Free Lord of Falcon Ridge by Catherine Coulter

liking, he will give you tothe men, then throw you overboard and claim an accident to his father, Olric. He doesn’t like you overmuch. He won’t ever forget how it was you who made him sicker than an asp biting the Christian devil.”
    â€œBut he needs me,” she said, wondering exactly how true that really was.
    â€œAye, but he doesn’t know it. He wants his father’s throne. He is tired of the restraints his father places on him. Ragnor is a man with a boy’s passions and a boy’s selfishness and greed. The Danelaw grows weaker. Soon the Saxons will conquer York, take all our lands, and there will be no more Viking kings, all will come under the kingdom of the Saxons. It is but a matter of time. When Olric dies, Ragnor won’t have the ability or the skill to keep the Saxons at bay.” He was silent for a good number of minutes, sitting cross-legged beside her now beneath the thick leather tarp. “I believe you could keep the Saxons from defeating the Danelaw.”
    â€œI? I am naught but a woman.”
    â€œThat is true. But there have been other women who were strong, warrior women who led men into battle and overcame the enemy.”
    â€œAye,” she said quietly. “I’ve been told stories about Boadicea, the queen of the Iceni. She fought bravely against the Romans, but she lost eventually, Kerek. She died, and thousands of warriors with her.”
    â€œMen followed her into battle. It is said her warriors killed seventy thousand Romans before they themselves were defeated and put to the sword.”
    â€œYou believe me another Boadicea?”
    She could feel his eyes on her in the darkness. He said, “You are still very young. It is too soon to tell. But I saw the cold disdain in your eyes for Ragnor. You spoke fiercely to him even knowing that he would hurt you. You didn’t cry or whimper. You showed no fear.”
    â€œThat doesn’t mean I am a warrior woman. That simply means that I am stupid.”
    â€œYou avenged yourself. You didn’t seek out a man to use for your revenge.”
    â€œIt was naught to grind up the malle leaves and the fist root.”
    â€œHow did you convince him to drink it?”
    She laughed. “He believed I would still let him bed me, though I had told him earlier he was goat offal and a river snake. He simply didn’t believe that a woman could ever mean what she said. Thus, when I smiled at him and offered him a ginger drink, he leered at me and drank it down. He didn’t become ill until late the following day. He didn’t realize what I had done.”
    â€œHe was sicker than a river snake tied into knots. The men laughed behind their hands.”
    â€œI am still a woman, Kerek,” she said. “I believed him, you see, truly believed that he loved me. No, I am no brave female to save anyone. I was nothing but a fool.”
    â€œHad you ever known another man before?”
    â€œNay, but still—”
    Kerek rose to stand in the opening. “I have come to know you in the past days. You will grow and learn. Ah, it begins to rain. The wind has suddenly risen. We will see if the navigator can truly sniff out the stars to keep us in the right direction.”
    â€œI would just as soon he ran us aground.”
    Kerek said quietly over his shoulder, “I would take you again for Ragnor. Know that I do it for the Viking Danelaw, not for that puffed-up little prince.”
    Chessa eased back down onto the mat, pulling the blanket to her chin. He believed her a warrior woman? Kerek was mad.
    Â 
    They left Rouen to sail up the Seine into the Channel with two warships and two trading vessels. Merrik had said, “We have soapstone bowls of fine quality and reindeer combs and beautiful armlets fashioned by Gyre the Dane. York is a fine trading center. We will gain much silver.” He grinned down at his wife. “Besides, I wish to find youa gown of scarlet, a color