Master of My Sea
* ! ! IMPORTANT NOTICE ! ! *
After this chapter, the rating for this story will be increased to Mature. After this point, the story will have graphic depictions of violence, descriptions of blood and gore, mature things, and mild sexual themes. I will be posting a chapter summary at the end of chapters for readers that wish to skip over scenes or whole chapters that revolve around these themes.
x x x
I want to thank everyone for all the amazing feedback and reception for this story. It came at a time where I was giving up hope on whether or not people were actually reading this story anymore, since I had left it for a year. The feedback fuels my muse, and it's part of the reason why this chapter is one of the longest chapters I have ever written, nearly reaching 9k words.
After this chapter, I have a gift for everyone that I'm sure all of you have been waiting for since I mentioned it a few chapters back. It took me some time, because a) I lost access to it, and b) I wanted to wait for the right moment to share it to avoid spoilers.
Hope everyone enjoys!
chapter sixteen:
THE SHIELDMAIDENS OF HEDEBY
Kára was in a deep abysmal sleep when she felt her body being shook back and forth vigorously.
"Kára, wake up, it is nearly noon," the voice said as it continued to shove her roughly until the redhead snorted herself awake. "Lagertha is expecting us soon."
Blinking at the bright light that filled the small house that was her new home, Kára growled as she pulled her heavy body off the cot.
"I'm up," she mumbled, rubbing sand from her eyes.
"Hurry and get ready," Kára's house mate began tossing her, her gear and then gathered their weapons and shields.
It had been two moons since Kára came to Hedeby, and in that time she seemed to be overloaded with stresses that she wasn't ready for. She was still getting over being left a second time in her life; Ragnar had brought her to the border of the city, where he promised her that he would talk to Lagertha about taking Kára as a ward and a new shieldmaiden. However, that morning Kára found herself completely alone at the camp, which she suspected was his intent the entire time. Ragnar was not ready to face his past just yet, and she knew that. Though in his place, he left his armring, which was his gift to Kára after all they had been through. In the end, it was the armring that had verified her purpose to Lagertha.
When Kára entered the Earl's hall, she was met with curious eyes and suspicion, since she was a stranger in their midst. Usually travellers bring some sort of news, so everyone waited to see what her purpose was in Lagertha's earldom. When Kára finally got an audience with the Earl, she was taken back by the strength and beauty that seemed to radiate off of her. She was no queen, but she held herself like one, unlike Aslaug. Kára never formally met Lagertha, despite the fact that the shieldmaiden knew Hulda. When asked why she was here, Kára had told her who she was, and it was somewhat apparent that Lagertha saw the familiarity in her features, and namely in the colour of her mane. Kára then asked that she wished to be shieldmaiden, like her aunt before her, and that she knew Lagertha would be the only person she could trust to lead her to that fate. But what truly convinced the earl of Hedeby to take the teenager under her wing was the silent gesture of presenting her arm where Ragnar's armring sat. Lagertha immediately recognized it, and knew with no words spoken who brought her here, and why.
In the days following, Lagertha had introduced her to a few of the young shieldmaidens, one of them being Esmé, who ended up being the person Kára shared a home with. Esmé was a former frankish slave, brought back from Paris by Lagertha a few years ago. Esmé had been freed by Lagertha sometime last winter after she deemed her worthy of their ways. Kára learned from Esmé herself that she had lived a life of poverty in Paris; her mother was a prostitute and groomed her daughter to become a young prostitute herself. When the vikings invaded the first time, Esmé was one of the captured children to be used as slaves, and was bought by Lagertha. She lost love for the Christian God long ago, and so when she was introduced to the norse culture and gods, Esmé had converted and over time Lagertha had freed her.
During the weeks that Kára had resided in Hedeby, she had been having a difficult time adjusting to her new life. She was not used to being around so many people every day; she had grown comfortable to the quiet life she had with Ragnar, and the isolated life she had with her mother. Living in a city, even one small like Hedeby, was always busy. There was also the matter of trying to stand out among the other young shieldmaidens that have far more experience under the guidance of Lagertha, and therefore have a bigger impression. Now that she was in a group of girls, she no longer had the benefit of having a teacher to herself, like she did with Ragnar. So often, it was her and the other girls learning off of each other, and Kára knew nothing about how to fight like a shieldmaiden. She never used a shield before, which made things she was normally good at difficult. It made her slower, which hindered her best ability. To make matters worse, her best skill, archery, was challenged by another who was just as good if not better than Kára.
Svana was born and raised in Hedeby, so she had known and looked up to Lagertha all her life. She had come from a long line of shieldmaidens herself, and her father had been one of the locals to side with Lagertha when she had usperuped Sigvard's earldom. Svana's roots were deeper than Kára's ever were, so it was a bit disconcerting that Svana was constantly being praised for her prowess, whereas Kára was constantly being criticized.
