Read Online A Flame Put Out by Erin S. Riley - Free Book Online

Bjorn’s, stating she could take Geirr’s incessant crying no longer. Obviously she would not knock at the door of her own house, but Selia knew Hrefna was concerned about the girl’s emotional state.
    Whoever was outside might bear troubling news.
    Hrefna rushed to the door and pulled it open, with Selia two steps behind, carrying Geirr. The babe had just gone to sleep, but she knew from experience that if she laid him down too soon he would wake up immediately, screaming in fury. It was easier to simply hold him, even if it did spoil him as Hrefna insisted it would.
    The woman cried out as she threw her arms around the large figure outside. For a brief second Selia thought the war band had returned, and her heart leapt. But the timbre of the man’s voice told her it was Ulfrik.
    Ulfrik, here ?
    Selia stood frozen as he bent his head to clear the doorway and stepped inside. He stared down at her, his face expressionless.
    “Hello, Selia,” he said softly. His gaze traveled over the babe in her arms.
    She could neither force her feet to move nor her mouth to form words. Why was he here? What could he possibly want? Ulfrik was no fool, but the idea of him showing up at Alrik’s house now was completely mad. Unless, of course, he knew his brother had left for Ireland on a raid. What better time would there be to come and carry Selia off?
    Ulfrik was soaking wet, and he pushed his dripping hair out of his eyes as he turned back to Hrefna. “There are forty men out there in the rain. Could they come in until the storm blows over?”
    “Gunnar One-Eye’s crew?”
    He hesitated but a moment. “Yes.”
    “Alrik wouldn’t like that.” Hrefna frowned.
    With a nod, Ulfrik stepped back. “I understand. We will sail to my house to wait out the storm. I would ask to see Muirin though, before I leave.” He turned back to Selia, his gaze again resting on Geirr. “Is that the child?”
    Hrefna looked up at him with a sigh. “Ulfrik. Muirin is dead, my boy.”
    His face blanched, and for a brief second Selia felt sorry for him. Hrefna laid her hand on his arm and gave it a squeeze. Then squared her shoulders as if making up her mind about something.
    “Have the men come inside. They are welcome to stay the night and fill their bellies. What Alrik doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
    The nightmare began in earnest as forty wet Finngalls took over the longhouse. Gunnar One-Eye was introduced to Selia as Gunnar Klaufason. The man was surprisingly young, about the same age as Alrik and Ulfrik. He was built like a bull, square and solid with muscle, and his hair was nearly black, uncommon among the Finngalls. His face, which might have at one time been handsome, was marred by a thick scar that began on his forehead and ended just above his beard. His left eye socket was sunken and the eyelid appeared to have been sewn shut. His other eye, however, was strangely beautiful; a pale violet-blue, surrounded by a bristle of thick black eyelashes.
    The contrast of the perfect eye with the mangled one unnerved Selia, who found herself reluctant to look at him directly.
    Gunnar’s right hand man, tall and blond Einarr Drengsson, possessed the distinctive sharp bone structure shared by Alrik and Ulfrik. Selia was not surprised to learn that his father and Ragnarr had been cousins. Gunnar was married to Einarr’s sister. It seemed to Selia nearly every Finngall in Norway was related by either blood or marriage. Sometimes even both, although uncommon. It was not unheard of for cousins to marry if necessity dictated, but her head spun trying to keep the various connections straight.
    All of the men, but Gunnar and Einarr in particular, stared at Selia in open curiosity. This too was unnerving. Since marrying Alrik, she had become accustomed to men not looking at her directly. If any did meet her gaze, their faces filled with fear, not desire. Their apprehension about Alrik’s jealousy squelched whatever interest they may have felt under