The smoke from Ragnar's pyre could be seen from any position in the village, bellowing towards the sky for the rest of the day and well into the night. Once the fire was extinguished Astrid would accompany some of the other villagers to gather the remains and do as they thought fit with them.

My thoughts had lingered on my husband throughout the day as he disappeared to discuss a private matter with Stefán. Jón only returned once I had climbed into bed and was drifting off to sleep. His arrival woke me, causing the questions I had buried deep within myself to resurface once again.

Turning my head I stared at the exposed beams overhead, my hands folded neatly over my round stomach as I tried to gather my thoughts. "Why do you watch Maria the way you do?"

Jón did not answer me for a long moment, causing me to think he had not heard me. I opened my mouth to ask the question again, but Jón spoke first.

"You have no need to know," he said from the other side of the room as he removed his clothing. I watched as he moved towards the water basin and began to run a comb through his golden hair.

"Yes, I do; we are married and expecting a child." The truth was more than the words I said. I had fought myself over the matter all day and in the end my curiosity overrode my common sense.

Jón bent his hand forward and placed the comb on the stand. I could see the stiffness in his shoulders as he took a deep breath. He did not say anything when he turned towards me, but his face held a pained look that I had never before seen. Jón went to the fire and poked at the logs before crossing his arms over his chest. The light of the fire played off of his hair and cast a long shadow on the floor behind him. A long moment passed before he said anything. "What do you wish to hear – we were in love?"

"Why would you fall in love with someone you could not be with?" I asked, my voice small.

"Ragnar's ship had already been gone for seven months and winter was drawing near. We thought they were all dead – it was only supposed to be a short raid. She had been alone in a village she had only arrived in. I—" Jón stopped. This was the most I had ever heard him say at once.

"You comforted her," I finished for him. I could see Jón give his head a small nod.

"Maria was astonishing." Sadness prodded my heart; would Jón ever use that word to describe his own wife? "It soon became evident to her that she was carrying a child. She was frightened though I told her we would marry. But Ragnar's ship returned. When we were to tell him what had taken place, she—" Jón stopped taking and I could hear him take a shuddering breath. "Maria lost the babe."

Silence fell between us as his words sank in. The woman I felt no kind feelings towards had been pregnant with Jón's child. The thought of her raising a family with him sickened me, though the sight of my husband standing alone with his thoughts made me want to rush to his side.

Pushing the blankets away from my body, I slipped from the bed and padded my way across the wooden floor. I wrapped my fingers around his and brought his hand up to rest on my stomach. "I will give you a strong son."

oOo

In the days that passed since Jón's confession, I found myself watching Jón closely and interrogating where he would be going when he left the house. Often I would ask to accompany him on his daily tasks, subjecting myself to jealousy. The thought of Maria now able to do as she wished haunted me. I did not want Jón to know that I feared he would leave me, but I would not let him be alone outside of the house.

In the morning a week after the funeral, I found myself at the door of Stefán's longhouse, wishing to speak to the chieftain. Stefán emerged from the house with his small son in his arms. His face was calm but I could see the question in his eyes as he studied me.

"You wished to see me, Valdís?"

I wrung my hands in front of me and could not meet his eyes. "I need to speak to you about Jón."

"Jón?" Stefán quirked an eyebrow before disappearing into the house and reappearing with empty arms.

"Yes, I am frightened for myself."

A dark looked crossed over the chieftain's face as he moved closer to me. "What had happened, Valdís?" he asked his voice low.

I shook my head. "Nothing as of yet. But it is Maria, she is now a free woman. If Jón were to leave me—"

Stefán came forward and took hold of my arm gently, leading me away from the house to where we would not be overheard. "He will not leave you, Valdís."

"How could you be sure of that? He has nothing to gain by staying in this marriage. With Maria he would have his happiness."

"You may be carrying his son inside of you. Once you give him the son he seeks, he will be a content man."

My stomach dropped down low at his words. "And if the child is a daughter?" My voice was louder than I intended it to be. "If the child is a girl, will he leave us? You saw the way he did not wish to marry me. Jón does not care for me."

"Jón is a good man—"

"I have heard those words come from many mouths but I have yet to see them be true!" I exclaimed, tears now clouding my vision before rolling down my cheeks.

"He married you when you had no place to go and no means. He gives you anything and will not let you want. He will protect you."

