The Seducer (Viking Warriors) Read online

  “Methinks ’tis time for your fostering, Gæierla. You may go to the cats, but be back before the sun sets.” When Gæierla turned away, Catriona snatched a handful of the girl’s faded, brown cyrtel. “Your manners?”

  “Beg pardon, Uncle Jarvik, Aunt Elaina, sister.” Gæierla dipped a graceful curtsey. “I take your leave.”

  They all watched as Gæierla took two demure steps. The third turned into a stride and on the fourth, she broke into a sprint. Catriona shook her head. “So many questions and so much energy. I fear she keeps both Ruard and I on our toes.”

  “You worry no more about her memories of the dungeons?” Jarvik asked.

  Catriona half-turned and shook her head. “Jarvik confuses you with his question, I can see that plainly, Elaina. My sister was imprisoned briefly by a villainous earl. Njal rescued her and spoiled her dreadfully on the journey back to our keep. I am cert you will hear the tale told oft, Elaina. Gæierla believes she has the makings of a skald.”

  Catriona rolled her eyes, but smiled. “And the tales of the god, Thor, holds much fascination for her quick mind. She had hoped to marry Thor, then switched to Njal, and, once she met Jarvik, became determined he would be hers.”

  Ah, that explained the little girl’s lament. Elaina could not help but smile. “With your permission, I would have Gæierla meet my babes, Kateri and Kitti. We have lived an isolated life and I fear they need to spend time with other children.”

  “’Tis a brilliant notion, Elaina. For Gæierla will jump at the idea of mothering two babes. She feels most put out that Brom and Rob are not only older than her, but half a head taller. I will arrange that all children spend the morn in the attic. We have set the nursery there.”

  Already Elaina liked Catriona. She was straightforward, looking others directly in the eyes with only honesty and fire in her face and in the way she held herself. “I should like to meet the other children as well and spend some time with them,” Elaina said.

  “I can assure you that I will not miss a chance to show you my son, Finn. But we must get through this eve first. Jarvik, escort Elaina to Deidra’s chamber. The women will come to the hall after the men are seated for the evening meal. I must find Ruard and Magnus. I will see you anon, Elaina, Jarvik.”

  With that Catriona whirled and headed in the direction of the kitchens. Elaina considered what had transpired. “’Tis common for Norse husbands to tie their wives to the bed frame?”

  He chuckled. “I did not hear you complaining this morn, sweetling.”

  “And can a wife tie her husband down?” The notion appealed greatly.

  Jarvik groaned. “Mayhap. If I could watch you pleasure yourself afore.”

  She spun, set her palms to his warm chest, and gathered her courage. “I would see your pleasure too. I value greatly your cock and would learn its secrets.”

  “Frig, help me.” He crushed her to him. “Never change, wife. Never.”

  “Jarvik.” A deep male voice issued the greeting.

  When she tried to lift her head, Jarvik pressed her still. “’Tis my brother, Ruard. Dragon Slayer, what say you?”

  “I say you get your wife to her chamber, then meet with us and King Cnut. And make haste. We have trouble brewing.”

  Chapter Five

  “What is amiss now?” Jarvik shucked his boots and stood to untie his breeches.

  Magnus had built his bathhouse to suit his gigantic proportions. The timber and stone structure stood five ells high, and the pool dug into the ground spanned twice that width, length, and depth. Smooth stones fired by a deep pit spewed wisps of fragrant steam around the chamber.

  “King Eógan arrives on the morrow.” Torsten, already stripped and in the water, rested his head in his hands. “He will claim Elaina’s half-sisters.”

  “How know you this?” Jarvik tugged off his tunic.

  “King Cnut has decided to support King Eógan’s cousin, Habren, in his bid for the kingdom of Strathclyde. Valan the Viper, the Highland Chieftain, has spies amongst Eógan’s men.” Njal dipped a pitcher into the water. “Valan sent a missive to warn me.”

  Ruard dove into the deep end of the lagoon. He rose between Torsten and a rounded corner. “’Tis fortunate that Eógan, the bastard, left no witnesses when he murdered King Crínán and his family.”

