Anna Markland - Viking Roots Medieval Romance Saga 02 Read Online Free PDF Page B

Frankish wife, but Cathryn had misgivings. Having been raised in a convent she knew no one of a suitable age. Her friend Kaia was still determined to wed Cathryn’s twin brother, but her father had raised objections to their marriage on the grounds life as a monk hadn’t equipped Javune to provide for a wife. He’d insisted the young man be trained in the military arts. Rollo had consented to his joining the Viking campaign against the Bretons. He was still in the west with the army.
    She worried about him too. He’d had difficulty coming to terms with the revelation the man he believed was his father had adopted him as a baby. The man had then sent him off to a monastery when he and his wife had succeeded in siring a child of their own. One day, perhaps, she and her brother might get to know each other better. He was her only close flesh and blood, her twin.
    Sounds of visitors being greeted by the maidservant interrupted her thoughts and she hastened to the entryway.

    It took perseverance, but Sonja convinced her mother to allow her to go with Poppa in her stead to visit the Kriger household.
    “But you don’t like babies,” Olga protested, looking down her nose. “And the mother is a Frank.”
    Sonja chose her words carefully, not wanting to appear to have suddenly changed her opinions. Her mother might get suspicious. “It’s true I have no patience with babies, but—”
    She sighed and looked at her mother wistfully.
    “—I suppose I must learn.”
    Olga’s face brightened as she squeezed Sonja’s hand. “How good to see you coming around, daughter. I told your father one day you’d mature.”
    She resisted the urge to tighten her grip on her mother’s fingers, smiling sweetly instead. “And we must reconcile ourselves to adopting some of the Frankish customs.”
    Olga clasped her hands to her breast and beamed the smile of a mother whose child has at long last come to its senses. “Of course you must accompany Poppa in my stead. But only if you take Puella with you.”
    Sonja opened her mouth to protest, but her mother raised her hand in a gesture that indicated she would brook no opposition. “You can’t attend without a thrall. Do you want people to think we are without servants to do our bidding?”
    Upon arrival at the residence, the women were ushered inside and welcomed by Kriger’s wife and the Archbishop. Sonja was surprised at her hostess’s fluency in Norse, though she quickly changed back to the Frankish tongue when addressing Poppa. The cleric withdrew with barely concealed relief once his welcoming duties were done.
    The other women were indeed accompanied by thralls who were instructed by their mistresses to remain outside. Sonja glared a reminder at the sometimes-willful Puella to behave and not wander off. Pouting, the girl sank down to sit with the others.
    Cathryn Kriger didn’t make any attempt to hide her disapproval of the situation, but recovered quickly, smiling sweetly at her important guest. Her face reddened considerably when Rollo’s wife embraced her warmly. “I wouldn’t be alive today were it not for the bravery of this young woman,” Poppa explained to her retinue.
    Turning back to Cathryn, she said, “I want to see the library. I’ve heard you’ve accomplished a great deal.”
    Cathryn shrugged nervously. “There wasn’t much else to do while Bryk was away,” she explained softly.
    “Cathryn is a gifted illuminator,” Poppa told her companions. “The episcopal library was a disaster, but she has put it to rights.”
    Sonja had never seen a library, and had no notion what an illuminator was, but sought some way to attract Cathryn’s attention. The Frankish woman was obviously embarrassed by Poppa’s claims concerning her talents. “Yes, will you show us?” she asked quietly, drawing stares of rebuke from some of the more senior Viking women who immediately echoed the request.
    Cathryn led the noisy gaggle along the corridor to the library.