Sven nodded, looking around to see they had walked far enough away from the village for no one to hear them. “Aye, how else would you explain neglecting your duties for the last week to spend endless time with your wife?”
Bhric vehemently disagreed. “I have not neglected my duties.”
“You fail to walk through the village alone so the people may approach you with any issues or problems or set aside a day for them to come to you with them. Your wife is always on your arm. You mix the tribe and clan for various tasks and our warriors are not pleased that you force them to share sentinel duties with clan members. You have taken more meals in your bedchamber than with others. And you have not joined the men in practice.”
“That does not mean she bewitched me. It means I have gone without a woman too long and with my wife enjoyable in bed, I find I cannot get enough of her.”
“Bewitched,” Sven said and not with a smile.
Bhric’s brow shot up as he reminded, “What was it… five or six days that I did not see you after you wed my sister?”
“Aye, but Ingrid did not command two war hounds with ease or save a warrior’s leg that our healer claimed could not be saved or lead me by the hand through the village to our bedchamber, especially when you made it clear you were unsatisfied with your wife. And then there is the boar’s missing heart. Was it a witch who took it and for what reason? Could it be to command a powerful Northman warrior?”
“This is pure nonsense,” Bhric argued. “Tavia does not have the strength to kill a wild boar.”
“She commands a vicious war hound. Who is to say she did not command the boar?”
“You cannot believe that. Her limp alone would make it difficult for her,” Bhric continued to argue.
“Her limp? Have you not noticed that it has not been as pronounced since not long after the boar’s death? Did she gain strength from the animal’s death… from his heart?”
“She tends her affliction well since arriving here,” Bhric said, defending her.
Sven shook his head. “True or not, if the people believe it, then it is a problem and will only grow worse if you do not do something about it.”
“On that we agree,” Bhric said, suddenly fearful what danger such lies could cause his wife.
“As a longtime friend, Bhric, I advise you to consider all that is being said. Your wife spoke with a witch while we were there and from what others had said, it had not been the first time. How do you know what the witch may have done to her or to you when you went to retrieve her from the dungeon that day?”
“Why would a witch want anything to do with me or my wife?” Bhric asked, realizing this problem would need his immediate attention or it could prove impossible to contain.
“What if it was not the witch who wanted something from your wife but your wife who wanted something from the witch?”
“What could she possibly—” Bhric suddenly turned silent.
“You realize for yourself what others might think. Your wife’s limp grows less and a husband who did not think she would make him a good wife all of a sudden… acts as if he has fallen foolishly in love with her? Do you not see why tongues wag?”
Bhric felt himself a wise and strong leader and as such he could not ignore what Sven had told him. He did not have to think that he was falling in love with his wee wife… he knew he had. Why else would he feel an emptiness when he was not with her or enjoy her company or find a pleasure with her he had never known?
Bewitched.
“I advise not only as your friend but also a member of the tribe. Do not let this go, Bhric, or it may grow beyond your ability to stop it,” Sven warned.
A scowl scrunched Bhric’s face and anger erupted in his dark blue eyes. “I will do what is best for my tribe, but if anyone harms my wife they will pay with their life. Now go gather some men and meet me at the practice field. It is time they are reminded of their leader’s strength.”
* * *
Tavia grew worried when time passed, and her husband had yet to return. He had sent no message as to what may have kept him which surprised her since he had been thoughtful of late. Had he heard the gossip? Did he believe it?
Voices caught her attention and she saw Ingrid enter the room with Marta. They stopped where they were and talked, glancing her way. Marta then took her leave and Ingrid approached Tavia.
Fen rose from his sleep to sit in front of Tavia when Ingrid drew near.
She stopped a distance from the hound, resting her hand on her rounded stomach. “You command him well.”
“I do not command him, instinct does, as does yours with your hand resting with caution on your stomach to protect the bairn inside,” Tavia said, her cautious stance and the way she kept her distance made it obvious that Ingrid did not trust her. The gossip must have infested itself in the whole village or had it only infested the Thrubolt Tribe?
“You waste your breath and time with my brother if you think he would remove Marta from the keep,” Ingrid said as if it was some sort of victory.