheus’s father had slipped inside while they were gone. She didn’t fault Ragnar at all.
But seeing a dead body on her floor didn’t make the idea of staying here appealing. Not only did this house hold the memories of her failed pregnancy and ended marriage…now there was death as well. She wanted to start over, someplace where she could make a new beginning.
“I don’t want to stay in Dubh Linn anymore,” she confessed to Ragnar, opening the door to go outside. With Matheus’s hand in hers, she led them away from the man’s body. “I want to leave this place.” She hardly cared where, as long as there were no memories of the past and Ragnar accompanied her. “Can you still get a boat?” She held Matheus at her side and the boy buried his face against her gown.
“In the morning, we’ll find a ship,” Ragnar promised.
“Thank you,” she breathed. “And…for tonight, I want to stay somewhere else. Matheus shouldn’t sleep here—not after what happened.”
“You can stay with our kinsmen,” Ragnar agreed. “I’ll find a place for both of you.”
Ragnar brought her back to his house, opening the door for both of them. Every nerve was on edge, his mind blurred with the fear of losing her. Seeing the spear at her throat had sent him over the edge. He’d been ready to cut down her attacker, an unholy rage filling him.
But the boy had struck first.
Ragnar hadn’t seen the child cowering behind his father, and when Ragnar had swung his sword, the sudden movement had come so fast he’d barely managed to stop the blow. His sword had sliced through the man’s ribs and had nearly taken the boy’s head off when Matheus struck with the blade.
His only consolation was that Elena didn’t know. She’d had her eyes closed and had no idea how close the boy had been to dying. No words could have consoled her if the worst had happened.
Ragnar said nothing to her, but inwardly he was shaken by what he’d nearly done. He’d been uncontrollable, and he didn’t trust himself right now.
Several of his friends were playing games and drinking, while others nodded to Elena in greeting. Ragnar brought her to a pallet on the floor against one wall and she set Matheus down, tucking him in while she sat beside him. The boy was trembling, and she ran her hand over his hair to soothe him.
Her gentle motion calmed the boy,and Ragnar realized that the child was coming to accept her. Though he would never be like other boys, Elena would be a good mother to him. She would love him for who he was, no matter that he was different.
Ragnar retreated from them and asked a kinsman to help him dispose of the body. He didn’t want her home marred by it.
After it was done, Ragnar returned. He would have to face the jarl and pay a body price, but for now, he would stay with Elena and the boy.
