Sookie the Shieldmaiden - Chapter 29

A/N:

I`m so grateful for all the readers this story has – old and new – and I want to thank you for each and every review and comment I`ve received. They warm my heart!

I also want to thank Suki59 for betaing this story – and my new post-DEA story Dead among Friends and Neighbors. She is an amazing beta and friend.

Sookie and all the other characters belong to Charlaine Harris.


Chapter 29

Eric didn`t trust Heidi; that much was obvious from the way he looked at her. She seemed to find his distrust natural and accepted it.

He did allow her to accompany us back to Nordby after he`d placed guards on the beach, in the forest and at all the entrances to Nordby. Apparently the takeover of Nordby had been bloodless unless one counted Queen Sophie-Anne`s blood and no one seemed to do that. She wasn`t mentioned or mourned and I couldn`t help wondering if they`d thrown her body to the dogs.

Eric and Pam had briefly discussed what they wanted to do with Felipe`s men who`d gone home but they finally agreed on – or rather, Eric accepted Pam`s decision – that they weren`t important. So no retaliation and no beating them into accepting Pam as their sovereign. Not yet, at least.

Rasul and his plans were the biggest worry and everyone was ordered to fortify the defenses of Nordby and prepare for war. A war we didn`t know when to expect – or if it would come at all.

As the days went by, Eric grew restless and frustrated. He wanted to go after Rasul and kill him. And kill whichever king Rasul worked for. His problem was that he didn`t know what king this might be.

Some nights he made plans for killing each and every king within a month`s journey by boat and some nights he`d almost convinced himself that Rasul was really Loke and that we wouldn`t see him again. That Loke was laughing at us somewhere because we`d fallen for all his tricks.

But most nights Eric and I would make love and most days we would practice with our swords. And when the flowers were in full bloom, the apples were almost ripe on the trees and the sun was warmer in the sky but went earlier to the ground in the evening, we felt prepared for whatever attack Nordby might encounter.

I`d started eating better and, though I worked out more, I also grew rounder, something Eric did not object to at all. I had a few moments where I worried about how my rounder body would perform in battle but knocking Eric over a few times on the practice ground put those worries to sleep. Eric was a great fighter and I figured that I wasn`t in too bad a shape if I could beat him.

Sometimes at night – at least those nights when Eric and I had made love and I had knocked him over on the practice ground earlier – not the nights when he planned on killing any and all members of a royal family he could stick his sword into and I`d lost to him when we practiced– a strange feeling of contentment rolled over me. I would lie with my head on his chest, listening to his snores and catch myself smiling.

Those moments were good but they were painful too because I knew they couldn`t last. Sooner or later – and definitely before winter made any attacks impossible – Rasul would have gotten back to whatever king he`d sworn his allegiance to and would have reported on a country weakened by inner strife.

Pam sent out spies to see who was planning attacks but they`d come home empty-handed. In one case, without hands at all. Spies were rather unpopular.

But really, all we could do was wait. And prepare.

One night I woke up to the sound of the door opening and closing. I grabbed the knife I kept in the bed and gave Eric a small kick. He was awake and holding his own knife before I`d turned my head towards the door.

When I saw it was Amelia standing in the doorway, letting in a little bit of moonlight, I relaxed my hold on my knife and got out of bed. Amelia wouldn`t have bothered us in the middle of the night if there wasn`t something wrong. Both Eric and I got dressed and I could hear movement in the other end of the house as well. Soon Pam, Claude and Jason joined us around the table. Tara rekindled the fire and lit a wax candle which she placed in the middle of the table. Then she sat down too.

"They`ll attack in the morning," Amelia said.

I cocked an eyebrow at her. "How do you know?"

"I just know it," she said and I knew she was correct. And if Amelia was sure we were going to be attacked then we`d better be prepared.

We ate a quick breakfast. Then we all pulled on our chain mail and helmets, made sure our weapons were in a perfect condition and walked out. Apparently we weren`t the only ones who`d been awakened because the town square was filled with battle-ready men and women. Even a couple of older children were there with their bows and arrows.

I took a deep breath, smelled the early morning air and smiled. Finally we would have our battle. We didn`t know who we were fighting or how strong they were but we were ready for them.

Pam pointed at different groups of soldiers and the direction she was sending them. Some were to man the walls, some to watch the gates and some were sent into the forest and down to the beach to gather information.

I looked at Eric who was as tense as I was and suddenly, as if the same thought had crossed both of our minds at the same time, he bent down while I reached up and we shared a hard and deep kiss. It was over almost as soon as it had begun, but it gave me courage.

