Page 9 of To Tame a Viking Warlord

Estrid approached across the yard, her long blonde hair plaited with leather ribbons, her body encased in the finest garments that accentuated her curves, her smile fixed on Torstein.

Leif cleared his throat. "Caution, chief." He caught Torstein's eye briefly. "I'll not go far, but you need to watch that one." He departed, giving Estrid a slight nod.

Torstein kept his expression neutral.

Estrid stepped closer. "My father hosts a feast in the hall tonight, Torstein. He would be honored if you attended before your departure. As would I." Her hand found his arm. Light. Deliberate.

"We leave before the tide turns," Torstein replied, stepping back. "Pray, bear my regrets to thy father."

Irritation crossed her face. "Ever duties. Ever regrets." Her voice sharpened. "The skalds make verses about it, you know. They whisper you think your blood too fine for an Orkney shield-maiden."

"What fills my thoughts is not for your ears," he replied quietly.

She moved closer still, her voice dropping. "I could drive these strange thoughts from your mind, Torstein. Share my bed tonight before you leave. There need not be any promises made."

Torstein was not falling into that trap. He had heard the cautionary tales, warriors waking drugged with no memory of the night before, and a woman's kin at the door the next morning speaking of oaths sworn. One night, and a woman like Estrid could claim she carried his child, and he would be hard pressed to disprove it from across the sea.

"The answer is still no."

"Ever you refuse me." She leaned in, and her voice dropped beneath the din. "You wound me, Torstein. I only wish to see to your needs. We are well suited, you and I, and you know it. My father's sword-oath alongside yours, strong sons I can provide for you. What more could a man want than what I lay at your feet?"

That is precisely the trouble, he thought. You lay it at my feet, and I have never once had to reach for it. But he said none of that. Torstein only looked at her, and as beautiful as she was, he felt nothing.

"You are worthy of a man who desires you completely, Estrid. I am not that man. I never will be."

Her jaw tightened, and for a moment her expression went hard and cold. "Countless men would be proud to have me as their wife."

"Then you should pursue them and stop wasting your time on me."

"No other man has ever refused me before."

"Then I am sorry to be your first failure."

"Why must you constantly reject me so publicly?"

"Estrid. If you insist on making unwanted advances in front of a crowd, then ye should be prepared for the result."

"So 'tis true." Her laugh was bitter and mocking. "You still believe a woman born under different stars is the other half of your soul. You clutch at a dead crone's mutterings. Brynhild's been cold in the ground these ten years, Torstein. Her prophecies died with her."

Anger flared in Torstein's chest, sharp and unexpected. There it was, the fruit of her digging into his private matters. She had bought and bribed and pried until she uncovered the one thing he had told no one save his closest kin, the old healer's premonition, and now she threw the words back at him like stones. He could never marry a woman who mocked what he held sacred, however little sense it made to anyone else.

Estrid placed both hands on his chest. "I am flesh and blood and willing. With me by your side, you could rise higher still." Her voice went soft. Pleading. "What more could you want?"

He caught her wrists and removed her hands. "Enough! My patience is at an end. All this winter I have tried to be gentle and save you from ridicule, but you have not once given me the same courtesy."

Her composure broke entirely. "You will regret this. My father is not a man to suffer his daughter slighted before the whole of Orkney, and he has the jarl's ear as surely as you do." Her eyes glittered. "I do not accept your rejection. Listen well, Torstein Hagansson. Upon your return, you will have no choice but to accept me as your wife. One way or another!"

Torstein clasped her arm then and warned her in a low voice, "Do not make the mistake of threatening me, Estrid. I am not a man to cross, no matter how high born your status! And I would die before I allowed anyone to control my future."

He released her and glared at her with cold dark eyes.

Estrid muttered several loud curses before storming away.

Torstein watched her go with unease. A rejected woman's fury he could weather. But a rejected woman with a powerful nobleman for a father, who indulged his daughter, was dangerous. He turned back to the cart, checked the lashings one final time, and tried to let it go.

It was then that Jarl Thorfinn came down the length of the quay to find him. The two of them walked toward the far end of the dock where the harbor opened out to gray Atlantic water.

"Remember, ye go as merchant traders, not as warriors. Retrieve that parcel, stay clear of the Brotherhood, and return home safe."