The stress of not being good enough made Kára believe that Ragnar made a mistake in believing in her at all. That stress began to manifest in sleepless nights as thoughts upon thoughts would crowd each other in Kára's mind. It made sleeping difficult, so sleeping into the noon was not new to her these past few weeks. It had begun to affect her ability to keep up with rigorous daily training, and Lagertha was aware of that. Just a couple of days ago, Lagertha herself had found Kára still sleeping well through midday, and had dumped cold river water all over her. She hadn't recovered fully from that humiliation, but that didn't cure her inability to fall asleep.
Esmé was waiting outside eating an apple, looking around vigilantly to make sure that Lagertha was not coming in their direction. She paused mid bite when she saw the familiar long mane of blonde hair in the distance, standing next to Astrid, another well known shieldmaiden and Lagertha's companion. Astrid caught Esmé's eye, and raised her eyebrow warningly. With the apple stuck in the frankish woman's jaw, she began to pound on the wooden door loudly.
Kára emerged not long after that, adjusting her scabbard around her hips. Esmé tossed her another apple and the two began to walk towards the earl's hall just in time for Lagertha to turn in their direction. The two girls nodded at the earl in greeting.
"Esmé, join Astrid in the training yard. I wish to talk with Kára," Lagertha watched as the brunette nodded her head, gave a wary glance at her house mate and followed the older shieldmaiden towards the yard. Lagertha tilted her chin in their direction until she saw them well away from the two, and then turned to Kára with a harder stare.
"You slept in again," Lagertha stated matter-of-factly, her arms crossed over her chest. "This is becoming a habit I am losing patience for. I cannot help you become a shieldmaiden when you are asleep for half of the day."
Kára's expression was both guilty and tired. She looked down at her apple as she twisted the stem anxiously, "It won't happen again, Lagertha."
"Why do I have a feeling that is not true?" She raised an eyebrow, and then her arms fell from her crossed state. She stepped closer to the young girl, and placed a hand on her shoulder as she tilted her head at her. "I doubt you were like this living a farm life. What troubles you, Kára?"
Kára opened her mouth and then closed it. She summoned up all her courage to look Lagertha in the eye, and when she did, she felt overwhelmed with it all. Her mother was Odin knows where, and Ragnar had left her with complete strangers. She was exiled from Kattegat, and never will see Ivar again. Her competence was constantly being questioned and challenged, and she was on a downward spiral of self doubt. The truth was on her lips and on her mind, but it wouldn't leave her tongue. It was the dewy look in her eye that spoke, and that was all Lagertha needed to know.
The earl took Kára to the Hall and into an adjacent room to talk to her about what was going on. Kára explained while trying to fight back the tears, that she had been having difficulty sleeping due to not being able to shut off her head of memories and intrusive thoughts. She told her about what happened in Kattegat, and that she had never really dealt with the trauma emotionally, but rather swallowed it and never mentioned it. Lagertha was all too aware of the toxicity that was Aslaug, so at this she greatly empathized with the girl's betrayal and heartbreak. By the time Kára finished chronicling her troubles, she was hunched over with her face in her hands, trying to hide it from Lagertha.
"Kára, you must not compare yourself to others," she shieldmaiden said in regards to Kára's worries over her prowess. "You must learn from others, and embrace the challenges that they give you. Svana is skillful, yes, but she knows nothing outside of the safety of Hedeby. I do not expect her to understand more than what she already knows, not even when she is thrusted into the wilderness."
Kára pulled her face from her hands and looked up at Lagertha, "Then why do you praise her as much as you do, but are more critical of me?"
"Because," she bent down to rest her hands on her knees and so she could look the young girl in the eye. "You are different. Svana and many of the others have nearly reached the limit of their capabilities, but you can exceed them. I suspect my ex husband did not give you to me because he believed I can make use of you. I see that he entrusted you to me to help you reach your fullest potential. Svana is a fine warrior, and I do not doubt her mettle in battle, but she has been with me since she was a child, and I have not seen growth from her in many seasons." Lagertha reached out and put her palm on Kára's hand. "I am more critical of you, Kára, because you can do better, and you know it. I can see it in your eyes that you feel that power in your bones, do you not?"
Kára's mouth opened as she looked off in the distance in thought. For as long as she could remember, she had dreams of being in battles with no control over her actions. She thought back to the time when she was in the training yard back at Kattegat with the Ragnarssons, and how she shot the pheasant out of pure luck. Or was it? What of the time she was chased by presumingly Sköll and Hati in a forest? She had not stopped to think why they were chasing her, or how she was able to get away from them. The moon, dark red and broad in the sky guided her through the forest like a guide from Asgard. With that night in mind, Kára was reminded of the Seer's words that night. He told her she died twice: a battlefield was her death, but water was her grave. She still hadn't the faintest idea of what he meant by that.
"The Seer once told me that he could not see my fate. That not even Freya knew it," Kára spoke out loud, mostly to herself than to Lagertha. "He said that I must decide who I want to be. Defined by the past, or designed for the future."
"And which road speaks to you?"
For the longest time, it was easy to say the latter of the two choices was the right one. Afterall, progress doesn't move if you have your back to the future. However, there was something in the back of her mind that felt like a lost memory she couldn't reach, and without it, she could not move forward.
