Good Morning, Smár Einn!
Thank you to Mel, Jill, and Paige!
.: Fimm Tigir ok Fimm :.
The moment Edvard and I step out of the bedchamber, everyone in the hall gives out a loud cheer. It is embarrassing, and I have to fight my instinct to hide behind my husband.
Edvard, for his part, seems to enjoy the cheer, as he wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me close to him.
"Bella!" Tove says, coming over to take my hands. "How was your night?" She can't ask it without giggling, and I frown.
"It was…" I pause, looking up at Edvard, who is also smirking. "What's going on?" I demand.
Tove fights to school her features.
"Good morning," Bjorn says, bounding toward us. He claps Edvard on the shoulder so hard, we both stumble. "We heard you conquer ótamkǫttr," he says, making everyone around us burst into laughter. I have no idea what he's said, but based on the response of everyone, including Edvard who looks as if he is between a laugh and a reprimand, I'm not sure I want to know.
"Behave," Tove chastises Bjorn when she sees I'm not also laughing. "Come, sister. Let us get ready for the morning." She tugs me out of Edvard's arms before I can protest, dragging me outside.
"Tove, what was the word Bjorn used?"
Tove glances at me, looking a little nervous. "Ótamkǫttr," she says. "It means… like a wild beast. A cat."
Wildcat? But why…
Realization dawns slowly, and when it does, I stop walking, mortification coming over me.
Tove looks at me in alarm. "Bella, what is the matter?"
"You heard us?"
Tove bites her lip.
"You," she clarifies. "We heard you."
That's it. I have to go hide under a rock for the rest of eternity. I turn to run away when she catches my hands, forcing me to stay put. "Bella, please. It is not a bad thing. Some are very loud and some are very quiet." I can see her lips twitching slightly as she tries to keep a straight face. "It sounded like war had broken out. You have the cry of a Valkyrie."
"Fuck," I mutter in English, looking away from her gaze. "I can never have sex again."
Tove waits for me to start speaking her language again, though I suspect she has a clue as to what I'm muttering.
"It is not bad," Tove presses. "Edvard fought to keep witnesses from your marriage bed, but now all of us have witnessed. There can never be a claim against your marriage now."
It is the smallest comfort, and even that feels shallow.
"I didn't even know I was screaming," I tell her.
"It was a battlecry," she admits with a smile. I'm permanently stained red with embarrassment.
Before I can spiral too much though, a shout across the farm draws our attention. Tove and I look up to see people gathering in the fields.
Without hesitation, Tove and I take off, racing across the farm to join the others.
"It must be a blessing," someone says as we draw nearer. "The gods have looked favorably on the union of Edvard Kárisson and Bella Egildottir."
We push through the crowd, stopping short when we see the entire wheat crop has seemingly matured overnight. Yesterday, they were seedlings, and today there is a full, golden harvest.
Despite the praise of everyone around us, my heart grows cold at the sight of it.
It's impossible. Plants cannot just magically grow a full season's worth in a single night. My eyes sweep every field where a crop is planted, growing more and more anxious as I see everything on the farm has matured.
No, no, no… something is not right. Something is terribly, terribly wrong.
I scan the crowd, looking for Edvard. The moment I spot him, I push my way through to him.
"Edvard," I whisper, seizing the front of his tunic. His arms immediately go around me. "Something is wrong." I try to keep my voice low, so as not to panic those around us, but it's difficult.
Edvard frowns. "What is it?"
I look back at the wheat, at the bountiful farmstead's worth of crops. It should be a good thing, so why doesn't it feel like it?
I look back at Edvard. "Please, we need to go."
Edvard places his large hands on my shoulders. "What frightens you."
"I don't know."
Edvard pulls me against his chest, and I sink into him, gripping his tunic tight with both hands.
Around us, people are offering us praises and thanks, but I cannot help the sick feeling in my stomach that Edvard and I have just unleashed something too big and too terrible to name.