  “Aye, he cannot prove the girls are not Elaina’s issue. Or yours.” Magnus, naked as the day he was birthed, lit a hanging lamp. “And ’tis damned fortunate that my Deidra saw fit to remove the stained sheets from the turret afore any in the keep saw them. You claimed the babes last eve, but ’twill not be enough. You must claim to have sired them. ”

  A pang of remorse clutched at Jarvik’s chest. He had not realized the level of his obsession with Elaina. For he truly wanted all and sundry to know she had been a maid and not the concubine all spoke of. “All know that King Crínán wed Maude and that she bore him two babes.”

  “Aye. But none live who saw the girls.” Njal splashed a pitcher of water over the hot rocks. Steam hissed thick and damp, rising in slow spirals to the timbered roof. “And Elaina has not been seen for two summers. Who will gainsay you if you claim the babes as yours? You have been searching for Elaina all this time. You found her twice and had her. She had no wish to marry a Viking and escaped.”

  “You have already spread this tale, brother.” Jarvik studied Njal’s stoic features. Oft times, ’twas impossible to tell his brother’s thoughts, which made him so successful as the king’s peacemaker.

  “Aye. We all have. And I met with Máel Coluim here earlier. He will not back Habren. There is much enmity between the two men. Cnut will not back any other but Habren.” Njal dragged both hands through his shoulder-length black hair. “I fear there is not much common ground.”

  Jarvik settled against a warm, smooth boulder, letting the warm water caress his bunched shoulders. “What if neither ruled? ’Tis a diabolical notion. But what if both Habren and Eógan were murdered by the Moraemers?”

  His four brothers stared at him. Jarvik choked back a howl, for ’twas not oft that he took the lead in devising a plan. And he could see no holes in his scheme.

  “’Twould be the opportunity Máel Coluim has been waiting for. And Cnut the Great has no love for the Moraemers’ encroachments below the border.” Torsten rubbed the dark stubble on his jaw. “Njal, Magnus, Ruard, see you any detriment to this plan?”

  “Save that ’twill mean no slumber this eve. Nay.” Magnus shook his wet hair and water whipped everywhere. “Who stays to keep the kings preoccupied?”

  “You are host. I say you stay.”

  “I agree with Njal.” Torsten reached for drying cloth and wiped his damp face. “Good fortune indeed smiles upon us. For Cnut travels with his handfast wife, Ælfgifu, and she has long favored Ainslin. I have learned to never underestimate the influence of a wife over her husband.”

  “I have heard no truer words since saying my vows.” Ruard let out a long breath.

  “Nor I.” Magnus pillowed his head in his palms. “I swear Deidra and her pets will be the death of me. See you how my hair thins? ’Tis from tearing it out by the roots.”

  “At least your wife tends to womanly duties. Bettina sneaks out to hunt boar. She is a witch, my wife. She carried Saxski for three moons before telling me. Had it not been that I count her days between courses now, I swear she would not have told me about the new babe until her stomach rounded.” Njal shook his head. “The silver in my hair grows more every new morn.”

  “You count Bettina’s courses?” Jarvik stared at his older brother. “’Tis not manly for a warrior to admit to such.”

  “He will learn.” Ruard rolled his eyes. “You have been married but one day and night. And if Elaina is half as stubborn as Catriona…I pity you brother. I would rather battle a thousand warriors than go through another nine moons of Catriona with child. ”

  Jarvik did not believe his brothers could be so puss-whipped. “’Tis a woman’s duty to bear children. I see n
ot the difficulty you speak of. After a warrior’s seed has taken hold there is naught for him to do. The rest is for the female.”

  Laughter, chortles, and guffaws bounced off the stone walls.

  “I have a mind to tell him.” Njal shook his head.

  Ruard’s bronzed cheeks paled. “Do not tell him. Not a word, Njal.”

  “Think you Catriona will not tell Elaina? All the women know all. ’Tis nigh on impossible to retain a single manly secret.” Njal snorted. “When Catriona carries, she craves apple pies. And since his poisoning Ruard cannot abide the smell of apples baking.”

  At the suggestion, Ruard indeed had the greenish cast of a man ready to empty his stomach.

  “Must she have the pies?” Jarvik asked. “She can eat the fruit instead.”

  “He will learn.” Njal exchanged glances with Torsten, Ruard, and Magnus. “Truly, I will enjoy seeing The Seducer get his comeuppance.”

  “Unlike you four louts, I have Elaina trained to my hand.”

