rolled her onto her side. “I have other things in mind for you, and then I must sleep. In the morning you may tell me your fable, but now I want to fuck you.”
“Your needs are so simple,” she taunted him, hissing softly as he penetrated her expertly. “If you are as good a warrior as you are a lover, my husband, you will have no difficulty in taking Cadda-wic once I have shown you how. Ahhh, yess, Ragnar! Yesss!”
Cadda-wic. He thought about it as he methodically pumped her. The lands were good, the hall sound, and Cailin would be an extra bonus. He had seen her several times, but he could not dismiss her from his mind. What fire and spirit she had! He imagined she would be as strong and sweet as his Saxon wives, and as lustful as Antonia. It was a perfect combination, and he meant to have her. There was time, however. Neither she nor Wulf Ironfist were going anywhere. They had made it abundantly clear that the land meant everything to them. He would have more than enough time to take the lands to the south. To settle his brother and his family on a nearby holding. To find Gunnar a second wife with a good dowry. Oh, yes, there was plenty of time.
The autumn came, and Nuala bore Winefrith a fine, big son, who was called Barre. It meant a gateway between two places. Nuala thought it appropriate, for Barre was indeed a bridge between the Britain of old and the new Britain. Cailin was present at the birth, and afterward marveled at the child’s size and how strongly he tugged upon his mother’s breast when he was put there to nurse.
“You’ll have a son of your own soon enough,” Nuala teased her. “Surely you and Wulf do not spend all that time in the solar just talking, cousin.” She giggled. “I know I wouldn’t!”
“Fresh from childbirth, and totally shameless,” Cailin said, pretending to be scandalized. “For your information, Wulf enjoys watching me at my loom, Nuala. And then, of course, we sing together.”
Nuala looked thunderstruck. “You jest!” she said.
“I assure you it is quite true,” Cailin replied sweetly.
“Indeed it is,” Wulf said, agreeing with his wife, whom he had overheard spinning her mischievous tale. “Cailin weaves a most marvelous spell about me when we are in the solar together, and sings passion’s song far better than any I have ever known.”
Nuala burst out laughing, realizing that they were teasing her. The infant at her breast hiccuped, and began to wail. “Ohh, see what you have done to Barre!” she scolded them, suddenly all maternal concern and caring. “There, my little sweetheart. Do not fuss.”
By the Winterfest, the lady of Cadda-wic was beginning to swell with another child, much to everyone’s delight. It would be born, Cailin told them, after Beltane.
“And it is a son, I am certain,” she assured Wulf.
“How can you tell?” he asked her, smiling.
She shrugged. “I just can,” she said. “A woman senses such things. Is that not so?” She turned to the other women in the hall for support, and they all nodded in agreement. “You see!”
The winter set in, and the land around them grew white and silent. The days were short, and quick. In the long nights the wolves could be heard howling about Cadda-wic, their eerie cries answered by the mournful howls of the hounds in the hall who grew restless at the knowledge of the predators prowling beyond the strong iron and oak gates.
Wulf and Cailin were alone, for the others had returned to their own villages after the Winterfest. Cailin missed Nuala. Nellwyn, though sweet and loyal, was not particularly interesting to chat with by the fire. Aurora, however, adored her, and without anything being said, Cailin’s former slave became the child’s nursemaid. It was just as well, for Cailin did not need a personal servant. Her mother had raised her to be a useful person who could do for herself. Now, as mistress of Cadda-wic, Cailin found herself responsible for the well-being of all those in her charge.
Finally the days began to grow discernibly longer. The air felt milder. Patches of earth became visible, and the snow cover shrank rapidly as the earth began to grow warmer with the coming spring. Snowdrops, narcissi, and violets began to make their appearance. Cailin was pleased to find several large clumps growing near the graves of her family. The marble marker had never been finished,