Page 109 of Alliance Bride
“I think I can walk now.”
He hesitated. Her color was still too pale, the painted runes on her face stark against skin that had lost its summer warmth. She looked like a ghost of her former self. But she was trying to stand. Trying to reclaim even the smallest shred of independence after everything she’d endured. He could honor that.
He helped her down, supporting her when her legs trembled under her. She stood, barely, and he kept his arm around her as they walked toward the jarl and his family.
Gudrik stepped forward, eyes sweeping over Eadlyn with open concern. “Princess Eadlyn. Praise the gods you survived.”
Praise God. Aevar startled at how natural that thought felt. Not only to think it, but to mean it.
Eadlyn offered a faint smile, and Gudrik and Jodis led them inside the longhouse, its warm interior lit with lamps and flickering firelight. One of Heida’s brothers hurried off to fetch thehealer while Jodis guided them through the central hall to a quiet room off the corridor.
“The healer will be here shortly,” she said. “I’ll bring fresh clothes.”
Once the door shut behind her, Aevar helped Eadlyn sit on the edge of the bed. She sank down, stiff with pain. He knelt before her and gathered her hands in his, seeing again how raw her wrists were. The sight of them reignited the fury simmering in his chest, but he forced it down. She didn’t need his anger right now.
“Is there anything you need me to do?”
She nodded, but all she said was, “Just stay with me.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” He tightened his grip around her hands to prove it.
Tears rose too quickly for her to hide. She blinked them back, but the effort cost her. She darted a look toward the door, her voice low and wary. “Where is Sig? He was one of the three who took me, but I didn’t see him.”
“He’s dead.”
She exhaled a long, trembling breath, and her shoulders sagged. The relief on her face was immediate, but it only made Aevar’s own tension return.
“Did he hurt you?”
She met his gaze, pain behind her eyes. “He hit me a couple of times…kept putting his hands on me, but nothing more.”
The breath rushed out of Aevar’s lungs. It wasn’t good, but it could have been so much worse. That woman had told the truth.
“Oda was in on it too,” Eadlyn whispered. “She told them where to find me.”
Aevar fought to quell the anger that kept being fueled. He should have suspected that. “We’ll deal with her when we get back.”
Footsteps approached, and Jodis returned, bringing the healer and Heida. The healer, a stooped woman with a kind manner, began working without fuss. As she helped Eadlyn ease out of her ruined dress and shift, Aevar remained beside her on the bed, letting her lean into him as he kept his arm secure around her back. When the woman peeled the stiffened fabric from the wound, Eadlyn turned her face into Aevar’s shoulder with a shudder. She didn’t cry out, but he tightened his arm around her.
As the healer threaded her needle, he murmured words of comfort to Eadlyn to remind her he was there. After stitching the wound, the healer applied salve and wrapped it, then moved to her wrists, bandaging those too.
She then handed Aevar a fresh cloth and poured another bowl of clean water. “I’ll let you finish,” she said, motioning to the marks on Eadlyn’s face. “And she should wear a sling for a few days. It will help with the pain. I’ll come back to check her wound in the morning.”
Aevar thanked her, and the healer departed with Jodis, but Heida lingered.
“Do you need anything?” she asked.
Aevar glanced at Eadlyn, noticing the way her cheeks were hollowed. “Yes. Food.”
Heida nodded and left.
Now that they were alone again, Aevar dipped the cloth in the water and washed the black death runes from Eadlyn’s skin. The ink had dried and crusted, and he worked gently, though his hands shook as he revealed every new bruise and scratch beneath the marks. Each one was a record of his failure to protect her.
Yet also proof she had survived.
Afterward, he helped her into the clean shift Jodis had left. A few minutes later, Heida returned with a tray of meat, cheese, soft bread, and a pitcher of water. She didn’t speak as she set it down, but Aevar caught the look she gave Eadlyn and the flicker of guilt buried beneath the usual calm. She turned and left without a word.
At first, Eadlyn only picked at the food, her face drawn with exhaustion, but Aevar coaxed her to eat. Once she began, her appetite returned, and it became clear how little she’d been given. She finished most of what he placed before her, and he was glad for it. By the time she set the last bite aside, her head drooped, and the shadows under her eyes darkened.
