Odin's Shadow (Sons Of Odin Book 1) (9th Century Viking Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page A

protecting me?"
    Eithne dropped the cloth and gripped her shoulders. "Selia, you are of an age to be married. The fact that your father hasn't accepted an offer for you yet has begun to raise suspicions. If things weren't as they are, you could enter into a convent. But of course that's not possible. So your father must choose a husband for you."
    "But why does it have to be Buadhach? I know there have been other offers."
    The woman flushed, shifting uncomfortably in her chair. "Old Buadhach is unable to fulfill the obligations of the marriage bed. Do you understand?"
    Selia frowned as she considered the question. Of course she knew how babies were conceived—it would be impossible not to know, living in close quarters with animals—yet she didn't quite understand what Eithne was getting at. She shook her head.
    Eithne sighed. "Well. Um . . . you've seen the horses, then?"
    “Yes.”
    "The stallions cannot mount the mares unless their members are erect. The same is true for men. Old men sometimes . . . just cannot, I don't know why. Old Buadhach is unable. Your father has made sure of this.”
    Selia was thoughtful for a moment. She wouldn't be expected to lie with the old man, thankfully. "So . . . I'll never have children?"
    "Not as long as you're married to Buadhach."
    No children. According to the priest, it was the sacred duty of a wife to bear her husband's children. For Selia's entire life she had expected to become a mother. Now she contemplated the loss of that and nearly choked up again.
    "But why would he want to marry me, then?"
    Eithne shook her head with a rueful smile. "Well. I suppose even a man of his age can't be blamed for wanting what he can't have, my girl."
    Eithne sent Selia out to collect firewood for the day. She headed toward the woods behind their house, taking her time, thinking about this new predicament.
    Buadhach. Marriage to Buadhach. Even if she didn't have to lie with him, she would still be his wife. She would still be expected to cook his meals—boiled to a pulp and then mashed so he could gum his food down. She would still be expected to converse with him. Buadhach was stone deaf in one ear, so whenever anyone spoke to him they either had to shout or lean in very close to his good ear. And after Ainnileas had pointed out that Buadhach had white hairs sprouting from his ears, Selia had been unable to force herself to get close enough for the old man to hear her. So she shouted.
    Niall's reasoning was sound, even if Selia didn't agree with it. Women with her slender build typically did not fare well in childbirth. And Niall had watched the woman he loved die an agonizing death, a death he himself must feel somewhat responsible for. But it was quite a leap to go from understanding Niall's protective fatherly instincts to her acceptance of marriage to a man sixty years her senior.
    Entering a convent would be much preferable to marrying Buadhach, and she already knew a good deal of Latin simply from listening in church. She had never learned to read or write, however—in any language—even though Niall had attempted to teach both the children some rudimentary skills. Ainnileas had picked up enough to satisfy their father, but to Selia the markings looked like gibberish.
    No amount of practice could make her mind memorize the letters or her hand to make the strokes. And only nuns who could read and write were exempt from the most menial labor in a convent. Selia would end up emptying slop buckets and mucking out the stables.
    But this wasn't the reason Niall wouldn't send her to a convent. The real reason was his reluctance for anyone—the church in particular—to discover Selia's shameful secret. Although Niall was not a superstitious man, she knew her problem made him uncomfortable, and he feared for her safety if anyone found out. So a life as a nun was out of the question.
    And that left Buadhach. According to Ainnileas, the old man knew her secret and was still willing to marry her.