Sandra Hill - [Vikings I 01] by The Reluctant Viking Page A

the street watching the spectacle.
    “You don’t have to drag me. I can walk.”
    “Yea, but will you be able to when I am done with you?” Thork’s voice shook with anger.
    “You wouldn’t dare touch me.”
    “Would you like to make another wager, wench?” Thork jeered icily.
    Ruby sensed he was dead serious. His fingers held her arm in a pincerlike, painful grip. She tried to shrug away unsuccessfully. Ruby tried to fathom the stormy emotions raging behind Thork’s piercing eyes. What happened to the man who’d looked at her so warmly last night at the dinner table, who’d smiled at her children’s stories, who’d pinched her playfully before he left? Was he as unpredictable in his moods as the volatile King Sigtrygg?
    “Warned were you repeatedly about attempting to run away. And you dared involve Olaf’s daughter and my son, besides!” he hissed low enough so no one could overhear.
    “Don’t be ridiculous. We were jogging.”
    “Ridiculous am I? We shall see who laughs when the whip blisters your back from head to toe.”
    Ruby lifted her head defiantly, but her hands shook in fear. Surely this man who resembled her gentle husband could never hurt her. She glanced sideways at his rigid profile, seeing no softening of his anger, only a tightening of his clenched jaw.
    When they entered the yard, Olaf ordered Gyda to take all the children inside. “Punish Tyra and Tykir, or I will do it for you and the two will be the worse for it,” he told his wife.
    Gyda didn’t even flinch.
    “No!” Ruby protested to Olaf. “Don’t harm them. They didn’t do anything wrong. We just went as far as your farm. It was my fault.”
    “Nay, they know the rules. Neither is to leave this house without permission—ever!”
    Then her other words seemed to sink in for Olaf and Thork.
    “ The farm! Do you know how unsafe it is for children to wander so far?” Thork exclaimed. “Our enemiesabound. The Saxons, or Ivar, would love to get the hated King Harald’s grandson for ransom, bastards or naught.” Thork lowered his voice so that no one could overhear his acknowledgment of his sons. He raked her scornfully with his glittering blue eyes, then added, “But then, mayhap this was all part of your plan.”
    Thork continued to pull Ruby around the house and toward the barn, with Gudrod and Olaf trailing behind them. When they entered the dark, steamy barn, Olaf told Gudrod in a clipped voice, “Gather your belongings.”
    “But, master—”
    “Do not dare to beg for mercy, or offer useless explanations,” Olaf said icily.
    Not understanding, Ruby watched as the thrall walked fearfully, but with dim resignation on his face, over to the small cubicle where he apparently slept. Just once, he looked up and cast her a look of utter hatred, obviously blaming her for his fate. Then he put his pitifully small supply of clothing and personal items in a large square cloth and pulled the four corners into a knot.
    Motioning Gudrod toward the doorway, Olaf addressed Thork, “I will take the wretch to the harbor and sell him to the first slave trader I see.”
    Thork nodded grimly.
    “No!” Ruby screamed when she realized their intent. She moved in front of the slave and held her arms out protectively. “You can’t penalize Gudrod for my mistake.”
    “’Twas his mistake as well. Ordered he was to guard you at all times. No man shirks his duty without punishment. No man! Step back.”
    When Ruby refused, Thork pushed her aside roughly.
    “Before I come back,” Olaf called over his shoulder to Thork, “I will go to the farm and find out why Tostig was remiss in his duties. Freeman he may be, but I want to know where he was when the children idled there unsupervised.”
    “Unsupervised!” Ruby objected. “I was with them.”
    The looks of cold disdain Thork and Olaf gave her told what they thought of her supervision.
    Ruby watched dolefully as Gudrod shuffled out of the barn with downcast eyes, following after