Michelle Styles - Paying the Viking's Price

Edith’s cheeks took on the colour of a spring dawn and her pale blue eyes began to sparkle, turning her face from pleasant to truly beautiful and desirable.

Brand’s body responded anew to her nearness and her delicate scent. He tapped a finger against his mouth as a glimmer of an idea came to him. The perfect lesson for a proud lady. She needed to learn her new status and he needed to learn the secrets of this estate.

‘The estate is indeed productive. You appear well-versed in all aspects of it. A surprising pastime for a lady.’

‘You see the value of keeping me as a steward?’

Her nostrils quivered slightly with tension, much as a high-strung horse might quiver before battle. She wanted to run the estate. Why was it so important to her? What game was she playing?

‘Not as a steward.’ He paused, beginning to enjoy himself. ‘But I do wish you to remain on in this hall. You are an unexpected addition to the estate.’

She licked her lips, turning them a deeper red. ‘As what? I’m no maidservant for your wife. I have my pride.’

He waited a heartbeat and leant forward so that his breath interlaced with hers. She did know the game. The pretence ended here.

‘As my concubine.’

AUTHOR NOTE

On 1st November 866, taking advantage of a Northumbrian civil war, part of the Great Viking Army led by Halfdan captured the Northumbrian capital of York. The capture was relatively bloodless as all the nobles were at York Minster, attending the All Saints service. By March 867 the Northumbrians had settled their differences and tried to retake the town. The town was sacked and the Northumbrians comprehensively defeated. Aella, one of the Northumbrian leaders, suffered a particularly horrific death—being made a blood eagle. However, he had slowly poisoned Halfdan’s father, if the saga is to be believed.

Halfdan and his warriors then left Northumbria to its own devices. In 876, after some unspecified disturbance, Halfdan decided to settle his warriors in the Yorkshire countryside. Up until this time the Vikings had mainly stuck to York. They settled as far north as the North Riding, rather than going up to what is now the county of Northumberland. There is a singular lack of Norse place names in Northumberland and Durham, so the conclusion is that they did not maintain permanent settlements.

The Vikings were not a literate people and left few written records—thus things can change as new evidence is uncovered. Late in 2011 a hoard of silver coins from the era was uncovered in Lancashire and revealed the existence of several Viking Northumbrian kings missing from the historical record. The Jorvik museum in York is well worth a visit. It is designed to be accessible to anyone from the age of five and up, and is dedicated to researching this highly interesting era.

Paying the Viking’s Price

Michelle Styles

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Born and raised near San Francisco, California, MICHELLE STYLEScurrently lives a few miles south of Hadrian’s Wall, with her husband, three children, two dogs, cats, assorted ducks, hens and beehives.

An avid reader, she became hooked on historical romance when she discovered Georgette Heyer, Anya Seton and Victoria Holt one rainy lunchtime at school. And, for her, a historical romance still represents the perfect way to escape.

Although Michelle loves reading about history, she also enjoys a more hands-on approach to her research. She has experimented with a variety of old recipes and cookery methods (some more successfully than others), climbed down Roman sewers, and fallen off horses in Iceland—all in the name of discovering more about how people went about their daily lives. When she is not writing, reading or doing research, Michelle tends her rather overgrown garden or does needlework—in particular counted cross-stitch.

Michelle maintains a website, www.michellestyles.co.uk, and a blog: www.michellestyles.blogspot.com. She would be delighted to hear from you.

Previous novels by the same author:

THE GLADIATOR’S HONOUR

A NOBLE CAPTIVE

SOLD AND SEDUCED

THE ROMAN’S VIRGIN MISTRESS

TAKEN BY THE VIKING

A CHRISTMAS WEDDING WAGER

(part of Christmas By Candlelight ) VIKING WARRIOR, UNWILLING WIFE AN IMPULSIVE DEBUTANTE A QUESTION OF IMPROPRIETY IMPOVERISHED MISS, CONVENIENT WIFE COMPROMISING MISS MILTON* THE VIKING’S CAPTIVE PRINCESS BREAKING THE GOVERNESS’S RULES* TO MARRY A MATCHMAKER HIS UNSUITABLE VISCOUNTESS HATTIE WILKINSON MEETS HER MATCH AN IDEAL HUSBAND?

*linked by character

And in Mills & Boon ®Historical Undone! eBooks:

THE PERFECT CONCUBINE

Did you know that some of the novels are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk

Before you start reading, why not sign up?

Thank you for downloading this Mills & Boon book. If you want to hear about exclusive discounts, special offers and competitions, sign up to our email newsletter today!

SIGN ME UP!

Or simply visit

signup.millsandboon.co.uk

Mills & Boon emails are completely free to receive and you can unsubscribe at any time via the link in any email we send you.

For exercise trainer Tracy Anderson and her online Metamorphosis community, particularly Leah, Patrizia, Tracy, Shaunna, Jenn, Katie and Kathy, in grateful thanks for showing me that exercise is something to be embraced and enjoyed rather than feared. The only fairy dust is truly sweat and you have to be persistent.

If you are interested in reading more about the Vikings in England I would suggest:

Ferguson, Robert, The Hammer and the Cross: A New History of the Vikings (2010 Penguin Books, London)

Haywood, John, The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings (1995 Penguin Books, London)

Jesch, Judith, Women in the Viking Age (1991 The Boydell Press, Woodbridge Suffolk)

O’Brien, Harriet, Queen Emma and The Vikings—The Woman who shaped the events of 1066 (2005 Blooms-bury, London)

Magnusson, Magnus KBE, The Vikings (2003 Tempus Publishing Stroud, Gloucestershire)

Rosedahl, Else, The Vikings revised edition , translated by Susan Margeson and Kirsten Williams (1998 Penguin Books, London)

Wood, Michael, In Search of the Dark Ages 2 ndedition (2005 BBC Books, London)

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter One

Early March 876—North Yorkshire

His land. His and no one else’s, won by his sword arm and given by the grace of his king.

Brand Bjornson knelt down in the dark soil and gathered a handful of sun-warmed dirt. He squeezed it, feeling the richness of the earth between his fingers. After more than a decade of war and fighting, this, this was all he dreamt about—land to put down roots and to create his own piece of paradise on earth.

Finally. Instead of a landless mercenary whose only future was a quick death, he was now a jaarl with a large estate to prove it. Halfdan, once the leader of the felag to conquer Northumbria and now his king, had kept his word and given him worthwhile land, one of the finest estates in all of Northumbria.

Brand gave a wry smile as the rich loam coated his hand. Honouring a long-ago promise was a rare thing in Viking politics where allegiance and alliance shifted on the point of a sword or the jangle of a money bag.