Viking Warrior by Connie Mason

Author:Connie Mason [Mason, Connie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Historical, Medieval, Romance
ISBN: 0843957468
Google: XH3fbG7W5FYC
Amazon: B0081KT336
Barnesnoble: B0081KT336
Goodreads: 5305326
Publisher: Leisure
Published: 2008-01-02T10:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Wulf sat on the bench Borg had indicated and waited to see what would happen next. As the family gathered around Reyna, hugging her again and again, Wulf took note of his surroundings. It was a large hall, but he saw only two thralls, both women. A tall, blonde young woman caught his eye immediately. She appeared Nordic in looks, and he wondered if she was from his own country.

The lack of thralls appeared to confirm Maida’s words that the family had been forced to sell its thralls in order to survive after the raid. The hall itself was snug and warm but without the ornamentation and rich furnishings of Hagar’s hall.

The delicious smell of food coming from various iron pots hanging over the hearth made Wulf’s mouth water. He watched as the family members seated themselves around the table and wondered if they intended to starve him. It seemed not, for after the family had been served heaping bowls of savory stew and thick slices of bread, the blonde thrall carried a bowl of stew, a spoon, and a slice of bread spread with yellow butter to him and set them down on the bench beside him.

“Are you Norse?” the girl asked in a hushed voice.

“Aye, and so are you if I am not mistaken.”

“Aye, I was taken in a raid last summer and sold to Jarl Harald at the slave market in Rika. My name is Haley.”

“Have you been treated well, Haley?”

“Aye, but the work is hard. Once Harald buys more thralls, things will get easier.” She sighed. “Had the gods favored me, I would still be home with my parents and sisters. I was the only one of four sisters unlucky enough to be caught by the raiders.”

“Haley,” Borg called, “fetch us some ale. And fill a horn for our new thrall.”

Haley hurried off to do Borg’s bidding. Wulf dipped a hunk of bread into the stew and popped it in his mouth. The stew was as delicious as it smelled and he dug in with gusto. It was a plain but filling meal and Wulf was satisfied with the fare. It didn’t take a seer to know that the family had suffered reverses since the raid and he felt a pang of guilt. But at the time he had been too consumed with grief to care about the farmstead or its habitants.

Maida rose to help the thralls clear the table and put away the food. Wulf began to relax when he heard Maida say, “Reyna, tell your thrall to fetch water from the well. The water barrel is empty.”

Wulf met Reyna’s gaze. The challenge in his eyes collided with the determination in hers.

Reyna rose gracefully from the bench. “I will show him where to find the well. Follow me, Wulf.”

Wulf waited to see if Reyna’s brothers would intervene, and when they did not, he followed her out the door. The well was not in the center of the yard but behind one of the outbuildings.

“It

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.