Under A Viking Moon

by Tami Dee

  Her question carried across the room. All was silent except for the child.

  Kat's heart was breaking into a thousand little pieces and nobody seemed to care. If Leif slew this baby she could never forgive him, regardless of his reasons.

  He was a baby and her ancestor.

  "I have no choice," Leif told her. "Your Amma's book tells clearly the devastation this infant will cause. My loyalty is to my family and my clan. It always has been and it must always be."

  Kat's heart dropped to her toes. She had her answer. He would choose his clan over her. But she must fight for the infant. She was his only chance and he hers. Had her grandmother known it would come to this?

  She must have.

  "I though you said you never rape women or slay children?" She threw his own words back to him in desperation.

  His head jerked back as if he'd been struck.

  He turned cold eyes upon her, his jaw clenched.

  "I will do what I must." He raised the knife, preparing to plunge it into the tiny heart.

  Kat's scream bounced off the wooden walls and out into the forest, startling birds that fluttered.

  Slamming her foot into Davyn's instep, Kat elbowed Ofeig in his rib cage and each of their holds loosened, just enough for her to jerk free of them.

  She threw herself atop the infant, careful to bow her back so not to crush him.

  Kat waited for Leif's blade to impale itself in her back with her eyes squeezed shut.

  And waited.

  It didn't come. Instead she heard him sigh deeply from behind her then felt his large hands grasp her waist. Leif lifted her from the table easily and she grabbed the baby in her arms as she was gently set to her feet.

  The exhausted baby, innocent to the hate that filled his short life, slept.

  Love and pity swamped her as she gazed down at him. How could so many people wish to harm an innocent baby?

  She looked up to find Leif watching her closely, clearly affected in some way she could not determine by what had happened.

  "If you kill this baby, you will have to kill me first," she said. Her voice as steady as her eyes. She would, she knew, die for this child. This little child that should have never came into the world and who had no family but for her.

  "Kat--"

  "I mean it, Leif. This child has done nothing to harm you or anyone else. I don't care what the second saga says. It was his mother that betrayed you, not him. Katla betrayed Scipio and allowed Cavan to plot and plan the attack upon your ship. Not this child."

  He shook his head, his frown creasing his forehead. "The legend said--"

  She cut his words off with her a sharp gesture of her free hand.

  "The legend also said that Katla killed herself. But she didn't. Since the first book didn't have all the facts, there is every possibility that the second book is lacking in them also. Besides, you said that, according to the book, that the midwife raised him and poisoned his mind against you?"

  Leif nodded.

  "Perhaps if you had never found them, she might have done that. But look around, she is here. The child is here. There is no reason for her to raise Katla's child, no reason for her to ever even speak to him, much less poison his mind."

  She stepped closer to Leif, her senses taking in the scent of him. She pleaded now not only for the child's life, but for the man she knew him to be to do the right thing.

  "If she doesn't raise him, she can't poison his mind. Don't you see? If he is not raised by her he will not grow up and raise an army against you. By finding them, you have changed history. It doesn't have to happen the way the saga tells it."

  Leif stood as still as if he were made of stone.

  She could see him weighing her words.

  What would he do? Would he worry about what his men would think of him if he did not follow through with his vow to murder the infant? Or would he prove himself a true leader and do what was right despite what others might say?

  If the stakes weren't so high, Kat knew that she might very well feel sorry for him. He was being forced to make many difficult decisions in a very short length of time, asked to change the way he'd been taught to view things in his world to a way that was foreign to him, and that he wasn't entirely sure was better than his ways.

  Kat held her breath.

  Leif turned to his father who was standing across from him, watching his son in silence.

  "Father," he said. "What she says makes sense. If I were to raise the child as my own, while leaving the midwife in exile here, the words of the saga could not come true. What think you?"

  The question weighed heavy in the air.

  "Son," his father told him gravely. "You have proved yourself a fine and fair leader since you took my place as jarl. Any decision you should make, I will defend with my life."

  The watching warriors murmured amounts themselves.

  Giving his father a level look Leif nodded before turning to Davyn who smiled his support. As did Ofeig and Balmung.

  Leif held out his arms, his eyes imploring her to trust him.

  And she did.

  When Kat handed over the child who was still sleeping, she didn't know what Leif would do, but she trusted him to do the right thing.

  And she was not disappointed.

