Viking Passion (39 page)

“I would miss him,” Maura agreed, “but I’m
not sure I want to go outside the city walls.”

“Very wise of you.” Eirena shot a triumphant
look at Lenora. “We will remain here at home.”

“But this is a splendid idea of Erik’s.”
Basil was enthusiastic. “We will go tomorrow. You will enjoy my
villa, Maura. I’ll make it warm enough for you. We will have
charcoal braziers lit in every room. We can take long walks in the
gardens. Your new cloak is ready, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but I’m not sure I should go.” Maura
hesitated, torn between fear and her desire to please Basil. “Are
you certain we will be safe?”

Basil reached across the table to take her
thin hand. Eirena looked away in disgust at this open sign of
emotion.

“There is nothing to worry about, my dear
little bird. Leave everything to me. I will take good care of you,
I promise.”

Maura allowed herself to be won over. “If you
promise, Basil, then I believe you.”

When Lenora returned to her room at bedtime
she found a tall, armed man posted outside her door.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded.

“I am here on order of the lady Eirena,” the
guard informed her. “She is concerned for your safety. Once you
enter your bedroom, no one may go in or come out until
morning.”

“I don’t need a sentry.”

The man made no reply, but opened the door
and motioned her in. Lenora bolted the door on the inside and moved
a low table in front of it, piling a collection of small objects on
the table, so anyone trying to get in during the night would knock
it over and make a warning noise.

She slept not at all that night, nor did she
rest well the following night at Basil’s waterside villa, where the
same guard stood outside her chamber.

It was cold, as Eirena had warned it would
be, and a wind off the Euxine Sea rattled through the shuttered
windows. The villa was a smaller, more open version of the
Panopoulos house in Constantinople. In the hot Greek summer its
constant breezes must be delightful, Lenora thought, but in
mid-autumn it was distinctly uncomfortable.

Because it was outside the protection of
Constantinople’s impregnable walls, the villa was guarded by
Basil’s personal force of armed men. Basil took care to mention
this to Maura as evidence of their safety.

Around the villa, wide, terraced gardens
swept down to the water’s edge. Erik pointed out a tiny, curving
beach.

“It was there Eirena found me, washed up by
the sea.”

Maura, muffled in her new saffron-yellow
cloak, had been walking with Lenora when Erik appeared. She
shivered in the chill wind.

“You must have been terrified,” she said.

“I don’t remember a thing.” Erik laughed.
“But that is where I first came to Miklagard.”

“And now you are going to leave it forever,
aren’t you? You and Lenora will go away.” Maura blinked back tears.
“I will be sorry to see you go, but I know it’s best for you.
Neither of you could live for long in that city, enclosed behind
walls, with a thousand rules to tell you what to do and not
do.”

“You may come with us.”

“Not I. I’m happy here. The very things that
you dislike about Byzantium are the things that make me feel safe.
I will marry Basil eventually. After I do, I think perhaps Eirena
should retire to a convent.” Maura laughed, then looked directly at
Erik. “I won’t say a word to anyone about your plans, not even to
Basil.”

“We have no plans.”

“Erik, you always have a plan. Sometimes more
than one.” Maura stood on tiptoe and kissed Erik on the cheek. “I
have neglected to thank you properly for saving my life. I will
never forget you. Or you, Lenora. I just wanted to tell you now, in
case you have to leave suddenly and there is no time for
good-byes.”

A rich, deep chuckle sounded behind them as
Harald the merchant strode into view, followed by Basil.

“What a tender scene.” Harald laughed, even
white teeth showing through his blond beard and droopy mustache.
“Erik and the two prettiest women in Miklagard. What’s your secret,
my friend? I never have such good luck.”

“Maura is not Erik’s woman.” Basil was
plainly annoyed by Harald’s assumption.

“Oh-ho, is she yours, then?”

Basil scowled. Before he could answer, Erik
intervened.

“There is no insult intended, Basil. Harald
was only joking. Let us go inside where it is warmer and talk about
this agreement for next year’s merchandise.”

“Erik, why don’t you travel back to Kiev with
me and my friends once the agreement is signed?” Harald asked as
they moved along the path, the women following close behind.

“Perhaps I should leave Constantinople,” Erik
replied, as though the idea had never occurred to him before.

