By Love Enslaved (26 page)

When Erik arrived home, he swung down off Shadow and walked over to greet the women seated beneath the oak that shaded a good portion of the yard. With forced nonchalance he included Berit in the brief greeting he gave her mother. Then he bent down to kiss both Dana and Freya with his usual show of affection.

“As you can see, I have come to no harm,” he assured Freya with a wide grin.

Before Freya could repeat the cause of her unfounded hysteria, Dana offered her explanation for the stained kirtle. When Erik appeared puzzled, she rose gracefully and took his hand. “Come with me. I’ll show you the garment is an old one you no longer wear.” Just as she had earlier with Berit, Dana led him away from the others before he had a chance to object.

Once they had turned the corner of the house and were out of both sight and earshot, Erik pulled his lovely half sister to a halt. “It doesn’t matter what the others think, but I want the truth, Dana. I remember Brendan was wearing an old kirtle of mine the night the foal was born. He made quite a mess of it, as I recall, but he washed it and he’s worn it several times since.”

Because she knew Erik would recognize the garment in question, Dana didn’t even attempt to convince him it was another that had been found. Instead, she demanded the unquestioning loyalty she had always shown him. “You must accept the tale I told as the truth, Erik, even though you know that it isn’t. I have done all that I can to help you and Berit. What I ask in return is your silence.”

Erik frowned slightly as he tried to make sense of her request, but the obvious conclusion was so outlandish he refused to believe it. “If Brendan was here and left his kirtle behind, he must have come to see a woman. That he is fascinated with you is plain whenever you two are together, but surely you would never sneak out to the stable to meet a thrall.” He paused then, waiting for her to confirm that assumption, but Dana did no more than lift her chin proudly.

“Dana!” he gasped, horrified to realize the impossible was true.

Dana would not reveal that Brendan had threatened Erik’s chance for happiness with Berit, nor would she excuse her behavior by admitting she found the thrall’s affection irresistible. That she had disillusioned Erik completely was obvious in his pained glance, but she was far more disappointed in herself.

“If you despise me for this, it will break my heart,” she said softly. “But even if you do, you must keep my secret.”

In an attempt to control his frustrated rage, Erik turned away for a moment, but he swiftly realized Brendan was the one who deserved his anger, not the half sister who had shown him so much love. Turning back toward her, he reached out to draw her into his arms. “Do you want him dead?”

Erik’s embrace was warm and comforting, nothing like Brendan’s demanding hold. “No, I don’t want him to come to any harm. I hope to set him free and send him home by the summer’s end. We can forget that he ever existed then.”

Erik doubted such forgetfulness would be possible where Brendan was concerned, but he gave Dana a fond squeeze before releasing her. “If that is what you want, then I’ll help you all I can. But, Dana, I could never despise you.”

Grateful for that sweet promise, Dana kissed his cheek, then again took his hand. “Let’s go back to the others. Berit was as worried about you as Mother. Won’t you stay with us awhile before you leave?”

At the mention of Berit’s name, Erik began to smile. “For a little while, yes. I will enjoy that as much as she will.”

As they rounded the corner of the house, they saw the three women they had left behind talking excitedly with one of the shepherds, and curious to learn what had happened, they hurried to join them.

Sighting Erik, Grena immediately gave him a harsh command. “My boys have taken Thora out in a boat. They’ve gone too far, and you’ll have to go out and get them.”

Erik shrugged helplessly as he looked toward Freya for advice. “I don’t know how to sail.”

“Soren does,” Dana interjected quickly. “You go and get him and any of the men who are helping with your house who can sail, and we’ll wait down by the docks. With any luck, the children will be back before you return.”

Erik wasted no time dashing for his horse, but by the time Dana, Berit, and their mothers had walked down to the docks, the small boat the children had taken was no longer in sight. Grena began to complain bitterly about the wildness of her twins, but Dana ignored her and offered her mother what comfort she could. The day had begun so poorly, she could not help but be as terrified as Freya about how it might end.