We were going to win and Eric and I were going to survive. The gods would not have let a shieldmaiden be attached to the wifely life with a warrior if they hadn`t planned on letting her enjoy it for more than a summer. I felt sure of that.

Pam had given Eric and me command over different groups of warriors and soon we walked in the opposite direction from each other. Eric was to fight at the south gate – I at the north one. I was proud that she`d put me in command and I hoped it wasn`t just because I was Eric`s wife. That I`d somehow proven myself. I`d never been in command before but I hoped I`d learned from Sam since his command was the one I`d fought under almost all my life.

I could feel the nerves but also the determination among my men. They were a mixture of men from Nordby and a few of Alcide`s men. Not all of them had wanted to go home – or rather, not all of them had been given the choice. Nordby was the heart of the kingdom and therefore Nordby`s defense was more important than the defense of all the smaller villages and cities in the country.

When we came to the large gate, I looked up. The sky was clear and the sun was rising. I said a silent prayer to the gods and hopedI would make them proud. I also told them that Rasul would not be spared even if he turned out to be Loke.

Rasul was mine to kill.

Everyone capable with a bow was situated on the wall and I climbed the ladder.

"Is everyone ready?" I asked Tara, who looked more than ready, staring out at the meadows north of Nordby.

She nodded but didn`t take her eyes off the meadows. If any warriors were to surprise her, they would have to fly in to do so.

I shouted down to the boys and girls who were too young to fight to get buckets of water. We would need them if Rasul`s men shot burning arrows, and I also knew the kids needed something to do. They needed to feel a part of this.

The old men and women of Nordby were standing behind the warriors, facing the gate, checking their spears. They were too old to fight but we all knew that every man and woman counted when the city was under attack. An old woman with a spear could kill just as well as a young one.

We were ready and what was left now was the waiting and the anticipation. If Rasul had told his true master that Nordby could be easily won, then he was in for a surprise.

I was just about to say another prayer to the gods when the distinct sound of an arrow hitting the outside of our wall made me turn and look at Tara. She`d already sent an arrow away and had picked up a new one. So had the other bowmen.

I looked out to see what they were shooting at and saw two bodies on the ground far out in the distance close to the forest – killing them was quite an accomplishment. I couldn`t see anyone moving.

"Are there more?" I asked.

"Not that I can see," Tara said.

"Why would they only send two?"

"Maybe we scared the rest of them away." Tara looked as if she believed her own theory but I knew that no one came to fight a battle only to give up just because two people had been killed.

"Well done so far," I said to the men on the wall and they all nodded while staring at the land outside the gates of Nordby.

I turned around to the warriors waiting impatiently for a battle. "Two men came. Two men went down," I shouted and everyone cheered. It was a good rule to celebrate every little victory. But soon they went quiet again. We all knew that the battle wasn`t won with two men killed.

If we`d been impatiently waiting for the battle to come, the two men firing arrows at us and being killed for their trouble had only made it worse. I noticed men stomping, men holding their swords so hard their knuckles had turned white, and for some their breath was so shallow it couldn`t be healthy.

"Everyone, sheath your swords!" I shouted. Yes, we needed to be prepared but no one was going to come through our gates so quickly the men wouldn`t have time to pull out their weapons.

I could almost hear the collective breath that was being released and went back to staring at the bushes and at the forest so far away I had to squint.

The sun was coming up and was heating us up. Helmets and chain mail weren`t perfect on a hot summer day. I was just wiping my cheek – since I couldn`t wipe my brow and something needed to be wiped – when I heard a noise. First I heard a single loud scream, as if a woman was in pain. Then there was the sound of metal against metal, and I stared in all directions to determine where it came from, but it wasn`t from any of the walls we were meant to guard.

"Go check what is happening!" I shouted at the kids and pointed them in different directions. If an attack had started on one of the other sides of Nordby, they would need some of my men.

The kids ran off and the soldiers, who`d all taken a seat somewhere on the ground, were up and grabbing their swords. Tara was holding an arrow to her bow, ready to fire at anyone deserving an arrow in his neck.

More noise came and I didn`t like the sounds of people screaming in pain. Listening to a battle was much worse than participating in it.

Then suddenly Tara made a noise and fired an arrow. Before I could check what she was firing at, her fellow bowmen did the same, and arrows flew into the walls from the outside.

All the warriors waiting for battle kept their shields high but not a single arrow flew over the wall. I knew we had to keep the gates closed for as long as possible. It was our best chance. But just like the men, I was burning for some real battle and not just shooting arrows at each other. No offense to Tara, but there was more honor in the sword than in the bow.

