Read Online Delivering Kadlin by Gabrielle Holly - Free Book Online

hear her weep.

Chapter Five
     
    The sound of the surf receded as they rode away from the coast. At noon, they stopped at a small spring to rest and water the horses. Bjorn passed her a cloth bundle and took one for himself. The jarl’s housemaid had prepared them each a cold lunch of bread, berries and dried venison, which they ate in silence. Bjorn had not spoken to her after she’d won their freedom. She’d spent a restless night lying beside him in the jarl’s house, close enough to sense his body heat but feeling a world apart.
    When they’d finished eating, Bjorn snatched up their food bundles and walked back to the horses. He was shoving the cloths into a saddle pouch when Kadlin reached out and touched the tan skin above his leather bracer.
    “Bjorn, please speak to me.”
    He wheeled around to face her and looked as if he were struggling to maintain his composure. “Mount your pony. I want to be home before sunset.”
    Kadlin tightened her grip. “Why are you so angry?”
    He jerked his arm away. “I told you not to come!”
    “I had to. Grima said you would not survive the voyage. She saw it.”
    “Ha! Grima! Yet another headstrong fool. I am plagued by willful women!”
    Stung by his coldness, Kadlin felt her pain turn to anger. She planted her fists on her hips. “What does it matter? All is well now. We are both free and—”
    Bjorn grabbed her by the upper arms and shook her roughly. “You stupid imp! Did you not see the way he looked at you? Didn’t you hear the vile things he said? What if he had not accepted your bauble? What if he had taken you from me?”
    Kadlin winced, and he released her. She dropped her gaze to the ground. “But he didn’t. I was only—”
    “You disobeyed me! Yet again !” he roared.
    * * * *
    They rode west in strained silence. Kadlin reined her pony so that he trotted slightly behind Bjorn’s right hip. She stole glances at his stern profile. The Viking sat tall and rigid on his mount. He stared straight ahead but seemed to look at nothing. Tall spruce loomed up on either side of them, and the trail began to rise.
    When they reached to top of the hill, Bjorn halted his horse and his shoulders seemed to relax. Kadlin pulled her pony up beside him and followed his gaze. They stood at the rim of a lush, green vale. Steep hills formed the sides of a roughly round bowl of land. The bottom was flat with a wide stream winding through the far edge. An expansive farmstead was laid out below with crops in neat rows, a long sod-roofed house and half dozen outbuildings. Hogs wallowed in a round paddock while goats and cows browsed near the outer edges of the farm. A dog barked, and two men looked up from their work between the crop rows. They stood and waved at Bjorn. He returned their greeting, and Kadlin saw a wide smile overtake his face.
    A large, jet-black dog bounded up the hill, barking madly and wagging his curved plume of a tail. Bjorn swung smoothly from his horse and crouched a moment before the exuberant bundle of fur bowled him over and covered his face with slobber.
    “Floki, you mangy cur! Off of me now, stupid beast!” Bjorn scolded, though his laughter gave away his delight. The Viking wrestled with his pet and scratched roughly at the long, shiny fur. He grasped the thick mane of hair just below the dog’s pointed ears and dragged its snout to within an inch of his own face. “Did you keep all in order while I was away?”
    Floki barked as if confirming that he’d been doing his job.
    Bjorn stood, knocked the dirt from his trousers and remounted his horse.
    Floki turned to Kadlin as if noticing her for the first time then bounded to her side. He sniffed at her ankle before leading the way back down the hill. The two men from the field, and one other, met Bjorn at the bottom of the trail. He climbed down from his horse, and the four exchanged greetings and sound back-slaps. While the workers gave concise reports about the state of the farm, three women