Kára shifted her eyes at Lagertha, "The sea has no roads."
x x x
The fortnight that followed, Kára had improved with her sleeping. Her talk with Lagertha did lighten the load of her worries, and the Earl had made suggestions to help silence those thoughts before sleep. One of them was to do a task just before bed so that it would keep her mind off of intrusive thoughts, and would tire her eyes. Kára took to wood sculpting, something that she had never really cared to learn, but found it similar to fletching or when she created her first bow. With her quality of sleep slowly improving, so did her demeanor during the day.
Kára was in the training yard with Esmé, training a group of children how to shoot a bow, as per request of Lagertha. Astrid was observing the two at the fence, every once in a while yelling a cheeky comment about it all. Astrid was a favourite of both Kára's and Esmé's, almost like she was an older sister. Lagertha must have talked to her about Kára's distresses, because ever since that day, Astrid had taken an interest in Kára's abilities with a shield, or rather lack of abilities.
"Straighten your elbow," Kára adjusted the arm of a 9 year old boy she was in charge of. "Don't use all your fingers - the release will be slower." As she was gently directing the boy to make his next shot, Kára heard a laugh from behind her. It wasn't Astrid, or Esmé.
"This is cute," Svana commented as she hopped over the fence, bow in hand. "I see Lagertha has you two training the little ones. Finally giving something for the two of you to do."
Kára rolled her eyes and went back to the boy, and bent down to his level so she could aid in his aim.
"What do you want, Svana?" Esmé asked exasperated.
"I just came back from a very successful hunt," Kára could hear the smirk on her voice. "Shot down a stag in just two arrows. Thought you two would like to know what we're having for dinner."
"Great," Kára sighed just after her charge shot his arrow, and it landed on the second circle of the target. "Just what I wanted: rank flavoured venison."
"What?" Svana crossed her arms, head tilted at her. "Think you can do better?"
"Well, considering it's the start of rut season; yes, I can. Stag in rut have tainted meat, and they are also quite dumb, and therefor easier to kill," Kára stood up and finally turned to look at Svana with her hands on her hips. "But congratulations."
Svana seemed to take that as a challenge, as she charged over to her, her bow still clutched at hand. She plucked an arrow from the ground and turned to stand in front of Kára, her chest puffed out like a Stag in rut season.
"Everyone here knows I'm a better archer than you, Ulfsdóttir. You do not need to act as if you know more than you do. It makes you look pathetic," Svana spoke as she drew her bow. She did not aim, instead she kept her eyes trained on Kára's in a show of dominance. Her arrow loosed, and at rapid speed, it landed in the bull's eye. The force rocked the target violently back and forth.
Kára looked over at Esmé in silent help, but the frankish woman merely gave her a tight lip smile, trying to disguise her amusement over this peacock display of superiority. The redhead looked back at Svana, looking even more smug than she normally did. Which was saying something.
"I don't need to prove anything to you Svana," Kára stepped through her, bumping her shoulder, and started to make her way to the fence with intent to leave. There was no way she was going to lose her cool in front of children, and especially not Astrid. She passed by the boy who had retreated from the scene, and gave him a ruffle of his hair and a reassuring smile.
"Typical," Svana snorted. "Walking away from difficulty seems to run in the family."
That made Kára freeze in her spot. She could actually feel her blood start to boil and her fingers twitch. Her nose flared as she gave a heavy and heated sigh in an attempt to slow down her heartbeat. In a purposeful motion, she gently took the boy's bow and two arrows from his quiver.
She aimed one at Svana.
"Svana," Kára called out.
The blonde turned around, and before she could even register what she was looking at, an arrow wheezed passed her cheek, cutting off a thread of hair, and then less than a second after, another one. The last one nicked her cheek.
It all happened so quickly, if anyone blinked, they would have missed it. Svana looked at Kára, not realizing the slice in her cheek was bleeding. Kára lowered her bow and raised her chin at her. That is when the blonde turned around and looked at the target. Svana's arrow and the boy's arrow were split in half down the middle by Kára's.
"Looks like I missed my target," the redhead spoke as she gave the boy back his bow and turned back around. That was when Svana felt the tickle of trickling blood down her chin, and reached up to touch the wound.
When Kára turned around and looked over to the fence, she saw two figures standing there next to a shocked and amused Astrid. Lagertha stood there with the smallest smirks and a twinkle of appraisal in her eye. Standing next to her was a stranger; a tall man with white-blonde hair and large muscular structure. He appeared to be in his early twenties, but the scars and tattoos that decorated his exposed skin made him appear older than he was. He, unlike Lagertha, had a smirk more noticable and broad. It reached his honey eyes.
Blushing, Kára's mouth hung open as she dipped her head down and glanced back at Astrid in a silent inquisition. Once she reached the three, Lagertha pursed her lips to contain her true reaction over the showboating, but gave her a small nod of approval.
"Kára, gather your shield sisters. There is something I would like to discuss with you all at the Hall," The earl commanded.
The girl nodded, and gave a brief glance at the tall stranger as the two walked away. Once they were out of ear shot, Kára looked at Astrid who finally let her guard down.
"I will treasure that moment forever," she said through a smile.
"Who was that?" Kára nodded towards the blonde man.
