Merri curled her fingers about Alwynn’s. ‘I don’t blame you. I thought it exciting.’
She snuggled up next to Alwynn and lay very still.
Alwynn lay listening to the man’s steady breathing and the banter between the reeve’s men who seemed to stay at the other end of the beach. Apparently they’d found nothing of interest.
‘Almost gone,’ she muttered.
‘Oh, no,’ Merri cried and darted forward.
‘Merri, where are you going?’
Merri grabbed the basket with sea coal and returned, dropping to the ground. ‘I couldn’t allow them to take that! It belongs to us. We collected it. We need it for our fire.’
‘Next time leave it.’ Alwynn patted the sand next to her. ‘Over here and stay by my side until I tell you otherwise. Do you want everyone to know where we are?’
Merri hung her head. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t think... We need the sea coal, though. No one saw me.’
‘Tempting fate is never a good idea. How many times, Merri?’
‘But I’m quick,’ Merri muttered. ‘Quicker than you.’
‘Hush now. Lord Edwin’s steward is headed towards us.’
Alwynn glanced at the warrior. Thankfully he appeared to understand the situation and had gone completely still. She moved closer to him to give Merri some space. Her breast hit his chest as Merri wriggled in.
The steward stooped down and picked something up from the beach. He looked directly at them. Alwynn sank further down in the hollow, half-covering the man with her cloak.
As the steward’s gaze intensified, she lowered her head and breathed in the warrior’s salty scent.
Footsteps seemed to come closer. The sound of heavy breathing hung in the air.
In another few steps, he’d be on them and she’d have to explain the unexplainable. If she was lucky, he’d take her to Lord Edwin. And if unlucky... A small shiver ran down her back. It didn’t bear thinking about.
Her heart thudded. She’d rescued a stranger for no good reason except that she refused to allow him to die. The woman who kept all the rules was truly gone.
Giving up was not an option. She tried to think about what she’d say when they were discovered and how she’d have to emulate her mother at her imperious best.
She lay there with the sun warming her back, until she thought the steward must surely see them. She prepared herself to stand and started to rise. The warrior’s hand tugged her down.
‘Stay!’ he commanded against her ear. ‘I will protect you with my sword arm, but he may yet pass us by.’
For someone who had just survived drowning, his grip was like iron. Alwynn had no choice but to lie still, beside him. With each breath she took, she found she was aware of him and the way his muscles were hard.
Just when she thought they were sure to be discovered, she heard a shout from one of the man’s companions and the man headed off in another direction at a quick trot.
‘They are going, Alwynn. They’re going.’ Merri squeezed her hand. ‘We will be fine. Our warrior is safe. Everything will be fine. You will see this warrior will bring good luck. He isn’t a Northman. He doesn’t have pointy teeth like Father Freodwald said they had.’
Alwynn shifted her position and wished she retained the easy assurance of a nine-year-old. Long ago, she’d learnt that most things were far from easily solved. ‘Of course, sweetling.’
* * *
Valdar lay utterly still as the woman Alwynn huddled next to him with her stepdaughter on the other side of her.
He concentrated on breathing and trying not to think about the woman and her problems. She’d rescued him, but for how long? How long did he have before she betrayed him?
For some reason the men on the beach frightened her. Normally such creatures wouldn’t worry his sword arm, but every muscle in his body ached and he knew he couldn’t protect her beyond a few token swipes with his sword. The storm had battered him against rocks before spewing him up on the shore.
He heard the men depart the beach, cursing their lack of spoils and joking about what they would do to any Northman they discovered.
His hand fell back to his side, releasing Alwynn. A thousand questions buzzed about his head. He hated not knowing why she’d rescued him. Why had she taken the chance? Asking was out of the question. He needed her help to escape so he could fulfil the gods’ plan for him and bring vengeance against Girmir and all who followed him.
‘More drink,’ he groaned through parched lips.
She instantly rolled off him. Her cheeks glowed pink, highlighting her eyes and the way a few tendrils of black hair escaped from her head covering.
‘You are awake.’
‘Can we move yet?’ He tried to stretch, ignoring the screaming pain in his shoulder. ‘Do you deem it safe?’
‘Lord Edwin’s men have left the beach.’ She absently tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. ‘Now is an excellent time to move.’
‘You know who they were.’
‘Yes, I know.’ Her mouth held a bitter twist. ‘If I’d had any doubt about this particular order to kill strangers being fulfilled, today—the first time I’ve been out gathering sea coal on the shore—has quashed it.’
‘But you disapprove of the order.’
‘We are a Christian country. Hospitality should be given to those who don’t abuse it.’ She shrugged. ‘And there are some who take far too much pleasure in changing the custom for the worse.’
He nodded. Her words confirmed what he suspected. She had suffered a recent setback and was unhappy with the new regime in the area.
He fought back the urge to protect her. Alwynn’s problems were none of his business. He needed to concentrate on returning home and bringing Girmir to justice. But he found it impossible to completely silence it.
‘Do you think you can walk without assistance?’ she asked, tilting her head to one side and revealing the sweep of her neck.
‘What man ever refuses a beautiful lady when she is offering him her arm?’
Her green eyes darted everywhere but at his face and her cheeks became a delightful pink. ‘You speak with a silver tongue.’
‘I speak the truth.’ He tried to rise and stumbled to his knees. ‘My time in the sea took more out of me than I thought possible. It feels like I have fought several battles and yet I’ve not lifted my sword today.’
‘You fought the sea and won. It is enough for one day.’
‘That is one way to put it, but until a battle is won, I don’t give up.’
She put her arm about his shoulders. Their breath interlaced and their gazes locked. Valdar forgot everything but the curve of her upper lip. His mouth ached to drink from hers.
He leant forward and slowly traced the curve with his forefinger. Her flesh trembled, but she didn’t move away from him.
‘And that was for?’ Her husky voice broke the spell.
‘Luck.’
By the time they reached the small cottage where her old nurse