Basil was astonished. “Leave? You told me a
few weeks ago that you wanted to live here. Why would anyone ever
want to leave the Holy City? Everything a man could possibly want
is here. All the merchandise of the world comes to us. The city
contains all of the pleasures, and, if you want them, all of the
vices known to man. It is the world’s most beautiful city. And
Eirena is here. Erik is very fond of my sister Eirena,” Basil
informed Harald.

“Is he? I didn’t know that.” Harald glanced
at Lenora and raised an eyebrow. When she shook her head behind
Basil’s back Harald gave her a comical look and followed the other
men into Basil’s study.

It was later in the afternoon when Erik found
Lenora sitting alone by a charcoal brazier in an upper room, trying
to warm her hands. He bent to kiss her, then drew up a wooden chair
to sit beside her.

“I’ll come to you tonight,” he murmured,
taking her hands in his and holding them against his heart to warm
them.

“My door is well guarded. Eirena wants to
keep you away from me.”

“Nothing will keep us apart, Lenora. You
belong to me.”

That was just the problem, she thought. She
was his possession, and sometimes, try as she might, it was hard to
trust him as he wanted her to do. She reminded herself he had not
failed her yet, and then she stopped thinking as his lips met hers
in a sweet, lingering kiss.

Eirena glided into the room, her stiff,
ornately trimmed robes barely moving as she walked.

“Erik,” she said, her voice sharp, “I have
told you I do not want you to meet with this lascivious, despicable
woman. Tell her to leave.”

Erik rose and stood by Lenora, one hand on
her shoulder, holding her firmly in her chair by the glowing
brazier as he addressed Eirena.

“Lenora and I were speaking privately. You
have no right to interrupt us. Furthermore, I insist you treat her
with respect.”

Eirena’s lip curled, her eyes flashing angry
fire, but she kept her voice level. “When I came in you were not
speaking. When we are married I will no longer tolerate this – this
–
diversion
.”

“I assure you, once I am wed, my only
diversion will be my wife.”

“Is that a promise, Erik?”

“It is a solemn vow.”

“Then tell Lenora to go.”

“No.”

“Erik?” Lenora shook off his restraining hand
and rose, looking from Erik to Eirena, with a frightened question
in her eyes. Eirena had said
when
they were married, not
if
. Had something happened, something Erik had not told
her?

“Lenora will stay here with me for as long as
I want,” Erik insisted.

“You will pay dearly for this insult,” Eirena
hissed. “Both of you will pay.” She stalked out of the room, her
tiny figure stiff with anger.

“She frightens me,” Lenora said. “She is
determined to marry you and to do me harm.”

Erik gathered her into his arms, his face
buried in her fragrant curls. “She won’t succeed,” he
whispered.

They sat through another evening meal during
which Eirena was a charming hostess, hiding what Lenora knew was
bitter anger under a smooth, placid manner. When the main course of
roast lamb with garlic had been cleared away and trays of fresh
apples and grapes, dishes of sweetmeats, and small silver bowls of
raisins, almonds, and pistachios had been placed on the table,
Eirena leaned back in her chair and smiled sweetly at Erik.

“Did you not tell me once that you have a
brother?” she inquired.

Maura set her wine goblet down so hard the
ruby liquid splashed across the table. She began to tremble. Lenora
sat unmoving, sure Eirena was plotting something but uncertain what
it could be.

“Snorri,” Maura whispered.

“Yes, that was the name. Thank you, my dear.”
Eirena transferred her smile to Maura. “You look frightened. Is
anything wrong?”

“What about Snorri?” Erik’s voice was harsh,
cutting across Eirena’s honeyed tones.

“One of my servants brought me news late this
afternoon that a man calling himself Snorri Thorkellsson has landed
at St. Mamas not far from here and is looking for you. Shall we
invite him to the villa, Erik?”

“No!” Maura burst into tears. “Eirena, how
could you? Basil, don’t let him come here. Oh, I knew we should
never have left the city. We were safe behind the walls.”

Lenora leapt from her seat and hurried to
comfort Maura, who clung to her in desperate fear.

“You know what Snorri will do to me,” Maura
wept. “Don’t let him hurt me again.”

