Page 59 of Heart of Fire
Magnus and Haakon had been involved in her kidnapping. And if they’d returned to further their mischief, then she was going to unleash all of the rage and frustration shefelt.
Magnus caught her eye and bared his teeth in a smile. She swallowed hard against the instinct to step back, toward the safety of her home. Something about him set her on edge. Bristling with weapons, he turned his huge black stallion in a circle, ignoring the creature’s uncertain snort as he urged the beast closer to the barn. Steel spurs gleamed against the unrelieved black of Magnus’s boots, and his fingers were bare as he gripped the reins negligently in one hand. The other hand rested on the powerful muscle of his thigh, a garnet ring winking on his finger in the softlight.
“What do you want?” Freyja asked coolly. “For I warn you I am almost done with the three of you. If you have something further in mind than kidnapping, then we are going to have a seriousdisagreement.”
No ambush this time. She was ready to make her point, as the thunder that suddenly rumbled on the horizonproved.
“You seem none the worse for wear,” Magnus pointed out, and in that moment she hated him, he who had threatened herLoki.
“That’s enough,” Haakon warned him, and shot her an almost apologetic look. “We are not here to cause you furthergrief.”
Civility held. One didn’t speak of what happened when adrekicarried off a helpless young woman, though word of it was certain to be spreading around her smallvillage.
None of her neighbors would ever receive her again. It was a curiously freeingrealization.
The younger man swung down from his horse in a fluid movement, his raven-dark hair tumbling over his forehead. Those stunning blue eyes met hers and he smiled, white teeth dazzling. He’d not been involved in the kidnapping, and she hadn’t seen him on the village green. “Mistress Helgasdottir. You might consider this early morning visit my fault.” With a rueful smile, he slung his horse’s reins over its glossy bay head and patted it absently. The gelding’s nostrils flared, but he did not seem as unsettled as Magnus’sblack.
“Andri's horse threw a shoe some miles back,” Haakon said. “He’s beginning to favor hisleg.”
“I’m not surprised.” Freyja reached out, offering her fingers to the bay to sniff. He snorted and danced at the end of the reins, not quite certain about her. Freyja stroked his velvety muzzle. “Hush, sweet boy,” she whispered, reaching out to brush her senses against his, a touch full of warmth and gentleness. She’d always had more affinity for animals than she had for people. “I won’t hurtyou.”
Pure foolishness to bring a horse like this out through the marshy terrain around Lake Mývatn. The lichen and moss concealed all manner of rocks and uncertain footing. A horse’s leg could twist before the rider knewit.
It was one of the reasons she preferred the stocky ponies that seemed to thrive in Iceland’s conditions. Poor Hanna might not be half as beautiful as these three beasts, but she would outlast them bymiles.
Leaning down, Freyja ran her hand down the horse’s foreleg, feeling the heat in the muscle. She tugged at his fetlock, and he lifted his hoof obediently as she examined the spongy sole, fishing out muck and stones from the arrow-shaped frog. One of the nails still clung to the walls of hishoof.
“You need to get that out,” she pointed. “Why in heaven’s name you would need to shoe a horse here is beyond me.” There were barely any roads, and fewer tracks tofollow.
Cornflower blue eyes danced into view, a crooked smile twitching over that devilish face. “Yes, mistress,” Andrisaid.
And she realized she was berating three powerfulwarriors.
Freyja let the hoof down and stepped back, brushing her hands against her hips. “Take him back to the village. Old Tóki will remove the nail, and then I suggest resting him. There’s heat in the muscle. Is thatall?”
Andri raked the yard with a hard glance, though his manner seemed apologetic. “We came to speak to the scholar.” Those eyes locked on her with an intensity that made her shiver. “Master… what was his nameagain?”
“Rurik.”
“Rurik,” Andri repeated, as if it held some meaning tohim.
Magnus shot them both a sharplook.
“I’m afraid you’re too late. He’s no longer plaguing my household.”Only my heart. Freyja crossed her arms over her chest, a cold sweat springing up against her forehead. “I believe he took himself off that way.” She pointed vaguely to the south, and the west. “Wants to see if the rumors of trolls aretrue.”
Haakon dragged his gloves off reluctantly. “Mistress Helgasdottir. It pains me to mention what happened in thevillage—”
“You dare bring that up?” Rage erupted inside her, though she was doing her best to maintain her temper. “How is Benedikt faring this morning?”The last she’d seen of him, he’d been pinned to the wall andsquealing.
“Better than my ballista,” Haakon counteredcoolly.
Freyja crossed her arms. “A trueshame.”
“It was never my intention to lower myself to such a ploy,” he replied, his gaze dropping and heat flushing against his sharp cheekbones. “I allowed the heat of the moment to sweep away my sense of decency.” His lips thinned. “I will never forget my shame, and I apologize for the part I played, but I must ask… would you speak to us of the layout of the dragon’slair?”
Of all the nerve! “Get off myfarmstead.”
“It is not yours, is it?” Magnus spoke up, his horse dancing in slow circles. “But your father’s. Perhaps we should take matters up withhim?”
