Viking Passion (37 page)

“Shameful,” Eirena was saying. “If my
personal maid is talking about it, you may be certain all the other
servants know. Lenora does not set a good example.”

“Then neither do I, for I was with her, and
she was in my room. She has been my slave for well over a year now,
and we have—”

“Lenora is a slave?” Eirena was horrified.
“But she is a Christian. Not Orthodox, but Christian nonetheless.
It is only acceptable to have heathen slaves. You must free her at
once.”

“Must I?” Erik sounded amused.

Eirena changed the subject abruptly. “I have
a plan, Erik. I know how you can stay in Constantinople and go into
partnership with Basil as you wanted. It is very simple.”

“I’m surprised to hear that. I would expect
any plan you concocted to be intricate and totally
clandestine.”

“Erik, be serious.”

“I am. I know you. I have been here before,
remember?”

“I remember. I remember an evening at our
villa on the Bosporus, when the moon was dark.” Eirena paused
suggestively.

“Tell me your simple plan.” Erik’s voice was
businesslike.

“You will become an Orthodox Christian. Then
you and I will marry. Once you are the husband of a respectable
woman of Constantinople and the brother-in-law of Basil Panopoulos,
it will not be difficult for you to become a citizen. After that,
you may stay in Constantinople for the rest of your life.”

Lenora, listening outside the door, was livid
with anger. Instead of bursting into the room and confronting
Eirena, however, she clamped her hands over her mouth to smother
any sound she might make and forced herself to listen as Erik made
his calm reply.

“You make it sound very easy. I doubt matters
could be arranged as smoothly as you suggest.”

“In the past,” Eirena said, “prisoners of war
have been baptized and granted citizenship. If our former enemies
can do it, why not an honest trader from the northlands who comes
in friendship? Once you are his brother by marriage, Basil will
admit you to all of his business secrets. He is much richer than
you imagine.”

“Indeed? This is all very interesting.”

“And you will have me.” Eirena said this as
though it were the final, irresistible inducement to Erik joining
her scheme.

Lenora peered around the edge of the doorway.
She saw Eirena’s hand snake out in a graceful motion and rest on
Erik’s arm as she gazed at him with her face upturned.

“You will find me a compliant wife,
Erik.”

“Compliant? You?”

“We have kissed, and although we never went
beyond that, you know I can be warm.”

“A warm and compliant wife,” Erik mused,
looking down at her with a half-smile.

“And,” Eirena went on, “I know a lot more
about Basil’s business than he suspects. With my help you could
take the business from him and make yourself a wealthy man. We
would do it slowly, so he wouldn’t notice, but in a few years it
would all be ours.”

“You are an amazing woman, Eirena.”

“Thank you. I do make one condition to this
plan, however. Lenora must leave Constantinople. I do not want your
cast-off mistress making trouble or causing me any
embarrassment.”

“What do you suggest I do with her?”

“Free her and give her a little gold. She
could go back to Kiev with your friend Harald the merchant, or take
passage by ship to Venice and from there return to her homeland.
But from the day we are betrothed, you are never to see her
again.”

“And what of Maura?”

“Maura is of no importance. It is obvious she
has never been your mistress. Maura is free to do whatever she
wants.”

“That’s very generous of you.”

“Are we agreed then? We can tell Basil at
once.”

“I think we should wait.”

“Wait? Why? Is this not a good plan?”

“It is a remarkable plan, Eirena. I
compliment you on your cleverness. But you must see it would not be
wise to be too hasty. There is the matter of my conversion. Surely
you don’t want me to accept your faith without thought, without
careful contemplation of what such a step means?”

“Of course not, but-”

“And then there is Basil. We should tread
cautiously where he is concerned. I have already talked with him
about a partnership and he has refused. I must not seem too eager
or he may become suspicious and forbid you to marry me.”

“I have thought of that. I can handle
Basil.”

“Before we say anything to anyone let me
think over everything you have said. In a few days we will talk
again and decide exactly what to do.”