"Eric Northman has gone through the gates!" a boy shouted between pants. He was still running while shouting.

"What?!" I shouted back. Why would Eric go through the gates? We were supposed to hold the gates, not open them and walk outside. I wanted an open battle as much as the next warrior, but opening the gates was just plain stupid. And Eric wasn`t stupid.

"Eric Northman has gone through the gates," the boy repeated, apparently believing that my question was because I hadn`t heard him the first time.

"Why would he do that?" I asked but the boy just shrugged. "Were the gates open or closed when you were there?" I asked him.

"They were closed. Eric Northman only opened them a little, ran through, and the gates were closed again."

"What are you saying? Did he go alone?"

The boy half shrugged, half nodded. "I think he went alone."

"Go back there and find out what has happened!" I ordered one of the older men, a former warrior who was as ready for battle as any of the young men with their swords.

The old man ran as quickly as his legs could carry him and I turned around and stared out over the walls. What was Eric thinking? Why had he gone outside the gates?

The old man was gone a long time and my nerves were anything but calm. It was too quiet, almost as if everyone was holding their breath – which they probably were.

I couldn`t think of one good reason for Eric to go outside the walls all by himself. He was in command of a group of soldiers and the one in command never went on a suicide mission. At least not unless there was no one else to do the job. And Eric had plenty of men he could have sent instead of going himself.

I cursed and then I kicked the wooden wall. The curse helped but hurting my toe certainly didn`t. So I cursed some more and refrained from any kicking.

Finally the old man returned but he didn`t shout his message to me. Instead he motioned for me to come down. I quickly climbed down the ladder.

"What has happened?" I asked but the old man led me away from the men before he replied.

"It seems Eric was tricked."

"How?" I held back a gasp and tried to keep the shock from my face. I didn`t want to worry my men.

"Do you remember the first scream we heard?" the old man asked and I nodded. "Eric was sure it was you and went out to rescue you."

"Eric went out alone to rescue me when I`m standing right here?" I couldn`t believe what I was hearing. Why hadn`t he at least checked to see if I was where I was supposed to be?

"A scout reported that he`d seen you outside. "

"Let me talk to the scout," I said and moved to walk away from the old man but his surprisingly strong hand landed on my shoulder.

"The scout is dead. He went back outside the walls with Eric but earned an arrow in the neck from someone hiding in the woods."

I cursed, this time louder and worse. Soon I would have used up all the profanity I knew. "And now they expect me to go rescue Eric," I mumbled to myself.

I quickly went up the ladder again and looked out over the wall. Nothing. Then I looked at Tara and made sure she was looking back at me.

"You`re in charge of the men for now, Tara. I may be back shortly or it may take a while. Are you up for it?" Tara wasn`t a born warrior but this summer had shown new sides of her. She still wasn`t good with a sword but with luck, there wouldn`t be any sword fighting until I returned.

I climbed down the ladder before Tara could protest – though I did hear her shout after me – and ran towards the southern gates. I was halfway there when I heard someone yelling my name. I turned around.

"How did you get back, Sookie?" It was Pam.

"I was never outside the wall, Pam."

She gaped. "But the scout saw you."

I shook my head. "Rasul is a trickster, Pam. You and Eric should know that."

I was annoyed at Eric for being fooled and Pam was closest to take the brunt of my anger. How could they have fallen for Rasul`s games?

Pam looked away and then anger became part of her features as well. "Eric …," she started.

"Why did he leave?" I asked, though I knew the answer. I was ready to go outside the walls myself to save him – just as he`d done for me. Which was exactly what Rasul was expecting. What he was waiting for.

Pam never answered my question. She just rolled her eyes and gritted her teeth.

"How do I get outside the walls without being seen?" I didn`t want to become another victim of Rasul`s tricks.

Pam focused on me and relaxed her jaw. "That`s an excellent question, Sookie, and one I wish Eric had asked. I remember there were tunnels under the walls from when I lived here as a little girl. We just need to find those tunnels."

"Has anyone kept the tunnels open?"

"Not that I know of but they were well built and might just need a little work for you to get through. The best thing is, since the tunnels haven`t been in use for years, there`s a good chance Rasul doesn`t know about them even if he was poking his nose into everything here in Nordby." Pam started walking and I followed her.

I heard her mumbling something and asked her to repeat it.

She turned her head. "Stupid Eric for just rushing out like that. He could have used the tunnels too."

"Or checked if I was really missing," I said in my driest voice.

