Seeing his teasing smile, Celiese reached up to kiss his cheek lightly. “Thank you, Andrick. Olgrethe is fortunate to have so understanding a husband as you.”
“Rather than Mylan, you mean?” the handsome man teased playfully.
“No, that wasn’t what I meant at all!” she denied, her face flooding with color, her embarrassment acute. “Will none of you ever forget Raktor’s deception? Am I never to be forgiven for his misdeeds?”
Andrick watched the sudden rush of tears fill her eyes and realized his joke had been in very poor taste. “I am sorry, all I meant was that Olgrethe and I are a far better match than she and Mylan would have been. I did not even think that remark would insult you, and I am sorry that it did.”
She turned away, ashamed she had been so ill tempered when Andrick had been so nice to her. “I do not think you should tease me about something so important as marriage, nor Olgrethe either, as she might as easily misunderstand as I did.”
Perplexed to have caused such a disastrous scene when he had only meant to make her smile, he apologized again, hoping he would be able to soothe the distracted young woman’s feelings, when he had hurt her unintentionally. He heard his wife approaching he grew silent, not wanting her to know he had insulted her friend, but she could tell by his sheepish expression that something was wrong.
Awakened by the sounds of their voices, Olgrethe walked slowly into the room. She was dressed in a robe of yellow silk, her eyes red and swollen from the tears she had shed for her brother. “Why, Andrick, were you and Celiese fighting? Has the entire house gone mad?”
Andrick went quickly to her side, and gave Olgrethe a reassuring hug. “Of course not, beloved, we were merely talking, and I was just coming to wake you. Mylan and Celiese are leaving, she wanted to bid you farewell, that is all we were discussing.” Looking over her head at Celiese, he was pleased to see she understood the cause of that lie and would not dispute him.
“You are leaving me now?” Olgrethe’s already pained expression grew even more woebegone as she pleaded, “Oh, Celiese, how can you leave me now?”
Mylan slipped through the door in time to respond to that question. “If she is not gone before sunrise your grief will be compounded tenfold, Olgrethe. Do not try and influence her to stay, for such a choice is impossible.” Mylan leaned back against the door to catch his breath; he had run all the way back from Hagen’s room and felt dizzy, his strength impaired by pain.
“Mylan?” Celiese regarded him closely; surprised she had not noticed the deep purple bruise marring the lid of his left eye. It looked very painful, but she would not call attention to it when she knew how little he enjoyed sympathy. “Is everything all right? What did Hagen say?”
“Why didn’t you tell me he had offered to take you home? He is not at all pleased I am to be the one to make the voyage.”
He had a good point, for she had let Hagen believe she would go with him when she had not known what else to say. “The situation is a confusing one, I agree, but you and I have had no time to talk, Mylan, so there was really no opportunity for me to tell you of Hagen’s plans.”
His glance suspicious, Mylan continued, “Of course, you would have told me, and you are always so prompt to tell the truth that I never doubt your sincerity.”
Not understanding why his brother was behaving so badly, Andrick was quick to send his wife from the room so he might question him. “Olgrethe, Celiese needs a gown or two, have you anything to offer?” Since he frequently teased her about the extensive size of her wardrobe, he was certain she did.
“Of course, you may take whatever you wish, Celiese. Come, let us look to see what we can find.” Apparently resigned to losing her, Olgrethe led Celiese into her bedroom where her clothing was kept.
Waiting to be certain they could not be overheard, Andrick spoke in a low whisper. “What is wrong that you must flee with such haste? Do you expect the Torgvalds to give pursuit? Their warships are far more fleet than our knarrs, so it may be impossible to escape them.”
Mylan closed his eyes as he sighed deeply. Never had he spent such an exciting night, and it was not yet over. “Our father made some sort of a bargain with Jens; he meant to hand over Celiese, and I think Jens must have promised his family would not attack us again to avenge Oluf’s death.”
Aghast, Andrick shouted hoarsely, “That cannot be true!” He was appalled at such vile treachery and found it unthinkable. “It simply cannot be the truth, Mylan. Where did you hear of this bargain, from Jens himself?”
Straightening up to his full height, Mylan was surprised to realize Andrick was now nearly his equal in size. He was still slightly taller and considered it an advantage when he wished to make a point. “I saw Father lead Jens to her room and instruct him to hurry with the abduction. Is that evidence enough for you?”
“Does she know?” Andrick looked hurriedly toward the room where the two women had gone, fearing they might return in the middle of Mylan’s explanation.
“No.” Mylan’s expression gave no encouragement to that question. “She is not to know, either. It is a betrayal I cannot disclose, for she would hate us all for it.”
“Her love for you is painfully obvious. She saw nothing today but you. She would not hate you for our father’s treachery.” That Estrid had been on his brother’s arm all day was not a subject he wished to mention, for he was certain Mylan had only used the attractive young woman to make Celiese jealous, and he thought such a trick incredibly foolish.
Swearing under his breath, Mylan replied in a hostile whisper, “The woman loves me so dearly she refused to be my wife in front of more than a dozen witnesses! You heard her yourself, Andrick, she’ll not have any of us for a husband.”
Laughing, Andrick reached out to touch Mylan’s shoulder with a good-natured slap. “You have not courted the woman with anything other than neglect. How can you expect her to want you when you have given her no evidence of your love?”
“I do not love her!” Mylan vowed hoarsely, incensed by his brother’s teasing, but as he turned he saw Celiese and Olgrethe at the doorway, and, knowing they had overheard his bitter remark filled him with remorse. Believing his best option was simply to ignore the comment rather than attempt to explain it, he spoke quickly, “Have you all you need? The journey is a long one.”
Olgrethe had just finished reciting a nearly endless tale of woe. Her sorrow was deep at losing the company of her dearest friend when her brother had just died so tragically. If that had not depressed Celiese most thoroughly, here was Mylan vowing for all to hear that he did not love her. Trying to make the best of an extremely embarrassing situation, she came forwa
rd with a smooth, graceful stride.
“Yes, Olgrethe has always been most generous, and I will never forget her.” She kissed the young woman’s cheek sweetly, and then gave Andrick a warm hug before carrying the things she had gathered through the door. She did not wait this time for Mylan to look for whatever danger he seemed to suspect awaited, for it mattered little to her what her fate might be if she did not have even the hope of winning his love. And from the fury of his denial, she knew she never would.
As she slipped past him, Mylan turned to look at Andrick, knowing he should have prepared some more formal farewell whenâ??if luck were not with himâ??they might never meet again. “You will be the eldest, if…”