“Somewhat,” Magnus said. “I mean I am not certain I’m ready to settle with anyone no matter how intriguing.”
“And I vowed I would not force you so I retract my demands from earlier. I see how you are concerned. If it is Yrsa you wish, you have my blessing.”
“Has Loki scrambled your mind? What makes you think I am interested in Yrsa?”
“Oh I don’t know, perhaps it was the scene from earlier when it looked like you broke her heart.”
“Gunnar. I am about to tell you something and I do not ever want to have to repeat myself. Yrsa has been pursuing me for a long time. I have never given her cause or encouragement. She is my best friend’s sister and nothing more. Somewhere along the way she envisioned herself and me attached and no matter how many ways I tell her I am not interested, she ignores me and continues to imagine we are destined.”
“So what was that all about earlier?”
“That was a jealous woman seeing me having an interesting conversation with another woman and finding ways to meddle.”
“I know you Magnus. You have been casual with women before, but I have never known you to be callous with them.”
“I have never mistreated anyone, Gunnar. You don’t need to question this. If you want validation, speak to Bjorn. He will verify everything I have said.”
“So what of Lady Elspeth? She was disappointed with what she saw.”
“How do you know that?” Magnus asked.
“Because I saw it in her eyes. She is an expressive woman who sees much. Not unlike someone else with similar gifts.”
“You think she has a gift like Freydis?”
“I am certain of it. I did not think Odin shared his raven’s sight with those who did not follow our ways, but I am certain if she were here she would recognize it immediately. I am concerned about the younger MacAlpin. I fear if he suspects his sister does have power he overlooked, she would again be in danger from him. I do not believe he had her best interests or protection at heart.”
“Will Freydis return before the snow?”
Gunnar frowned. “I do not believe so.”
“Then I must bring them together.”
“What do you mean? You cannot think to leave now and have time to return.”
“I am proposing a one-way trip to return in the spring.”
“You may do as you wish, but you will not be happy in a castle all winter.”
Gunnar had a point. But connecting Elspeth and Freydis seemed like the right and necessary thing to do.
“I do not know any other way around it. I will have to return with my sister and the MacAlpin. Perhaps the winter storms will hold off until Yule to allow time for the return trip. If this is Odin’s work, he will put me where I am supposed to be.”
“I will send extra furs as gifts to our sister. No doubt she will be frustrated over the winter being unable to hunt while she carries the babe.”
The thought of his warrior sister fat with child and still wielding a sword brought a smile to Magnus’s lips. He would enjoy spending time with her, but mostly, he was compelled to protect Elspeth from possible danger. Or perhaps he was overreacting. But Gunnar seemed to have the same sense. Perhaps Odin was already working through both of them to protect this woman who didn’t believe in Odin and Thor and Freya and Loki. Only Freydis and her runes would be able to make sense of this now.
“Do you think Kenneth MacAlpin was just being opportunistic or do you think there’s more at stake here?”
“I have feared for Freydis for a long time, long before Giric MacDomnail sailed to our shores looking to make peace. I’d heard rumblings of lords and kings who would capture seers and force them to perform their gifts for their own gain. As Freydis would be the first to point out, it doesn’t work that way. I was concerned about her going to the mainland, but also knew she would be safe as long as she was with Saga. I will say the same to you now. Keep Lady Elspeth and Freydis safe at all costs. Perhaps I am becoming a paranoid old man, but I cannot dispel this feeling that both women are in danger.”
Magnus nodded and stood to stretch his legs. He was never one who could sit for long. He needed some fresh air from the joviality around him. While he was happy for his sister, his mind was too troubled to enjoy the drink this night.
He left the hall and walked to the wharf. The moon shone a bright streak of light across the bay. The sky was clear and there wasn’t a breath of wind. The din of the hall fell away as he focused on the soft lapping waves of the beach. He sat there for a long time staring out at the water wondering how to approach Lady Elspeth without sounding completely mad.
* * *
Elspeth woke with a start. She sat up in bed and glanced around the chamber frantically searching for the sound of scratching that had awoken her. For a moment or two she didn’t recognize her surroundings. She turned toward the hearth with its dying embers casting a red hue across the earthen floor. Not stone. She blinked and looked down to see the furs covering her body and then she remembered. She was on Islay with her brother and soon to be sister in a Viking longhouse owned by the chieftain of the clan.
