The Fortress of Time Read online

  “Do I have your word that you won’t decide to reclaim the jarldom?”

  “I swear, brother,” she said in a suppressed whisper, as if a beast slept nearby and she’d wake it up if she spoke any louder.

  “Good.”

  She hugged him, and the scent of her touched his face for a moment, reminding him of their mother, and his heart squeezed. Vigdis brushed off her tears, turned to the boat, and Bjarni helped her get in. As the men pushed the boat away from the dock with the oars, Donna said, “You’ll come to the wedding, won’t you? Both of you?”

  Vigdis’s face brightened. “The journey should take us a couple of weeks. In three months, we should be settled. We’ll come.”

  Sigurd nodded. He was looking forward to the abundance of the harvest festival: tables full of fresh vegetables, roasted boars, hares, and deer, smoked salmon, and new mead. The feeling of home and family. His family.

  “Goodbye!” Vigdis called as the boat moved further into the distance.

  A feeling of peace spread through Sigurd like a cool wave on a warm day. Bjarni laid his arm on Vigdis’s shoulder in the same manner that Sigurd’s arm was on Donna’s. They waved to Sigurd and Donna.

  “Do you believe her word?” Donna asked.

  Sigurd squinted against the reflection of the sun on the fjord’s surface, following the ship with his eyes. “I do.”

  “Why?”

  “She’s changed. Not only because she saw the results of her betrayal. But because of love. I can see that as clearly as I see you. Bjarni changed her.” He kissed Donna gently, and his body started simmering with desire. “Just like you changed me. I can even understand why she took our enemy’s side. Every person needs to feel valued and useful, and she did not have that. But I hope you do. I am grateful to have such strong women in my jarldom and especially at my side.”

  Donna smiled and laid her head on his shoulder. “I could never have dreamed I’d have such a strong man by my side.”

  The boat disappeared behind a mountain, and Sigurd and Donna walked back home. The feeling of peace spread from his chest further into his body. As they approached the fortress, Sigurd stopped Donna by the open gate. As he glanced at the fortress that had brought her here, a feeling of wholeness spread through him, repairing the remains of the wounds in his soul like a healing balm.

  He knelt before Donna and laid his palms on her swollen belly. His fingers felt a small kick, and he planted a kiss on the spot. He looked up at Donna from where he knelt, overwhelmed by the love that grew in every muscle of his body and that he saw reflected in her eyes.

  “The Norn is weaving a beautiful tapestry from my life,” he said. “Because it’s everything I could ever wish for. You, the child”—Donna’s fingers brushed through his hair, and his scalp tingled—”and something we built together. The fortress of time.”

  A glimpse into

  THE JEWEL OF TIME

  Chicago, 2018

  The Norn smiled as, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a young woman’s hand stretching out to grasp the spindle. The three Norns were having lunch on a bench at Navy Pier, enjoying the view of Lake Michigan and the sun’s rays warming their ancient skin. The woman thought the Norn did not see what she was up to. She needed to gather money fast for her mother’s kidney transplant, and stealth seemed to be her only remaining choice.

  But she had no idea that on the other side of that spindle, a young Viking needed her more than air to breathe.

  As her fingers touched the golden surface, the woman disappeared, and the Norn began knitting, enjoying the story unfolding in the scarf.

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  Upcoming books in the series:

  One night with a Jarl

  The Jewel of Time

  The Surf of Time

  The Marriage of Time

  The Tree of Time

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  COPYRIGHT

  Copyright © 2018 by Mariah Stone

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review.

  FIRST EDITION

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  About Mariah Stone

  Mariah Stone fell in love with her future husband on the edge of a Norwegian fjord. Now she lives in the Netherlands with him and their baby son. Her talents include forgetting everything when she writes and creating a bigger mess than her baby can ever make.

  She believes love wins even if people come from different backgrounds – even if they were born hundreds of years apart.

  That’s what her books are about.