All Chapters of The Bartered Princess: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

82 Chapters

Chapter Thirty-One

Miriam heard steady footsteps on the uneven flagstones and tried to pretend she was invisible. If she didn’t move, nobody could see her. It was an old game she had played with her mother and sister. Poor Daphne. She hadn’t stood much of a chance, had she? Curiosity overcame her, especially as the tell-tale creak indicated he had probably seated himself in the wooden chair beside the door. Miriam risked a peek, seeing a cap of blond hair in the style worn by page boys at the palace and a concealing black cloak covered in red fleurs-de-lys. The man did not look out of place in something which reminded her of an instrument of torture, though the long, arched backrest, now largely obscured, resembled the window in a church. It confused her. Though the potion she had taken had helped to calm some of her nerves, it didn’t stop her mind from wandering – and remembering. She must stop that. What was he doing, was he waiting for somebody else? Another man, perhaps. Miriam shivered. She must

Last Updated : 2022-06-06

Chapter Thirty-Two

There was always going to be a fight. Just not quite like this. Ketil had his hands full and the Emir of Aden was rushing towards them, his face filled with fury. He knew it was him courtesy of Daphne’s ear-piercing shriek which followed her enlightening use of his title.“He’s a monster, too,” she sobbed.Before he could react, Astrid stuck out her slender foot, tripping the illustrious potentate and urging them to run.Sigurd’s jaw dropped. Understandably, he didn’t move.It was Daphne who snatched the dagger from his belt. Kneeling quickly, she jerked aside the Emir’s headdress and attempted to slit his throat. He did not take kindly to the assault, roaring his disapproval and clutching at a gash in his neck which was releasing blood in a steady stream. It soon became a fountain as the enraged former Princess Royal stabbed him again.His bodyguard was late to the scene. He let out a strangled cry, as Sigurd sprang into action, wrestling the shorter man to the ground and securing hi

Last Updated : 2022-06-07

Chapter Thirty-Three

Nothing was ever straightforward with these Feltspars. Making the convincing excuse that they needed to leave the premises and saying he would explain later, he decided a more convincing dynamic would be if Sigurd escorted Astrid and Daphne, one under each mighty arm, and he resumed carrying his lady. It seemed to work. Someone Astrid greeted by name – Tillie – turned a rather obvious blind eye, while a girl she in turn referred to as Pippa looked both awestruck and fascinated.Then they emerged from the dark blue front door into the kind of brilliant sunshine which often followed rain. The man whose cloak he had borrowed was waiting with a cart around the back and it wasn’t long before they were on their way back to Vercia and the village of Capitol.Though Miriam wasn’t asleep now she seemed agitated. Astrid took it upon herself to massage her temples while he did the same for her bare feet. It wasn’t long before the imp in him turned to mischief. Knowing his half-sister had been ra

Last Updated : 2022-06-07

Chapter Thirty-Four

The palace had seen better days. Miriam was doing her best to rectify the matter, with the help of Jenna and Ruth who were now in charge of running the household. She was in her element here, doing something for which she had been raised. If not here, then in her husband’s domain, he surmised.Ketil realised he had never asked Magnus why Ruth hadn’t been released in the same way as Jenna. It was probably too late now. If anything, he assumed Daphne had insisted on hanging onto her, quite literally, which probably explained the tear in her kirtle. Newly mended now, of course.The Masked King was still languishing in the dungeons but he could wait. He reckoned it was time for a proper talk with his half-sister, who had started to avoid Sigurd for reasons known only to herself. He caught up with her in the solar, a place he would never have expected to find a woman like Astrid, though the booted feet planted on a chair opposite the bench on which she was sitting said it all.“Idling agai

Last Updated : 2022-06-08

Chapter Thirty-Five

Miriam clasped her hands together and tried not to faint. Her plan to matchmake, to retrieve an impossible and intolerable situation, had backfired leaving her desolate and alone. Not quite alone. Sassa was still sitting there, quietly, her sympathy and guilt plain to see.She sat down, toying with the fruit on her plate. If only it were persimmon season. You could obtain almost anything these days but not if it wasn’t even ripening elsewhere. Looking down at her body, she chewed her lip. It was far too early but somehow she knew a change was coming. Once, it would have been a welcome one.“Oh Sassa – I mean, Astrid,” she sighed. “Why did I make it so easy for him to leave me?”“If I know my brother, he does not want to go. This is all my fault. And I’m hurting Sigurd as well. Perhaps I should choose the cloistered life, like your sister.”“You are not to blame. Send for Magnus. Tell him I – I desire to play chess.”The young woman rose with the same rangy grace as her blood relative.

