Warning: This chapter contains talk of sexual assault and rape. There is also a scene with body mutilation and gore.
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or the characters, they belong to Eiichiro Oda.
Their World's Justice
The weather was clear, the blue skies only spotted with scant white wisps of cloud. It was perfect for exploring the island, and Nami was eager to get going. Unfortunately, Kid wasn't quite as excited after waking with a headache he blamed on all the ale, leaving him in a surlier mood than normal.
"I got a ship to repair, Nami. I can't go traipsing around the island," he growled at her over breakfast. "And Iceburg wants someone else to suffer alongside him while he sits as judge." She pouted at him only to have him point a spoon of porridge in her face. "Don't give me that look. I never said I'd go with you."
"You can trust that my men will keep you safe," Iceburg reassured on Kid's other side.
"And I'm sending a few of my own with you," Kid continued. "Just don't go turning them into your servant boys again. You're not some sheltered princess to be doted on. You're the daughter of a jarl who's barely above a farmer." She huffed, but he silenced her with another wave of his spoon. "Remember your place here," he growled low in warning.
He ignored her frown and dug back into his meal. The subject was dropped entirely when Iceburg struck up a different conversation.
"So tell me what news you have of the man claiming himself to be a king to the northeast of you," Iceburg said. "Has he tried to make any bid for your fealty or land?"
Kid shook his head. "Not yet, but it's only a matter of time. A farmer I trade with on the edge of this king's territory has informed me that he's building a new ship. Oslofjord has plenty of materials, but I won't be surprised if he attempts to expand into my territory for more timber…"
She was distracted from their conversation when Paulie and Lucci came into the hall, aiming for the table she was seated at. Paulie snatched a piece of bread from Kalifa's plate on Nami's other side when she wasn't looking, and nearly choked on it when Lucci smacked the back of his head.
"The horses are ready for your ride whenever you are," Lucci said.
"I'm finished eating," Nami said as she stood from the table.
Kalifa looked at her plate and then glowered at Paulie who was licking crumbs from his fingers. "I suppose I'm done eating, as well. Let's grab our cloaks. We'll meet you and the other men at the stables," she said to the two men. As she stood, she took Nami by the arm to lead her out to the square and back to her house. "The winds can get chilly up there, especially if a storm brews."
"I think the weather will stay clear today," Nami said, looking up at the skies. "I can't feel any rain in the air."
Kalifa stared at her curiously. "Well, either way, it's still best to be prepared. The trek will take most of the day, but we should have plenty of time to return by nightfall. I already ordered the servants to pack salted fish and cheese for a meal once we reach the top."
At her home, they found Gunda securing a knife to her belt with a partially packed bag set at her feet. "Are you finished eating, my lady?"
"I am. And the men say the horses are ready," Nami said as she grabbed her cloak.
Before she could throw the garment around her shoulders, Gunda took it from her to help. Nami sighed at the woman's overly servile behavior. It came across nervous, shaky, but she couldn't even begin to guess why the shieldmaiden would be so anxious.
"Is something wrong?" she asked as Gunda secured the clasps of her cloak.
"No, my lady," Gunda answered without meeting her gaze. "I took the liberty of filling some skins with fresh water, and another with ale if you wish for some," she rambled on as she went to pick up her bag. That was when Nami noticed her hands trembling.
She snatched the woman's hands away from the bags, and forced her gaze to hers. "What happened?"
"Nothing, my lady," she answered, but Nami merely glared at her. She relaxed with a sigh. "Nothing has happened… yet."
"Are you worried about the ascent?" Kalifa asked from where she stood in the doorway to her room, fastening a whip to her belt.
"No… though…" Gunda trailed off with a frown. "I do not trust the men away from home."
"They will not touch you, you have my word," Kalifa reassured. "If they do, I will personally gut them with my knife."
"It is not only for myself that I am worried," she said, glancing at Nami warily. Nami scowled at the meaning behind that look. "Jarl Eustass has informed me of his intent to take us to Britain," Gunda continued. "It has been many years since I was last away from the village, and I only ever went raiding with the men once. But I have seen what they do while away from our world and our laws. I do not think it wise to take a lady such as you into battle."
"You're going raiding?" Kalifa asked, approaching them with a curious frown.
"I'm not raiding," Nami said with a sigh. "He's taking me so I can see the isles to the west, and give me a chance to navigate in the open ocean. I have no intention of joining their battles, but I want to see new lands." She turned to Gunda. "And Kid isn't particularly happy about this, either. He means to leave both of us at the camp with a few extra guards."
"There is no telling what those guards might do while their jarl is not watching," Gunda said softly. "I have seen for myself how battle fills a man's blood with lust. Not only for death."
Nami looked to Kalifa for some help, but she only frowned. She was well aware of what the men did while they raided and battled. There was a difference between how they treated free women from their lands and captured women from others. There were strict laws in place to protect their free women, but those laws were not extended to any person captured and taken as a slave. Those people were held at a status lower than a dog.
If Gunda were a slave, she would understand her trepidation, but she was a free woman, a shieldmaiden, no less. Even while away from their home, their laws still protected her. And Kid's men did not seem the type to shirk their jarl's laws, even away from the village.
