Viking's Love: A Viking time travel romance by Mariah Stone

Author:Mariah Stone [Stone, Mariah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stone Publishing B.V.
Published: 2023-05-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

“No.”

Kolbjorn’s voice hit Rachel like a slap across the face.

No? Just no? After everything she’d said, everything she’d offered?

She couldn’t give him more. She couldn’t say anything that would change his mind. He’d almost said yes, she’d seen it in his eyes, and both hope and dread had bloomed and fought inside her. Hope for her mother. Dread of separating from him.

When she had first seen him, she’d thought he was a rock. Now, she knew that with his strength and solidity came extreme stubbornness. It was freaking impossible to change his mind.

And his answer confirmed her biggest fear. She was falling for him, and he would never choose her. He’d destroy her. She had to protect herself before it was too late.

“You know what, Kolbjorn? You want to be your father’s real son? The jarl’s son, huh? So that he’ll approve of you and let you make important decisions with him, and so that you’ll become the next jarl? You are so fixated on your principles, on doing anything to please your father, that you can’t even bend a little to do what’s best for you. You don’t see that he’s using you like a dog! Because you are like a dog—you don’t have your own rules; you live by your master’s, your father’s!”

Kolbjorn’s face began to redden, and she knew she’d struck a nerve.

“Yeah. Exactly. You think that the way to please your father is by following his every command? By sacrificing everything that you are so that he’ll love you and take you in? He knows that no matter what he does, you’ll always be there for him! He trained you well.”

“Shut up.”

“Shut up? What, afraid of the truth? Let’s say he accepts you as his heir, and you become the jarl. How do you plan to be a leader if everything is about honor for you? What do you do if someone threatens you with war, huh, Kolbjorn? It’s just like in my world. Responding like a rigid soldier, with violence, is not always the best answer for your people. That’s great for warriors—who’ll most likely get themselves killed anyway. But for leaders, honor is a tool. And if you don’t understand that, then you are nothing more than an instrument, there to be used and discarded at your father’s will.”

“You don’t know anything. You are an outlander from a different time.”

“No? Well, maybe not. But I do know one thing. I’d give anything to save my mother. Anything. As you see, I am ready to steal and travel through time and offer things I never thought I would—like weapons. But her life depends on me, and there’s a deadline on that. Nothing you do for your father is ever enough. And it never will be. When are you going to stop living by your father’s rules and start living by your own?”

Kolbjorn was white now, from rage. Oh no, she’d overdone it.

“You’d give anything for your mother?” he said. “And where is this leading you? First you took the golden spindle from three old women.

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.