“Very well, if that is what you want. I’ll do
whatever will please you. Kiss me, Erik. I want you to kiss me. I
have waited for you for five long years.” Eirena strained upward,
reaching for Erik’s mouth.

He did not embrace her. He took her hands
instead, and kissed each one. Then, dropping them, he moved apart
from her.

“I dare not do more than this,” he said
softly. “If I were to touch you now, I might not be able to control
myself. Who knows what I might do?”

Eirena bowed her head in agreement. “I
understand,” she said.

“Do you? I wonder. Excuse me now, Eirena.”
And with that, he was gone.

Eirena drew a deep breath. “Good,” she said,
so softly that Lenora, still watching and listening outside the
courtyard door, had to strain to hear her. “It won’t be long now
and he will be mine, and that miserable slave-girl will be
gone.”

Lenora saw Eirena spin around as Basil
entered the room.

“Where is Maura?” he demanded. “I want to
speak with her.”

“She is still with the seamstresses. What are
you going to do, Basil, make her your mistress? I have never known
you to waste money on a woman before.”

“Mistress? Certainly not. I feel sorry for
her. The poor woman has had a dreadful time. Her husband and child
slaughtered before her very eyes, herself half-starved and forced
to make a long journey through a dangerous wilderness; it’s a
miracle she survived. She deserves a few pretty things after all
that.”

Eirena wasn’t really listening. “I have some
news for you,” she said. “Erik has asked me to marry him.”

“What? How dare he? I forbid it. I won’t have
my sister marrying a barbarian.”

“It’s not such a bad idea, you know. If – I
say only if – I were to accept him, you could use his connections
with the Rus to make even more money. And use them as a political
lever. Imagine having a monopoly on furs and amber.”

“Too much prominence is a danger. The
government would keep an even closer watch on my activities than it
does now.”

“You could find ways around that problem.
Basil, consider the possibilities.”

“I am considering them. What did you tell
Erik?”

“That I needed time to think about his
proposal. I wanted to talk to you first.”

“How do you feel about Erik? About being his
wife?”

“I will do whatever I must. Like most
northerners, he is transparently open and honest. I’ll be able to
manipulate him easily.”

“Hmm. Well, I must think about this. If he
presses you for an answer, make some excuse to delay.”

“Basil, don’t tell him I’ve reported this to
you. His feelings might be hurt. He was very emotional when he
proposed.”

Brother and sister left the room together,
and Lenora, deep in thought and appalled at Eirena’s lies, made her
way back to the chamber she shared with Maura.

The seamstresses had left. Maura sat in a
carved chair, idly turning a scrap of brocaded fabric over and
over, her face serious.

“Basil is very kind to me,” she said.

“Be careful, Maura. In this house people are
not always what they appear to be.”

“I am certain he would never hurt me.”
Maura’s pale gray eyes were soft. “Basil is a good man.”

“All the same,” Lenora cautioned, “be
careful.”

* * *

Lenora was not sure what excuses Erik had
made, but there was no objection when she announced she was going
for a walk with him. She met him in the entrance hall at midday and
together they left the Panopoulos house.

The late September day was cool, with gray
clouds scudding across the wind-whipped sky, but Lenora did not
care about the weather. She pulled her borrowed cloak about her and
looked around, trying to absorb as many details of the city as she
possibly could. Erik kept his hand firmly on her elbow, guiding her
through narrow, crowded streets to a tiny brick church.

As they entered Lenora blinked several times,
trying to adjust to the dim light inside. Except for one
black-robed priest kneeling in prayer before the altar, the
building was deserted. A deep silence filled the little church, the
more noticeable for its contrast with the noisy street outside.
Painted figures of saints, highlighted with gold, lined the walls,
and a red glass lamp suspended from a gold chain glowed before the
iconostasis at the far end of the nave. Incense hung heavy in the
still air.

“Remember it well,” Erik told her softly.
”Eirena is sure to question you about it, just to be certain you
really were here.” He led her to one side, where they stood
sheltered under a rounded Roman arch, hidden from the view of
anyone entering the church but able to see who came and went.

“I must warn you,” Erik began, “not to trust
anyone in Basil’s house.”

“Are you going to marry Eirena?”

He looked astonished. “Have you been spying?”
he said. “How much do you know?”

“Enough to be certain Eirena will betray
you.” And she told Erik what she had heard that morning.

“I thought so,” he muttered. He slapped one
hand against the plastered arch, then leaned his forehead on his
hand.

Lenora watched him, knowing he was making an
important decision, waiting patiently until at last he straightened
and faced her again.

“We cannot stay in this city,” he said. ”I
thought we could. I thought we would all be safe here, and that I
could work with Basil. But I hate the rules and restrictions on
merchants, I loathe their mean-minded intrigues, I despise their
corrupt officials. What a fool I’ve been. How I long to breathe
clean northern air again!”

“Then you won’t marry Eirena?”

“Marry a woman who would plot against her own
brother, then turn around and betray her intended husband? I’m a
fool, but not a madman. I never planned to marry her, and never
gave her reason to think I would. One kiss five years ago is hardly
a proposal. Besides,” he looked deep into Lenora’s eyes, “how could
I agree never to see you again?”

Her heart pounding hard in response to his
words and the tender tone he used, Lenora raised one hand to brush
his cheek. He pressed his lips against her fingers.

“What shall we do?” she asked. “Can we go
back to Kiev with Harald? If we did, we would be going to meet
Snorri, I think.”

“Kiev isn’t the only place in the world.”

“I know that look, Erik. What are you
planning?”

He grinned at her with a touch of his old
humor. “I’ll tell you later, Trust me.”

“I do. You are the only person in this entire
city I do trust. Even Maura is behaving strangely.”

“Maura.” Erik chuckled. “I don’t think we
will have to worry about her too much longer. Basil asked me about
her this morning, wanting to confirm what she has said about her
recent past. I told him she is a free woman of good family and a
Christian widow. I think he plans to marry her in time.”

“Marry Maura? But she’s so timid, and so
afraid of men.”

“Not of Basil. You saw them last night. He is
wooing her in the cleverest way possible. He makes her feel safe,
and pampers her with new clothes and attention.”

“A few baubles and clothes wouldn’t win me,”
Lenora stated.

“You, my sweet, are made of stronger stuff
than Maura. We should both remember how harshly she was been
treated since she was taken from her home, and how completely her
spirit was broken. Basil is repairing that damage and I am happy to
see it.”

As Erik smiled down at her, Lenora realized
again, with a sudden constriction of her heart, just how handsome
he was, and how precious to her. He towered above her, his black,
smoothly brushed hair shadowing his tanned face. That streak of
white, toward which her eyes were always drawn, caught a shaft of
light from a window set high in the church wall. His emerald eyes
watched her with an expression of great tenderness. She swayed
toward him. His hands took her shoulders and pulled her to him. His
lips brushed hers as he folded her against his chest.

“This is not the right place,” he whispered,
“but how I want you, Lenora. How good it is to know that you are an
honest woman.”

She knew he was thinking of Eirena.

Erik released her as they heard a step behind
them, and a priest came into view. Under his disapproving eye they
hastily left the church.

“There is one matter on which I do agree with
Eirena,” Lenora said as they walked along. “You should free me,
Erik.”

“I will do so as soon as it is safe,” he
replied. “For the moment it is better for you to be my slave. No
one thinks it strange for a man to take his property with him when
he travels.”

She slipped her hand into his, feeling the
strength of his long fingers as they closed around her softer
ones.

“Are we going to travel?” she asked.

“What do you think?” he teased.

* * *

A few days later Maura was given her own
room.

“It’s lovely,” Lenora said, admiring the
marble floor and the view of the Sea of Marmora from the three tall
windows along one wall. A mural covering two walls depicted a lush
garden with trees and flowers in brilliant greens, yellows, and
reds. A large, comfortable bed was draped in deep green silk. There
were carved wooden chairs inlaid with ivory, and several low tables
adorned with enamel plaques of bright-colored design. Many of the
furnishings, and the silks, were obviously new.