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Chapter Fifty-Eight
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The Bartered Princess Chapter Fifty-Nine
Beyla watched her father kissing her mother in what seemed to her a very long and drawn out farewell. It was as if he would never let her go. She averted her face, refusing to look for Njord. What would be the point?He’d followed her back to the feasting and it seemed as if he wanted to ask her something. She did her best to avoid him until the very end, knowing it could come to nothing.That was when she had learned the shocking truth. Njord was the only one, ever, to be truly honest with her. Her close family often left many things unsaid.“If you didn’t have to follow the King’s orders, would you consider me a suitable husband?” he asked.Her mouth fell open in shock.“King Harald wishes this? Oh, why does nobody ever tell me anything?” she cried, pulling at the roots of her hair.“I thought you knew.”“Thank you for being the one to open my eyes. That explains why my mother and father blow hot and cold about the arrangement.”“Answer me, Beyla,” he urged, crowding her now.At lea
The Bartered Princess Chapter Sixty
The diadem on top of the coffin was there for show. Beyla supposed it belonged to her mother now and yet she just knew it would end up on her head. At least she could be proud to wear it having gleaned that her other aunt was not as black as she was sometimes painted.Miriam had broken down, devastated, as if she were only now realising it was true. Had she suspected otherwise?“I don’t want to lose you too, Beyla,” she sobbed.That was when she realised how well her father knew his wife.She sighed. It was probably not going to be like that between her and Philip. Having met him now she simply found him weird, even though he wasn’t all that much older than herself. He had a beard of sorts, straggly and sparse, and she suspected a dye was involved. Surely hair that golden in hue wasn’t naturally occurring in any part of the known world? His eyes were a mixture of brown and green and always speculative when they looked at her.Did he find her wanting or something?Sigurd, her father’s
The Bartered Princess Chapter Sixty-One
Njord was in a really bad mood. It had nothing to do with the choppy sea lanes and everything to do with a certain fair-haired nymph. His impulse to follow her was making him a laughingstock yet he cared nothing for that. Until he was absolutely certain this was the right thing for her he was going nowhere. It had nothing to do with her father, the Jarl, a man he respected. Feelings as strong as this could not be set aside lightly.If she told him to his face she wanted this that would be a different thing. All his instincts said she was a pawn to be tossed like a bone to a hound. Unfortunately, the man pulling the strings had all the power. Uncle Ketil didn’t care for their ruler, he knew that much. Telling himself he was on a family mission did nothing to alleviate his concern.Har was trying to catch his eye. More ribbing awaited. Usually, he could take it and give as good as he got. Not today. It wasn’t as if he could pretend to be seasick as everyone knew how good a sailor he was
The Bartered Princess Chapter Sixty-Two
Miriam clutched at her chest, almost overbalancing. She was down in the cellar with Ruth, checking on the severely depleted stocks, and it gave her quite a turn to hear her daughter’s desperate cry for help.What was going on?“Are you all right, my lady?”She peered up at the auburn-haired woman, who was now Sigurd’s wife, wondering anew why she herself was so small.“Heartburn,” she lied. “It’s rarely been as bad as this.”Ruth tutted. “I didn’t realise you suffered so.”“In truth, I don’t. Lately, I – ”“Maybe a herbal tea will help,” her sister’s former maid interrupted. “No doubt Jenna can advise.”“A pity she never had children,” Miriam commented, partly to distract Ruth.“God has blessed her in other ways,” the woman said. Her piety was a byword. Strange how she had done little to change Sigurd, only tame him perhaps. He was a man settled to marriage and his role in Vercia.At least there was someone she could rely on. Hubert was not to be trusted. She felt it in her bones. Phi
The Bartered Princess Chapter Sixty-Three
Beyla was astonished to find she was seething rather than frightened when hands were laid on her high-born, soon to be royal, personage. The horse she had rather liked was sent on its way with a whack to the rump, though she was relieved to find no caves were in sight. “You are making a grave mistake,” she declared, refusing to play the victim from the outset. While she had never had any desire to be a warrior woman, Beyla felt she owed it to her family to return to them unscathed. If that meant presenting a bold front then she would do her best to promote and sustain that impression. “This one should fetch a king’s ransom. What d’you reckon, Sammy?” her captor said, forcing open her mouth and inspecting her teeth for some reason known only to himself. He was old – at least fifty – and his bald pate was covered in several bumps which complemented the pockmarks on his ruddy cheeks. “I think we should keep her as a skivvy, Tom,” his companion remarked with a leer. Though younger, b
The Bartered Princess Chapter Sixty-Four
Miriam was having a spiritual – hopefully more than imaginary – conversation with her late sister. Daphne was contributing in a halting way, which led her to believe that she really had passed. You never could tell with her sister.Ketil had agreed with her it might be some sort of ploy but was duty bound to meet King Harald.Her sister seemed to imply Hubert could be trusted, even though he had his own agenda. That was certainly enlightening.Something she had always wondered about was certainly hinted at. Daphne had started to resent her younger sister. While it might have been King Gregory’s idea to deprive her of the gowns and jewels, the Princess Royal had certainly flaunted them. It was a matter he seemed to have forgotten all about the day he came and told her about the Masked King’s intended courtship of her. Another lie; even if it had been forced upon him, she could never allow herself to forgive her father for that.And Sigurd. Out of the blue came a confession which warmed
The Bartered Princess Chapter Sixty-Five
Beyla was unsure why his father had kept her away from her betrothed, only that he had. Was there a problem regarding their impending matrimony? She really hoped not. Philip was someone she found easy to talk to and, like her, he was only a pawn in the politics of others.Wedding him would be no hardship. She began to wonder if King Hubert believed she was no longer pure. Submitting to a physical examination would be humiliating, especially since there was really no need.An unexpected ally came in the form of her mother. Miriam could be fierce when something was important to her.“Can Beyla not swear on the Holy Bible, Your Majesty?”“Is she a baptised Christian?”“No, but the opportunity never arose.”In the end, Mistress Ford was agreed upon. The years had been kind to the older woman she remembered only vaguely from her time at the palace. Beyla forbore to protest, and Miriam realised she had come round to the idea of this marriage.King Hubert cleared his throat while they waited
The Bartered Princess Chapter Sixty-Six
Njord saw the commotion from aboard ship. It wasn’t what he had been expecting and yet those dreams recently had shown him a figure with two opposing faces. With his father off the scene that could only mean it was someone he had yet to meet.Hearing the cries and screams, seeing the plume of smoke rising into the air – just one – he called his friends to arms.Everything was organised quickly and soon they were scaling the cliffs some distance away prepared to check things out before rushing in blindly. Who knew, maybe the Vercians celebrated their nuptials in this way, but he very much doubted it.He thought about Tyr then, who was often predicting his early demise. They had joked about it often, he and the other Norsemen, young and older alike. But what if the soothsayer had been right? There would be no male heir to Eggsor – he had vowed never to take up that mantle – and he would have lost a close friend and cousin.Beyla would be devastated. Princess Amber now, he corrected hims
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