Arne jerked his head to stare at him, shocked his brother had stated it so baldly.
“No one need ever know,” he said quietly enough the others would not be able to hear.
Ulf walked up close beside him and whispered in his ear, “Then you must stop looking at her the way you do. We have already saved you once from death at the hands of a woman… how could you have put yourself in this situation?”
“What is this, Ulf? Are you suddenly an expert in how men and women look at each other? Is this because of your feelings for a certain woman? Does she return your feelings, or push you away at every opportunity?”
“I do not have feelings for her,” Ulf said through clenched teeth.
“And yet you know exactly who I mean.”
“You fostering her son does not help the situation.”
“Then you foster him and provide him with a house.”
Ulf stared at him, his brow furrowing in confusion. “Becoming a foster father to two children is not something I want.”
“It would only be Elisedd. Only Rhiannon’s son.”
Ulf shook his head. “This is not our current problem. All we need to do now is return them to Tormod and abide by his decision.”
Arne nodded and pushed the thought from his head of what he would do if he disagreed with Tormod’s decision.
Chapter Eighteen
In the end, thelast few hours at the shieling helped her to feel that whatever had taken place there was truly over. She packed the linens and blankets to take with them to be cleaned. After she had washed everything else they had used and made sure the fire was out, Caelin swept the floor for her before he went outside with the cubs.
She took one last look around, then closed her eyes and remembered the way Arne had touched her, looked at her, made love to her. She sighed and lifted her pack before setting it down, opening it, and quickly changing into the clothes she had been wearing when she had escaped from Alt Clut. It felt strange to have her hair covered again — she had grown used to the Norse headscarf. But if they were seen now, it would look more like the Norsemen had found them and were escorting them back to her brother. She blinked rapidly, refusing to let any tears fall. Then she picked up her belongings and left the shieling, closing the door behind her.
All the men watched her as she stepped outside, her changed clothing making it clear she was leaving them and returning to her own people. Ulf nodded, his face set in a grim line. Caelin was already seated in front of him on his horse, holding the cubs’ basket carefully in his arms. She was reassured to see Ulf held the reins with one hand, and Caelin with the other. Arne was standingbeside a horse, waiting. He walked the horse over to her, the reins firmly in one gloved hand, then nodded and held out his other hand towards her.
“Let me help you, Princess Maithgemm.” His voice lacked emotion, and it broke her heart, but she nodded stiffly in return.
“Thank you.” She forced herself not to react to his touch. Others were watching, but it saddened her he didn’t seem to regret the change in their relationship. He lifted her onto the horse, then mounted behind her, his hands on the reins, keeping her in place in front of him. Ulf called out, and they set off towards Kirkjaster.
It was strange to have him behind her, so close. She felt the tension in him. He was so different from the lover he had been the night before.
When they reached the edge of the moor, she turned and took one last look at the shieling. Arne didn’t. As they headed into the woods, she kept her eyes straight ahead. She needed to be strong for Caelin. She needed to take him home before he forgot where home was, forgot who he was. And it was up to her to make it happen. Their time at Kirkjaster was unsustainable now. Her presence endangered them all and hiding risked Caelin’s safety as much as facing her brother did. She needed to make the best decision for her son. Decisions befitting the king’s nephew.
But how could she do that and guarantee Caelin’s safety? She didn’t trust Rhun. She certainly didn’t trust Queen Eithne nor Prince Eochaid. All of them had reason to want to control or even kill Caelin. The person with the most invested in keeping Caelin alive was Lord Marcant — and he was definitely not to be trusted.
As they rode, she played through each scenario in her head several times. Staying in the settlement was not possible. She must go to her brother, demand that she and Caelin be allowed to remain in Ir Ysgyn. She wasn’t sure what she could do to force her brother to guarantee her son’s safety, but she would think of something.
Only one thing was certain. Her time with Arne was over.
Even though she knew the distance between them was growing with every step away from the shieling, she was still grateful for Arne’s presence behind her. If he hadn’t been there, she would have been tempted to simply take her son and ride north. Away from all of this. But now even that was not an option. Those hunters had been returning north. She didn’t know if they had been seen together yesterday, and if they had, who it was who had seen them. She hoped and prayed that whoever it had been, news would never reach her brother.
The horses moved through the woods, retracing their steps of only a few days ago. They would reach the settlement far faster this way than it had taken her to reach the shieling on foot. The ground was treacherous with melting snow, but her progress with a young child had still been slower. She sighed. So much had changed in such a short time, and this journey signified so much more than she wanted to admit.
She also knew that in one way Arne’s worst fear had come to pass. His relationship with her did put his life in danger. Ulf was correct when he said Rhun would want Arne dead. Although she had no idea whether he would simply banish her or force her to marry or send her away to a convent. She shuddered. Aoife had been sent away to a place like that and been miserable. Punished every day for something that was not her fault. Gemma did not have any excuse. She had chosen to lie with Arne. And she didn’t regret a moment of it. No matter what.
Ahead of her, Caelin was chattering to Ulf about the cubs, and she was ready to interrupt if Caelin began to say any more than that they had found them in the woods. Her cheeks heated when she heard Caelin say he had slept next to the fire with the cubs and was grateful Ulf broke in and changed the topic before the subject of where she and Arne had slept came up.
As they approached Kirkjaster, they heard a baby cry. Gemma immediately felt guilty—she had not asked about Aoife.
She called to Ulf. “Did Aoife have a boy or a girl? Were they safely delivered?”
The four Norsemen who had come to find them looked at one another and grinned.