Chapter Thirteen

Dana was not at all surprised to see Brendan among the half-dozen men returning with Erik and Soren. She knew him well enough to be convinced that, if there were an adventure to be had, he would be the first to volunteer.

“Do you know how to sail?” she asked with what she hoped would pass for merely the natural curiosity any mistress would have about a thrall’s talents.

Brendan rested his hands on his hips and flashed a cocky grin as he replied, “I had no choice about joining a Norse pirate’s crew, but had I not swiftly learned how to sail, I’d not be alive today. Tell your mother and aunt not to worry. We’ll find their children and return them home safely.”

Haakon owned three knarr, the deep-sea vessels used for trading. On his present voyage he had captained one, while Svien and Jørn had each been in command of one of the others. The boats he had left behind were far smaller craft requiring only a few men to sail or row, and the missing children had taken one of those.

Dana found it far easier to survey the boats tied to the dock than to calmly ignore Brendan’s wicked grin, but she didn’t want him to think he was in charge of the rescue mission just because Erik lacked a captain’s skills. “Soren is a fine sailor, and I’m confident he can find Thora and our cousins. Give him all the help you can.”

The aloofness of Dana’s manner as she delivered what he considered a totally unnecessary command didn’t please Brendan, but he knew, with her mother and aunt standing nearby, she dared not speak to him in a personal fashion. The problem was, he doubted she even wanted to display the affection he craved. As they made ready to depart, he would have liked to have kissed her good-bye and whispered an enticing suggestion or two so she would be looking forward to his return, but instead he forced himself to hold his tongue and turn away.

He followed Erik into the boat Soren had chosen, and helped the boy raise the single square sail. While building Erik’s house, he had been surprised to find that Soren worked as hard as any of the men, but because of the way they had met, they had continued to avoid each other. That tactic was impossible in the close confines of a boat, but as Brendan took a place at the starboard rail, he hoped their rescue voyage would be too short to strain the uneasy truce that existed between them.

Soren grabbed the tiller, and as soon as the sail billowed out, the sleek craft pulled away from the dock. As on the previous day, Brendan could feel the tingling heat of Dana’s glance, and he could not resist turning for a lingering look at her. The gentle breeze off the water blew her long tresses about her shoulders, tangling the ends of the fiery curls just as he knew making love had. She was standing with her mother, comforting her with the sympathetic gestures he longed to receive himself, and he hoped they would have another chance to be alone together soon.

As he turned back to scan the horizons for a sign of the children’s boat, Brendan found Erik had taken the place in front of him. The violet-eyed Dane was regarding him with so cold a glance that even though they had had no time to talk before beginning the voyage, Brendan was certain Erik knew about Dana and him. There was simply no other explanation for the hate-filled fury of the man’s glance, but a boat was no place for another of their brawls, and he took care not to incite one. Instead, he chose the far safer subject of sailing. That Haakon had not taught Erik to master that skill as he had his other two sons disgusted him, but it was a problem that could easily be remedied.

“Sailing isn’t difficult,” he offered with an inviting smile. “If you’ve had no time to learn, I can teach you.”

“I have no wish to learn anything from you,” Erik responded with bitterly edged sarcasm.

The insult hurt more than Brendan had thought possible, for it clearly showed the mutual respect he and Erik had been gradually forming was at an end. Even if they had not shared the warmest of friendships, he had been shown more consideration than most thralls ever received from a master. That he had threatened to betray Erik by revealing his love affair with Berit to Grena now struck Brendan as foolhardy in the extreme.

He had never been the type to carry tales, and that threat had merely been a desperate ploy to win Dana’s acceptance of the affection he had been determined to show her. He had never expected to have to carry through on it. When she had been late for their rendezvous, he had been too angry to realize what he was doing, but he knew by the time he had ridden to Grena’s his temper would have cooled sufficiently to allow him to think more clearly. Erik had made his life not merely tolerable, but often pleasant, and not even a Dane deserved to have his kindness repaid with treachery.

