Free The Viking's Witch by Kelli Wilkins Page B

shook his head. “Do not think of it. It cannot harm you.”
    “How can I not think of it? When I came upon it, it was moaning and making the most dreadful sounds …”
    “I’m so sorry you witnessed that.”
    “Pray tell me. What is it? I kin understand it if you tell me what it is.”
    He licked his lips and glanced at her. Odaria was a strong woman, and after everything that had happened to her today, she deserved to know the truth. “We call it a blood eagle.”
    “A what? I’ve never heard of such a bird. What sort of creatures do you have in your land that something so horrible—”
    “It was not a creature from our land.” He clasped her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “It was a man.” He looked away. “One of your villagers.”
    Odaria gasped and yanked her hand from his. “A man? How could that be?”
    He stood and placed the silver cup on the chest of drawers. Although he had great courage in battle, he faltered whenever it came time to talk to a woman. Even when he’d been married, he had never fully understood females. One moment they acted helpless and frail. Then in the blink of an eye, they could tear out your throat.
    He kept his back to Odaria. “After I brought you back here, I found Karnik. He told me that a man had escaped the nets and tried to kill one of our men. Karnik had him punished to set an example for the others.”
    “By the stars … Your men are demons.”
    A heavy silence hung between them. He wracked his mind for something to say that might ease the tension. He didn’t want Odaria to hate him for something Karnik had done.
    “If there is anyone from the village, friends or family you wish spared, I can have them released from the nets and taken elsewhere.” He scratched his chin. “It is the least I can do for you.”
    “Nay. There is no one.”
    He crossed the room and stood near the bed. “Surely you have friends, brothers, sisters, a young man you fancy …”
    Odaria’s mouth dropped open. “Are you daft? Last night the whole lot of ’em got together to burn me alive. I shall spare them nothing. Turn them all into blood eagles. ’Tis what they deserve.”
    He cursed to himself. Dammit! How could he have forgotten her troubles with the villagers? “Is there not anyone? A relative—”
    “Me mother was the only one who cared for me, and”—Odaria bit her bottom lip—“she’s gone.”
    “Gone? What do you mean, gone? Where has she gone? Why did she leave you behind? Did she—”
    “Stop asking me foolish questions.”
    He heard a loud clunk and looked behind him. The silver cup he had placed on the chest of drawers was lying on the floor near the door. He stared at it for a second, puzzled. How had it gotten all the way over there? He hadn’t set it near the edge where it could topple over.
    “I’m sorry,” Odaria said, wiping her eyes with the bedclothes. “But all I want is to wake up in me cottage and have all this be nothing but a bad dream.” She clutched his arm. “Pray forgive me for what I did downstairs. I didna mean to make you angry with me. Don’t let those men hurt me. Don’t let them turn me into a blood eagle.”
    “ Hvat ?” In the name of Odin, is that what she thought would happen to her? “ Neinn , Odaria, no one shall hurt you. I will not let them.”
    “But you are one of them. You sailed here with the others. They are your friends.”
    He shook his head. “I am not like Karnik’s men. Even years ago when I fara-a-viking , I was never as cruel as they are. Three summers ago, I gave up traveling and raiding. I only sailed here with them as a favor to my uncle. I need to find Orvind. When I leave here, I’m going home for good. I shall not venture away again.”
    “But you were going to sell me because of what I did.”
    “Never. Not for all the treasures in the world. You are too precious to me. I promise I shall bring you home with me, as we agreed.”
    Odaria looked down, and he continued. “I acted like an