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

avail. The little girl, fascinated by the tale, edged closer and closer to him. Eventually, despite her mother’s stern orders, she ended up half-draped across his lap.

Chapter 7

     
    Avril thought she must be mad, covering for the Northman. Her neighbor said he’d found pieces of a Viking ship. He’d come to warn her to be watchful, assuring her in manly tones that he was on the hunt for the vermin who belonged to it, hefting up his spade as proof.
    She should have turned the Viking over to him then and there. It certainly would have made her life easier. Brandr would have been out of her house, away from her daughter, off of her shoulders.
    But she couldn’t bear the thought of him being beaten to death with a spade, which was doubtless what her neighbor intended.
    So she told the man an outright lie, saying she’d seen no sign of Northmen, but she’d be sure to alert him if she did. Thanking him for his concern, she smiled stiffly until he was out of sight.
    “Brilliant,” she muttered to herself. “Now I’m harboring an outlaw.”
    She pushed open the cottage door, cursing herself for a fool, and froze when she saw the scene before her.
    She couldn’t draw breath. Mother of God, she was a fool! While she’d been lying to protect him, the crafty Viking had enticed her daughter onto his lap. Kimbery was sprawled across his thighs like a lovesick pup. Was this the thanks she got for saving Brandr’s worthless hide?
    “Mama!” Kimbery cried, jumping up and running to her, hugging her about the thighs. “Da’s telling me…I mean, Brandr’s telling me a story about a giant cow and Frost Giants and the dwarves who hold up the sky!”
    “Is that so?” Avril bit out with a shaky smile for her daughter. She clasped Kimbery close in relief, grateful he’d let her go, unharmed, but uncertain why. After all, with Kimbery in his grasp, he could have had her at his mercy and easily bargained for his freedom.
    Brandr didn’t seem to notice her confusion. He gave her a fierce frown, scanning her from head to toe. “Are you all right?”
    She blinked, even more baffled. “Aye. Why wouldn’t I be?”
    “Who was outside?” The furrow in his brow deepened, and his fists clenched, as if he meant to use them.
    “My neighbor. He came to tell me…” Suddenly the truth struck her. “Were you..?” She narrowed incredulous eyes at him. “You were. You were afraid for me.”
    He scowled in irritation, but he couldn’t deny it, and something about that pleased her.
    “You know,” she said in amazement, “if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were trying to protect me.”
    He scoffed. But after a moment he looked at her quizzically, lowering his shoulders and relaxing his hands. “Wait. Your neighbor?” The corner of his lip lifted in a knowing grin. “And you didn’t tell him about your Viking prize?”
    She stiffened.
    He chuckled. “You know, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were trying to protect me.”
    It was useless to deny it.
    He shook his head. “What a pair we are.”
    What a pair indeed, Avril thought. By all rights, they should despise each other. The war between their people had been going on for more than fifty years. He was a bloodthirsty Viking, and she was the Pict who’d leashed him. She’d made the cottage that he’d come to conquer into his prison. And if they’d met on a field of battle, she would have readily drawn her sword and stabbed him through the heart.
    But when she looked at his twinkling blue eyes, his enticing grin, his…formidable body, she found it hard to summon up a good loathing.
    “Mama, did you smack his arse?”
    Avril started. “Who, the neighbor?” She shook her head. “He wasn’t here to fight. He…came to see how Caimbeul was doing.”
    “Oh.”
    She and Brandr exchanged glances, and he gave her a subtle nod of thanks, something she wasn’t sure she deserved. She was making a mistake, not turning him in. The longer he was here, the more