“I have been so lonely,” she whispered through tears. “But I do not wish to see anyone.”
“Shhh, you are safe with me,” he soothed, smoothing her hair as it tumbled down her back.
At that, she drew back and looked at him. “Safe?” she asked. “I do not feel safe anywhere there are people.”
“I love you, Eira,” he said. “I have been miserable without you.”
“Really?” She hadn’t stopped to think about how her disappearance might affect him.
“Oh Eira, you have no idea how much.” He bent and planted a kiss on her forehead.
She reached up and put her arms shyly around his neck. “I have missed you also,” she said softly.
He tilted her chin up again so he could look into her eyes, then caressed her face where the tears left streaks down her cheeks. A moment later, he bent and brushed a soft, tentative kiss across her rosy lips. They were full and plump and the kiss left him breathless with wanting more.
“I love you, Eira,” he said again. “I have loved you ever since you first came to the village.”
“I love you, too,” she whispered and stood on tiptoes, pulling his face down to hers. Their lips met in a searching kiss that ended too soon.
“Come back to the village with me,” Halvar pleaded. “Living without you is miserable and I cannot sleep for worrying about you alone out here in the forest. You will be safe there, I promise.”
She pulled away and shook her head. “No! I cannot go back there,” she said.
“But you will be safe with me,” he said, catching her by the hand as they stood on the edge of the stream in the gathering gloom.
She shook her head again. “No!” she said firmly. “What happens when you are away on a journey and the village needs someone to blame for its troubles?”
“They would not dare touch you.”
“No.” She said it more quietly this time. “Love was not meant for me. I am someone who cannot be loved by others. I must live alone or there will be trouble.”
“No!” he said vehemently. “I answer to no one. I am the chief. No one would dare accuse you of anything.”
“But I would never be accepted by your people. They will always hold suspicion in their hearts about me and when something goes wrong, it is I that they will blame, even if they are not brave enough to do anything about it. I will only bring you suffering and strife. Look at what happened when I caused a fight with Taft.”
“Taft will not bother you again,” he said quickly. “He left the village to start a new settlement. He took his sons and Kaarina with him. Perhaps he will be happy once he is in charge of his own village.”
“He will always be an angry man,” said Eira with a shudder. “He will not forget what happened. It is possible that in time, he will seek revenge.”
Halvar decided not to tell her about Taft’s threats. “I do not care. I have beaten him once; I can do it again. I just want us to be together.”
“Halvar, we cannot. I cannot live with your people.” Her words were firm.
“Then we shall go away and live somewhere else. I know of a place where we will be safe.”
“But you cannot! You’re the chief!”
“The village will appoint another chief. Even the chieftaincy means nothing to me if we cannot be together. Canute would make a good leader.”
Eira desperately wanted to accept his offer. She thought longingly of being with him each day. Surely one day there would be marriage and babies and she would be protected by the village leader. But even as she wanted to agree to return to the village, she knew it wouldn’t work. She would never be able to escape the stain of being labelled an evil witch and people would still hold dislike of her in their hearts, ready to bring out resentment as a weapon against her when something went wrong. She was no longer prepared to live that way.
“I am sorry,” she whispered. “There is no way that I can go back to the village with you.”
“I cannot leave you out here for the winter months,” he said. How will you survive the cold? Are you prepared for it?”
“No,” she admitted. “But I will do the best I can and I will be fine.”
“What about when the wolves are howling around your hut, looking for something to eat? How will you protect yourself?”
“I will wait until they go away.”
“Eira!” he scolded. “That is not a solution and you know it. Your life is in danger if you stay out in the forest.”
“My life is in danger wherever I go,” she said wearily. “The forest is less dangerous than the village.”
“Please, just come back with me for a few nights until we can pack up and leave.”
“No,” she said, although her tone was kind. “I cannot go back there no matter what. If you truly love me, you will try to understand that.”
“Very well,” he agreed reluctantly. “I will not try to make you go back to the village. But I ask for one thing.”
“What is that?”
“That in three days, you will be here when I come for you. Promise me that you will not run to the forest and hide again.”
“I will be here,” she promised.
“Oh, my love!” He pulled her close and kissed her firmly on the lips. “We will have a good life together, you will see!”
Eira smiled at his enthusiasm. “I hope so,” she told him, hugging him close.
He lowered his head and his lips
