Eirik returned my hand to his chest, holding it there with his own. He breathed slowly, his brow furrowed, gathering his thoughts.
“For many years, I had no knowledge. Only later did I discover what no one wished to tell me. My grandfather, jarl in his time, married Ingrid of Skálavík and two children were born: first Hallgerd, then my mother, Agnetha. When Agnetha reached the age of betrothal, they promised her to Beornwold, Ingrid’s nephew—Jarl of Skálavík.”
I bit my lip, for I knew that such a contract had never been fulfilled.
“Hallgerd became jarl on his father’s death and spurned the contract, giving Agnetha to his closest friend, Wyborn.”
“A love match?”
Eirik nodded. “Half of the dowry that would have come with Agnetha was sent to Beornwold in recompense, and it seemed the matter was settled. My mother soon bore Gunnolf, followed by Helka, and myself. More than six years passed.”
I frowned, knowing that blood feuds began over far lesser offences. “But Beornwold had not forgotten.”
“No, Beornwold neither forgot nor forgave. After my grandmother’s death, he came to take Agnetha by force, saying that what he’d been promised should not be withheld.
“And Hallgerd beat the Skálavík raiders into retreat.”
“Aye,” said Eirik, “but not before my father fell, and my mother was taken by Beornwold.” He squeezed my hand. “Svolvaen emptied its stores and coffers for her release, and a pact was signed. The boat maker and his two oldest sons went to Skálavík to build three dragonships. In return, there was to be no further conflict.”
I swallowed, wondering if I was brave enough to ask more. “And did she speak of what passed during her captivity?”
Eirik made no reply, merely looking out over the fjord. At last, he said, “When Svolvaen sent a ransom for her release, Beornwold sent her back, but she wasn’t the same. I woke up one morning and she was gone again. Everyone was searching. It was the next day that a fishing boat found her floating, out there.”
“Oh, Eirik!”
I regretted having asked at all.
His mother had taken her life, grieving for the husband lost to her, and for the lost part of herself taken by Beornwold. The saddest part was that Eirik, Helka, and Gunnolf had lost them both.
Eirik gathered up my under tunic, passing it over my head, then held out my green gown, helping me into it before pulling on his own clothes. “My brother grew up thinking Hallgerd weak for having signed the truce. He always spoke of revenge for our parents’ deaths but knew we lacked Skálavík’s strength. An attack would have brought the end of everything.”
“And what do you wish, Eirik?”
“I, too, have hungered for justice, but I won’t ask others to lay down their lives to appease my sorrow. We all live with wounds from our past. It’s wisest to find a way to see beyond them.” Moving to the other end of the boat, he fitted the oars once more.
“We’ll complete the fortifications begun by Gunnolf once the summer’s crop is harvested, but I intend no feud with Skálavík. Beornwold is dead these four seasons past, and the bad blood has ended.”
We said no more as Eirik turned the vessel about. The sky had grown dusky—a soft twilight before the brief hours of darkness.
My heart should have been filled with joy but a secret lodged there, held close these weeks past. I hadn’t been sure at first, but my conviction had been growing, and I needed to tell Eirik. He would soon notice himself, and I must speak afore that time came.
For so long I’d desired a child, and Freya had answered me, but my past clung upon my shoulder like the darkest shadow.
Gunnolf had died on the night Eirik had returned to Svolvaen, yet I remained in his power, for I feared the babe I carried had not been sired by the man I loved.
Just another few weeks, and I will tell him.
But tell him what?
That his own brother, having made me his bed thrall, had planted his seed where Eirik had failed? That his heir might be born of that lust, rather than the love between us?
Eirik had sworn forgiveness of all that had passed in those precarious days—but would he forgive this? Surely better for me to pretend certainty and claim the conceiving to have occurred only after Eirik’s return. It might even be true.
I’d wanted a marriage built upon trust and honesty.Instead, it would begin with a lie.
4
Elswyth
