Page 57 of Alliance Bride
“He’s out in the pasture and doing well. I’ll take you riding sometime, if you’d like.”
Her face lit up at the offer, and he held her gaze until she turned away shyly.
“Thank you. For bringing me here.” The sincerity in her voice held an understanding that this wasn’t the easiest decision for him.
They spent another few minutes enjoying the horses before leaving the stable. Near the longhouse, they parted ways—her going inside to join the women while he headed toward the training field to find his brothers and Kian.
When he arrived, Aevar found his father watching the warriors spar. He joined him, focusing on Rollo, who was finally learning to keep his shield up.
“You and Eadlyn seem closer,” his father said, still facing the ring.
Aevar glanced back toward the longhouse. “I hope so. But I don’t want to rush her.”
“You care for her then?”
“I do.” He let out a slow breath. “I don’t even know when or how it happened. But when Sig threatened her…” He trailed off, the memory igniting a familiar flame. The fierce protectiveness he’d experienced that day was not something he had felt since Thora.
Fathir turned to face him. “I’m glad you are pursuing her. She is a good woman.”
“Erik said the same. You’re both right.” He took a breath as the weight of it all came to rest in his mind. “There are still times I fear I’m going to lose her.”
Fathir’s expression held understanding. “You were too young to remember, but we almost lost your mother one winter. She came down with fever that kept her in bed for many days. There was nothing I could do but wait. I did not think she would pull through.” He sighed, his voice lower. “The fear never truly leaves, but it teaches you not to waste the time you have.”
Aevar took that in, letting it settle in his mind. It was a hard lesson, but he was learning.
“Speaking of not wasting time,” Fathir’s eyes had taken on a sly glint, “your mother mentioned they were taking the children out to gather strawberries. Might be wise to give them an escort. In case of bears.”
Aevar grinned. How could he say no to an excuse to spend more time with Eadlyn?
Basket in hand, Eadlyn walked alongside Ranvi and Inga outside the village as sunlight streamed down on the path before them. Trygg and Katla raced ahead through the grass, Trygg brandishing his wooden sword. Katla let out a high-pitched squeal when he lunged at her and shouted something about a troll. Eadlyn shareda laugh with the women as the little girl dashed back to join them, away from her brother’s antics.
At the edge of a wide meadow, they fanned out to look for strawberries. Trygg, his troll battle forgotten, grabbed berries by the handful and stuffed them into his mouth. In contrast, Katla was precise and proud of her task, carefully dropping each berry into one of the woven baskets.
Eadlyn knelt next to a small patch, tasting a few herself. They were sun-warmed and bursting with sweetness. She’d never had them fresh from the plant before.
Alvir toddled over a few minutes later, his lips stained pink. He reached for Eadlyn’s basket with sticky fingers, but Ranvi caught his hand before he snatched more.
“Wait until he and Trygg are both running,” she said, guiding Alvir back toward her. “There won’t be a single berry left for the rest of us.”
Inga laughed, her voice light with memory. “When my boys were small, they’d sneak off to gorge themselves and ruin their appetites. There were entire summers we struggled to fill a basket.”
Eadlyn smiled to imagine Aevar as a mischievous boy shadowing his brothers, mouth stained with berries.
As if her thoughts had summoned him, Trygg’s voice rang out across the meadow. “Aevar!”
Eadlyn wasn’t sure why, but something in the way he strode toward them captured her attention. Confident yet relaxed, the sun gleaming on his weapons and somehow making his gray-blue tunic more vivid than earlier. She considered the men in Essix she might have married, and none of them held the same appeal.
Catching herself staring, she dropped her attention to her basket. But Trygg raced past, bringing her eyes up again. Whenthe boy reached Aevar, he jabbered about the troll. Aevar knelt to meet him, responding with mock gravity and praising his courage.
“A great warrior,” he said, tousling the boy’s hair.
Trygg puffed out his chest, sword raised to face the invisible foe.
Inga grinned up at him. “Come to eat our berries, have you?”
Aevar chuckled. “Not this time. I came to keep watch for bears.” He glanced at Eadlyn as he said it, lingering for a beat longer than necessary. Then he turned back to Trygg and switched to Nordric, telling the boy how bears loved strawberries, especially the ones already in a person’s belly. He poked Trygg’s stomach.
The little boy released a shrieked giggle before waving his sword in the air. “I’ll kill the bear!”