How much had Dana told her half brother? Brendan wondered. Whatever it had been was obviously damning enough, and he couldn’t help but question Erik’s reasons for letting him on board the boat. Did Erik plan to shove him over the side and watch him drown? Brendan was confident he was too strong a swimmer for that. There were several islands nearby, so he was certain he could reach one even if he could not return to the shore of Fyn. No, he would not drown, not unless he had a knife wound or two to slow him down, and from the violence glowing in Erik’s glance, that was a distinct possibility.

“We must think only of finding the children now,” Brendan suggested firmly. “We can settle our differences later,”

Even staring at the handsome Celt, Erik found it impossible to believe Dana could care for him. He was not only a thrall, but as arrogant and hot-tempered as any of the young men who had courted her without success. From what he had seen, Brendan possessed every trait he knew his beloved half sister abhorred in a man. How could they have become lovers? She had not been battered and bruised, so he knew she had not been forced to submit to the lust Brendan had never made any effort to conceal. She had to have been willing, but why? That was the question that tormented him. Why had Dana wanted this man when he was the worst choice she could ever make?

“Is it agreed?” Brendan prompted when Erik did not respond.

“Agreed,” Erik replied, but his expression was still filled with loathing.

While Brendan could force aside thoughts of what would surely be their worst confrontation yet, he could not dismiss Dana from his mind so easily. It was as though she had cast a spell on him, for he was filled with the same gnawing pangs of desire as he had been before dawn, when he had carried her into the woods on Sky Dancer’s back.

There was no sign of the boat the children had taken yet, but Brendan hoped they would overtake it soon. Surely Dana would be impressed if he was somehow instrumental in Thora’s rescue. With that hope in mind, the sharp-eyed Celt doubled his efforts to be the first to sight the lost children.

Erik’s thoughts were also focused on his half sister and cousins, for he knew Grena would be favorably impressed if he was the one who brought her twins home safely. Not that one brave deed would be enough to sway the woman’s feelings in his favor, but it would be a start. The problem was, they had not been on the water long and already he was beginning to feel seasick. He couldn’t let that news get back to Grena, though, as she would only laugh at him and think him a fool for not being as at home on the sea as her sons were.

Despite a brave effort, Erik could not hide his queasy stomach for long, but when he leaned over the side so as not to vomit in the boat, Brendan grabbed for the back of his kirtle to make certain he did not fall overboard. That made Erik feel all the worse for he didn’t want to admit he needed help from anyone.

“Breathe as deeply as you can,” Brendan advised the suddenly pale young man. “It will help to clear your head.”

Erik jerked free of the Celt’s hold the moment he had straightened up. He glanced at the boat’s other occupants and was relieved to see all were so busy keeping a watch for the children that none had noticed how poor a sailor he was. He was badly embarrassed, however, and doubted he would feel well enough to make any contribution to the rescue effort.

“Sailing takes awhile to get used to,” Brendan offered sympathetically. “And in foul weather nearly everyone gets sick. I’ll wager even Haakon knows exactly how you feel.”

At the mention of his father’s name, Erik was sorely tempted to slam his fist down Brendan’s throat, but he didn’t feel up to making the attempt. He just propped himself up against the rail and hoped they would be able to return home before he made a complete fool of himself. When one of the field hands on the port side of the boat began to shout that he had sighted what might be the children’s boat, Erik breathed a deep sigh of relief.

Thora and the twins had been playing down by the docks when the thought of going for a boat ride had captured their imaginations. Borrowing Haakon’s smallest craft, the boys had taken the oars while Thora had simply sat in the bow and enjoyed the fun. The trio was laughing happily, and before they realized what had happened, the swiftly flowing current had earned them out of sight of the low coastline of Fyn.