  Holding the infant flat in both hands he lifted him over his head. A collective gasp rose from his men, followed by silence.

  "From this day forward," he declared. "I claim this child Arild as my son. Any who harm him will answer to me."

  Tears of happiness burned her eyes.

  She had saved Katla's infant. Oh, Amma, I did it.

  Leif handed the child to his father who, to Kat's amused surprise, went immediately to the swaddling and wrapped him up snugly, tucking the baby into the crook of his arm as if he had done so a hundred times before.

  Leif's lips also twitched in amusement, then, meeting her eyes his expression turned serious.

  Her skin prickled, her stomach turned, whether from dread or anticipation she couldn't tell.

  Leif came to her side and placed a strong arm around her shoulders, turning her toward his men. He pushed her hair over her shoulder, then unclasped the sign of her slavery. Her heart soared with love and happiness as she realized what he was doing.

  Leif's voices boomed out loud and clear, with no doubt or hesitation wreaking it.

  "And this woman is my wife," Leif announced. "Her thralldom is no more and I will kill any man, woman or child that does anything to cause harm to her. So hear me and spread the word, with or without the arm band, she is under my care and protection, as my wife." He dropped the hated collar to the floor.

  The tension in the room was so thick you could cut it. The silence was deafening.

  Several warriors fidgeted.

  Leif drew his sword from its sheath behind his back and turned to face his clan.

  The sound of metal sliding through metal sounded in the room as Leif's father, after handing the infant to her, and his brothers each drew their weapons and stood at Leif's side.

  Kat found herself shielded by a mighty wall of Viking warriors, each ready to defend and protect her with their very lives.

  Her heart was so full that Kat imagined it would burst.

  And amazingly, she wasn't afraid. Despite that Leif and his family were outnumbered at least twenty to one; she had no doubt that they and she would be safe.

  And then it happened. One by one the warriors surrounding them bowed their heads in acceptance.

  Kat breathed a loud sigh of relief, and Davyn turned and winked at her.

  Leif turned and opened his arms to her. She, with Arild snugly between them, basked in her husband's love and loyalty.

  Her respect for him had grown ten-fold, for her Viking jarl had just fought the hardest battle in his life.

  The battle of peer pressure.

  And he had won.

  He tightened his embrace until the infant protested with a cry. They both laughed and Kat hand
ed the baby back to Nabboddr.

  Leif pulled her into his chest.

  "You're going to be a wonderful father, Leif." Kat looked into his eyes, all the love she felt for him there, for him to see. "To both your sons."

  He frowned down at her, clearly puzzled by her words, and then his expression cleared as understanding dawned and he smiled so wide it made her heart flutter.

  The room tilted at a dizzying angle as Leif scooped her into his arms and carried her, through the great hall and into a room, kicking the thick door closed behind him.

  The room was large, built in a rectangular shape. As was typical with housing in this harsh culture, it was windowless. The bed box was piled high with furs and there were fine silken scarves draped over a wooden canopy. Several wax candles burned in their holders through out the room, and a small fire pit burned cheerfully in its center, warming the air and casting soft, dancing shadows over them. Kat didn't let herself think that this might have been Scipio's room, for he was gone and they were here.

  Without saying a word Leif pushed back the furs and laid her on the bed box, then began removing his weapons, carefully setting them at the foot of the bed box, never taking his eyes off her as he did so.

  Kat smiled up at him. "You're not angry that I lied to you about the baby I'm carrying?"

  He did not pretend to misunderstand her question. "Nay, lady. I am hurt that you did not confide in me when I asked you. But I believe I understand why you chose not to. Let that be the last time you are not honest with me."

  He climbed into bed and pulled her close, raining unhurried kisses to her face and neck.

  Desire spiraled low in her belly and she wound her arms around his neck, pressing her lips to the strong pulse at the base of his throat. "I promise."

  The Mists of Time Viking Series continues with Dawn of a Viking Sunrise

  Coming January 2010

  About Tami Dee

  I am a member of Romance Writers of America, Desert Breeze Connections, Celtic Hearts Romance Writers, and San Francisco Area Romance Writers.

  My hobbies include reading, writing, going to the movies and taking weekend trips to Half Moon Bay, CA. I love reading time travel romances, and writing them myself is very enjoyable.

  Visit http://www.tamidee.com for more information.