““Ashamed of what she had thought, Rycca lowered her eyes. “I am sorry.” “For what? Assuming I took the stone by force? But that’s what Vikings do, isn’t it?” He sounded exasperated and she could not blame him. But neither was she prepared when he suddenly asked, “Why did you not want us to marry? Because I am Viking?” She had wondered if he would ask, then decided her reasons would likely mean nothing to him. But he was a man of surprises, this hero of her strange world. And very good at biding his time. “It is true, I did not wish to wed a Viking.” “Because of what you have heard about us?””
