Fires of Winter Johanna Lindsey Read Online
Johanna Lindsey
Fires of Wintertime
To my husband, Ralph,
and my sons, Alfred, Joseph and Garret.
Contents
Cover
Championship Page
Dedication
1. A few miles inland from the westward coast of Wales,…
ii. Brenna swung open the heavy, solid-oak door, letting the midday…
3. The large hall was the brightest room in the manor…
4. Bulgar, on the eastern bend of the Volga River, was…
five. Brenna sabbatum in the center of her large bed polishing…
vi. The march to the coast was slow. It took ii…
7. The settlement was rough, to say the least. Ready back…
eight. Brenna was put in a pocket-sized boat resembling a canoe,…
9. The great Viking longship moved up the fjord like a…
10. Brenna was rudely awakened when Yarmille burst into the room.
11. Garrick sabbatum at the head of a long tabular array. His…
12. The sharp teeth of a nightmare woke Brenna with a…
13. A chill current of air coming in through the balcony door woke…
14. Since neither Yarmille nor Garrick was almost to tell her…
xv. Brenna braided her hair as she walked up the path…
16. A fortnight had passed since Brenna began to work at…
17. Garrick made his way to the slave quarters, a heart-searching…
eighteen. Brenna sat beyond the minor table from Garrick, her morning…
19. Garrick topped a small hill and rested the stallion at that place.
20. Brenna entered the cooking area tired and blurry-eyed, for she…
21. The first snowfall was long in coming, and did not…
22. Brenna entered the stable and rapidly airtight the large door…
23. Brenna stood earlier the fire in the cooking surface area with…
24. In all her years, Brenna wondered if she would e'er…
25. The dissonance of a fight woke Brenna from a sound…
26. Brenna stirred her small-scale fire and added more sticks before…
27. The huge rock house loomed up before them, bathed in…
28. Garrick turned fitfully on his bed and smashed a fist…
29. The concluding calendar month of the year was a bitterly cold…
xxx. The day of the solstice feast came sooner than Brenna…
31. Hugh joined Garrick, refilling both their tankards from the huge,…
32. The feast progressed, and with it, the usual outrageous antics.
33. The stars of early forenoon were sprinkled beyond the black…
34. Brenna woke to boisterous cheers and the audio of horses…
35. Brenna started the cooking burn down, then prepared a loaf of…
36. Every bit it turned out, the Viking called Cedric did not…
37. Garrick stood in Brenna's room, a candle on the mantel…
38. The icy water thrown on Brenna'due south face brought her back…
39. Information technology took a full twenty-four hour period to circular the lake. This…
twoscore. Erin did not dare disobey Garrick. He knew his young…
41. The enormity of Heloise's words and the seriousness of Brenna's…
42. The piddling business firm was perfectly suited to Brenna'southward needs, and…
43. Brenna spent a sleepless night filled with terrifying imaginings she…
44. In the ensuing weeks, Brenna passed her days no differently…
45. Anselm and Hugh returned from the due north, simply Garrick sailed…
46. For the first week after the babe's birth, every fourth dimension…
47. Jump came quickly and Brenna was told to prepare to…
48. The water of the fjord was choppy, the current swift.
49. "Is Selig asleep?"
The Pursuit
About the Author
Praise
Others Books by Johanna Lindsey
Copyright
About the Publisher
A few miles inland from the west declension of Wales, and to the left of Anglesey Isle, a pocket-size village was nestled in a tiny clearing. On a steep loma overlooking the hamlet stood an imposing estate. The gray stone building looked down on the village, almost like a mother guarding her children with a watchful center.
The village basked in the luxurious warmth of the midsummer dominicus. Non then the manor on the colina, which remained common cold and forbidding, even with the sun touching its harsh grey walls. Travelers passing through the countryside often had the same impression of coldness. Today was no different.
A stranger slowly found his way to the heart of the hamlet, keeping a wary eye on the manor. Merely soon the activity effectually him took the tall newcomer'due south attending abroad from the protecting mother on the hill. His unease gradually left him, and was replaced past a feeling that he was well-nigh to accept some long overdue good fortune. More than once he turned in a complete circumvolve, his hard eyes feasting on the peaceful tranquility, the dozen or so closely-spaced cottages, the children dashing here and at that place, playing their innocent games, and the women—ah, the women! He quickly spotted v or vi who were to his liking. They didn't even find him, equally they went about their everyday chores.
The stranger, his trousers gartered merely deplorably threadbare, with a filthy wolfskin serving as his drapery, could hardly believe his eyes. There was not a man in sight, non a single one. And the women, then many, and of all ages! Could he have stumbled on some ancient Amazon village? Only no, there were children, boys and girls alike. The men must be working in the fields somewhere to the eastward, for he had seen none on his mode.
"Tin I be of help, adept sir?"