  His brothers’ hoots, whistles, shouts, and roars nigh raised the rafters from the roof. Jarvik vowed to show them how easily he had trained Elaina to his side. This eve, she would feed him the choicest meats, offer him praise and thanks, and smile sweetly at one and all.

  Torsten volunteered to tell the women of their plan while Jarvik, Njal, and Magnus met with both kings privately.

  The three brothers waited for the monarchs in an ante chamber adjacent to the Great Hall, chosen for its thick walls and stark lack of furnishings. ’Twas the room Njal preferred for negotiations for it did not encourage lingering and ‘twas easy to guard.

  Unease knitted Jarvik’s neck muscles even after the long soak in the bathhouse.

  “Peacemaker.” Cnut the Great strode through the doorway, his long powerful legs making naught of the distance to Njal. “Dragon Slayer, Seducer. I have not seen all of you in many moons. Where is the Bear?”

  “He visits with your queen.” Njal and Torsten had agreed to invoke Cnut’s handfast wife as a distraction.

  “Ælfgifu is fond of Ainslin. I am pleased with The Bear’s decision to occupy his Cumbria holding. ’Twill help to secure the border.” Cnut rocked on his heels. “Malcolm approaches.”

  None but King Cnut dared address King Máel Coluim by his given name.

  “Cnut the Great. ’Tis not oft you travel to the border.” Máel Coluim, like Cnut, wore no weapons, nor did any of the other men.

  “The Peacemaker senses trouble from the Moraemers.”

  The Scottish king halted. His nostrils quivered, and his lips thinned. “I would hear of this after we have supped. And after I greet the wife you wed last eve, Seducer.”

  Jarvik had fought with King Máel Coluim for one winter, and he knew well the signs of the monarch’s rising temper. What had the king heard?

  “I suggest we repair to the Great Hall.” Cnut stroked his salt and pepper goatee. “I have learned that ’tis best not to risk my queen’s ire. She is well pleased with The Seducer’s bride. I, too, have heard the gossips, and I would have the truth of this tale.”

  Every hair on Jarvik’s body rose. He could not risk the ire of both his liege lord and King Máel Coluim. Mayhap he should have allowed Elaina to continue her disguise.

  The brothers exchanged wary glances, but ’twas naught to be gained and much to be lost in refusing a king’s command. Jarvik scanned the crowded hall and noted all in order. He trailed the monarchs and his brothers to the dais, and took his seat, his thoughts sunk dark and deep. The women had not yet arrived and the men indulged in talk of new weaponry, battle tactics, and the Moraemers. The low conversation at the high table contrasted sharply against the rising din of the male-packed hall, for not a female was in sight. Even the kitchen wenches had disappeared.

  Spit boys tossed loaves onto tables from the baskets they carried. The appetite-inducing aroma of fresh-baked bread competed with the pine scent wafting from the floor rushes.

  Magnus examined the hall. “Where are the women?”

  “Mayhap the queen kept them long with gossip.” Jarvik had seen Ælfgifu hold court for many an hour. “’Tis of no import.”

  “Nay. My neck hairs bristle like a rabbit facing a pack of wolves.” Magnus scrubbed the back of his neck. “’Tis always of import when all the women all at once disappear.”

  “By Odin.” Njal set his goblet on the table so hard wine spilled. “I envy you not, brother.”

  “What?” Jarvik’s head whipped in the direction Njal stared. His stones gathered into blistering nuts.

  Magnus grabbed Jarvik’s left arm and Njal the right. “Stay down.”

  “By Odin, I will cover her head to toe on the morrow. I will tar her backside.” Jarvik’s flesh fired, and sweat beaded his temples and neck.

  For Elaina had dressed the Arabic concubine. She wore a short, tight bodice that showed her magnificent titties to perfection. Her bared navel held a ruby jewel. His hands fisted.

  After King Cnut’s jaw returned to its normal position, he fingered his goatee, and asked, “What have we here?”

  Elaina stood before the dais in front of Cnut and Máel Coluim, Ainslin on one side, Queen Ælfgifu on the other.

  The raucous hall had fallen silent. Not a dog growled, not a cat mewed. Even the roaring blaze in the fireplace ceased to hiss and snap.

  All three women curtsied and ’twas then that Jarvik saw Elaina’s pert rump snug in the harem pants, the cheek of one ass peeking from the cloth, her long legs bared save for the diaphanous material caught at the ankles with gold chains. Bells on her toes tinkled when the king waved permission for the females to rise.

