Page 1 of Haakon's Fate
PROLOGUE
Enough! I’ve had it with Saxon women.
Chest heaving with anger, Haakon sent a rock flying into the undergrowth.
All his life he’d hoped to marry a Saxon woman but his mind had been irrevocably changed by a series of unfortunate encounters. He might want a Saxon wife, but fate seemed to have other ideas. The ones he met were far from ready to become that wife.
It had to be because he was a Norseman who lived in a Norse community.
It was the only explanation he could think of, the only thing that made sense because they didn’t seem to have a problem with his appearance, quite the contrary. They were happy enough to let him bed them, and quite a number of them had even taken the step to come to him first. But none had wanted more than a few nights of passion with a wild lover. None had been brave enough to consider confronting their families and forgetting their prejudices for him. None had considered coming to live in a village where they would be in a minority.
The few women he knew who had been ready to take that step, Cwenthryth, Matilda, and Eahlswith, had not been interested in him but in other people from the village, which had only rubbed salt on the wound.
And then Edita had come.
From the moment she had arrived, the woman had made her wishes clear. She certainly was ready to settle with him. But not because of who he was, just because of the way he looked. She had decided she wanted a Norse husband and he had been amongst the first she’d set eyes upon. He had the feeling she would have chosen anyone else as easily, hardly a satisfying thought.
Another stone was sent to the undergrowth. Meeting her had been the last blow to his pride. Was the petty, vain, unbearable creature the only kind of woman ready to have him? To think just now he’d been reduced to flee to the forest like a frightened youth in order to escape her advances… He deserved better than this, damn it all.
Taking in a deep breath, Haakon headed back to the village. Enough was enough. He’d tried, and he’d failed. He would just have to resign himself to the fact that he would never marry a Saxon woman.
In fact, he would be happy if he didn’t see another Saxon woman as long as he lived.
1
EAST ANGLIA, SPRING 1075
“Please, please,please, come with me. I need to go see Halfdan.”
Gytha sighed. How would she find the strength to refuse her friend? Why would she refuse her, rather? Well, perhaps because the expedition was fraught with danger, which was precisely the reason Eadhild was asking her to come along. The ride to the Norsemen village was not without risk for two women on their own. But there was another reason her help was needed.
If Eadhild was discovered going there, there would be hell to pay. Another person would deflect her father’s anger if she was caught.
“Why do you need to see him?” Gytha was suddenly suspicious. Was there another, more pressing reason than simply missing him? “Are you with child and need to ask his support?”
Judging from the way Eadhild froze, Gytha understood that it was not the case—and that up until this moment her friend had not imagined that this eventuality might befall her.
“I-I… I don’t know. I mean, I might be carrying his child, considering that we—but it’s not what I… Oh, what am I going to do if I am?”
When she started to sob, Gytha took her into her arms. Indeed her friend was in a difficult situation. She had fallen in love with a man her father, and therefore her whole family, would never accept as her husband. Alberic harbored a violent, and inexplicable hatred of the Norse community. What the people had done to deserve it, no one knew. Probably nothing. The man was just a short-sighted, aggressive fool ready to blame anyone different for all the ills in the world. And, unfortunately, he was not the only one.
Gytha was luckier than most in that respect. Her father had always been fair and he happened to be on excellent terms with the Norsemen. Since his election as reeve five years ago, he’d been working in close contact with an Icelander called Wolf and helping him fight the many crimes the people in his village were wrongly accused of.
In the last few months, as the two of them had investigated the whereabouts of a missing Saxon child, their collaboration had become even more intense.
All this meant that she was used to seeing Norsemen coming and going out of her house, and, just like Eadhild, she could not help but see the appeal they exerted. The blond giants were nothing if not striking. Comparing them to the local men would be like comparing tranquil lakes to the vast, tumultuous seas. Both were made of water, but one had waves capable of crashing through you with life-altering force. Both Saxons and Norsemen were made of flesh, hair and bones, but still the Icelander and his countrymen seemed to belong to a different realm.
And Halfdan was better than most.
She had met the tall Dane a few times, and it had not taken her long to understand why her friend had fallen in love withhim. He was personable, thoughtful, and he genuinely cared for Eadhild. As soon as he had met her, he had started to learn her language in earnest, so as to be able to communicate with her on a meaningful level. Having recently arrived from Denmark, he’d only spoken Norse at the time, which Eadhild had now started to learn. The two of them were perfect together, and anyone with an ounce of sense would see it. Unfortunately, that didn’t include Alberic.
“Hush. We’ll go to the village. Of course, I’ll come with you.”
Eadhild sniffed, and gave her a watery smile. “Thank you.”
“But I think you and Halfdan should decide what to do,” Gytha added, feeling like her mother but unable to help herself. It was high time the two of them took their responsibilities. “This has been going on long enough. You need to know where you stand. You need to be able to come and go as you please, stop living in fear of discovery.”
She wasn’t worried about Halfdan’s reaction. If her instinct served her correctly, the Dane was in love with her friend and would marry her in a heartbeat. Then she could finally go live with him in the village and she wouldn’t have to worry about what her father thought, wouldn’t have to sneak out at the earliest opportunity to snatch a moment with her lover and put herself in danger.
