Page 24 of The Dark Prince
And yet, I couldn’t let her go. Not yet. The surrounding room quieted as they ushered the children to bed, and couples began disappearing back to their huts one by one. The torches dimmed until the longhouse was only lit by the main fire, throwing wicked-looking shadows into the corners and up the walls.
I gathered Isadora more tightly and closed my eyes. I inhaled her sweet, clean scent and knew I had to relish it while I could before everything came crashing down around me.
Around her.
It isn’t a crime to like your wife.
No, it might not be. But it would surely kill us both if I loved her.
Eleven
ISADORA
Eventually, the candles melted into stubs and the fires dimmed, as did the surrounding conversations. I yawned and Tyr shifted behind me.
“Let’s get you to bed. Tomorrow we will reach my castle.”
I smiled sleepily at him, gloriously content with such good food, company, and warmth. “I can’t wait.”
He didn’t meet my eyes, merely stood and helped me to my feet. The few remaining people in the longhouse waved and called out to us as we left, the women with happy smiles and the men hooting and hollering. Tyr tensed, but said nothing to them. I could imagine the things they shouted. Was it embarrassment that made Tyr flinch, or was it disgust at the thought?
I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer.
The cold hit me like a slap in the face as we stepped outside, and even though it felt worlds better in my new clothes, I still held my gloved hands over my cheeks.
“Puth has given us his house for the evening while he stays with his son and his wife. I apologize.”
Confused, I stopped trudging through the snow and turned to look at him. Before I could ask what he was sorry for, he continued., “To them, it is disrespectful to you if we slept apart, so for tonight, we will have to share the same cabin.” His tone was conciliatory but that only heightened my disarray.
“I … what?” I asked dumbly. “You’re my husband. I thought …” I trailed off, embarrassed because the answer was obvious. He didn’t want to share a cabin with me. He was being forced to.
Tyr led me to one of the quaintly built wooden houses, this one no more or less grand than the others. He pushed open the door, and I ducked under his arm to get out of the wind that much quicker. He snorted, but didn’t comment.
I took in the cozy cabin with its bed of furs in the corner, and a blazing fire that crackled happily in the hearth. Wood was everywhere—like a smaller version of the longhouse. A long table with benches sat directly in front of the hearth. Puth’s own shield and shield hung over the door. It said a lot about how safe the village was if the large man felt comfortable leaving it all here while he slept elsewhere.
I started stripping off my gloves and hat, and the large fur overcoat they’d given me. I put everything in a neat pile on the table. Tyr came and sat down on the bench beside the pile, his golden eyes riveted to me.
I was down to my white dress with the blue one overtop and my thick, woolen stockings. I bent down to take off the blue dress, but he grabbed my wrist and held it.
“That’s enough,” he intoned gruffly.
I straightened. He didn’t even want to see me without layers upon layers. That’s how much he despised me. I swallowed hard, determined not to let it get to me.
“Settle in the furs. I will stay here and keep watch. I don’t like how close the thieves were.” He rubbed his shoulder absently as he spoke, his gaze far away. He unstrapped the ax from his back and set to cleaning it with a rough cloth that was wrapped around the handle.
I thought of how open he’d been earlier, admitting he wasn’t prepared to take a wife. He knew about how to … bewith a wife, didn’t he? Perhaps it was up to me to coax him further.
“I don’t want to muss my nice blue dress,” I argued, but kept my voice light. Before he could protest, I whipped it over my head, leaving me in nothing but the white shift and my thick woolen socks. I folded the dress neatly on the table in front of him.
The cottage was quite warm, so before I lost my nerve, I slipped the thick, thigh-high socks off my feet and added them to the pile. I glanced between him and the pile of furs.
“You will not sleep at all, then?” I asked, trying to understand.
“Some,” he grumbled back, not taking his eyes off his blade. His hands moved back and forth, polishing the smooth steel with every swipe of his hands. Back and forth. Back and forth.
I bit my lip, my eyes following the movements of his hand. “Have I displeased you?”
His hand froze, body tensing over the weapon. “Where would you get an insane idea like that?”