Astrid looked over her shoulder, "That is one of Lagertha's rangers. Thorvald Asvaldsson." The older woman turned back to the younger and smirked a bit, "Why? Like what you see?"
Kára furrowed her brow at her, "Not really my type."
x x x
Kára and the other shieldmaidens had gathered in the hall as commanded by Lagertha. The redhead sat beside Esmé on the bench near the front, while Svana had positioned herself on the opposing side on the right side of the hall. Her cheek was bandaged up, but her face was still glowing red from both anger and embarrassment.
As the bodies started to settle in available seats and spots, Kára leaned into her friend and asked what she thought this was about.
"Thorvald is one of Hedeby's rangers. It's likely he has come with news with a threat of some kind," Esmé explained. "I have not seen him for some time; he must have bleached his hair, because it's lighter."
Kára shifted and narrowed her eyes at her friend, "Why do I get the feeling that he is the desire of many women here?"
The brunette laughed, "What? You're lying if you do not find him attractive."
Kára's eyes traveled back to the tall masculine man standing next to Lagertha's throne, and immediately regretted it, because the second she looked at him, his eyes moved and caught hers. She promptly looked away, putting her arm to block his view of her, and vice versa.
"He's not my type," She found herself saying the second time today.
Esmé snorted, "That is a lie."
The redhead narrowed her eyes at her, but couldn't respond since Lagertha was now commanding attention of her young Shieldmaidens in the Hall. Everyone turned to her in anticipation of what she had to say. Lagertha had mentioned a farming village named Skuggabjorg in the Earldom of Hedeby had been enduring monthly attacks on their livestock. The Settlement was a two day's ride from the capital, and was isolated from more populated villages in the earldom, hidden away in rolling hills and thick forests.
"Thorvald has told me that the settlement has had their livestock threatened for the better part of summer, and he believes that the culprit is a den of wolves in the nearby forest," Lagertha explained and looked over at the man to continue.
"Game is scarce this year in that area, because the waters are running low. There are not many elk frequenting the area, so the wolves of the forest have taken to the livestock of the farmers. Only, according to the residents, these are not normal wolves," Thorvald explained and shared a look with Lagertha, before looking back at the group of women. "They believe these wolves were sent by the god Loki; descendents from his son, Fenrir."
This was met with a chorus of whispers in the room, but Kára remained silent. All she could think of was that day of the Blood Moon. She glanced between the ranger and the earl, and saw they were visibly skeptical. The superstitions of the farmers were not taken seriously, but only showed the severity of the situation.
Lagertha voiced her opinion as such after she quieted the talk in the hall, "There is no proof that these animals are of the gods, but what we do know is that they are smart. They have adapted around their traps and caused much damage and carnage. There are young children in this settlement, and mothers fear that the wolves will become desperate and hunt their young ones. They have requested help to deal with this problem. Thorvald has suggested that he needs 4 capable warriors and hunters to aid him with ridding the wolves from the area."
Immediately hands shot in the air and whispers turned into shouts of pleads to be picked. Lagertha ignored all the volunteers, and shouted above their voices that she already made a choice.
"Svana," she called. The girl perked up from her spot, all bitterness from before disappeared as she was chosen first.
"Gunnr," Lagertha continued. A girl with shoulder length mousy brown hair and a broad body stood proudly.
"Ljóta," was the third name. A tall and slender brunette girl pulled herself from the wall she was leaning on, and placed her fist on her chest.
"And Kára," Lagertha looked over at the redhead, who remained sitting. "You four will join Thorvald to the village."
There was chatter around the hall, but Kára remained silent. Instead she looked at Lagertha as the woman looked back at her. She wondered if this decision was made during the display earlier, but if that were the case, why would she have Svana come with her?
Kára turned to Esmé, "Odin help me."
The frankish woman patted her on the back, "If the wolves don't kill you all, I'm sure the two of you will."
x x x
After a day of preparation, Kára and their team of wolf-hunters were riding out of Hedeby towards the farming village. Kára was prepared for a long ride, though she wondered if the other three girls that came understood how long it would be. Afterall, the three of them were born and raised in the capital, and as far as she knew, only have been to Kattegat once in their lives. This would be their very first adventure.
Kára rode on her horse alongside Gunnr, while Ljóta rode a head of them and Thorvald and Svana were leading the team side by side. Kára squinted at the man and Svana, the latter laughing loudly to be heard from where she was. Kára must have had a visibly sour look on her face, because Gunnr chuckled beside her.
"Wish you were there instead of here?"
The redhead tore her head from Svana and sent Gunnr a sharp glare. She was really starting to hate people insinuating she was infatuated with Thorvald. Gunnr laughed louder at Kára's expression, which made Svana look over her shoulder at the two behind them. Rolling her eyes, the blonde turned away from them and resumed talking to Thorvald.
"I heard what happened at the training yard the other day," Gunnr spoke.
Kára glanced at her riding companion, and then back in front of her, "Let's hear what yarn people have woven now."
"That you tried shooting at Svana, but she dodged it," Gunnr smiled. "And that is why she has a scar on her cheek."
