“Please, Aunt, no more.”
“But every word is the truth,” Grena insisted indignantly. “None of our women can resist the man.” Turning to her sixteen-year-old daughter, she urged her to speak. “You tell them, Berit. Perhaps they will believe you even if they think I am merely spinning fanciful tales to keep them entertained.”
Barely able to contain her own amusement, the vivacious blonde spoke in a breathless rush. “Jørn bought the Celt thrall only three days before he left on the summer voyage with Uncle Haakon. He had no time to observe the problems the man from Erin would create or I’m certain he would never have left us with such a troublesome burden.”
With marked skepticism, Dana glanced at her mother. Jørn was her Aunt Grena’s eldest son. At nineteen he had a well-deserved reputation for being not only irresponsible but reckless as well. He was also so self-centered that Dana doubted he would have cared even if he had known how difficult the new slave would make things for his widowed mother.
Berit correctly interpreted the silent exchange passing between Dana and Berit’s Aunt Freya, but she knew her brother’s faults too well to take offense and hurriedly continued. “The Celt has caused no end of turmoil, and truly there’s not one of our female servants who isn’t enamored of him. They are either shirking their work to sneak out to the stables to see him, or fighting among themselves over which of them is his favorite. While it is amusing to see them making fools of themselves over him, when their work goes undone we’re the ones who suffer.”
“Is he handsome?” Dana inquired with playful curiosity. “Or merely possessed of such remarkable stamina he can satisfy all your girls?”
When Berit blushed deeply at the indelicacy of the question, her mother responded for her. “He’s a surly brute, but I suppose some might find him handsome. As for his ability to satisfy a woman, that’s part of the problem. He’ll have nothing to do with any of them, but his disinterest only serves to make the girls all the more bold.”
“How can that be true?” Freya leaned forward to look directly at her younger sister. The day was warm, and the four women were seated beneath a massive oak whose leafy branches shielded their lovely fair complexions from the brightness of the sun’s rays. “With so many eager women, how can you be certain he wants none of them?”
“I have ears as well as eyes, Freya.” Annoyed that her sister would question her judgment, Grena paused only long enough to adjust the half-dozen heavy gold bracelets encircling her right wrist before she resumed her attempt at gaining sympathy. “None of the girls is happy. Brendan seems to hold all of them, as well as our family, in contempt. I’d sell him tomorrow, but Jørn said he was an extraordinary horseman, and all the men who would be willing to pay the price I would have to ask are away, just as our men are.”
While she was as greatly amused by the amorous antics of Grena’s servants as Dana, Freya knew her sister had come to her expecting help with her problems rather than merely unbridled laughter. Since the thrall couldn’t be sold, there appeared to be only one other option. A gracious woman, Freya was not reluctant to offer it, but she thoughtfully consulted her daughter first.
“Dana, can you imagine any of our servants chasing this poor man so shamelessly?”
Instantly comprehending the import of her mother’s question, as well as her reason for asking it, Dana’s smile vanished. Freya had been ill with a recurrent fever the past winter, and since she had yet to fully regain her strength and vitality, she relied heavily upon her eldest daughter to manage the duties she had formerly handled with ease. While Dana was happy to spare her mother every bit of work she could, she didn’t want to see her take on the responsibility for an obnoxious slave just because Grena was unable to control her household properly. Pampered and spoiled, first by her parents and then by a generous older husband, her aunt solved all her problems simply by thrusting them onto others. Dana would not insult her aunt by saying so to her face, however, so she offered an objection she knew would be readily understood.
“Father hasn’t kept thralls in years. Don’t you think he would be very displeased if we began taking in Aunt Grena’s?” she asked pointedly.
Freya’s delicately arched brows rose slightly at the mention of angering Haakon since she knew the possibility was an extremely good one. Despite that threat, she could not turn her back on the sister she held so dear. “You know your father expects us to make our own decisions when he’s away. Just let me worry about his reaction when he comes home in the fall. For the time being, we need only concern ourselves with Grena’s dilemma.”
Not pleased to have what she knew was sound advice cast aside so casually, Dana turned away to watch her younger brother and sister, who were playing nearby with Grena’s twelve-year-old twins, Olaf and Hrolf. The children’s happy laughter rang out over the blossom-filled meadow as they chased the lambs through the tall grass that extended clear down to the sandy shoreline.
The island of Fyn was not only beautiful, but i
t was also blessed with fertile soil and a mild climate. Though she had never traveled more than a few miles from her family’s farm, Dana knew it had to occupy one of the most perfect spots on earth. She took a great deal of pride in her home, as did her mother. Yet, while her mother’s health was still delicate, Dana didn’t want a troublesome thrall any more than Grena did. Why couldn’t her aunt see that she was thoughtlessly taking advantage of her sister’s love? Was she simply as selfish as Jørn?
When she reluctantly forced her attention back to the conversation at hand, she was embarrassed to find Grena waiting impatiently for her response to a question she had not heard. “I’m sorry, did you ask me something?”
Grena dared not criticize her niece for being inattentive when she needed her help so urgently, but her tone was cool and her diction crisp as she repeated her request. “Will you come for Brendan tomorrow? When not pestered by overeager females, he has shown himself to be a good worker, and I’m sure he won’t cause you any trouble. Then when Jørn comes home, he can decide what to do with the man. After all, Brendan is his property, so the problem is rightfully his.”
Knowing that was merely another convenient excuse for Grena to avoid taking responsibility for what went on under her own roof, Dana had to force down a bitter response before giving a polite one. “If the matter is decided, then yes, I’ll come for the man in the morning.”
Written in the stars…
Soaring Eagle’s Embrace
© 2012 Karen Kay
The Legendary Warriors, Book 4
Kali Wallace has no room in her busy life for marriage. Instead, she is following her father into a photography career, striving to capture the beauty of the Wild West and its vanishing Indian cultures before they both disappear forever.
Montana’s Blackfeet country is everything she could have dreamed—and more. At night a handsome man gently invades her sleep. Their nightly encounters become more and more real until one bright morning, she is startled to find everything has changed.
Lawyer by profession, Blackfeet by blood, Clay Soaring Eagle is determined to do everything in his power—legally and spiritually—to save his people’s way of life. He trusts no one of the white race, and hopes that once Kali’s task is done, she will leave and take temptation with her.
The spirits have their own plan. As their passion burns with a brightness that rivals the stars, Clay and Kali are aware that it can never last…unless they find a way to make their two worlds come together as one.
Warning: Contains soul-stirring dreams, passionate unions, and a mountain-top quest that will leave you hungry to see these two lovers get their happily ever after.
Enjoy the following excerpt for Soaring Eagle’s Embrace: