In the dim light of the morning, the room resembled a battlefield. Clothes littered the floor, the bed covers were in a heap and one of the pillows was missing. I had gladly replaced it by Lord Einarr's shoulder.

He was watching me when I awoke, his brows knitted together. "Have you been denied food, Sunngifu? Your ribs are showing." His fingers drifted on my uncovered side, pointing out the obvious.

I brought my hand to his face, stroking his jaw. "Good morn to you too, my Lord. I haven't been very hungry those past months. My stomach returned many meals."

"I will have to feed you myself again." He took my wrists and kissed my fingers, and held them in the light, inspecting them. "What happened to your hands?"

Blains covered my fingertips, the result of freezing air on wet hands. The skin was broken on my knuckles, and not from hitting him. It was more ugly than painful. I shrugged. "Nothing that will not heal in a few days. It is to be expected when washing clothes and vegetables in the winter."

His frown deepened. "You were to work in the stables. I wanted you to stay warm after your illness. Why were you out?"

I blushed, forced to admit my failure. "I was useless at milking, so I requested another task from the overseer. He assigned me to something I could do without causing damage..."

"You are not to do anything until you are recovered. You will remain indoors and rest."

"But my Lord, I'm not ill! What will the others think of me? They will say I am lazy..." I was close to tears. I had few friends and most of the household ignored me or was hostile. They would believe I was using my skills in bed to be relieved of my duties. Hrefna would have great fun spreading her poison. And he would seem to be bowing to my will.

He smirked. "I am no child, Sunngifu. I'll tell them that you are forbidden to leave the room, and that if you do they must report it to me. This should ensure both their good will and your compliance."

I was baffled. Of course he would have a cunning plan. If the servants thought that I was locked in against my will, and I would be, they would simply either rejoice or pity me. Yet they would try to guess the cause of it. And the first that came to mind...

"My Lord, they'll assume that you are keeping me here to ..."

"To warm my bed, aye. And they would be quite right..."

Annoyed, I threw my fist towards him. He ducked easily and jumped to his feet, chortling. "I'll have to teach you to fight, little dreki. You wouldn't beat a sleeping man."

I threw the pillow at him and he sent it back to me. I replaced it with one of my boots and he caught it, turning it around to inspect it. Was there some dirt on it? I had walked in the snow, there shouldn't be...

"Mildred has great skills. She did marvels with those furs. I was worried they were too small."

"Did you give her the pelts?" This man was full of surprises.

"I asked her to make warm shoes for you, I provided her with enough skins for these and another pair for herself. She said it was too high a price for her work and she added socks to the deal. Do you like them?"

"I do, they are very comfortable. Thank you, my Lord." I felt silly for believing he had stopped caring about me. He simply did it from a distance. Why? I had to know.

"Do you find me lewd? For my behavior that day in the pool? And last night..." I cast my eyes to the ground, anticipating his answer.

"Why would I think such a thing? I took your maidenhead and you said there was no other." He sounded genuinely surprised.

"You ordered me to stay away..."

He laughed wholeheartedly. "Because I didn't trust myself around you. I said you wouldn't share my bed, and I would have been tempted to break my word."

"So you didn't hate me?"

He pounced on the bed and caught me, rolling to get me on top of him. His palms cradled my face. "I could never hate you."

If I had any lingering doubt, his kiss erased it.