Deep, Dark & Dangerous by Jaid Black

Author:Jaid Black
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: 2006-08-26T04:00:00+00:00

OTAR RAISED THE HAMMER high above his head and struck down hard on the metal below. He repeated the action as he sweated heavily, needing the release it provided.

Right at this very moment, Madalyn was learning about his past and his present. He had hoped his mother and sister wouldn’t inform her that she’d wed the most undesirable man in all of New Sweden—at least not until he had captured his wife’s love.

All would be lost now. No wench would want the black mark of being married to an outcast, of knowing that any children she might bear were marked as undesirables before they were even conceived.

Could he blame her? Nay, he could not. Were he a wench, he wouldn’t wish to marry such a man as himself, either.

He shouldn’t have claimed Hunter’s Right, forcing Madalyn to his side for all times. Aye, he wanted her, but it wasn’t fair to force her into such a humble, pitiful life in Shanty Row.

“You look like someone died.”

Otar glanced up at the sound of his cousin’s voice but didn’t cease his exhaustive labor. “You aren’t one to talk.”

“Wench troubles?” Nikolas ventured.

“Aye. You?”

“Aye.”

They shared a commiserating look. His breathing heavy, Otar leaned back on his hammer.

“She will never love me,” Otar said, coming straight to the point. “Who could love a man on Shanty Row? ’Tis why none of the poor sods ever wed.”

“’Twill not be that way always, cousin,” Nikolas promised. “Leastways, I will make things better for those on Shanty Row after the Revolution.” He looked at him pointedly. “And you shall be reinstated as the rightful heir to your sire’s estate.”

Otar didn’t even know if he’d live through the Revolution. Still, if he didn’t, it was a relief to know that Nikolas would see that she dwelled in the luxury of Thordsson Longhouse.

“So what are your troubles?” Otar asked. He didn’t feel like talking of Madalyn right now; ’twas a sore subject. “You’ve a grand estate.”

He grunted. “Ronda thinks our people to be barbarians. She won’t even speak to me.”

“She will come around,” Otar reassured him.

Nikolas smiled. “Mayhap you should take your own advice.”

That was different—vastly so. Otar was already preparing himself for being rebuked by Madalyn upon his return home. He couldn’t blame her, yet neither could he stop mourning the loss of any love that might have blossomed.

But this was not Lord Ericsson’s woe to endure. He had enough on his mind, preparing for the war that lay ahead.

“Mayhap I should,” Otar said noncommittally.

Nikolas patted him on the back and left the grindstone.

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