Redeeming Her Viking Warrior

‘Yes. Hilda doesn’t want to believe it, but the more I think about it, the more likely it seems. Whoever arranged the attack knew what they were doing. They knew all about us, too. And who stood to gain the most in the long run? Kolga claimed Maerr for Eithr, but who acts as his guardian?’

‘Her husband.’ Rurik pushed a hand through his hair. ‘Kolga was always a miserable, bitter woman, but to kill Ingrid and Gilla so brutally... Maybe Thorfinn compelled her somehow? Or maybe he acted alone? If she had the pendants, then he could easily have taken them.’

‘So what now?’ Alarr’s gaze focused on Brandt. ‘You know we’ll do whatever you ask of us, Brother.’

‘Now I go and confront Thorfinn.’ Brandt’s voice was like thunder, a deep rumble heralding a gathering storm. ‘Rurik’s right. It seems more likely to be him than Kolga herself. I need to go and find out.’

‘You mean we will?’

‘No. This part I do alone.’

‘Brandt...’

‘Alone.’ The tone of his voice refused to brook any argument. ‘If Thorfinn’s responsible for Ingrid’s death, then this is between me and him.’

‘Very well then.’ Alarr gave him a long look. ‘You go alone, but only on condition that you summon us if you need to. We’ll all come, wherever we are.’

‘This is madness.’ Danr stepped forward angrily. ‘It’s too dangerous for Brandt to go alone. This isn’t just his fight. It belongs to all of us.’

‘Not any more.’ Brandt’s expression was resolute. ‘If I fail, then the rest of you can come and finish what I start, but I go first. You’ve done your part, Danr, but it’s time for you to let it go.’

‘Not until I make things right.’

‘You can’t. No one can do that.’ Brandt laid a hand on his shoulder, the look in his eyes softening slightly. ‘But you have made them better. It’s time to stop punishing yourself.’

Danr clenched his jaw. ‘I still failed you. I should have been in the hall that day.’

‘But you weren’t and the assassins were worried enough about your skill with a sword to make sure you weren’t. I’m just glad they did it with a woman and not with a dagger. Then I would have lost a brother, too.’

‘And I would have lost my twin.’ Rurik grasped his other shoulder.

‘And who would have saved my life in Strathclyde?’ Sandulf smiled. ‘We don’t blame you for surviving, Brother.’

‘You can really forgive me?’ He looked around at them each in turn.

‘We can. Whatever mistakes you’ve made, you’ve paid for them.’ Alarr gave a nod of support. ‘Now you need to get on with your life.’

‘With other things, too.’ Sandulf smirked. ‘Since this means you’ve fulfilled your oath.’

‘What oath?’ Alarr looked between them both curiously. ‘Danr? Sandulf?’

‘It’s not my business.’ Sandulf shrugged his shoulders and then stared pointedly at the ceiling. ‘But you won’t believe it. I could hardly believe it. No one from Maerr would believe it.’

‘What?’ Brandt, Alarr and Rurik all spoke together.

‘No women.’ Danr threw a vengeful look at Sandulf and then cleared his throat. ‘I swore that I wouldn’t lie with a woman until I’d made amends and earned your forgiveness.’

‘You made an oath of celibacy?’ Rurik sounded disbelieving.

‘Yes.’

‘When?’

‘After the massacre.’

‘But that was three years ago.’

‘You don’t need to remind me.’