Free The Viking Takes a Knight by Sandra Hill Page A

After Katherine went off with the steward to settle in two sleep bowers, Ingrith took her missive outside to the herb garden where there was a bench on which to sit.
    My dearest Ingrith,
    I hope all is well with you at Hawk’s Lair.
    Commander Loncaster was here today, looking for the boy. And you. From here, he was going to your sister’s home at Hawkshire.
    If you are able to get to Jorvik without detection, Eirik will provide a longship to take you and your charges to your father’s home in the Norselands.
    Otherwise, I would suggest that you pretend an attachment to my son as a discouragement to Loncaster’s suit.
    And, above all, hide Henry as best you can.
    God be with you.
Eadyth of Ravenshire
    An attachment to John? Holy Thor! John would fall over laughing. He had already made it more than clear he would never wed…or have children. Besides, compared to his other women…if the beautiful Joanna was an indication…Ingrith was not even in the competition.
    Even worse, she suspected that Lady Eadythhad suggested the same to John in the missive addressed to him. She was tempted to destroy it, but only for a moment. Her perfidy did not stretch that far.
    Oh, nay! There is something even worse , she realized. John would have to be told about Henry.
    Should she wait until he came back? Or go find him now?
    While she still had the courage, she decided she’d best unburden herself of the true reason for her visit. Knowing John, she might very well be the one plopped onto a swarming beehive.
    She started to walk in the direction John and the others had headed. After a short while, she met up with the entire group, except for John, riding in the wagons.
    â€œHe told me and Bolthor to go back to the keep and help train his troops,” Hamr said.
    â€œHe said bad words when Breaca chased Signe into the flower beds,” Godwyn disclosed. “Didst know that flowers have beds? Ha, ha, ha!”
    â€œHe glared at Kavil when he swatted at a swarm of bees,” Ubbi told her. “What did the troll expect?”
    â€œThere is a cold repast awaiting you all if you are still hungry.” She’d noticed that the food basket was empty. “Oh, and I forgot. Bolthor, your wife and children have arrived.”
    At first, the skald looked happy. Then worry furrowed his brow. “Is she still angry?”
    â€œI think, if you give her a sincere apology, she is ready to forgive you,” Ingrith said with a smile.
    It took more time than she’d expected to find John where he was tending one of his hives. He wore a loose-woven, almost transparent cloth, covering him from head to toe, except for the openings at his eyes, nose, and mouth. Not to mention slits where his hands could emerge, when needed.
    Thus covered, his reaction to her coming for him was hidden. “What now?” he griped.
    Not so hidden! “I need to talk with you. There is news.”
    â€œDo not come closer without protection,” he warned.
    She stepped back a few paces.
    â€œYou could not wait until I returned?”
    â€œDon’t be such a grump.”
    He chuckled.
    â€œWhat are you doing?”
    â€œI separated one hive from another, which had become overcrowded, and brought it here. I’m checking to see if they thrive.”
    â€œThat is what Kavil requested that you do, is it not?”
    He nodded. “But it needed to be done.”
    â€œYou have to know that Kavil has had a very tragic past.” She explained to him how the boy had been sexually abused and how he usually was frightened around men.
    John swore under his breath, something about bloody sodomites and cutting off private parts.
    That was too serious a subject. She needed to soften him a bit before she gave him her news. “And those fields of flowers…it appears as if they’re all the same flower.”
    â€œThey are. I try to situate the hives as far apart as possible so that I’m cultivating a