Viking's Love (26 page)

“
You harbor ill feelings and resentment
towards me and mine without seeing the truth of why this was done
at all. You think yourself punished unjustly, and think nothing at
all of the hundred families without fathers and husbands because of
what your father and the others did. Revenge is never a pleasant
thing, Allisande. You have been treated far better than many of my
people feel you deserve, for many of these fallen warriors were
kinsmen of theirs as well. Your brother’s honor has yet to be
proven,” he said tightly and knew he was being deliberately cruel
by the way she flinched at his words. “You should know the whole
truth. I found your father in the woods intending to flee the day
we took the keep. He was leaving you and the others there to avoid
Ivar’s wrath. You deserve to know the manner of the man you defend,
so you do not hate us all unevenly should you remain my slave.” He
folded his arms across his chest. He wasn’t convinced her brother
would want her back, given what she would undoubtedly learn about
her sire and his involvement.

Collin of Lockwraithe had much to lose if
Allisande chose to expose the other conspirators to the king. He
could see the flashes of doubt and uncertainty cross her lovely
features, and knew she also questioned her brother’s intent.

“
There will be no ransom for me, will
there?” A note of hysteria crept into her voice, her face paling
suddenly to learn her father abandoned them to the Vikings. “He
will leave me here to hide my father’s crimes!”

“
I cannot say what he will do. He
stands to lose all he has if you speak out of your father’s crimes,
Allisande, and knowing you as I do, you will not allow the others
to escape justice when you return.” Joran longed to draw her close,
but knew she would not appreciate it. “We can only wait to see what
your brother’s intentions are in the spring.”

Allisande ate with little interest as she
absorbed what Joran told her. She was even more determined to flee
his home now. She wouldn’t remain a slave to cover the crimes of
her father and his cohorts. If Collin knew of this too, he knew she
would feel honor bound to take what she knew to their king.

She thought of Luxtley and her eyes narrowed.
She would demand the truth from him herself. If he admitted his
part in it, she would allow the Vikings to destroy him after all.
He and Ulsted were no doubt shaking in their boots that Ivar
remained alive, and was armed with the knowledge to destroy
them.

Her subsequent return would make them all
very uncomfortable indeed. She smiled mirthlessly when she realized
she had the means to destroy them all. Her hatred for her Viking
captors did not compare to the fierce enmity she felt towards the
men involved in the schemes with her father. They would all pay for
what had been done to her and countless others.

Joran watched her while he ate and was grim
when he saw the brittle smile, wondering what thoughts went on
behind her beautiful face. It had never been his intention to tell
her the truth, but in light of her hatred of him and all those dear
to him, he felt it prudent she know.

Ivar would be arriving on the morrow and the
information she had would certainly ensure her best behavior. He
knew his father would not be pleased Allisande was aware of
everything, but she was powerless to interfere because of her
status as a slave. Should her brother not pay the ransom, she would
remain under his roof.

He did not want to worry of her sticking her
sword into him or any other because of blind loyalty to a family
that had possibly forsaken her. Thinking of her staying with him
made him feel strangely content, even though he knew she would
never accept being his slave. He did not like to think of the
future.

His previous experience with Aelynn had
taught him that. Women were fickle in their affections. Allisande
was no different. If she was offered her freedom tomorrow, she
would leave him and never look back. The thought disturbed him far
more than he wished to dwell upon.

He had no love in his heart for her or any
woman, he knew, but he wanted her more than any other. He would
never feel that emotion in his heart for another woman again. The
void in his heart had long hardened to granite. She would learn her
place, and become accustomed to her status as his woman. He enjoyed
her for now, and that was all that mattered.

Allisande helped Elwynn clear away the supper
trays and cleaned the hall as Joran and his men drank and caroused.
She watched him with a thoughtful expression. He thought her a
fool, she thought contemptuously.

He thought if he told her the truth she would
accept her lot in life, and pander to his ever growing desire for
her. He would discover she was far more stubborn than he realized.
She had no intentions of being his slave should Collin forsake
her.

Getting aboard his ship when they left to
raid Luxtley was her only chance at freedom, even if she lived out
her days at an abbey in shame. It was better than being shackled to
this Viking for the remainder of her life.

Allisande took much for granted as a noble
free woman. She had never known pain or discomfort or punishment.
The welts on her back healed and were merely scabs now, but a
reminder of how little importance she had in this land.

Allisande gazed at him and thought it was a
shame they couldn’t have met as equals, not enemies, and was
startled at the direction her thoughts had taken. She was growing
soft towards the Viking. Joran undermined her resolve to hate him.
She was determined he not realize it or he would take advantage.
She sighed when she thought of his lovemaking.

Allisande never knew such wondrous pleasure
existed in a man’s arms, and doubted she would ever experience such
again when she left him. The thought made her suddenly saddened.
She had no choice but to leave here. She couldn’t stay with him
under these circumstances. He would eventually remarry and have
children of his own.

Thinking of him casting her aside or giving
her to his men made her feel ill. Had it not been for his claiming
her, she knew she would have had to contend with his men bedding
her as they liked.

Allisande cringed when she saw the female
serfs follow his men from the hall from time to time like sheep.
Tears brightened her eyes when she thought of being brought so low.
Joran would tire of her soon, and that would be her fate.

Collin had much to answer for when she
arrived home. She would have the truth from him as well. Thinking
her brother was involved in any of this made bile rise in her
throat. They had always been close as children. She had no reason
to think he was involved, despite Joran’s words. He did not know
Collin as she did. Her brother’s honor was as great as hers. She
clung to that thought as she made her way up to bed.

Joran watched Allisande leave the hall and
longed to join her. Due to the illness in his home, his men had
been denied companionship these last few days. He knew bored
Vikings often caused brawls.