Last Updated : 2022-06-08

Chapter Thirty-Six

The Masked King was a shadow of his former self. Someone had beaten him very badly and the ginger hair was matted with blood. The mood Ketil was in he wanted to inflict yet more damage though he restrained himself. How could he put Miriam in an impossible position? If the whoremonger were to die … And yet, it was tempting to ask for answers before he left. For good? To see how well received he might be after so many years, four of them in total. Ketil brushed the unwelcome thoughts aside. Becoming Jarl would make what he really wanted to happen impossible. Or would it? He could always abduct her. Exasperated with himself, not even smiling at the thought of carrying her off, Viking fashion, he kicked the prisoner’s leg. The body rocked and that was all. So he kicked harder, thinking that handfasting was out of the question now, as was a marriage planned to take place on the traditional day to honour Frigg, the wife of Odin. While he reckoned he had already met the bride price there wo

Last Updated : 2022-06-09

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Ketil was touched by the loyalty of the jester’s boy and his brother. The latter was still clothed in the familiar Feltspar livery and whispered that he had found him a horse. It turned out to be a grey mare but he wasn’t complaining. He sincerely hoped the glimpse he’d caught of her in the passageway wouldn’t be the last. She was a fetching vision, down to the thick red hose.His Mia was gone but he loved Queen Miriam no less.That was why he had to go. He hoped Daphne wouldn’t let him down.The jailer was still snoring given the potion in his ale. Orm was probably with Jenna, while Magnus may be anywhere including watching for anything suspicious from the battlements. Sigurd might not raise a hue and cry, though his uncle almost certainly would. Not that he could blame him; in his position he might well have done the same.Running was never a good option, even if you had no choice.He already knew where he was headed after visiting the nunnery. It had to be a port, just not the one

Last Updated : 2022-06-09

Chapter Thirty-Eight

The monthly visit to Daphne was long overdue. Following up her gift of freshly laid duck eggs would be hard but Miriam had something in mind. Such a shame it wasn’t the season for persimmons. Her sister was partial to them, as was she.She was hoping to lay her hands on a long ago imported red wine from the Frankish territory. She hoped not to encounter any mice when she ventured into the cellar. No-one would notice its lack given that there were hundreds of bottles down there. In fact, King Gregory could have considered selling them to boost the treasury rather than bartering his youngest daughter.Encountering Astrid as she was leaving the Great Hall following a morning spent hearing disputes, she asked for her help to search. The Norsewoman dressed like a warrior these days in laced trousers and jerkin, her long white-blonde hair secured in a single plait. She even trained with the men in the practice yard and was the proud possessor of her half-brother’s sword, though she insisted

Last Updated : 2022-06-10

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Ketil could not believe how easy it had been. Eggsor was his by right and in deed, with barely a clash of sword on shield. The witch was dead and had been for some time, after which his half-brother tempered the cruelty she had fostered. Ragnar was only too willing to surrender his jarlship, something he had neither sought nor wanted, which meant his supporters were not opposed to a change at the top, either.After venturing to the Ice Lands he was equally as reassured that Eirik would not challenge him, either, and they had parted as amicably as it was ever going to be between them. His younger brother was a father now to a baby girl, Edda, though his wife, Hild, had perished in the birthing of her.Ruling came naturally to him. The soft ways acquired in Vercia were soon banished. But he did not regret the time spent there, even if the laws which he had observed made little sense in practice. Whoever had determined the monarch owned all the game in the kingdom and a man could be fine

Last Updated : 2022-06-10

Chapter Forty

“What do we tell them, Sig?” Astrid persisted.In some ways she was like an annoying wasp which refused to accept being swatted away – hadn’t he told her, twice, to see to the horses and then clean herself up?“The truth.”“I am warning you, they will not like it. These Vercians have a strange sense of honour.”Did she think he wasn’t aware of that, given what he’d done with Daphne for the sake of both his blood brother and her sister? Granted, that had been at the behest of the Masked King, but the latter wouldn’t have been in such a position of power if King Gregory hadn’t invited him to his court.Daphne. He had tried not to think of her, knowing she was poison, trouble and, undeniably, a siren. That session in the mirrored room – compelled, maybe, compelling definitely – was creeping into his mind more and more.“She is good for him, Asti. We have all witnessed that.”“And what about her?”Acting impulsively, he took the opportunity to palm her face and kiss her. It was her own fa

Last Updated : 2022-06-11

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