A Heart of Fire by Kerri M. Patterson Page B

an ale horn, he smiled disarmingly.
    "'Tis
not what I did to her," he said. "But what she did to herself."
He glanced down his body then, holding his arms aloft. "Look at what she
did to me," he said.
    Others
in the hall laughed at his jest, but Finna snorted and cast him a scathing
look, which he met as he tipped his ale horn to his lips and drank, daring her
with his cool blue eyes over the rim of the horn.
    Finna
shook her head at him.
    He
would not get away with this for long. If she were to stay here, others would
learn the truth of his uncouthness. She would personally see to it.
    "You
are to the bathhouse, methinks," Surguilde said to Valdrik, less of a
suggestion than a command. She turned to Finna, brushing a gentle hand over her
daughter's hair. "I am certain you wish to rest after your journey."
    "Aye."
Finna hesitantly slipped one hand into the woman's.
    Surguilde's
touch was warm and soft as she pulled her along from the room. Finna's heart
gave a lurch again, struck by the tenderness. Dare she believe this? After all,
why would they make such things up?
    ****
    "You
deceived me," Valdrik said reprovingly when the women had gone and the hall
returned to normal. Though no great loss pained him at finding he had not been
promised Geera as he had thought, the way his Jarl had played him angered him.
    He
could not possibly wed Finna. She was wild and hardened. The woman would rather
slit his throat in his sleep than share his bed and tend his hearth. If he had to wed to gain what he desired, he
wished a compliant, desirable woman for a wife. Not a heathen sent from hell to
torment him.
    Hadarr
turned his attention away from his daughter ascending the stairs with her
mother, tilting his chin to look down his nose at Valdrik in a cursory way. A
hint of humor danced in his eyes. "Perhaps," he said and turned
toward his seat, holding his arm out as a gesture for Valdrik to sit, too.
    Valdrik,
though his veins throbbed with anger, took the seat next to his Jarl. He was
more annoyed than anything. He loved his new people dearly, perhaps as dearly
as he had loved those he lost. He would do anything for them. Almost anything.
    He
glowered and clinched his fist.
    But
take Finna as his woman?
    He
shuddered at the thought.
    "Geera
would have made you a fine wife," Hadarr said. "She is of age and is
a kindhearted young woman more beautiful than any other here." He shrugged
thoughtfully. "That was, before Finna returned. Methinks they are well
matched in beauty, though beauty is only judged by one’s own eye. Geera is
biddable and gentle as I well know you admired her for. But," Hadarr
looked sidelong at Valdrik, "you would have become bored with her far too
soon. Geera deserves a man who will never lose interest in her tender
nature."
    Valdrik's
head whipped to his Jarl. "That is not true," he protested.
    "Aye,
it is." Hadarr turned back around and took up his ale. He drank long from
the horn before he sat it aside again. "Trust a man who has been married
to the same woman for a score of years. A husband and wife must balance one
another in all things or you shall never find happiness. She must soothe you
whilst you fire her blood.
    "Why
do you think I have put you off for so long? I desired you to take my place
when I am gone because I feel you will be as good a Jarl as I ever was, maybe
better. Yet, I failed to find a way to make that happen without dooming my
youngest daughter to a joining she would eventually be unhappy in." He
paused and looked back to Valdrik. "But now, I have my eldest daughter
returned to me, and I plan never to lose her again. Finna seems full of spirit.
You need a woman like her to keep you on your toes, and methinks she needs a
firm man with a gentle hand."
    "I
stay on my toes just fine, Jarl. I beg you, do not saddle me with that
woman." Valdrik cast a blank but icy glare across the room where Finna had
disappeared, leaving a trail of gossiping thralls in her wake.
    Hadarr
lifted his brows. "Valdrik,