Page 20 of Ulf's Destiny
“Thank you. I would never have survived these horrible years without you,” Judith whispered, placing a kiss on her neck.
“Me neither.” She returned the kiss. “Now, enough about Mildred. I don’t want to ever talk or think about her again. How about going outside, sit in the sunshine?”
“An excellent idea.”
7
Ulf watched Ylva open her eyes and saw the moment she understood it had not been a dream. She was really free.
Something in her face softened, her body went limp and she smiled. At him. That smile shot straight to his heart, where he suspected it would stay lodged forever.
“It’s true then,” she said slowly.
“It’s true.”
A deep inhale, then a sigh. Ylva closed her eyes again. Ulf waited, feeling peace descend into his own body as well. Oddly, it felt as if he had just accomplished his life’s goal, as if freeing this woman who shared his name from her tormentor had been his destiny.
He stilled.
Perhaps that was what his destiny was.
In helping Haakon when the man took over from his grandfather. Perhaps he didn’t need to learn a new trade because his future had already been decided for him. Wolf the Icelander’s blood was flowing in his veins. Neither his father nor his uncleshad felt the urge to succeed their father as village leader but perhaps this was what he had been born to do. Help those in need, carry on the family tradition and follow in the footsteps of the man he had been named after, the man he admired so.
It would be a noble undertaking and was certainly worth considering, because the village was growing all the time. Haakon would have to look after twice as many people as his grandfather had when he’d arrived in the country. He would need someone to assist him. Ulf could be that man.
Helping Ylva and Judith had made him feel better and prouder than he had in a long time, since that day he had saved his mother at the age of twelve, so he knew he would love knowing he had helped alleviate suffering wherever he could.
The absurdity of it made him laugh. He had gone everywhere in search of his purpose and it had taken a woman trying to kill him to find it in the very place he was born.
“I will go get some food to break our fast while you get dressed.”
This was as good an excuse as any to leave the hut. And he did need to leave the hut. He could not have stayed there, watching Ylva walk about in nothing but her shift.
“Thank you. I’m famished. But I don’t see my dress anywhere?”
“No.” The dress in question was a coarse woolen gown that was almost threadbare and too short, as if she’d started wearing it as a child not yet fully grown. It had done its time; the only thing it was good for was to be cut into rags. “Now that Mildred is gone, we thought you would rather not put anything on that reminded you of your old life. My aunt, Aife, brought one of her dresses for you. Here.”
He pointed to the blue linen gown on the chair to his right. Torsten’s wife was the only woman he knew whose clothes might be a good fit for Ylva. Anyone else’s would swamp her.
“Thank you. I know I should refuse but I hated that old, scratchy, horrible dress and everything it represented. I hope you burned it,” she said with feeling. “But you will have to take me to your aunt, so I can thank her.”
“I will, don’t worry, but not today, as she and Torsten have gone to the next village. Now let me go get some bread.”
Gudrun, the baker’s wife, smirked when she saw what he had chosen. “A big loaf, today, hey? But, of course, you have a guest, have you not? The little Saxon. She needs feeding for certain, but don’t you think that wheat bread is a luxury wasted on a slave?”
“She’s not a slave!” Ulf snapped.
The woman was nosy and shameless and she was always the first to spread rumors so it didn’t surprise him to see that she was aware of where Ylva was sleeping. It was no secret. Fortunately, she had no idea Ylva had tried to kill him, otherwise he would never hear the end of it. But no one except his family, old Helga, Haakon and Gytha had been told about the attack on his person.
Bread in hand, he went to the smokehouse next to get two plump trout fillets. The smell hitting him when he walked through the wooden door made his mouth water and he realized he was famished as well.
In the hut, he found Ylva standing by the firepit, dressed Aife’s blue dress.
Ulf stilled. He had known she was a beautiful woman, but this was something out of a dream. In the light, elegant dress, the color of which made her hair shimmer and eyes glow, she was stunning. At least, he was stunned.
Fascinated, he watched her smooth the fabric over her hips. Both her nervousness and her delight were evident. How long was it since she’d had anything new and clean to wear?
“What do you think?” she asked, barely meeting his gaze.
