A Viking's Catch (Book One of the Sogn Series)

Chapter Eight

"How did you find me?" She asked, as Roald steered the horse through the woods. His men followed behind him, Torsten loyally by his side and Nafarr not so far behind him.

She felt his breath on her cheek, as her back was pressed against his chest, "A bird does not fly far from the cat when its feathers are bright and orange."

"What is that supposed to mean?" She said lowly, slightly offended by his words.

He smirked against her cheek, "Let us just say, that it is in our custom to bleach our hair and so, when a strong woman with fiery red hair comes onto our lands, she is hard to miss."

She stiffened against him, unaware of his words but then quickly realizing that a lot of his men and many of the women's hair had been bleached white, "Then why is your hair darker than theirs?"

"Because, I am a jarl, and therefor I can do whatever I want."

She grunted, her confidence finding her again, "I think you would look better if you bleached your face."

He snickered into her ear once more, "If you do not say kinder words, you might wake up to your hair being just as bleached as the others."

Her head snapped up to look into his face, "You would not dare."

"Or would I?" He countered, his smirk not faltering.

She glared at him, but did not challenge him anymore. They eventually stopped at a river flowing amidst the woods of the mountains, and everyone got off of their horses in order to stretch their limbs.

Their pacing was much more slow since they had retrieved what they came for, who just so happened to be Clare. They took their time going back to their city in Sogn. Nevertheless, Clare also got of the horse but did not accept Roald's helping hand when she did. He expected as much, but her refusal did not stop him from following after her every move.

She took her shoes off by the river and held her still ripped dress above her knees, and then walked down its rocky side, where the waters were shallow. He followed her in his leather boots, watching her hips sway back and forth as she walked. He clenched his teeth when he felt the urge to kiss her again, but refrained from doing so.

"Nafarr!" Clare had yelled out to him, as she made sight of him. Roald was swift in his movements to pull her back roughly and said, "Remember my earlier words. I do not want to you acquainting yourself with my brother."

She yanked her arm away from him, "You do not tell me what to do."

Something in Roald snapped just then, and he was about to reach for her again but she jumped out of his way and teasingly said, "And you do not touch me when I do not want you to." Clare snickered at his face contorting into anger, but she ignored him for the most part and walked briskly to Nafarr who was waiting for her.

"Hello," she said to him, and he nodded back at her with respect. Torsten was standing next to him, and it was only then that she realized no women were upon Roald's men, "Where is Amma and Isibel?" She had pondered aloud.

"Roald ordered for only his strongest men to come in search of you."

"Why is that?" Clare replied, curiously.

"Because," Roald answered, walking up from behind her, "In the case you were in danger, I wanted to be prepared."

"Danger? From what?" She asked once more, turning to face Roald.

Roald grinned all too knowingly, "We are not alone on these lands. There are wolves, bears, and other predators that could hurt you, as well as people. Not everyone here are Christians, remember? And therefor any man who would lay eyes on your beauty may want to take advantage of it. Either that, or you would be viewed as a slave or foreign intruder for the color of your hair and your obvious accent."

"You mean to say," Clare said disgusted, "That there are men in these woods who would want to rape me?"

"Yes," Roald said once more, "And a woman would only put us in more trouble, so therefore Isibel and the others had to stay behind."

"Well, I suppose it's a good thing no one wants to rape you, Roald, for you are not so handsome as they come." Clare was witty in her reply, but Roald found no humor in it.

Raised eyebrows came from Torsten and Nafarr and they were quick to walk away from the arguing couple, "Your cleverness is going to get you into trouble one day." Roald snapped, grabbing her shoulder and pulling her back to the horse, "I have about had enough of it."

"And what shall you do about it, Jarl?" Her sneer held venom that only Roald could truly understand, and he was just as quick to reply as the last time, "You are going to be punished."

Clare laughed aloud at that, "Punished? How will you do that? By having my head, because I can absolutely assure you that there is no other punishment that will affect me until I am good as dead!"

His infamous smirk found his lips once more, and he was left saying, "We will see about that."

"Yes," she argued, "We will see about that. You've already had my father and townspeople killed, my town burned, and you have not only kidnapped me, but you continue to offend every motive I have."

"Clare," he snapped, motioning for her to get onto the horse, "It is not in my intention to offend you, nor deter your motives, for it is your free spirit that I enjoy. But," He said more sternly this time, "Your witty remarks must come to an end."

She glared up at him as she got onto the horse, and before she climbed on top of his brown horse, she retorted, "Then maybe your comebacks should be wittier than mine. It is not my fault that you cannot keep up with me on the subject of communication." She winked at him, and continued, "For a jarl, you surely cannot communicate with a woman such as myself."

"But women," he argued back, "I am good at communicating with. You are not half a woman as those I have lured into my bed." She pulled back repulsed at his comment. Appreciative that he had won the argument, Roald jumped onto the saddle behind her. Then, he whispered into her ear as they rode off, with his men following shortly behind them, "It is only because you are more of a woman than they will ever be."

And, for the first time, Clare blushed at something Roald had said.