The Viking's Woman by Heather Graham

Author:Heather Graham [Graham, Heather]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-43470-8
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2010-09-21T16:00:00+00:00

11

It had been good to come home.

So many people near and dear to her were gone now, lost in the senseless battle with Eric’s men. And still it was good simply to come home, to come to her own manor.

Nothing within her house had been touched, and in the time since she had fled the coast, much that had been damaged had been rebuilt.

And coming home, she had found Adela at last.

Her mother’s cousin, Adela was nearing sixty. She was a sprightly lady with a keen eye and a quick wit, and she had been with Rhiannon for years. She had been hiding out in the household of one of the tenant farmers until Rhiannon had come home, but once Adela had seen Rhiannon’s return and the careful, quiet respect given her by the Vikings left in charge, she had dared to venture to the manor. There, Rhiannon had laughed and cried and hugged her, and she was now reinstalled in her own room.

“Peter and his family were quite good, and they took a grave risk in shielding me!” Adela told her sagely, glad to dress again in her own clothing after she had bathed and stretched out on her large rope bed with the fine down mattress. “But, oh, what a place! Wee little ones everywhere, and a pile of straw and a dusty blanket upon the floor. Oh, my dear, I do tell you, my aching arse! Ah, but I do go on! What of you, my love?”

The question had been asked so tenderly that Rhiannon had taken great care with her reply.

“I’m fine. I—I fled from here to Alfred, and then, and then Alfred came here—”

“I thought that the king had come!” Adela said. “But I didn’t dare come out in case he hadn’t. That blond giant made a quick stop to any of his men abusing the people, but I didn’t know what he might think about kin to the lady of the manor! So now, tell me more, how have you managed to come back?”

“I married the blond giant,” Rhiannon told her quietly.

“Oh!” Adela said, stunned. “Oh, of course. But what of Rowan?”

“Well,” Rhiannon said, trying to smile, trying very desperately to find a bit of humor to offer Adela, “I believe this means that my marriage to Rowan is off.”

“Oh, my dear child!” Adela clucked, her soft blue eyes very tender upon the girl. Then she, too, managed to smile brightly. “Ah, well, the Viking is quite a magnificent man! You should have heard his voice ringing with command—”

“I’ve heard it ring with command, thank you.”

“A fierce fighter, yes, but a man of mercy.”

“Mercy!” Rhiannon exclaimed.

Adela nodded gravely. “Once the battle was done, he would allow none to be harmed. Oh, my dear Rhiannon! Are you suffering so very much, then?”

“Of course not,” Rhiannon lied. “The king requested that I marry, and I have done so. This is my land and these are my people, no matter what the Viking may think. I will not relinquish what is mine.

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