Page 23 of Haakon's Fate
This was a disaster but he didn’t see what he could do to avert it.
When she heard footsteps behind her, Edita reverted to a more seemly distance. Either she thought the person coming their way was Arne or some vestige of modesty was compelling her to act as she should.
Haakon stiffened and braced himself—only to have the surprise of seeing Gytha stop by his side and snake her arm around his. She didn’t appear angry or suspicious. On the contrary, she was smiling.
“There you are, I was looking for you. You won’t believe what Eadhild just told me. Her father thought you were one of Wolf’s sons when he heard about our betrothal,” she said with a tinkling laugh. “And he was very put out to be told I was to marry into such a prestigious Norse family, as you can imagine.I’m thinking we should not rectify his mistake just yet, what do you think?”
“You are—?” Edita started, blinking.Betrothed, she clearly meant to say.
Haakon could not blame her for looking dumbstruck. He was dumbstruck himself. What was Gytha doing?
Her smile widened even further when she addressed the other Saxon. “I’m sorry, I’m Gytha. I don’t think we’ve met?”
“N-no, but, excuse me, you were saying?”
“Oh, yes, that my friend’s father had mistaken Haakon for one of Wolf’s sons.”
Edita waved a hand. “Not that. The other thing.”
That they were betrothed.
Before Gytha could answer, Arne appeared round the corner. Haakon stiffened further, unable to believe his bad luck. Was this really happening? Had his friend seen Edita stroke him like a pet earlier? Had he heard their conversation? Was he about to flatten him to the ground for trying to steal his woman? Would Gytha’s presence be enough to stop an outburst of violence? She still had her arm around him, so it did look as if he was involved with her, not Edita, but one could not be sure.
Arne stopped in front of them and took Edita by the waist.
“There you are. I was looking for you.” Those were the exact same words Gytha had told him, which only added to the ludicrousness of the moment. Then Arne winked at him. “I knew you had a thing for Saxons, you dog. You tried to deny it when I asked if you had your eye on someone earlier, but I see I was right. You’re Eadhild’s friend, aren’t you?” he asked Gytha, turning to her.
“I am.” Her smile alone would have convinced anyone she and Haakon were indeed a couple and she was proud to be introduced to a friend of his. “We’ve been friends since we could walk.”
“Wonderful.” Having already lost interest in the conversation, Arne lowered his head to Edita. “Shall we? There was something I wanted to show you.”
No prize for guessing what that “something” was or what Edita would be expected to do with it. Haakon breathed a sigh of relief when the two of them disappeared round the hut.
“Thank you for trying to get me out of the woman’s clutches,” he told Gytha, who was still holding his arm. Even though there was no one to see them, he did nothing to disentangle himself. That simple contact felt good.Shefelt good next to him.
“You’re welcome. You helped me the other day, it was only fair I helped you, don’t you think?”
He stilled, as her comment reminded him of something. He hesitated. Should he tell her what he’d just thought of? Wouldn’t she read more than he intended into it? In the end, he decided to speak.
“You know… My parents met when my mother pretended to be my father’s lover.”
Gytha stared at him with as much disbelief as this declaration warranted. “Why would she do such a thing?”
“To protect him from an accusation of theft. One of the men from the village claimed he had been the one stealing Wolf’s horse in the night. Though they didn’t know one another, she could not believe he was guilty of the crime so she told everyone that he could not have done the deed, as he had spent the night in her bed. As if that weren’t enough to put herself in a difficult position, my uncle Björn, her brother, was in the group. You can imagine how he reacted to that declaration.”
“Yes, I can.” A chuckle, mingled with awe and disbelief. “Dear God, but your mother is a braver woman than I am.”
He smiled at her. “She is brave.”
Brave and loving and fiercely loyal, just like Gytha herself was, he was starting to suspect.
This woman who barely knew him had saved him from another woman’s advances. Being petted was admittedly not as dangerous as being accused of theft but he considered himself no less lucky than his father had been. Except that now that he had spoken, Haakon understood why he had hesitated in telling Gytha the story. Because, funny as it was with hindsight, it felt oddly meaningful. It made the similarities between what had happened to his parents and what was happening between them glaring. It even seemed to suggest that he thought the two of them would end up married one day and able to tell their children the unusual way they’d met.
That wasn’t what he was doing.
Was it?
With her hand in the crook of his arm, he was not so sure.
