Chapter Twenty-One

Alerted by a sudden noise to his left, he realised he’d ventured forth without a weapon. Not good. No doubt Magnus would rib him about it later. He seemed to be the one poking fun these days. Unless it was the man himself making a point.

Ketil heard a sigh, followed by the sound of something being plucked from the earth. A toadstool would be his guess. So it must be a woman, but he didn’t detect Miriam’s signature rosewater scent. She must have bathed in it so often it lingered and usually alerted him to her proximity.

Rising from the grass, he remained concealed behind the bole of the oak tree itself just in case his instincts were as awry as his memory – how could he have forgotten to bring a blade? Whoever it was began to hum a lullaby he seemed to recognise from his time at the palace. That ruled Daphne out. She had a deep voice and he could not really imagine her even holding a baby, let alone singing to it.

Astrid had not been there while he was fulfilling his guard duties, so t