‘Yes.’ He knotted his brows together. ‘What’s so funny?’
‘You don’t need to give a warning. You were talking to yourself on your way there.’
‘Not to myself, to Halvar.’ He looked chagrined and then surprised. ‘Wait, you mean you knew I was there?’
‘Of course.’ Despite her resolve to be inscrutable, she couldn’t stop herself laughing. ‘It’s never hard to find you anywhere. You hardly ever stop talking except to eat or sleep.’
For a moment he looked as if he might be offended, before he smiled, too. ‘My brother Brandt used to threaten to cut my tongue out.’
‘Did that ever stop you?’
‘No. I used to talk even more to rile him. Then Alarr, my second brother, would offer to help him by holding me down. He actually sat on me once while Brandt got his seax out. They thought scaring me might do the trick, but I’m stubborn.’ He shrugged and looked sheepish. ‘So my staring didn’t offend you?’
She picked up a clump of dried sage and held it to her nose, breathing in the aroma. ‘Why would it offend me?’
‘Because you were...’ he waved a hand vaguely in her direction ‘...naked.’
‘And?’
‘And I’m a man and you’re a woman.’
She made a dismissive sound before dropping the sage into her basket. ‘There’s nothing wrong with nakedness. I’m not ashamed of my body.’
‘No, but I shouldn’t have looked—and I definitely shouldn’t have stared. It wasn’t fitting.’
‘Because you’re not my mate?’
‘Ye-es...’ he cleared his throat ‘...I suppose so.’
‘Do you want to be my mate?’ she asked, tipping her head to one side as the thought suddenly occurred to her. It seemed unlikely, but it would explain the heat she’d seen in his eyes... It was an interesting idea, too, though not one she could ever consider. Her life was solitary for a reason.
‘What?’
‘Is that why you stared? Because you want to mate with me?’
‘I don’t... I mean... I wasn’t...’ His answer, whatever it was, sounded more like a series of coughs than actual words.
She waited a few more moments in case anything more coherent was forthcoming and then stood up, hoisting her basket over her arm. ‘I don’t know what you just said, but I don’t want a mate. I told you, I live alone and you sleep outside.’
‘Good. I mean, not good. It’s not that I don’t want to mate with you, but I can’t. It’s hard to expl—’
‘Keep away from the west side of the forest today,’ she interrupted him, surprised to feel a combination of relief and disappointment at his words. ‘There’ll be people there.’
‘Why? Where are you going?’ He pushed himself up off his haunches, his expression shifting to one of concern. ‘The village is west of the forest. Surely you’re not going there?’
‘No.’ She whistled for Tove. ‘Just close to it. The villagers come to me if they’re sick or injured.’
‘But I thought you said you didn’t want anything to do with people?’ His tone turned accusing. ‘You said they couldn’t be trusted. Why help them?’
‘Because Coblaith taught me to be a healer. She gave me a purpose in life so that’s what I do. That’s why I healed you...’ she lifted an eyebrow ‘...even though you’re a warrior. I tend to people and they give me things in exchange.’
‘What kinds of things?’
‘Milk, eggs, cheese. Things I can’t produce for myself.’
‘No.’ He folded his arms. ‘You can’t go.’
‘It’s my decision, not yours.’ She thrust her jaw out. ‘You’re only here because I allow it, Norseman, not the other way around.’