Grogan joined them and was arm wrestling
Haldon to no avail. The Viking grinned and drank from his tankard
as he held Grogan easily from moving his massive arm a mere
fraction.

They could remain locked in such a pose for
hours. Haldon had only been beaten by Joran, and only once. Joran
was getting good and drunk by the time Grogan conceded defeat and
the cheers flew up. The slamming of tankards all around made Grogan
grimace. He railed rail insults at them all. Haldon grinned and
flexed his massive biceps.

“
Anytime you want to go around again,
Grogan, I will be here waiting,” Haldon announced arrogantly and
the other men laughed. Grogan made a face and took a seat beside
his Chieftain.

“
Where is Allisande?” Grogan looked
about, not seeing her among the serfs who served the men. “I would
thank her for the tea. Janna says she feels improved, and the other
people claim they do as well.”

“
She has gone to bed.” Joran glowered
into his ale. “I told her the truth about the raid. I fear she has
much on her mind this night, and all of it, is not
good.”

“
Do you think that was wise in telling
her of her sire’s involvement?” Grogan asked as he sipped his ale.
“I think I liked her better when she is threatening us all with the
wrath of her God. Seeing her looking like a whipped dog now that
she knows the truth has no appeal. Why did you do it?”

Joran sighed and eyed his friend wearily and
wondered the same thing. It bothered him she aimed her hatred
towards him alone. He admitted it to himself. He wanted her to
smile at him as he had seen her do so rarely. He wanted her warmth,
at the very least. She would cease to hate him now. He was eager to
see more than loathing in her beautiful eyes when she looked at
him. The truth filled him with renewed angst over letting her
go.

“
She is no whipped dog, my friend,”
Joran said derisively and shook his head. “She is the most stubborn
woman I have ever known. She should have been a damned
Viking!”

“
Ivar arrives in the morning. Do you
still mean to lock her up until he leaves?”

“
No, now that she knows her father is
as much to blame for her people’s woes, she will not seek to attack
Ivar.” Joran refused to admit the reason he told her was his
selfish desire to have her affection, not the safety of his sire.
Ivar was a fierce warrior. Allisande would never get close enough
to him to wound him. He was ever watchful, even among friends. “It
was for the girl’s own good! She need not feel the need to avenge
her father now that she knows him to be a traitor. I would not like
to see her whipped again or worse. She knows the truth. She will be
content to wait until spring now.”

“
Something tells me you know nothing
about women, Joran.” Grogan chuckled at his scowl. “You have just
widened the battlefield and given the girl more targets to go
after. Mark my words, you will regret telling her. Women do not
think the way we do. They think with their emotions. She will not
give up on her quest for vengeance.”

Joran thought of Grogan’s words for some time
after the men in the hall thinned out and he sought his bed. He was
relieved to find her in his bed and not on the floor when he
entered his room. He knew she was awake, disturbed by all that he
told her.

Joran undressed and got into bed. He stared
at the back of her head and frowned. He reached out and touched her
shoulder. She turned onto her back and gazed at him with an
expression he couldn’t read. He took her in his arms tenderly, and
curled around her, burying his face in her fragrant hair. He was
asleep in minutes.

****

Collin watched as the walls to the keep were
raised and smiled as the workman toiled long through the day and
most of the evening to rebuild his home. Ugauld approached with a
message that arrived by courier pigeon.

Collin frowned as he unrolled the fine
parchment and read the scrawled words with a scowl. It was from the
Viking, Ivar. He taunted him with the new, higher ransom for his
sister. It was now up to two hundred pounds of silver to gain
Allisande’s release from his bastard son. He crumbled the note, and
stuck it into the pocket of his vest.

He was frustrated with his inability to help
Allisande, and now the price was growing staggering, making it all
but impossible for him to come up with such a vast sum. He hadn’t
told their mother they couldn’t afford to reclaim her daughter.

Lady Edwina suffered for the loss of his
father and having her daughter abducted. She could take no more bad
news. She stayed with Lady Leonie in the tower of the nearby abbey.
He wondered if she would want to return to Lockwraithe once it was
finished being built for the memory of the death and desecration
there.

The Lancaster heiress would be arriving in a
matter of weeks. He frowned darkly when he thought of his upcoming
nuptials. The girl was almost thirteen, hardly more than a child.
He was twenty-two and hadn’t the patience to teach his child bride
how to run a household. He needed Lady Edwina to return home to
teach his bride what she needed to know.

He avoided returning to court and knew Ulsted
undermined him in the eyes of his king. He grimaced when he thought
of the man he almost wed his sister too, albeit unknowing of his
involvement with the raids.

Collin was disgusted with his lack of choice
in exposing Ulsted and Luxtley. He was no coward by any means, but
the thought of his family bearing the shame of his father’s crimes
was repugnant to him. There would be another way to find justice,
he thought resolutely. He would see Ulsted and Luxtley punished in
his own way and in his own time.

Thinking of Allisande remaining with Joran
Ivarsson made him feel sick, but he had no choice. The dowry he was
promised would not even cover this newest ransom demand. The Viking
toyed with him. Just when he thought he gained enough funds to
secure her release, he raised the price.

It was a game Ivar played with him since he
returned from court months before. He had received three such
outrageous demands in the last months since the siege. Ivar knew he
didn’t have that kind of wealth anymore, thanks to his son and his
marauding Viking war party.

There was no hope he would ever see Allisande
again. It pained him not knowing how she faired. His sister had
always been his staunchest ally against their father. It went
against his conscience to be unable to help her in her time of
need.

He returned to his task of directing the men
of where the new battlements were to be and pushed his unhappy
thoughts away. He would find a way to bring his sister home, he
thought with renewed bitterness.