Page 85 of Viking in Love

He began to laugh and could not stop, even when she battered his shoulders with her small fists.

“If you will not tell me, I will ask Amicia.”

“Good. Perchance you will then give me a demonstration later.”

“How would I…I mean…never mind.”

Amazingly, he did fall asleep, only to awaken near dawn with a sleeping princess snuggled up against his back…her knees behind his knees, her mons behind his buttocks, her breasts against his back. She would hate herself for crossing the line.

If he were chivalrous, he would slip out of bed and let her sleep, unaware of how, even in sleep, she sought his body. That is what he should do, but, never having been chivalrous to any great extent, he instead put a hand over her hand which was cradling his ballocks and spoke over his shoulder.

“Ooooooh, Bre-aaaaanne!”

He was not entirely loathsome…

Breanne was impressed.

Just as she had come to the conclusion that Caedmon was a stubborn, lackwitted, lazy, loathsome troll of a man, albeit an accomplished lover, she got to see him in a new light. From the instant he had embarrassed her in bed by proving that she had been the one who could not keep her hands off of him, he had changed before her eyes. He was now an efficient, in-control, no-nonsense master of Larkspur, a warrior at heart.

He had Hugh at his side everywhere he went, whilst Breanne took charge of the other children, gladly, especially since there was an air of fear about the place. Archbishop Dunstan was a powerful man, some said even more influential than the king. If he was not pleased, Larkspur could suffer. And Breanne could not help but feel she and her sisters were responsible for this dire situation.

She had the children looking clean and well groomed after a battle at the bathing house early this morn. The three terrors…Kendrick, Oslac, and Joanna…were particularly difficult. You would think she had asked them to peel off a layer of skin, when all she had insisted on was a good scrubbing.

Putting two fingers in her mouth, she let loose with a most unfeminine whistle, and, amazingly, the children all lined up in order of height. It was a trick Gerard had taught her. Unfortunately, she had not yet mastered the trick of keeping them in place, and they soon began to scatter.

“Wait!” she shouted.

In an attempt to evade Dunstan’s scrutiny, she was about to lead them all on an “adventure” outside the castle grounds, down by the river. But first she stopped in the kitchen to put bread, cheese, oat cakes, and apples in a leather bag. Amicia and her helpers were all in a tizzy, dressing the deer one of the hunters had brought in, along with two ducks and a brace of rabbits. Another man handed the cook a string of fish.

“I could use yer sister now,” Amicia remarked to Breanne.

“I would offer to help, but Caedmon asked me to take care of the children. Make them presentable. Keep them out of the way.”

Amicia nodded. “Wish we could all go hide fer a sennight or so. I hear the God-man hates wimmen.”

On that happy note, Breanne went through the open corridor to the great hall, where her group awaited her. Her heart swelled seeing how nice they looked with their grubby faces washed and their hair slicked down. Every one of them, except Piers, was scowling with discomfort at the new garments they had been forced to wear.

“No grumpiness today,” she said cheerily. “We are going to have a good time.”

Kendrick said something that sounded like “Bugger good times.”

“I wanna go swimming,” Joanna demanded. “And catch some frogs and roast the legs. Yum!”

Yecch!

“Las’ time, ye made the fire too big, and Gerard whopped yer bottom,” Angus said gleefully. “Ye could not sit down fer a whole day.”

Joanna stuck her tongue out at Angus.

Piers was hunkered down on his little haunches watching a spider. She took his hand quickly before he decided to put the creature in his mouth.

Oslac broke wind apurpose, just to show her who was really in charge.

Beth and Mina blushed with mortification. If they could disown their brothers, they surely would.

Alfred and Aidan were making buzzing noises. Apparently rumors were rife this morn about honey and swiving, as evidenced by sticky bed linens. Not that the twins knew what swiving was, but they clearly understood it was a forbidden subject, and therefore of interest.

With a whooshy exhale of disgust, she led the little varmints out to the upper bailey, not unlike a goose with its goslings, then stopped dead in her tracks. It was too late. Archbishop Dunstan and his entourage had already arrived. With the outer door shut behind them, she pressed up against the castle wall with the children and, using hand signals, tried to sidle away. Unfortunately, one of Dunstan’s soldiers was eyeing them suspiciously. As if a woman and nine children could do them harm!