  Queen Ælfgifu placed her stout form in front of the two other women. “A most fascinating tale, husband, King Máel Coluim. I present to you Princess Elaina, daughter of King Crínán of Strathclyde. I have copies of letters sent many years afore by Jarl Torsten, The Bear of the North, to King Crínán proposing his brother’s betrothal to Elaina. Nigh on three years have passed since Norse raiders destroyed Strathclyde keep and castle and murdered all. Elaina escaped the firing of the keep. She was so distraught that she fled and found refuge with Princess Deidra.”

  “Seducer, this is the woman you wed last night?” King Máel Coluim’s barked question cracked through the silent hall. “Play you your king for a fool?”

  “Nay. My brother would never risk your wrath, your majesty.” Torsten stood. “He has been chasing the princess for many seasons. Twice he found her. Twice he claimed her in the Viking way.”

  “He raped his intended?” The queen’s outrage was evident in her glaring eyes and fisted hands jammed onto wide hips.

  Cnut shrugged. “’Tis common for the Norse, Ælfgifu, though not our way. What would you have of me in this matter, wife?”

  “I would have you ask the pope to bless their union. I would have your approval of the union.”

  “And what of you, Princess Elaina? You have twice run from this man. You said vows last eve. In the eyes of the holy church you are wed.” King Cnut raised a brow and fixed his blue eyes on Elaina.

  Jarvik held his breath.

  “My lord Jarvik claimed our daughters afore the ceremony last eve. ’Tis the concession that I had wanted and that he had refused to give afore. I would echo your queen’s words. That you and His Holiness bless our union.” Her knees trembled, and she clasped her hands together so tight the skin between her fingers pinched.

  “The females are yours, Seducer?” Cnut waved Jarvik forward.

  “Aye.” He shrugged off his brothers’ hold and leaped over the table, knocking over Njal’s goblet. “Elaina and the babes are mine.”

  He shoved between Ainslin and Elaina. She heard his rasped breathing, saw the flare of his nostril, and quailed.

  “May I have your leave to have my wife go to our chamber?” Jarvik asked.

  “Nay.” The Scottish king lurched to his feet. “Explain her dress this and last eve.”

  Elaina straightened her shoulders. “I am
the daughter of the concubine.”

  “The woman King Crínán wed before a priest,” Jarvik growled.

  She flinched. “If any knew or suspected my identity, I feared murder. I padded my clothing, sooted my brows and teeth, and wore limestone mixed with lard to sallow my flesh. Lord Jarvik cared naught for my appearance. He did not take me by force. He is the Seducer. I knew not who he was the first time, and when I found out he was a Viking, I panicked.” Her throat had become parched, and she had to swallow thrice.

  Jarvik linked her arm with his. “My wife gives me much credit, your highness. I had come across her bathing in a lake and saw her without garb or disguise. I lusted after her. ’Twas only as I pierced her maidenhead that I realized who she was.”

  Cnut chortled. “Seducer, you never fail to amaze me. You plundered the maidenhead that belonged to you. Yet you let her escape?”

  His grip on Elaina’s forearm tightened. “She led me a merry dance, your highness. ’Twas a full season afore I connected the stout village healer with the siren from the lake.”

  “And yet you did not take what belonged to you?” Temper no longer stained Máel Coluim’s cheekbones. He sank back into his chair and took a sip of wine. But his attention never left Elaina, and she wished for the protection of a chemise, cyrtel, and wimple.

  “I have found a willing female easier to keep than a reluctant one, your majesty.”

  “There is the matter of the kingdom of Strathclyde.” King Malcolm once again eyed Jarvik and Elaina from head to toe. “Your uncle Eógan is the new king. By rights, he should have signed your betrothal contracts.”

  “’Tis done, Malcolm. If the Seducer is cert the girls are his, I will not gainsay their union. You will renounce any rights to Strathclyde, both of you. And I will have your liege vows after mass in the morning.” King Cnut dared any to contradict his command, his gaze sweeping every single nobleman and woman.

  “As will I. And Seducer? I will see you on the training grounds at dawn.” King Máel Coluim’s wicked grin sent shivers across Elaina’s exposed back. “Bid your wife leave and return in normal garb.”