Tears stained the front of my dress as they quickly fell. "He will never love me!"

Stefán's eyes left my face and moved to look over my shoulder. I turned to find Jón silently standing behind me, his eyes trained on my face. I did not know how long he had been standing there or how much he had heard and truly I did not care. Stefán nodded towards my husband and walked away from me, momentarily placing a hand gently on my shoulder.

I looked down at my leather shoes, not wanting to meet my husband's eyes. My tears had slowed but had not ceased. "I do not wish to see you at this moment," I told him in a whisper.

"I am going to cut wood, you have accompanied elsewhere," he said, seeming not to be paying any attention to my tears. "Lára has told me there are berries in those parts of the woods."

I choked back a sob. How could he not be any different after hear what he did? I sniffled and walked forward, slipping my arms around Jón's midsection and burying my face in his shoulder. My round stomach stuck out between us and as the pregnancy went on it would be harder to embrace him.

Since the kiss I had placed on his lips after he returned from his raid, we had not had any romantic interactions in public. I could not remember ever hugging my husband. Tightly I pressed myself to him, urging him to hold me as I had seen him hold Maria. "Jón, please," I whispered against him, unsure if he heard my words.

He was stiff under my touch, but slowly he responded, his body softening as he brought his arms up to circle round me. Jón held me close bringing his head down to rest his cheek on my dark hair. My tears slowly came to a stop and my heart felt as though it was going to burst as I felt the comfort in my husband's touch.

We stood there for a long moment, lost in each other's embrace seeming a happy couple to all who passed; a young, pregnant wife and a fierce warrior husband.

Jón was the one to break away, but he kept his hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes. "You are my wife," he told me, the same words he had muttered countless times when he was asserting his dominance. Now the words held a hidden tenderness.

The sentence he had just spoken was the only proof I needed to know that I loved my husband and would fight tooth and nail to keep him.

oOo

I was perched on top of a flat rock watching my husband as he raised the axe and brought it down on the wood, causing the two halves to fall to the ground. I had spent the afternoon roaming the area around the clearing where Jón was chopping wood searching for the little red berries that I could boil to make preserves. I had filled two of the woven baskets before my back began to ache and I could no longer be comfortable.

A large pile of wood already sat piled next to Jón but he continued to cut more. I watched in wonder as he swung his axe, his muscles rippling under his skin. Sweat beaded on his brow and I thought of how he would work until he was too weak to do any more. He had removed his shirt under the warm sun and his hair was tied back with a leather thong. I had only ever seen my husband's nude body in the light of the fire as we coupled at night, never in the bright daylight.

Now I could clearly see the many scars and markings that crossed over his torso. Most of the scars were faint and shone in the sunlight, but the worst were pink and puckered. The sight of so many battle wounds startled me.

"You should rest and drink or you will damage your health," I called out, breaking my long silence.

Jón stopped mid-swing and glanced over as if seeing me on the rock for the first time. With a slight nod he placed his axe on the ground and came towards me, rolling his arms and stretching his muscles. I held out the jug of ale we had brought with us and Jón took it. He brought it to his lips and took a long drink before passing it back to me. Without a word he sat on a rock across from me, staring off towards the direction of the village.

"How did you get this scar?" I asked Jón as I pointed to a long healed gash running down the front of his shoulder towards his breast.

He looked down to where my finger was pointing to and have a small shrug. "A raid many years ago; I had been no older than you. A rogue sword; it was not deep."

My eyes travelled down his harm to a scar only about two inches long. "And this?"

"A stray arrow from Stefán when we were children," he explained simply.

I reached out across the gap between us and grabbed his hand, bringing it close to me. "And these scars are from a fierce battle with your wife," I said with a smile, bringing the scarred hand up to my lips and pressing them gently to his knuckles.

"The raid will be soon," Jón whispered, slowly removing his hand from my grip. "There is less than a month to pass."

Sadness washed over me. No part of me wanted to be left alone in the village with Maria while my husband and the chieftain left on a raid to an unknown land. Not only did I fear for my husband's safe on the journey, I feared for my own. I would have to be aware of everything around me.

Perhaps if I were to speak to Astrid she would be able to tell me of the plants in the surrounding areas that could kill a healthy man. I did not know if the midwife had any part to play in the death, but I was certain that Maria had killed her husband.