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.

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