"Well, that's half true," Kára sighed.
"Astrid told me the truth of it," Gunnr replied. "It is about time someone knocks that girl off her high horse. One of these days it's going to get her killed."
"I was under the impression everyone liked her."
Gunnr gave a light laugh, "It is easier to stay on her good side. Trust me, most of us resent her. She always has to be the best and right about everything. It can be quite condescending to those who have trained most of their life to get where they are at."
"She is just a big fish in a small pond," Kára commented. "She won't know what to do in the open sea."
x x x
The sun was hanging low, threatening the sunset of the first day of travel. The five of them set up camp in the forest before it got dark, so by the time they prepared a campfire, they still had enough light to scout the area for resources. Svana immediately said she was going to go hunt for something to eat, which made Kára roll her eyes.
"Do you not remember what Lagertha said?" Kára looked at her as she cracked twigs for kindling. "There is little game in the forest, because of the drought. It is a waste of time to hunt for food this late in the day."
Svana scoffed, "We cannot survive on our rations. We need to save them for tomorrow's journey." She picked up her bow and looked at the only male in the party, "Do you wish to join me, Thorvald?"
He looked up slightly surprised, "I think I'll stay. I'll only slow you down, Svana."
"I'll join you, Svana," Ljóta said, dropping what she was doing and grabbing her own bow.
Svana tried her best not to show her disappointment and reluctantly agreed to the brunette's help. The two left the clearing as the light of the sun began to dim behind the trees. It was only the first night, and they were already going to lose two of their party to the forest. Arrogance was the enemy to reason.
Kára looked over at Thorvald, "You know they are just going to get lost once it gets dark."
Thorvald looked at her and smirked, "To be honest, I just needed a few moments of peace and quiet. That Svana knows how to talk one's ear off."
Kára could hear Gunnr snort and make some sort of comment concurring to that statement. It was then Kára realized this was the first time she actually directly talked to their party leader, and vice versa. An unsettling awkwardness made home in her stomach as she tried her best to find more words to battle against uncomfortable silences. In the end, Gunnr was the one who spoke, which Kára was beyond grateful for.
"I am sure she had wonderful things to say about herself,"
Thorvald laughed, "Just a bit." He turned to Kára, "But you were right about what you said earlier. It is fruitless to hunt when there isn't even enough to feed hungry wolves"
"I spotted berries and mushrooms we could eat," Kára stood up from the campfire and slapped her hands on her thighs to wipe off the ash. "I'll go get some. So if the two come back without a hunt, they can at least replenish their energy with something."
"I'll come with you," Thorvald said, catching the redhead from surprise.
The girl looked over at Gunnr, who raised her eyebrows at her briefly. "Oh, you don't need to. It's not that far away from the camp."
"It's unwise to leave alone," he smiled gently as he picked up his scabbard with his sword. "Besides, Lagertha would have my head if three out of four of her shieldmaidens went missing on my watch."
Not wanting to waste precious daylight on arguing, Kára reluctantly agreed, and then led them towards the area where she spotted the berries. The two of them had a small chat about the area, but as painful as the small chat was, it didn't last very long, because like Kára said, it wasn't far away from camp. She pointed at the bush she spotted earlier and walked over to it, where more in the distance were shown. The two then began to pick them and place them on a cloth on the ground.
As the two remained in silence, Kára found comfort in concentrating on taking as many berries from the bush as possible, pretending she was alone. But alas, Thorvald was not going to rest easy in quiet work.
"I saw what you did in the training yard the other day," he spoke, causing Kára's fingers to freeze. "It was very impressive. Who taught you how to use a bow?"
"No one," she admitted. "I lived with my mother in the forest. She taught me the basics when I was old enough, but it was time, practice and necessity that made me where I am now."
"Lagertha did mention who your mother was," Thorvald admitted, which forced the girl to look at him curiously. He added, "I've never met Hulda the Red, but her name holds weight among Kattegat's locals."
"Now, not so much,"
Thorvald looked at her, "Must have been difficult being by yourself at such a young age."
There was a moment of pause, and then she spoke after a light shrug, "I wasn't alone… I had chickens."
x x x
By the time Kára and Thorvald went to the campsite, it was nearly dark, and Svana and Ljota had not returned yet. Just when the three of them were going to go look for them, the two shieldmaidens came into the clearing, and not even the darkness could hide the tired frustration on their faces. In Svana's grip she held an emaciated rabbit, and Kára was honestly surprised that she even found anything to begin with.
As the three munched on seeds, berries, and mushrooms, Svana stubbornly skinned the rabbit while Ljota was watching her with uncertainty. There was barely enough meat on the poor thing for one person, let alone two. Ljota turned to look at Kára, Thorvald and Gunnr with such a pitiful expression in her eyes.
Gunnr asked if she wanted a fire roasted potato. The girl immediately nodded and as she stood up, Svana gave her such a glare that it nearly made the girl sit back down if it weren't for the desperate growls of her stomach.
Kára sent a glance over at Thorvald, who also sent her a side glance at the silent spectacle around the campfire. As Svana attempted to salvage whatever protein she could from the animal, the redhead couldn't help herself from making a comment.
