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Why had it happened? What purpose did it serve?

As it turned out, I would soon learn something from King Magnus that could very well be related. Something so profound, in fact, it might, yet again, alter the course of my Wyrd.

Chapter Thirteen

Tove

While I thought it would be easier to settle into Knud and me being together secretly, I found it far more difficult than I imagined when I left his lodge discreetly and returned to my own to prepare for the evening. I wanted to get ready alongside him, sharing those small moments couples enjoy.

I wanted to walk out the front door hand in hand for all to see.

Instead, I had no choice but to act as I always did when I opened my door to see him, looking fiercely handsome, dressed head to toe in black, save for his polar bear cloak. While some might find the vivid, white lightning bolt scar at his temple off-putting, I thought it made him look all the more impressive. It seemed too many women for my taste thought so, too, eyeing him openly with coy yet sultry looks of invitation.

As always, Knud seemed oblivious to it, his gaze more often than not on me when it shouldn’t be. Something I would have to point out to him later, lest others confuse his vigilance as my protector as something more. I could admit, however, that I liked the feel of his eyes on me, knowing he cherished our moments alone in his lodge as much as I did, wishing we were again alone and wrapped up in each other’s arms.

When King Magnus divulged that Knud would dine at his table, I couldn’t be more pleased. Especially when the king urged him to sit beside me, where I sat on one side of the king and Freya, the other. It was a great honor for Knud, and I knew he relished it every bit as much as the way Magnus had initially greeted him, and then the lodgings he was given.

The king urged all to enjoy the fine fare of freshly baked bread with churned butter, seasoned potatoes, and smoked herring, as well as succulent scallops and crabs. Then, after proclaiming he had something remarkable to share afterward, he engaged the three of us in conversation over the next hour. I found Magnus as personable as I had in our youth and enjoyed speaking with him, yet still, I wished I didn’t have to act as I did with Knud. Everything had changed so much between us today, and I wanted all to know it. All to see how much I adored him.

And I did with every fiber of my being.

From our friendship to our lovemaking to simply being near him, as I was now, wholly aware of his heat by my side. His spicy masculine scent. The way his warm, strong arm brushed mine every so often, lingering for a moment, telling me he did it on purpose before moving it away.

Eventually, dinner wound down, and Magnus stood and spoke to the room again, his voice carrying across the vast chamber, ultimately surprising Knud, and me with how much he’d kept from us.

“As you all know, my tribe, we have esteemed and much-welcome guests among us this eve, from the Helvigs to the Dahls, having sailed a great distance across difficult waters to come to our aid against the King of Scotland.” Magnus raised his mug to me and Freya and all those who had traveled here to fight. “So let us say skald and give them a round of cheers!”

Toasting us, the room raised their mugs and roared, “Skald!” without doubt glad to have us here, given their booming response. Smiling, Freya and I, as well as our people, raised our mugs in return and drank.

“Yet there is more,” Magnus went on, his voice resonating above the raucous roar. Everyone simmered down, eager to hear what he might share next. “Something I know many of you have been wondering about since Knud Thorgard arrived on our shores, led here by a mighty storm and with the lightning bolt at his temple, no less.”

When I glanced at Knud, he seemed equally baffled, as many in the crowd nodded, clearly knowing something we didn’t.

“Our seer feels strongly he is the one she has long prophesied about, but won’t know until she lays eyes on him.” He looked at Knud and shocked us. “To that end, if you and your shield-maiden seers feel rested enough, we will travel on the morrow to a small village on the mountain where she resides. There, she will tell you if you are truly the Knud Thorgard destined to arrive on our shores and oversee great change and even peace. If you are, as she has long claimed, the one with a white lightning bolt scar at his temple, and a ruler in your own right.” His voice deepened with pride. “And—better yet—if you are the king of the infamous Thorgard tribe of Norway, long touched by the god, Thor, himself.”

Even though murmurs of awe rippled over Magnus’s tribe, stunned silence fell over our Helvigs and Dahls, and with good reason. Was he serious?

“Nay, ’tis impossible,” Knud replied, humble and incredulous when he might have been prideful. And yet, I could not help but see that it was, in fact, possible. For what kind of man did I know Knud to be but one of noble attitude and demeanor, truly kingly in many ways?

And my talisman agreed when it warmed against my chest.

Knud looked from me to the king with a furrowed brow, as confused as I was surprised by this turn of events. “I was orphaned in the forests of the far north with no kin that I knew of.” He shook his head. “My name was unknown but given to me by Earl Bjǫrn Helvig when he allowed me into his tribe and offered me shelter to thank me for saving his firstborn child and eldest daughter, Tove Helvig.”

“Ja, ’tis what the seer claimed upon arriving on these shores when I was but a boy,” the king revealed. “Yet when I traveled to Norway to visit with tribes across the mainland and seek you out within the Helvigs, your earl claimed you weren’t there.” Wise indeed, his knowing gaze flickered from me to Knud. “I have long wondered why he did that, no doubt keeping you busy within your own ranks at the time so we wouldn’t meet, yet I suspect he had his reasons.”

Before Knud could reply, Magnus turned his attention back to everyone else again and raised his mug. “Setting aside what may or may not be until we speak to the seer on the morrow, let us toast once more to our Helvigs and Dahls, may their arrival only curry us favor with the gods!”

Toasting again, all roared with approval, far too many women eyeing Knud with desire and admiration now, and no wonder. He wasn’t just handsome and impressive in build, but one of great feats, and even mayhap the king of a legendary tribe. Though these days, there was only one king of all Norway, so his rank would become that of a chieftain or fellow earl.

“Come,” the king said to the three of us. “Join me in my study so that we might talk further. I’m sure you have questions that I may or may not be able to answer.”

Without doubt, we did, so we followed him into a spacious study full of carved wooden chairs covered with woven blankets and furred hides, and shelves of scrolls, where a servant served us fresh drinks. A fire crackled on the hearth, as if newly tended, and like the entrance hall, the walls were lined with a mix of impressive blades and old tapestries. Magnus stood by the mantle, considering Knud, who sat in one of the chairs, positioning himself as he always did so he could keep an eye on the entire room.

“Given you seem to know nothing of this, Knud,” Magnus said, “I cannot help but be curious why? ’Tis a telling and stark scar on your temple. Did you or others in your tribe not inquire more about it?”

“People thought it nothing more than a scratch inflicted by a polar bear.” Knud shrugged, keeping from Magnus what I had revealed to him about what really happened when we were children. The magic behind how he’d actually received it. “It only became more pronounced recently at the Dahl Fortress.”

“’Tis something,” Magnus murmured, shaking his head, clearly awed. “’Tis just as the seer claimed it would be. Three great tribes would become one, strengthening all of Norway, leading her in a new direction thanks to their union with a fourth clan across the dark seas.”