Blood Oath: The Janna Chronicles 1 Read Online Free Page A

secrecy, Janna lowered her voice. “Do you want to be caught red-handed and brought before the forest court? You could lose your hands, your eyes, possibly even your life! You know how harsh the laws are. Oh, Godric, I fear that I have put you in far more danger than ever I was.”
    Godric frowned. “Then we’ll leave the body here for the creatures of the forest to pick the flesh off its bones,” he said regretfully, after a moment’s reflection.
    “We can’t,” Janna contradicted firmly. “The forester knows you’ve been in Gravelinges today, and if he sees any signs of a dead animal he’ll immediately suspect you; he’ll make you the scapegoat. We have to bury the boar, Godric. We can’t trust the forest to keep our secret safe.”
    “I’d much rather eat it than bury it,” Godric grumbled.
    “Eat it, and we could be burying you!” Janna retorted.
    Godric heaved a sigh, and bent to take hold of the beast’s front legs. He began to drag it toward an overgrown thicket. “I have only my knife to dig with,” he said, looking over his shoulder at Janna. “We need to find a place where the soil is moist and the growth thick enough to hide the evidence.”
    Janna nodded. Lifting her torch higher to cast a better light, she led Godric into the shadows under the trees.
    She knelt beside him and helped him dig the grave, using a stout stick and her bare hands as tools. A silence fell between them as they concentrated on their task. Janna was acutely conscious of his presence beside her. She recalled her mother’s teasing words, and her cheeks burned. If Godric had taken a fancy to her, it would be true to say that she had also found him worthy of inspection. She stole a quick glance. How old was Godric? Eighteen summers, maybe nineteen. Not much older than her, anyway.
    As she dug deeper into the earth, Janna’s thoughts went back to their first meeting only a few weeks ago. He had come, in a fright, for a cure for his mother. She was shaking with ague, he’d said. She could hardly breathe. He didn’t know what to do for her. Could someone please come at once?
    Eadgyth had sent Janna to gather fresh herbs, and Godric had followed her out into their herb garden, looking as if he wasn’t quite sure where to plant his feet. Fearing for the delicate herbs, which were her responsibility, Janna bade him stand still and hold what she picked. Although he’d stayed where she’d put him, there was a contained restlessness about him that told her Godric was a man more used to action, and that he chafed at standing still. She was conscious that he watched her, and she tried to make sure he didn’t catch her looking at him. Yet he was pleasing to look at, being tall and well built, with the fair hair and blue eyes of the Saxons. She’d been disappointed when Eadgyth bade her stay home to keep an eye on a mixture she had simmering over the fire, rather than allowing Janna to accompany them to the sick woman’s cottage.
    “What do you know of Godric and his mother?” she’d asked, when her mother returned home. Eadgyth had chuckled, not deceived by the casual question or the real focus of Janna’s interest.
    “They live over at Babestoche Manor,” she said. “Godric owes his allegiance to Dame Alice and her lord.”
    “Not to the abbess?” Janna was surprised. The Abbess of Wiltune owned vast tracts along the Nadder River, including the land their own cottage was on. Godric must have walked several miles across the downs to seek them out.
    “The manor’s lands adjoin those belonging to the abbess. Godric’s mother has told me about his position there, and his prospects. He sounds like a good and honorable man, Janna.”
    “He’s not married then?”
    “No. But his mother would be glad to see him take a wife.” Janna wondered now if Eadgyth shared that ambition, and if she’d been left behind on purpose, so that her mother could check on Godric’s suitability as a husband. Yet Eadgyth often left her