SLVT

Ubbe was troubled by her words, by her reckless thoughts, than by the child in her belly. How could he trust such a woman? He wasn’t at all sure. “I understand why your father did it. Besides I did not ask for a virgin. I’ve never been much inclined to them, so in that he did not tell me a lie. I just did not expect…” he gestured to the full curve of her belly, where the child was nestled. Could he raise another’s child. His brother Bjorn was doing it with Torvi’s eldest. Was it that different? He wasn’t sure. 

He pushed the soft cloak from her shoulders and hung it up. “Sit. You should at least eat and drink after such a long journey.” He murmured quietly as he tried to sort his thoughts. “Do you still love him?” he finally asked. A child … perhaps. A woman in love with another. No, he had done that before and never again. It only led to pain.

“Mmm,” she hummed in understanding as she smoothed a hand over her belly. He would not have expected it. Her father would’ve made sure of that. She smiled to herself at Ubbe’s thoughtfulness in removing her cloak. Already she could imagine a future with him -- if not for the man she knew from his letters then in the kindness he showed to her now, when he had every right to be upset. He could’ve sent her right back on her way when he’d seend her little surprise, but she was here, enjoying his hospitality instead. “I’ve been sitting for days,” she smiled, but did as he suggested. “Love? No...” Her brows furrowed at the thought. “I don’t believe I ever loved him, truly. And now...I could never love a man who would abandon his own child.” She glanced down at her belly as she spoke of the little one whom she affectionately referred to as her bump. She hesitated to even guess the gender of the child for fear of getting attached to one or the other. “What about you, Ubbe? Do you have any children?”