Basil, too, attempted to calm Maura.

“You saw all the guards I have here,” he told
her. “No one can enter the villa grounds without my permission. You
are perfectly safe,
poulaki mou
. I won’t let anyone harm
you.”

“What in the world is the matter with her?”
Eirena was the picture of baffled innocence. “All I suggested was a
simple family meeting. I thought your brother might like to come to
our wedding.”

Lenora had had her fill of Eirena. “You
bitch,” she spat, “you vicious, contemptible, trouble-making
bitch!”

Barely concealing her boredom, Eirena headed
for the door.

“Really, Erik, I wish you would make your
mistress watch her tongue. This unnecessary display of emotion is
dreadfully tiresome. I am going to bed.”

“Just a moment.” Erik stood between Eirena
and the door. “Who informed you that Snorri had arrived in
Grikkland?”

“I told you, one of my servants.” Eirena did
not meet Erik’s eyes.

“Which servant?”

“I don’t remember. There are so many of them,
and they all chatter so. It’s not important.”

“Did you see Snorri yourself?”

“I? Of course not.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“You had better believe me, Erik. I am going
to be your wife.” With that, Eirena left the room.

“No,” Erik said after her, “you are not.”

He turned back to the others, who were still
attempting to calm the terrified Maura.

“Do you think she did that deliberately?” a
furious Lenora asked him.

“I am certain of it.” He bent over Maura.
“Are you better?”

“A little. I’m sorry to make a scene and
anger Eirena, but Erik, you know how much I fear Snorri.”

“I understand, Maura. It was a cruel thing
for Eirena to do. Basil,” Erik looked his friend in the eye, “I
must speak plainly. If you plan to marry Maura, you should beware
of Eirena. She will do everything she can to make both of you
unhappy. She may even betray you.”

“I understand more than you think, Erik.
Maura will be safe with me. I have learned some surprising things
about my sister since you returned to us. You are not going to
marry her, are you? You never even asked her, did you?”

“No.”

“Then you had best leave Greece at once.”

“I plan to do just that, after I have seen
your new agreement with the Rus completed to your
satisfaction.”

“Thank you. For a barbarian, you are a
remarkably honorable man, my friend. And you are almost subtle
enough to be a Greek.” Basil allowed himself a half-smile at his
own joke. “As you know, tomorrow morning we meet with Harald and
his fellow traders for the last time before they return to Kiev.
Once our business is completed and the agreement is signed, I will
take Maura back to the city, where she will feel safer. Three days
later, I will return to this villa. If you are still here, I will
do what I can to help you, but I suggest you take my advice and
leave before Eirena can do you harm.”

“Agreed.” Solemnly, the two men clasped
hands.

Lenora stayed in Maura’s room all night.
Maura could not stop trembling.

“I will never leave Constantinople again,”
Maura said. “I will just stay there with Basil, forever. Come back
with me, Lenora, and make Erik come too. You are my only friends. I
want to know you are safe from Snorri.”

“I can’t do that. I think Erik wants to
resolve this feud with Snorri now, to have it over at last,
whatever happens.”

“Then you come with me. Erik will join you
after he has met Snorri.”

“I can’t leave. I have my own quarrel to
settle with Snorri.”

Their farewell the next afternoon was
tearful. Maura, halfway out the door, ran back to embrace Lenora
one last time.

“Take care of yourself, and Erik too. Be safe
and happy,” she said in a choked voice.

“That is disgusting.” Eirena had come into
the entrance hall in time to see Maura’s tears. She had insisted on
remaining at the villa, saying she could not leave her guests.
“Maura is a coward and has absolutely no sense of dignity.”

Lenora, so upset she was beyond words,
hurried to the gardens to get away from Eirena. She paced along the
terraces, glad of the icy wind from the Bosporus that dried the
tears on her cheeks. Looking down the hill from the topmost
terrace, she was momentarily diverted from her sorrow at parting
with Maura by the sight of Harald pushing a small sailing craft
into the water.

She watched Erik wave good-bye to the
merchant and begin to ascend the winding path to the house. A few
moments later he appeared beside her. He opened his arms and she
went into them wordlessly, feeling the strong beat of his heart
under her cheek, knowing he understood her anguish at parting from
Maura.