Startled, the stranger jumped, and then swung effectually apace to face a girl with a bright, curious smile, whom he judged to have seen no less than 16 winters. She suited his tastes perfectly, with her neatly braided flaxen pilus and broad green eyes set in a cherubic, innocent face up. His eyes traveled down, but only for a second, so the girl would have no hint of his intentions, simply in that instant her overripe breasts, pressed hard against her chocolate-brown shift, and her broad, sturdy hips acquired an ache in his groin.
When the stranger did not reply, the daughter spoke again, cheerfully. "It has been many months since a traveler has come up our manner—not since the terminal of those from Anglesey Isle passed through on their search for new homes. Practice you come from Anglesey also?"
"Yea, 'tis non the same anymore," he finally answered. Oh, he could tell her of his woes if he was of a heed, but she would have her own shortly enough, if he had his way, and information technology was non a sympathetic ear that he was in need of. "Where are the men of your village? I do non even spy an old man whittling away his time."
The girl smiled sadly for just a moment. "As it happens, the former ones took the fever two winters by, and are no more than. Many young and erstwhile died that yr." And then her grinning brightened. "A wild boar was spotted this morn, and the men who remain have given chase. There will be a feast tonight, and you are welcome to join."
His curiosity prompted the man to ask, "Simply are in that location no fields to tend? Or is a wild boar more than important?"
The daughter giggled unabashed. "You must surely be a man from the sea, or you would know that the crops are planted in the spring and harvested in the autumn, with little to do 'atween."
A frown creased his haggard brow. "Then you await the men to return shortly?"
"Oh, nay, not if they tin help it," she laughed. "They will linger over the chase, to relish it more than. 'Tis not often a boar comes this shut."
The man'due south features relaxed somewhat, and his thin lips curled in a smiling. "What is your name, girl?"
"Enid," she replied hands.
"And have you a husband, Enid?"
She blushed prettily, her eyes lowered. "Nay, sir, I live with my begetter still."
>
"And he is with the others?"
Her dark-green eyes gleamed with laughter again. "He would not miss the chase!"
This is too practiced to exist true, the human being thought gleefully before he spoke again. "I accept traveled far and the morning sun is so warming, Enid. Might I rest a while in your home?"
For the get-go time she looked nervous. "I—I don't—"
"Only for a few minutes, Enid," he added quickly.
She thought for a moment. "I am sure my father would not mind," she replied, and turned to pb the way.
The dwelling she entered was minor indeed: only a unmarried room, with a makeshift wall separating 2 sleeping mats placed in a corner of the clay floor. A blackened stone hearth occupied one wall; two crude chairs and a table were placed before it. Ii exquisitely crafted chalices inlaid with semi-precious stones were on the table. They caught and held the man's centre. They were easily worth a small fortune; he could non understand how they might have constitute their way into this apprehensive cottage.
Enid watched the man curiously as he eyed the gifts she had received from the lord of the estate for her services gladly rendered. The alpine stranger was not handsome, simply neither was he repulsive. And although he obviously owned picayune of worth, he had a stiff back and could provide well for her as a hubby. She had lilliputian chance of finding a husband amidst her own people, for all those who were eligible had already tried her charms, and though they did not find her lacking, neither would they accept her to wife, knowing their friends had likewise tasted of her.
Enid smiled to herself as she developed the scheme. She would speak with her father on his return and lay her program earlier him. He was sympathetic to her plight, and longed for a son-in-law to aid him in the fields. Together they would coax the stranger to stay for a time. Then Enid would use her wiles to bring along the human's proposal. This time, yea, this fourth dimension she would have the marriage offset and the play subsequently. She would not add together another mistake to her long list.
"Would y'all have some ale for your thirst, good sir?" she asked sweetly, cartoon the homo's attention to her once more.
"Yea, 'twould exist most welcome," he replied, and waited patiently for her to set the cup in his hands.
The man eyed the open portal nervously, and seeing the thatched door beside information technology unhinged against the wall, he finished the ale speedily. Without a discussion, he moved to the door and set up information technology in identify, blocking out the morning sunday. The door was not made for protection, he could tell, merely merely to go along out the cold or the rut and, to suit his purpose, prying eyes.
"The morning grows hot," he offered in caption, and the girl accepted this, not in the least frightened.
"Would you accept food, sir? 'Twill not take long to prepare for y'all."
"Yea, you are kind," he answered, his thin lips turning up in a grateful grinning. Merely to himself he admitted the food could wait; his loins could not.
The daughter turned her dorsum on him and went to the hearth. In that moment he pulled a knife from beneath his tunic and slipped stealthily up behind her. Enid's brusk frame stiffened when the pocketknife touched her throat and the man's breast pressed into her back. She did not fear for her body, as well-nigh girls her historic period might, just for her life.
"Do not scream, Enid, or I will have to hurt you," the man said slowly, 1 paw cupping her rounded breast. "And anyone else who would come to your help. 'Tis a tumble I want, no more."
Enid choked back a sob, seeing her newly formed plans dissolve with his words. Such a brusque-lived dream—to take a married man at long final.
A little to the south of the village, a alone effigy hobbled forth through the trees, mumbling every pace of the way. The horse that had long since thrown its rider was nowhere to be seen, but still the youth turned and, raising a minor fist, cursed loudly.
