Free Viking: Legends of the North: A Limited Edition Boxed Set by Tanya Anne Crosby, Miriam Minger, Shelly Thacker, Glynnis Campbell Page A

Viking prisoner, however, called out, “Is it my men?”
    She didn’t answer him. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. Wheeling immediately with her blade drawn and her heart racing, she faced the oncoming threat.
    But it wasn’t his men. It was her neighbor, the one who’d given her the sheep. She lowered her shoulders in relief. While she watched the man make his way toward her, she saw that he wielded, not a sword, but a spade.
    “Erik!” Brandr called out suddenly from behind her. “Gunnarr!”
    Her eyes widened. Shite! She couldn’t let her neighbor find the Northman.
    She whipped her head around and hissed at him. “Hush! It’s not your men!”
    The last thing she saw before she lunged for the door, slamming it shut, was the perplexed furrow between the Viking’s brows.
    Brandr bellowed out a curse. Unfortunately, he startled the little girl, who now looked as if she might burst into tears.
    “Shh, Kimmie. I’m sorry,” he soothed. “It’s all right.”
    But he wasn’t so sure. He wished the woman hadn’t slammed the door between them. If it wasn’t his men out there, who was it? Thieves? Murderers? Though he realized it was completely contrary to reason at the moment—Avril was his enemy, after all—his instinct to protect women rose to the surface, overriding everything else. Whoever was out there evidently posed a threat to her. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have pushed Kimbery into the cottage.
    He had to do something about it.
    Kimbery’s chin was trembling, and the wooden sword drooped in her grasp. “But Mama…”
    “Hush, Kimmie,” he coaxed. “It’s all right. Shh.”
    “I have to help Mama fight,” she decided, starting for the door.
    “Nay!” She flinched at his sharp voice. “Nay, sweetheart,” he said more softly. “Your mama wants you to stay here, to stay quiet. That’s why she closed the door.”
    Yet even as he said the words, he had to wonder at the woman’s judgment. Why hadn’t she rushed inside as well and barred the door? What made her think she could handle the threat? The fool woman was going to get herself killed.
    Hell, he thought as he strained against the leather collar, he couldn’t stand the thought of a woman facing danger alone while he sat helpless. If only he could get loose, he could chase the intruders off.
    He glanced at the little girl. Maybe he could get loose.
    “Kimmie,” he said, “if you help me, I can help your mama.”
    She looked skeptically at him.
    “I need you to unbuckle my collar. Do you think you can do that? Do you think you can—“
    “Mama said I’m not supposed to go near you.”
    Brandr bit back an oath. “But she needs my help. I’m big and strong, and I can fight—“
    “ I’m strong,” she said. “Mama said so.”
    He growled in frustration, frightening the little girl again. She backed toward the door once more.
    His eyes widened. “Nay, nay, nay, nay, nay.” He had to keep her inside. The last thing he needed was to have both women out of his sight. “Kimmie, nay, Kimmie,” he said urgently as her small hand touched the latch. “Come away from the door. Please. I’ll…” He searched his memory. What would have convinced his own daughter to stay? “I’ll tell you another story.”
    She hesitated.
    “Aye, come sit by the fire, and I’ll tell you a story about…about Muspell, the land of the Fire Giants.”
    She pursed her lips.
    “And Niflheim, where the Frost Giants live,” he added.
    She lifted her brows.
    “And Audhumia, the giant cow.”
    “Giant cow?”
    “Aye. The giant cow who licked the gods to life.”
    She let go of the latch and walked to the hearth, and he heaved a sigh of relief. He might not be able to rescue Avril, but at least he could keep her daughter safe.
    Kimbery sat cross-legged with her sword across her lap, and he began a story he’d told often to his children—the story of the world’s creation. Meanwhile, he strained to hear what was happening outside, to no