Viking's Love Read Free Page B

eyes.
    “ I’m not going anywhere, barbarian
scum!” Allisande backed away, seeing the five reach for their
weapons and advance purposefully. “You will have to kill me
first!”
    “ Hold!” Joran shouted as he saw
Wulfstan’s intent. The man was in shock to see his brother and
friend die at the hands of the tiny woman, and bore down on her
with broadsword raised threateningly. “Fall back now, Wulfstan! We
will shed no more blood here today!”
    Wulfstan gestured to where his brother lay
unmoving in the dirt, and Hagar who lay not far away. “It is my
right! The bitch killed my brother! You have no right to stop me!
Danik and Hagar will be avenged!”
    “ Had you done what you were sent up
here to do, the wench wouldn’t still have a weapon, Wulfstan!”
Joran approached and stepped between him and his pursuit of the
girl. “You have only yourself to blame!”
    “ The Lockwraithe bitch belongs to
me!”
    “ She is under my protection until we
take the matter to Ivar, Wulfstan.”
    “ You go too far!” Wulfstan’s nostrils
flared in outrage. His sword arm shook with the effort to withdraw.
“She killed my brother and you stand there and do nothing? Our
father will hear of this, Joran, and how you killed the baron in
error this day!”
    Joran saw the girl’s eyes widen in dismay to
learn her father was dead. She backed farther into the inner
bailey. Her eyes filled with tears. She eyed him like the lowest,
most vile of creatures.
    Joran wanted to shout in fury at Wulfstan’s
slight of tongue. The girl knowing her father was dead did not bode
well, judging from her grim, resigned expression as she narrowed
her gaze upon him.
    The sword she held was a smaller version of a
broadsword, and just as deadly. She knew how to use it and would
not come quietly. The situation was now out of his control and
escalating rapidly by her militant expression.
    “ Allisande of Lockwraithe, you will
drop your weapon and have done with this.” Joran pursued her
grimly, his eyes never leaving hers.
    “ You will have to kill me too, Viking!”
She walked backward, her sword outstretched. “Come, Berserker, let
us see if you can best a lady.”
    “ Drop the sword! No more need die this
day!” Joran crept nearer, sword poised. “I have no desire to kill a
woman!”
    “ You killed my father, and for that I
will kill you, Joran Ivarsson!” Allisande’s fierce look compelled
him to question how well the girl could fight. As tiny as she was,
she couldn’t possibly defeat him. She had to know that. He ground
his teeth as he walked closer.
    “ Look around you.” Joran crept closer,
his eyes never leaving her pale features. “You may kill me, but
what of the men at my back? You cannot win here, girl! Think of
your people, if nothing else! What do you think will happen to them
if you succeed in this?”
    Allisande gazed behind him to see the
anguished looks of the women huddled against the stone wall and
froze. She surprised him as she lowered the sword and tossed it at
his feet.
    Joran kicked the sword away from her. Grogan
rushed to pick it up, marveling at the little sword before tucking
it into his waistband. He glared down at the girl, seeing how she
refused to cower. He shouted for Sarne. The younger Viking rushed
forward.
    “ Tie her up and put her on my ship,”
Joran ordered harshly, his eyes cold. “Stay with her until I
arrive, and be on your guard,” he added, thinking of Wulfstan. “No
one boards my ship until I arrive.”
    Sarne nodded and approached the girl a bit
warily. She made a false lunge at him. He let out a sudden gasp and
held up his hands as if to ward off her attack. Violet eyes filled
with amusement. She held out her wrists and glared at Joran, her
tone one of ridicule. “Are you sure him capable of this task,
Viking?”
    Sarne looked outraged at her insolent words
questioning his strength. Joran grinned in amusement at her daring.
“Go easy on him, Girl. Sarne has a soft spot for females. You