The Temperate Warrior Read Online Free Page A

Perhaps, his word to return for her was simply to uphold a promise.
    “Why have you lost words for speaking? Are you not happy to see me?”
    Æsa shook her head adamantly and busied herself by reaching into the rafters for the herbs she’d hung for drying. “I am very happy to see you, my lord,” she said, fiddling with the knot tied around the stems. “You mistake my silence for displeasure.”
    He blew gently on the tiny sparks grasping at the bundles of kindling. His eyes remained fixed on hers. “I cannot read your thoughts no more than you can mine. Speak to me so that I may know what troubles you.”
    “There are no words to describe how my heart is feeling. But know that I am relieved by your return.”
    He stood from the slow burning fire, the smoke trailing upward beside him. “You are surprised that I have come back for you?”
    She tried to let her spinning emotions settle before answering. There was a seriousness in his eyes, a hint of doubt and confusion projecting from them, that warned her to speak carefully. The last thing she wanted to do was anger Gustaf with her insecurities. Nervously, she bit her lip. “Forgive me for feeling such things, but I am unworthy of your return.” She swallowed, despite the harsh dryness in her throat. “If you had not come back for me, I would have understood. A man like you deserves a more noble woman than I. You are the eldest son of a chieftain, the pride of your family.”
    “And you are the daughter of a brave warrior, a perfect match in my eyes.”
    “You didn’t know my father,” Æsa said, bowing her head in shame.
    “Nay, I was thwarted of that privilege. But in knowing you, do I see him. I imagine he was a loving father and a courageous fighter who, for the sake of his family, would not give up the fight against his enemies. He died trying to save you and your mother. There is no greater love than that.”
    “What you say about my father is true, but I have shamed him. As I know I have shamed you.”
    “Look at me, Æsa,” he demanded. “Look into my eyes and tell me if you see shame.”
    She could barely do so. “A cunning man knows how to hide it. But I would be a fool to think you are not ashamed that I was once a whore.”
    She saw Gustaf cringe upon hearing that word and his brow furrowed deeply across forehead. “A slave to that life, you are no longer. In my presence, you will not utter that dreadful word ever again. Do you understand?”
    Æsa pinched off one of the seeds from the dried bundle of herbs in her hands and nodded her head.
    Gustaf came to her in two quick strides, snatching them from her grasp and tossing them on the boxbed. He clasped her wrists together and brought her knuckles to his lips. He planted a kiss upon each and stared longingly in her eyes. “You have brought many things into my life, all of which have made me a happier man than I could ever imagine. But never shame.”
    She turned her head in doubt and he reached for her chin, turning it upward to face him.
    “Never shame,” he reiterated sternly. “Tell me you believe in what I say, for I cannot continue to love you if you think my every word is a lie.”
    For a split second, Æsa’s heart tripped on the string of endearments that fell from her temperate warrior’s mouth. C ontinue to love you , echoed in her head.
    “Say you believe me,” he commanded, pulling her hard into the cage of his arms.
    She peered into his eyes and saw a blazing honesty within them. “You love me?”
    The strength of his embrace weakened around her, the hard lines around his eyes softened. “I came back for you, did I not?”
    Disappointment undulated through her. “Even a bird returns to its native land when winter passes. ‘Tis not for love—”
    “‘Tis the reason I returned.”
    Æsa couldn’t take the up and down of her emotions. She felt nauseous and weak. She’d not meant to put her all her hopes in one basket, thinking he felt more than a duty toward her, but