Season of the Sun by Catherine Coulter

Author:Catherine Coulter
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Great Britain - History, Historical Fiction, Vikings, Stepfathers, York (England), Jealousy, Women Slaves, General, Romance, Love Stories, Historical, Anglo-Saxons, Norway - History, Norway, Fiction
ISBN: 9780451206480
Publisher: SIGNET
Published: 1991-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

16

“By Thor’s wounds! What are you doing? Ingunn! Stop it, woman!”

Magnus stood frozen, unable to believe what he was seeing. Ingunn was holding Lotti by the arm and had raised the whip. She was actually going to hit the child. He called her name again, but she didn’t seem to hear him. She was panting, her breasts heaving, and she was focused entirely on the child. Magnus ran to her and grabbed her wrist just before the whip came down upon Lotti’s back, wresting the whip from her hand.

She was white-faced, her eyes nearly black with uncontrolled fury. It shocked him, this viciousness in her. He threw the whip away, grabbed his sister’s upper arms, and shook her hard. “What is the matter with you? Why would you strike a child? And with a whip! Answer me, damn you!”

Ingunn blinked at him, and he shook her again, but before she could answer, he heard Lotti making those raw mewling sounds and quickly turned to the child. She was running toward . . . He saw Zarabeth for the first time. She was on her knees, and was holding her gown up in front of her chest. Her hair was hanging down either side of her face, tangled and sweat-soaked. Her face was utterly without color.

He dropped Ingunn’s arms.

He felt something in him twist and burn. He watched Lotti throw her arms around Zarabeth’s neck, saw Zarabeth’s arms slowly come around the child’s back.

Something was very wrong. He slowed himself. He reached Zarabeth but found that words wouldn’t come to his tongue. He felt pain flow through him, raw and deep, for in that moment she fell to the side, taking Lotti with her, unconscious. He saw her back then, covered with purple welts from Ingunn’s whip, saw splotches of blood where the whip had broken her flesh. Tendrils of hair stuck to her back. For a moment he was sickened with the shock of it; then black rage rushed through him like a wild fire. That he had brought her here for this.

He looked up to see his aunt. “Fetch hot water, Eldrid, quickly, and soap and clean cloths.” Without another word, he lifted Zarabeth over his shoulder, careful not to touch her back. It was then that everyone seemed to become aware of him and of what had happened.

Ingunn yelled, “Leave her to the slaves! Let them take her to the slaves’ hut. She is an insolent female, nothing but a slut whom you have already bedded! Why do you care? You brought her here to be a slave and your whore! She will be well enough this night for your rutting. She is nothing, Magnus, nothing!”

Cyra tried to catch his sleeve. “The woman insulted your sister, she yelled at her and called her horrible names and would not do as Ingunn told her to do and—”

Magnus shook her off, knowing that if he touched her, he would likely kill her. He carried Zarabeth into the dark chamber and laid her on her stomach.

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