"'Twill be a cold day before I have you dorsum, yous pampered nag!"
Pride was more bruised than the rear end on which the rider had landed, and with a manus pressed firmly against the offended surface area, the youth continued on to the village. Anticipating a place to rest, the youth raised a proud head and endured the curious stares of the villagers.
Ane adult female approached, and without voicing the obvious question—what had happened to the youth's horse—she said instead, "We have a visitor, Bren. Enid has given him welcome."
Cool gray eyes turned toward Enid'south cottage and and then dorsum to the woman. "Why did they wish privacy?"
The woman smiled knowingly. "You know Enid."
"Yea, but she does not requite her favors to strangers."
Without another discussion the youth, sword in hand, crossed the short altitude to Enid'due south cottage and moved the airtight door aside. It took a few moments for the silver-gray eyes to adjust to the darkened cottage, but then they lighted on the couple in the corner, unaware of the intrusion. The stranger was mounted atop Enid, thrusting his slim hips like a rutting boar.
At first the gray optics were fascinated, watching the mating of the two creatures, the deep plunging of the male between the spread thighs of the female, listening to the grunts and groans that drifted from the corner. But then the flash of silver defenseless the gray eyes, and like clouds warning of an approaching storm, the youth'due south optics darkened, drawn to the knife in the stranger's manus.
Without a second thought, the youth crossed the room with purposeful strides and raised sword, then skillfully cut into the stranger's backside. A shocked scream echoed through the cottage, and the human jumped up off the cowering Enid and scrambled away from his attacker.
Enid gasped when she saw the reason that the stranger had jumped upward. "Bren, what are you lot doing hither?"
The youth stood with legs astride and answered without emotion, "'Tis fortunate, I suppose, that the nag I call Willow threw me, or I would non have come up in fourth dimension to see justice done. He forced you, did he not?"
"Yea," Enid answered and could not finish the sobs of relief that shook her body.
"The daughter was not a virgin!" the stranger blurted out angrily, cupping both hands over his bleeding behind.
This was non the daughter's father, the human hands surmised, just just a boy, and a very young boy by the sound of his high-pitched vocalisation. The boy was clearly not of the village, for the youth's wealth was apparent from the richly embroidered pall covering the silverish cloth tunic which matched the angry eyes of the wearer. The sword that had and so accosted the stranger was like none he had always seen: a broadsword surely, but uncommonly thin and lightweight, with sparkling blue and cerise jewels encrusted on the hilt.
"That she was no virgin did not give you leave to take her. Yea, 'tis known that Enid is generous with her favors," the youth said, so added in a lower voice, "just only to those of her choosing. She bid you welcome, and you repaid her in this unspeakable manner. What shall be the punishment, Enid? Shall I sever his head and lay information technology at your feet, or perhaps that shriveled organ that stood so proud simply a moment ago?"
The man sputtered with outrage. "I'll cut out your heart for that, male child!"
Giggles came from a bevy of females who had gathered in the doorway upon hearing the scream. The naked homo's face up turned livid with rage. To add further to his humiliation, the youth's own tinkling laughter joined the others.
Then, to everyone'south surprise, Enid spoke indignantly. "Bren, you should non brand fun of him."
The laughter stopped, and the youth shot her a contemptuous wait. "Why, Enid? The stranger manifestly thinks he is a match for me. I, who speared my first wild boar when I was only ix, and killed 5 worthless scavengers with my father when they would do harm to your hamlet. I, who have held a sword in my paw since I could kickoff walk, who have been trained diligently for the seriousness of warfare. This ravager of women thinks he can cutting out my heart with that toy in his hand. Look at him! Tall though he may be, he is but a sniveling coward."
This last insult brought a roar of outrage from the human, and he jumped forward, knife in hand, arm raised, fully intending to comport out h
is earlier threat. But the youth had not boasted falsely and stepped aside with lithe grace. A slight twist of the arm drew a long streak of blood across the man's chest. This was followed past a booted foot to his already crimson behind.
"Mayhaps not a coward, but certainly a bungling oaf," the youth taunted as the man slammed into the opposite wall.
"Have you had enough, rapist?"
The pocketknife brutal from the man's paw when he hit the wall, merely he chop-chop grabbed it and charged over again. This time the youth's long blade cut skillfully from the left, and the man looked angrily at the perfectly formed 10 on his upper chest. The wounds were not deep, simply sufficed to cover his chest and lower torso in his own sticky blood.
"You lot inflict just scratches, male child," the man growled. "My blade, though 'tis modest, will all the same find a deadly marker!"
Since the opponents were at present only a pes autonomously, the man saw his chance, and swiftly went for the slim white throat of his antagonist. But the other stepped aside with the ease of a matador moving out of the path of a charging bull. The man's knife slashed through open infinite, and a second later information technology was struck from his paw with a cruel accident and clattered beyond the room, out of reach.
The stranger was left facing Enid, who glared at him without pity. "You fool! Bren was but toying with you."
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