Page 47 of My Fair Viking

Rafh's stiffened shoulders relaxed. "There is a problem, though."

"When is there not?" Thorvald said through a yawn. He was fighting to stay awake.

"Tyra has decided on a new campaign. She renounces all ties of kinship, and then she will join the Varangian Guard, thus leaving herself husbandless and her sisters free to marry."

"The girl always was bullheaded." Like her father. He wasn't sure if he thought that or Rafn said it. It mattered not.

"She appears to be determined."

No more determined than I. Cut myself off from my first child? I think not! "You must do several things for me, Rafn."

His trusty captain leaned closer to hear his whispered words.

"Do not tell anyone that I awakened, or that we talked."

Rafh appeared confused, but he nodded.

"And bring me a boar steak, along with a horn of mead… all under cover, of course."

"My lord?" Rafn was definitely confused.

"I have a plan," was all Thorvald would say, for he was soon unconscious again.

"What we need here is a plan."

Drifa was speaking to three of her sisters, as well as the Lady Alinor, as they helped her sort large bunches of cut flowers and herbs, which would be dried and used in various ways over the winter. Some would be used in potpourris, others crushed into salves, some of the more fragrant ones mixed with rushes to spread about the bedchamber floors. They were in an upper solar of the wood castle… one of three solars in all, thanks to Breanne's obsession with building.

"What kind of a plan?" Vana wanted to know. "We were talking about Tyra. What has that to do with… oh, I see."

"A wedding plan. For Tyra," Drifa announced. "We already know that she likes him, and he likes her, though neither would admit to such. The question is how can we make Tyra more desirable to the man? Irresistible, really."

"Oh, I love it. I love, love, love it!" Alinor said, clapping her hands together with excitement… which caused her infant to blink his eyes, squirm around in his cradle, then nestle back to sleep in the soft furs.

"Hmmmm," Breanne said and pulled out a piece of parchment, a quill, and a pot of ink. "Let's make a list."

"She dresses like a man," Ingrith complained.

"Well, then, that should be number one," Drifa suggested. "Write that down, Breanne. Womanly attire."

For an hour and more they chattered on, suggesting, rejecting, and lauding the various ideas they came up with. In the end, this was their list:

WEDDING PLAN FOR TYRA

1) Womanly Attire

2) Develop Feminine Attributes—walk with a hip sway, purse lips, flirt, take baths, no more scratching the groin

3) Be Agreeable—agree with everything he says, listen raptly when he talks, let him do the talking, smile a lot.

4) Damsel in Distress

5) Absence Makes Heart Grow Fonder

6) Learn Sex Tricks

7) If all else fails—make her jealous

Lady Alinor disagreed vehemently with Number Three. "You'll turn Tyra into a witless maid, and what attraction is there in that?"