Sandra Hill - [Vikings I 04] by The Bewitched Viking Read Free Book Online Page A

bottom. Since she appeared merely chagrined, not injured, Tykir assumed her tail had buffered the fall.
    All three men burst out laughing.
    “I thought you said you could ride,” Tykir gasped out.
    “You could have given me fair warning, you…you…”
    Bolthor was laughing so hard that his one eye was watering, and Rurik smirked with delight.
    “Curse you all, you heathen louts,” she shouted, scrambling clumsily to her feet. “I hope…I hope…”
    Just then a flock of winter geese came flying overhead, honking loudly…and splattered the three men. Lady Alinor had the good sense, or the mental forewarning, to duck under her mare’s belly. Thus, she was the only one unanointed by the vile “rain.” Tears of laughter werestreaming down her face when she emerged from her hiding place.
    Tykir exchanged a meaningful look with his two comrades as they all attempted to brush off the goose droppings with scraps of cloth. And then they exclaimed as one:
    “She really is a witch.”

Chapter Three
    Five days later
    “Tykir! Ty-kir Thork-sson! What in the name of heaven are you up to now?”
    Tykir put his face in his hands at the familiar female voice addressing him from the steps of the royal palace in Jorvik. “Eadyth,” he murmured under his breath. “Just what I do not need!”
    Standing near the entrance to the king’s garth, where his uncle, Eric Bloodaxe, the Norse king, resided, was Tykir’s sister-by-marriage, Eadyth. All of Britain was under Saxon rule, except for this incessant splinter, Northumbria, which was once more in the hands of the Vikings. And if Eadyth, a Saxon lady, was in Jorvik, the Viking seat of Northumbria, then that could only mean that her husband, his half-Viking brother Eirik, lord of Ravenshire, was close by.
    With Eirik and Eadyth as witnesses, he would never, ever live down this misadventure. Never.
    “What are you doing with all those sheep?” Eadyth started in on him. “You hate sheep. You always claimed your grandmother’s sheep smelled to high Valhalla. Are you trading in sheep now, instead of amber?”
    He groaned.
    “Who is that?” Alinor asked. The witch was astride the mare next to him.
    “My sister-by-marriage, Lady Eadyth,” he informed her. “She is married to my brother Eirik, lord of Ravenshire.”
    “You are kin to a Saxon lord?” Alinor’s eyebrows lifted with astonishment. “You have blood links to Norse kings and Saxon lords. What next? A Byzantine emperor?”
    He would have said something witsome and biting back to her, but he never got the chance. Eadyth, fists on hips, was railing at him again. “Why are the hands tied on the woman sitting on that horse? Why does she have a rope dangling from her neck? And why is she glaring at you so? Are those fingermarks on her cheek? Did you strike a woman, Tykir? Did you? For shame!”
    Lady Alinor did look awful. She’d long since lost her wimple and headrail. Luckily, they were not blue, or he would have had to go chasing back after them, in case it was the Virgin’s Veil. Her hair stood out like a curly-leafed fire bush. Though autumn was in full bloom, her pale complexion was sunburned…not a pretty picture with the freckles standing out even more. Her clothing was dirty and disheveled since she’d refused to allow him or Rurik or Bolthor to watch—uh, guard—her whilst she changed.
    He heard Rurik and Bolthor chuckle behind him.
    “Why are you three dolts wearing your braies backwards? Is it some kind of lackbrain jest? And crosses…since when have you turned the religious zealot, Tykir?”
    Rurik snickered, but not for long.
    “Rurik, what happened to your face? Did you fall in a vat of woad dye? Do you attempt to stand out in a crowd? Ah, vanity ever was your weakness, and you no doubt think that silly mark is attractive. Well, it’s not.”
    Now it was Rurik’s turn to groan.
    “And Bolthor, how nice to see you again. Have you come up with any new sagas?”
    “For a certainty, my lady.”