Helgha looked up to see Erik entering her house. Biorn ran to him, and he swept his son into his arms and twirled him round. The little boy laughed.
Erik put him down and went to pick up his other son, Hartvigg, who crawled toward him. Helgha smiled. She knew he loved his sons as much as they loved him. With Hartvigg in his arms and Biorn hanging onto his leg, he came over and kissed her.
She put her arms around him and held him close. “I wasn"t expecting you.”
“I wasn"t expecting to come either, but Dagmar brought a serving woman to tell me she"d seen you performing some kind of witchcraft.”
Helgha laughed. “Oh, Erik, you don"t believe that, do you? I wouldn"t know where to start to perform any kind of spell other than ones that heal. It’s because of that we can heal people.”
Then sh
