The Viking's Witch Read Online Free PDF Page A

fun, and they would not be pleased to see him with Odaria. But he was prepared to fight them all to keep her. Odaria was special. She had ignited deep feelings in him that he’d thought were long dead.
    He clutched his necklace in his right hand and prayed for strength as he climbed the stairs. It was going to be a very long night indeed.

    Rothgar stepped into the main room with Odaria trailing behind him. He glanced around. The huge table he had flipped over had been righted. Several chairs and benches were arranged around it. Someone had stoked the fire and lit more candles. Even with the extra light, long shadows flickered on the walls. Ivor, Olav, and Knut turned to him.
    “Are you finished with her?” Knut asked in Norse. “We’re waiting for our turns.”
    He shook his head and straightened his shoulders. “She’s mine. Anyone who tries to harm her contends with me.”
    “But I found her,” Ivor said.
    He chuckled. “ Ja , but you did not keep her.”
    He motioned for Odaria to sit in the chair near the head of the table, then spoke to Ivor. “There is enough food and drink downstairs to feed us all. Go beneath that room.” He pointed to the cookroom. “Have Knut help you carry it up.”
    “Neinn. We don’t have to take orders from you. We are not under your command,” Ivor snapped. “We are real men who have sailed the seas and searched for treasures while you cowered at home and tended to your garden like a woman.”
    In the blink of an eye, he charged across the room and slammed Ivor against the far wall. He grabbed him by the front of his red tunic and hoisted him a foot off the floor, raising him to his own eye level. He wrapped his free hand around Ivor’s throat and squeezed hard.
    “Do you think me a woman now? If you ever disrespect me again, I will crack open your skull.” Ivor gagged and squirmed in his grip, but he held him pinned to the wall.
    “I sailed the seas for ten years, and I did more than you could ever imagine. The number of men I’ve slain is double that of your years alive.” He smirked and stared into Ivor’s eyes. “Do you honestly think you are a challenge to me? Do as I command, else you will be the first man I slay this night.”
    Satisfied with the look of horror on Ivor’s paled face, he dropped him to the floor. Ivor landed in a heap on the straw, coughing and gasping for breath.
    He looked at Knut and Olav. Neither of them moved to help Ivor. They obeyed orders and knew better than to cross him. After all, he was a powerful and wealthy jarl . Wise men feared making an enemy of him.
    “Bring up the food,” he told Knut. “When Karnik arrives he’ll want to eat as well.”
    “ Ja , Rothgar,” Knut replied, then went into the cookroom.
    He glanced at Odaria. She sat in the chair with her arms folded across her chest, glaring at Ivor. He knew she didn’t understand what he’d said to Ivor, but she obviously despised him. For Odaria’s benefit, he kicked Ivor in the ribs as a bit of added punishment.
    “I should kill you for what you tried to do to her. Now leave my sight. You sicken me.”
    Ivor slowly rose to his feet and shuffled into the cookroom.
    Rothgar let out a long sigh. Thanks be to Odin, there were barrels of beer and wine downstairs. He needed a strong drink. Tonight could not end soon enough for him.
    Thirty minutes later, Rothgar placed a buttered roll next to Odaria’s bowl of soup. “Eat slow. Do not tax your gut or you shall be ill.”
    “Aye, I kin feed meself,” she said as she dipped the roll into the broth.
    He bit into a leg of mutton and glanced at the twenty men seated around the large table. They were eating and drinking as if they were at a spring festival. That was a good sign. It was to his advantage to keep Karnik’s men in high spirits. Otherwise, there could be trouble.
    So far, there had been no more quarrels over Odaria. As soon as the men had assembled, he’d stood and declared Odaria his and his alone. He