"Does the rabbit want something to eat? He's looking a bit famished."
Thorvald let out a loud snort and looked at Kára with a grin. Svana's glare was enough to set Kára's hair on fire, but the girl just sat there as she tossed nut after nut into her mouth in smug satisfaction.
x x x
The next day came with a blistering heat that forced the party to wake early. They packed their campsite, got back on their horses, and headed for the village. This time, Kára found herself leading their line with Thorvald, while Gunnr trailed in the middle, and Svana and Ljota were at the back. Everyone was quiet for the most part of the morning, but when the sun got higher in the sky, it was harder to keep going. Eventually they found a stream and took a moment to replenish their skins and let their horses drink.
Kára sat on a rock, cupping the water from the stream and splashed it over her face and running it over the back of her neck. In times like these, she missed short hair. When Ragnar had cut it all off that first time, it made her life a whole lot easier. However, Ragnar had started to call her 'boy' to get under her skin, and it worked. She stopped cutting her hair and grew it back, and in that moment she greatly regretted it.
She pulled out her dagger from her ankle strap and ran it through the water and then flipped her hair over her head as she bent over. With her other hand she started to part the section of hair nearest to her neck, but before she could cut her hair, she felt a presence behind her.
"Let me help you before you stab the back of your neck," she heard Thorvald.
Kára let out a sigh, "Thank you."
He took the dagger from her hand and she sat up, holding her hair over her face, save for the section she seperated. When she felt his fingers on her, she gave a slight jolt.
"Is everything fine?"
"No— I mean yes, sorry," Kára was now thankful for all her hair; if her face wasn't red enough before, it certainly was the shade of an apple at that moment.
"I'm going to cut the length first," he said, and she felt him tug at her locks into a handful and dragged the blade through it.
Already she felt weight lifted as the back of her head felt lighter. Kára closed her eyes and tried to relax her muscles under the smooth yet rough touch of Thorvald's fingers on the back of her neck. His touch was gentler than Ragnar's. The old man had pulled her hair and dragged the dagger across her scalp as if he was scalping her.
"Do you want to cut the rest?" She opened her eyes at his question, even though her vision was obstructed by the curtain of her hair.
"Uh, no, just the back. That's the worst part."
"Good," she could almost hear the smile in his voice. "Your hair is beautiful. It would've been a shame if you cut it off."
What was a deeper shade of red other than apple? Wine? Blood? Her hair? Her muscles tensed, and when she felt his skin graze hers again, goosebump rippled down her arms from her neck.
"Thanks…" she mumbled, but didn't say anything after.
It felt like forever, but he finally finished shaving off the base of her neck. With a final brush of his fingers, he gave her a pat on the head and stood up, "It's done."
Kára gave a sigh as she flipped her hair back behind her, "Thank you." She said, eyes trained to the stream, avidly avoiding looking at him. Her face was hotter than the air, so she allowed the gentle breeze to cool down her cheeks as she began braiding her hair from the top of her head until she was able to gather the rest into a high pony-tail and tied it tightly with a string of leather. Her undercut was already a huge relief as she felt the open air graze it. Kára tilted her head back and gave a great sigh of satisfaction, then sat up while slapping off stray hair off her legs.
When she turned around, she saw Thorvald had left the dagger on the rock next to her and had gone back to his things. He was bent over his travelling bag and ruffling through its contents. Kára looked at the back of his head, now realizing how pale his hair actually was. It was a common practice for their people to bleach their hair to get rid of lice (as Ragnar did to her) and for vanity reasons. It shocked her on some level that Thorvald was vain enough to bleach his hair, as if it mattered to him. Then Kára imagined herself running her fingers through those pale locks, wondering if it was smooth like his fingers, or rough like his voice.
"What are you looking at?" Gunnr appeared out of nowhere next to her, causing the redhead to jump in surprise and glare at the smug shieldmaiden.
x x x
The party had arrived at the village just before dusk. The villagers immediately spotted them walking down the path on five horses. Kára watched the small children scurry to their houses or behind their parents at the sight of strangers, but one of the elders had pointed at Thorvald and announced who it was. That was when everyone began to come out and greet them at the formal entrance of the village.
A man in his late 40's cut through the crowd of villages and came to Thorvald's horse, who dismounted and immediately shook the man's arm. Kára and the three other shieldmaidens dismounted shortly after and walked up to Thorvald's side.
"These must be Lagertha's shieldmaidens," the man smiled, his wrinkles reaching up to his kind eyes. "I am Hrut, the leader of Skuggabjorg. It is an honour and a blessing to meet all of you," he took each of the girl's hands into his in greeting before placing a weathered hand on Thorvald's arm. His smile faded as he continued, "We had another attack this morning. Poor Thorballa had her goats taken in the night. One of them was pregnant."
Thorvald looked over at the four girls before looking sadly over at the village leader, "Take us to the scene, before the light's out."
The man nodded and guided them through the crowd of people over to a small hut on the far east of the village. There was a coop of chickens, but an empty yard that was intended for goats. When we got to the area, Hrut stood at the fence and pointed over at the obvious paw prints in the mud. They were larger than a dog's, Kára noted, but she also noted they seemed smaller than full grown wolves.
