Rune thought he might remember the man that Freja spoke of. Maybe. He didn't pay attention to men outside of the training yards unless they were in a tavern, and if they made him uncomfortable he tended to stop paying attention. "I can hardly blame someone for thinking me his hero," he said anyhow, like he always would have. "I am a marvelous specimen of a man." Which was just why he couldn't understand why a woman wouldn't want him. Or why they might wish to have Synnove in his place.
His stomach tightened unpleasantly at the idea of forcing a woman to sleep with him. Of all the things he'd ever done or planned to do, that wasn't one of them. It was akin to the idea of sleeping with a child. Even those men in the tavern the other day who'd whistled and flirted with him were leagues better than that, for they weren't forcing themselves on him when he was unwilling. "No," he agreed, though his voice was miserable. "I couldn't live that sort of life. All of my intentions once I marry are to be as good as father is, as Bourne and Rona are." For he'd seen them together and they were a good fit. His mind had imagined someone as beautiful as Gia being as good a fit for him. "I may try to see if perhaps you and Synnove are wrong. It wouldn't be the first time."