Page 16 of Ulf's Destiny
“Well, for one, I have not spent much time in the village in the last few years. I’ve been going to every fair in the area, in a bid to try and find out what trade would appeal to me. I only came back from Ipswich a few days ago.”
In time to be killed.
“I see.” He was right. Had she come a week earlier, he would not have been here. And he might be gone again before the month was over. Who she would have chosen as her victim had he not been an option, she had no idea.
“For another, we have been named after the same animal. Ulf, means wolf in Norse. And your name also comes from the animal. Ylva.”
Ah. Now she understood why he’d been surprised to hear her name the day before. Because it matched his. And she had to admit that she rather liked the idea.
“Yes. Then perhaps we were destined to meet.”
They stared at one another a long moment, then he gave her hand a squeeze and nodded toward the hut. “Ready?”
“Ready.”
But when they reached the door, he gestured that she should wait outside while he told his grandfather he could go back home. It was not long before Wolf appeared through the door, smiling at her. That smile made her feel in her gut how much she had missed a protective, masculine presence in her life. She did not remember her father, and she had been denied her brother’s love. The only men she had seen while growing up had been the slave trader, his equally vile son and, of course, that bastard, Walstan. No one had looked at her the way Wolf was looking at her, like a benevolent grandfather would. It brought a lump to her throat.
“Are you sure you can stay in the hut tonight?”
He meant because of Mildred, not Ulf. But her answer was the same. “Yes.”
“Very well. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”
“Thank you. For all you and your sons did today.”
“No. Thankyou. I had meant to punish the trader’s daughter and you finally allowed me to do that.”
Yes, this was what Ulf had said. If that were really the case, she was glad to have helped. But that didn’t mean she was not grateful. She had benefitted from the intervention more than him, and they both knew it.
Taking a big inhale, she entered the hut.
Her gaze instantly landed on Mildred. The woman was sitting on a chair to which she had been bound, much like Ylva herself had been the day before. Her gag had been removed butshe was oddly quiet, as if her encounter with Wolf had utterly defeated her. Ulf was towering over her, a scowl on his face. He nodded when he saw Ylva walk in and moved over to the side. She understood he had been waiting for her to announce what Mildred’s punishment would be. But she could not speak. The lump in her throat had not disappeared yet. If anything, it had grown larger.
Ulf saw the panic flare in her eyes and tilted his head, indicating that if it was all right with her, he would speak out.
It was, so she nodded back.
“For your crimes, tomorrow you will be taken to a slave trader and be sold to a Dane merchant returning home,” he said with terrible bluntness. “You will never set a foot in this country ever again.”
Mildred blanched. Ylva forced herself not to look away. This was terrifying to hear but it was only justice.
“You can’t do that!”
Ulf did not even blink. “I was almost killed on your orders. Dozens of children suffered at your hands. Judith was raped on your orders. Two women were held captive and ill-treated. I can punish you, and I will.”
“Are you awake?”
The hairs at the back of Ulf’s neck bristled when the woman’s voice sliced through the darkness.
Mildred.
Damnation. He should have left the gag on before going to bed. Only, fool that he was, he had been loath to inflict such suffering on a woman. She was tied up and she’d been told that tomorrow she would become a slave. That was punishmentenough, or so he’d thought. He should have guessed she would try to sway him while she could.
He stayed still and ignored her. It was the middle of the night so he could all too easily have been asleep. He wasn’t, though, too busy thinking back to what had happened to Ylva and Judith, or rather what could have happened. Against all odds, they had been lucky to be chosen to exact Mildred’s revenge, since, in the end, it had earned them their freedom. It was also fortunate Ylva had decided to attackhim, and not his father, who might have been less lenient and?—
“I think you’re awake. Listen, Norseman,” Mildred said, in what she probably thought was a tempting purr. “We both know you don’t really want me dead. If you did you wouldn’t have asked the women to come up with a punishment. You would have run me through with your dagger in that house, like you did with Walstan, and be done with it. So why don’t you and I reach an understanding?”
Ulf tensed, already knowing he would hate what she was about to propose. If she kept talking, he might well have to gag her again. He didn’t want her to wake Ylva up and he didn’t want to hear what this understanding could be.