As Hrut began to describe what had happened with Thorballa in the morning, Kára walked around the fenced area until she got to the gate. Thorvald looked over at her, and then at the gate, noticing there was a latch lock on it.
"Where is Thorballa?" Thorvald asked, and Hrut looked over at the hut and saw the very woman approaching her home. Her hands were fidgeting with a rag in her fingers, her face was pale and gaunt. She was a thin woman, not very old, but her state made her look older. She had bags under her eyes, lips were dry, and there were lines on her forehead. When she realized everyone was looking at her, her head bowed.
"I'm- I'm sorry to interrupt…"
Thorvald turned to her and walked up to her side, "You have nothing to be sorry for. But I would like to ask you a few questions."
"I didn't see them," she immediately said, "I- I slept in. I was so tired. My young ones were up all night, crying."
"Thorballa has young twin sons, and a daughter," Hrut added.
"You work the farm by yourself, Thorballa?" Thorvald asked.
She sighed sadly and nodded, "My husband and my brother used to live with me, but the two of them left for Kattegat to do trade when summer began. I haven't seen them since, and I do not know what happened to them."
Thorvald nodded and turned back to the woman, "Thorballa, was the gate closed when you woke up to check on your animals?"
Kára listened intently as she stood next to the gate and looked at the imprints in the enclosure. Thorballa said that the gate was closed when she came to feed the animals. When asked what she did, she said that she asked her neighbours if anyone saw her goats, in case they had somehow escaped. It was when her daughter pointed out the canine prints in the mud that Thorballa realized that the goats were taken by the same wolves that were terrorizing the village.
"Did anyone go inside here after?" Kára asked, pointing at the enclosure.
Thorballa shook her head, "Hrut didn't want the prints to be disturbed."
Kára opened her mouth to speak, but Svana, who had been silent until now, began to speak. "These must be large wolves," she crossed her arms as she looked inside the enclosure and back at the woman. "The gate was closed, and they were able to get over it, and take out full grown goats over the fence? I see how everyone believes they are gods."
This observation made the woman pale even more, "Do you… do you think they're Fenrir's brood?"
Svana opened her mouth to speak, but it was Kára's time to interrupt.
"No," she said flatly and then looked at Thorvald. "Can you come here for a moment?"
Thorvald excused himself from the woman and Hrut, and then walked over to Kára. Svana sent a side glance at Kára before walking over to the woman to ask more questions, followed shortly by the three other shieldmaidens.
"What is it?" Thorvald asked when he reached Kára's side. He leaned against the fence and looked at her intently.
"Those tracks," she nodded to the paw prints in the mud, "They are too small to be wolves. They wouldn't be big enough to jump over the fence with livestock. There are no track marks of dragging the carcasses either. But those tracks- they track in and out of the gate. Someone opened the gate for them."
"You think someone is stealing livestock? Wouldn't it be obvious if someone was stealing animals in the village?"
"There is no game in the forest," Kára pointed out looking at him. "Whoever is stealing the animals lives outside of the village."
Thorvald's lips turned into a thin line as he straightened up and he walked over to Thorballa and Hrut. Thorvald decided not to say anything about Kára's hunch to either of them, not until they knew what they were dealing with. He smiled at Hrut and said something about sleeping accommodations, since the sun began to set. Hrut smiled and gestured over to the other end of the village.
The group followed the village leader over to Hrut's farm house next to his longhouse. He explained that he had cleaned it out and made it fit for people to sleep in. Hrut offered them bread and salted pork to eat, and left the farm to talk to Thorvald. Once they were alone, Svana immediately started to complain about having to sleep in a farm next to their horses.
"Did you expect to be sleeping in a castle?" Gunnr asked as she threw her stuff next to her claimed cot.
"I expected a real bed, at least, considering what we're doing for them," Svana sighed and Ljota agreed.
She was lucky Thorvald was still outside, otherwise he would have said something about those remarks. Kára remained quiet though, and tended to her horse. Hrut had said there were six available cots in the farm, three on the ground floor, and two above. Svana, Gunnr and Ljota had already claimed the three on the bottom, leaving Kára having to climb the side of the barn to reach the top level. The ceiling was low, so she had to crouch to reach one of the cots. It was clearly one of the less comfortable places to sleep, but Kára was used to such accommodations. She's slept in a chicken coop, for Odin's sake.
Kára shedded her jerkin until she was down to a tunic and collapsed in the cot. She left the furs, since it was humid in the farm. She was so exhausted, that the simple act of laying down was enough for her to pass out. After a few moments of fighting against a cluster of thoughts, she heard heavy footsteps climbing up the farm and falling on the wooden floor. Kára opened an eye and saw Thorvald's large form folded in half as he tried to move over to the other cot. Immediately she shut her eyes, and pretended to be asleep, but Thorvald was a head of her.
"I know you're awake," he whispered as he sat on his cot and pulled off his boots.
"Mmm… No I'm not," she replied stubbornly.
