“Why didn’t you tell me it was your brother we found frozen to death or that you also knew the other man who died?” Wolf asked.
“Fear,” Greta said. “Pure fear. My brother would have only come here for one reason—to warn me that Brynjar knew of his son. I prayed that Brynjar would meet your sword before anything was learned about Tait. Before the tribe demanded that Tait and I be turned over to Brynjar.” Tears started rolling down her cheeks. “I never meant for harm to come to anyone. I only wanted to protect my son and give him a chance to grow into the good man I knew he would one day be.”
Wolf scowled. “You believe I would have given Tait to Brynjar?”
“I’ve seen what Brynjar causes people to do. Toke had a chance of freedom here with you. But I think he must have been one of the men Brynjar captured from a nearby village a day or so after attacking my village and he remembered seeing Brynjar—” She stopped not able to say what had been done to her. “He must have realized Tait was Brynjar’s son and thought if he could bring Tait to him that Brynjar would free him. His fear of Brynjar was greater than his trust in you. Seeing that only made me fear more for my son’s life.” She wiped at her tears. “I am truly sorry for any harm I have brought you, but I am not sorry for protecting my son.”
“I would have done the same in her situation,” Raven said.
Fyn turned a smile on her for speaking up for Greta.
“No, you wouldn’t have,” Wolf argued. “You would have foolishly attempted to kill Brynjar.”
“I wouldn’t have attempted it. I would have succeeded at killing him,” Raven corrected. “Though I must say my brother did a fine job of seeing that Brynjar’s death was not an easy nor a painless one.”
A cheer went up in the room, though quieted when Wolf’s face turned menacing.
Raven knew her husband well enough to know he planned no harsh punishment for Greta’s deceit, but he couldn’t allow it to go entirely unpunished. Greta has also proved valuable to the tribe, her healing skills much sought after and Tait was adored by all, his sweet nature much like his mother’s.
“I cannot let this go unpunished,” Wolf commanded.
Greta grabbed Fyn’s arm and Fyn looked ready to argue, but wisely held his tongue.
“Fyn,” Wolf said with a nod to him, “will follow you wherever you go and report your actions back to me until I feel certain you are no threat to the tribe.”
“Aye, my lord,” Fyn said. “I will watch and tell you of her every move.”
Raven smiled and Arran chuckled.
“Your husband is a wise man,” Arran whispered. “He makes it seem that Greta is being punished while seeing she is protected against anyone who thinks to harm her or Tait.”
“Wolf is a better man than I first believed,” Raven whispered.
“Even though he held Royden and me captive for five years?” Arran asked, still angry at what had been done to him and his brother.
“You need to talk to Wolf about that,” Raven advised, feeling it better that her husband tell Arran the truth.
“And why would I want to do that?” Arran asked, annoyed.
“Because it wasn’t Wolf who held you and Royden captive—it was our king.”
Arran stared at her, speechless.
“Wolf can offer more detail than I can, though I think it would be better if he told you and Royden together. Perhaps then the three of you can make sense of it.”
Arran leaned closer to Raven and kept his voice to a whisper. “And tell me, dear sister, did you pose as the leper just today, or have you been posing as Brother Noble all along?”
Raven smiled sweetly. “All along, dear brother.”
Arran looked ready to strangle her. “So Purity and I were never truly wed the first time thanks to you.”
“But you thought you were and that was all that mattered and I told Abbott Thomas he better hurry and wed you properly.”
“Abbott Thomas knew you were the leper?” Arran asked, shocked.
“That’s a discussion for another time,” Raven said. Her brother’s smug grin warned her that she was not going to like his response.
“The discussion I wish I could hear is when you tell your husband that you’ve been the leper all along.”
Raven stood by the hearth in her nightshift, a shawl draped around her shoulders. “Rouard gave you no problem?”
Wolf shook his head as he undressed. “He seemed more relieved as did many of the warriors with him. He leaves in the morning for home. There is much he must see to, many who need to be freed.”
“All is settled then,” she said, avoiding his eyes.
“Mostly,” he said, shedding the last of his garments and walking over to her. “You are feeling well after your ordeal.”