That had Pam rolling her eyes again and she mumbled something that included Eric`s name and a lot of curse words.

I followed Pam to the eastern part of Nordby – the part closest to the deep forest and also the part with the fewest houses. No one wanted to live close to the forest since that part of the city was darker and colder.

I noticed warriors on the walls and more warriors waiting on the ground but they only glanced at us when we walked by.

"Where is it?" Pam asked the question more to herself than to me.

She pulled back a shrub and kicked a few rotten wooden boards and slid behind a tree. I followed her and saw and old shed. Pam opened the door and smiled.

"Ah, here it is." She pulled me into the shed so quickly I banged my head on the top of the doorframe. I was glad I was wearing my helmet or I would have had a serious bruise.

Pam went down on all fours and threw a few planks away, and underneath I saw a hole. It was dark so I couldn`t see more than the fact that it was a hole and that it was filled with cobwebs.

Great.

"Let`s get down here," Pam said but someone shouting her name stopped her before she jumped into the hole. She got up instead and when her name was yelled again she exited the shed.

I heard her discussing something with someone – it could have been Claude`s voice – but all I heard was "attack." After a little while Pam popped her head into the shed.

"I have to go, Sookie, but I`ll send Claude back to help you when he`s …" She didn`t get to say what Claude had to do because more people were shouting for her and she left me with a nod.

I looked at the hole in the ground and at the door Pam had walked out of and made a quick decision. I could at least check out the hole before Claude came back so I was sure it could be used. And before I could harbor any second thoughts, I made my way into the dark.

The hole was deep and dark and no sane person would go down there alone, especially considering how old it was and how long it was since it had been used. But then I was probably not entirely sane, battle tingling in every pore of my body and worry for Eric leaving me breathless. No, not breathless. It left me with a need to do something.

So I crawled down the hole instead of waiting for someone – anyone – to join me.

The first thing that hit me was the smell. Earth and dust and a stink of rot as if something had crawled into the hole and died there recently. The second thing that hit me was a wooden beam. Or rather, I hit the beam because I was the one moving and it was sitting where it had been put years ago.

"By the tooth of the Fenris wolf," I swore as silently I could. I touched the beam I`d just knocked my head into and pulled my helmet off to let my hand glide over my scull. Then I put my helmet back on and looked into the tunnel. It was dark but I could see several beams in the ceiling. The wooden beams were good news – apart from the small dent in my helmet and the knock to my head – because it meant a safer tunnel than one that hadn`t been secured like that. Less risk of it having caved in at some point.

I`m not a very tall person but even I had to lower my head to be able to walk in the tunnel. And since I didn`t have any light, the tunnel got darker and darker when I got further away from the light from the door. I had to use my hands to make sure I wasn`t walking into anything that would increase the headache the first beam had given me.

This meant that I was moving forward slowly. Very slowly. But I was moving forward and after having walked and crawled, crawled and walked I could smell more than dirt and decay. I could smell the forest. I tried to see if there was any light at the other end of the tunnel but it was dark. I could only smell the forest – I couldn`t see it.

But it was there and I made my way forward, giving my sword a slight touch and sending Freia a prayer. I talked to her about the the feasts she would receive, the animals I would sacrifice in her name if she would stand by me now. Freia listened led me all the way to the end of the tunnel unharmed, though I didn`t realize it at first as the tunnel led into a small natural cave in the darkest part of the forest. One moment I was stumbling and fumbling my way through a dark tunnel and the next I was out of it.

I stayed in the cave for a few moments and listened for sounds of battle or warriors before I exited. I thought for a few moments of Claude who was probably wondering where I`d gone but when I emerged into the middle of the forest I only had one thing on my mind.

I was going to free Eric.


A/N:

These past days have been days of celebrations here in Scandinavia. On Friday Norway celebrated her National day. It`s now 199 years since Norway got her constitution (imagine the party we`ll have next year!) and, as always, we celebrated with the Children`s parade where all the children of Oslo went to the royal castle to greet the royal family. Everyone, adult and children, wore their finest, which in Norway means the National dress from your area. It`s truly beautiful.

On Saturday Sweden held the Eurovision Song Contest, which is a huge thing here in Scandinavia – and Denmark won. You should check out the Icelandic and the Norwegian entries. I think those two singers look like Eric Northman and Sookie Stackhouse :-D

Tomorrow is the second day of Pentecost and we have the day off from work. On top of all the celebrations, summer finally arrived. We skipped spring and went straight from winter to summer. The long summer nights are here as well, which is so nice after a long and dark winter. So YAY all around!