She heard the creak of the cot and a groan as he stretched out his long body. Once Thorvald was settled, he turned to look at Kára's shadowed form.
"I told Hrut what you said," his words made Kára open her eyes and stare into the dark. "He said he's never had any forest dwellers for years."
"That doesn't mean there aren't any," she spoke. "They could have travelled closer to the village to find food."
"I know," he replied. There was a pause before he spoke again, "Why were you and your mother banned from Kattegat?"
The question took her completely off guard, Kára had no choice but to roll over and look at him, holding herself on her elbows. "What?"
"Lagertha mentioned that you and Hulda were expelled from Kattegat, but never told me why," Thorvald confessed. "Did you murder someone?"
Kára sighed and collapsed on her back, looking up at the low ceiling. "Almost," she replied in a small voice. The memory was still fresh in her mind, despite the fact she had tried to not to think about what happened at the tree. She felt a tightness in her chest that she tried to swallow it down. "I was close friends with Queen Aslaug's youngest son, Ivar. Ivar the Boneless."
"The cripple?"
"That's the one," she continued. "My mother was working on healing his legs; they were getting stronger, and he was getting braver. One day he asked me to take him up our favourite tree, because he wanted to see what it looked like to be tall. I carried him up the tree, and we sat on a branch and watched the horizon. Eventually, the branch broke, and we fell. Ivar's head slapped against a rock and I landed on him. He was unconscious, so I carried him back to the long house. I did not know if he was alive or not. When Aslaug saw him, she screamed at both me and mother, and banned us from Kattegat. The only thing I heard about what happened to him was he survived, but that is it."
Kára didn't realize it until she was finished that she was crying at the memory. The sound of Aslaug's voice pierced into her heart and soul. She did learn through the grapevine that Ivar survived, but he never came back to Hulda's hut at all. Even if Aslaug banned him from coming, Kára knew Ivar would have come behind his mother's back anyway. But, he hadn't, which could only mean that Ivar resented Kára and blamed the fall on her.
Kára blinked in surprise when she felt Thorvald's finger brush the side of her eye, wiping off the tears that had fallen to her temples. She turned to look at him with her mouth open. Despite the low light, it was enough to make his pale hair glow in the darkness and the glossiness of her eyes reflect the dim light.
"You loved him," it wasn't a question, it was a statement. The third thing that Thorvald said or did that caught her off guard that night. She turned back to the ceiling to allow those words to mull over in her mind.
"It doesn't matter," she sniffed, and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her tunic. "I will never see him again."
"That's not true," Thorvald spoke. "We all will see each other again in the next life."
Kára gave a nihilistic snort, "If there is one."
"There is. I know it."
"You know it?" Kára rolled her head to look at him. "How could you possibly know it?"
He smiled, and now it was his turn to look up at the ceiling, "I was just a boy when I saw my father get killed in a raid in our village. Me and my mother came out from our hiding spot once the raiders were slaughtered. I walked through the carnage of bodies, and saw my father. I remember running to him, but tripping over a rock in the process. When I got up, I saw her. A valkyrie. She was crouching next to my father's body, and turned to look at me. She was beautiful, but large. Her legs were as long as I was tall. A crown of gold and feathers adorned her head, and had long flowing white and blue silks covered her body. Eyes like the sea, and hair like a halo of fire that reached her feet. She smiled at me before reaching down and taking my father's hand. Then… I blinked, and she was gone."
Thorvald rolled his head to look at Kára, who was speechless. She stared at him with wide eyes, filled with an indescribable emotion.
"That's how I know we will all meet again. Death is not the end, but the beginning of the next life."
Kára remained silent at his words as she turned away from him to look at the ceiling. She felt her heart beat thumping in her chest wildly and uncomfortably, like battle drums in her head. A vision of a giantess hovering over a lake, and a pair of blue eyes across a battlefield flashed in her mind. Kára shut her eyes tightly, and rubbed her forehead as the drums got louder.
Goddamn, that was a long one.
I'm excited for you guys to read chapter seventeen, because i haven't had such fun writing a chapter since Blood Moon. A lot of things happen in one chapter, and it's also the last chapter before the next transition.
So! I have something for you guys. The pinterest with the character images! Everything is separated by category and chapter, but be vigilant, as you can be spoiled. Read the chapter titles to see what chapters are in each section, and if there is a chapter you haven't read yet, don't look at the images until you've caught up.
You can read the descriptions if you click on the image, and it should be underneath the title near the top, or at the very bottom. Pinterest isn't the best formatting for things like this, especially if you are saving the image onto a board from another poster. But I used it because it's the easiest image sorting website that requires minimal effort.
REMOVE SPACES IN LINK
: / / p i n . i t / c
or
pinterest . ca / Catherine _ Braganza
Or simply search for catherine_braganza on pinterest.
ONE MORE THING.
I will be publishing my NEW story sometime soon, I just need to write a couple of more chapters and flesh out some ideas before I'm confident in publishing it. This will be a romance story, involving ALL the Ragnarssons, and who will end up with who is not immediately revealed. The story is based off of Jane Austen themes, so be prepared for drama.
Be safe and happy readings xoxox.
