Free Maidensong by Mia Marlowe Page B

chest constrict strangely. She shook herself to ward off the unwanted sensations. It puzzled her that her body could react so independently from the wishes of her head. Her lips didn’t recognize Bjorn as the enemy. The kiss had been a mistake. Now that she knew how crafty he was, she’d be doubly wary.
      “Where are we going?” she asked. “I was hoping you would let me see how my brother fares today. ”
      “Today we ride up the mountain,” Bjorn said. “And your brother is already on his way there. I’ll make sure you see him.”
      “ Are you sure I’ll not be missed here?” Rika asked archly. “Perhaps you should confer with Lady Astryd. There may yet be a privy somewhere I haven’t scrubbed.”
      “I’ve already spoken to Astryd.” Bjorn popped a pinch of the cheese into his mouth. “You’ll be scrub bing no more privies. The skald of Sogna shouldn’t be wasted on drudge work. From now on, you’ll attend me, day and night.”
      “I might’ve preferred the privies,” she muttered as she fastened the buckle on her new leather boot.
      They crossed the jarl’s compound to the stables. There they mounted a matched pair of chestnut geld ings and plodded out of the settlement, past the iron worker’s and tanner’s sheds, past the lush cultivated lands and up a narrow trail into a fragrant pine forest.
      The air was crisp, and Rika tugged at the brown woolen cloak Bjorn had draped over her shoulders.
      Several tree trunks they passed had been gnarled by wind and extreme age, shaping them into oddly human figures. With knotholes for eyes and gaping mouths unevenly bearded with moss, they were trolls in the wood, indeed. A light wind ruffled through the trees, setting them swaying in a macabre dance. Rika decided she’d rather not be in this wood by moonlight.
      “ Where are you taking me?” Snow-kissed air washed down from the high summit, and she pulled her cloak tighter.
      “To the new fields,” Bjorn said, a heart-stopping smile on his lips. The sunlight glinted blue highlights on his dark hair. When he went out of his way to charm, she had to admit Bjorn was devastatingly appealing.
      So must Loki appear when that shape-shifting godling has a fool to bedevil, Rika reminded herself. She tore her gaze from her captor, trying to ignore the way her insides tightened with excitement.
      Bjorn gestured up the trail. “There’s a nice level spot up there. Once we clear the trees and pull up the roots, we’ll double our tillable soil. We can plant more barley and rye. There are more people living in Sognefjord now than ever in memory. And people need to eat.”
      “But why do I need to see it?”
      “The extra tillable land is important to the whole settlement,” Bjorn said. “I thought skalds were inter ested in the lives of the people, not just in entertaining them.” When she gave a grudging nod, he continued. “ Anyway, it’s also important to me.”
      “And why should that interest me in the least?” she snapped back at him, wishing she could drive his kiss from her mind.
      “Because I wish you to know it whether it interests you or no,” he said, his dark eyes narrowing at her. Then he looked around and inhaled deeply. “ The land gives us all we need if we care for it. Rika, I brought you here to show you the things that mean something to me. How else can I persuade you that I am not the ogre you think me?”
      “ How indeed?” She glow ered at him with her best frown, the one that’d sent several would-be swains in far-flung settlements scurrying back to their local sweethearts. “I’ll never forget that you are responsible for my father’s death . You waste your time, Bjorn the Black.”
      “It’s mine to waste,” he said with deceptive light ness. “But when I kissed you last night, I did think you were almost of a mind to forgive me for a bit.”
      Heat surged into her cheeks. He had felt it then, that brief flicker of a moment