"I'm sorry," Gunda said abruptly, snatching up the bag and turning for the door. "I'm merely anxious, there is no need to ruin the day with such dark talk."
Before Nami could stop her, the shieldmaiden was out the door. She couldn't even glimpse her face as she kept her head down while rushing off toward the stables.
"I fear she's seen battles she never should have," Kalifa mused while Nami continued to stare after her friend. A soft touch to her arm drew her attention to the other woman who offered a gentle smile. "We should leave her be for now. Pressing her on the matter will do her no good."
Nami grudgingly agreed. She wondered if Kid might have a clue of what had Gunda so bothered. She had noticed the woman's fears around all of the men, Kid included. Could something have happened in the past? If any one of his men harmed her, she would castrate them for it, no matter how old the crime.
"Let's go. If we take too long, Paulie will be here to fume at us for dawdling," Kalifa said as she wound her arm through Nami's. "And I would like to hear more of this journey to Britain. I haven't been there in years…"
The climb up the mountain followed a long path that switched back at points, leading them along the length of the island, and then back again. The villagers had created a straight path leading up to the top on the western side, but Nami wanted to see more of the island and strait, so Kalifa had been the one to suggest the longer route that cut around sheer rocks and steep slopes. It was well worth the time as they slowly ascended, giving Nami a greater view of the eastern region of the island that was thinly populated.
"That is land owned by Jarl Iceburg," Kalifa pointed out as they rose over a cleared swath of land at the far base of the bluff. A man was hard at work in the field, plowing the hard soil. "That is Blueno, the man he charged to oversee the property for him."
"He delegates quite a bit of work," Nami remarked.
"He trusts others to handle work when he can't," she said, nodding.
Can't or won't, Nami thought to herself. She resisted the urge to make that quip, not when Kalifa had begun to soften toward her since the day before. She'd rather not find out how serious her threat was.
"That reminds me," she said instead, turning to smile at Kalifa while adjusting herself in the saddle. She had grown sore from the jostling ride, but they didn't plan to stop for a rest until midday. "You manage Iceburg's household but aren't married to him."
Kalifa let out a short chuckle. "I'm sure he has moments where he wished I were."
Nami's brow rose. "So you are not his wife, or betrothed to him, but he does not view you as he would a servant."
"I suppose it is no different to your station in Drafn. Iceburg has never had a true interest in taking a wife, but does require someone to manage day to day operations of his hall and see that he does not lose track of his duties. Since he refuses to keep a wife for that, he instead picked a lady with high status and equal unwillingness to marry who is capable of performing such tasks, leaving him free to do as he pleases," she explained.
"How did you come to his household, then?" Nami asked.
"I came with Kaku about five years ago. We're cousins on my mother's side, and when Iceburg came to Francia to see what Kaku and his father could build, he invited us to visit his shipyards here…"
"Francia? You're Frankish?" Nami interrupted, bringing her horse closer as a breeze picked up. She didn't want to miss any of this story.
"Norman, actually," she answered. "On my father's side. My mother was from Svealand, near Uppsala, so I was raised on much of this world. Kaku's father was my mother's half-brother. His mother was Basque. We grew up together in a small village in Normandy, our families were quite close. When Kaku took the invitation to come here, I joined, curious to see this world, and he and I have been here since."
"So Iceburg gathered builders from other lands, too?"
Kalifa nodded. "Most are from the north, but those of us here that aren't have family connected to the north." She gestured toward one of the men riding ahead of them. "Even Lucci is from a village in the southern Italian peninsula. His father was a Norman that invaded there and impregnated a local woman before returning to Francia. Iceburg has relatives there, though, and met Lucci while he was working on a large galley to be given to the Papacy. He asked if he wished to see different lands, and a fortnight later, Lucci was sailing back here with him."
"He traveled that far for builders?" Nami mused to herself.
"What of you? You said you wish to see Britain, but have you traveled further than that? I imagine your father would have humored your wanderlust if he was so willing to hand you over to another jarl."
"I've been to Hedeby on multiple occasions, but I have been to Francia, not far from the Norman lands," she said, frowning. "I once wished to visit more of Normandy, when I was told I might have some family there."
"Oh?" Kalifa looked at her, a slender brow arched in silent question.
Nami shook her head. "I'm not sure who they are, if they're even still there. It was just a story I was told when I was younger. But I've heard the lands are quite beautiful. I also have some family in Svealand… Götaland, actually." She stopped herself from saying where her birthplace was, feeling it safer to point at the territory Bellemere had chosen to hide her. It was true she still had family of a sort there, after all.
"Did you spend time there in the past? I had noticed you speak with a different accent from Jarl Kid and his men."
"A few years as a child. I must have picked up more than I thought," she said with a laugh. "Though I swear Kid has an accent all his own with his snarling and barking. He sounds more like an animal than a Norseman."
Kalifa chuckled, short but honestly amused. "As far as I'm concerned, all men sound like dogs, but I suppose he is especially beastly. Must be the berserker in him. He was born more wolf than man."
Their teasing and laughter was cut short when Lucci slowed ahead of them and Paulie turned in his saddle to hail they stop for a rest. Nami was grateful to let her legs stretch when Halle came to help her off the horse. Finn went to help Kalifa, but was promptly smacked away with a scowl. She was not fond of the teenager's flirting. He brushed off the rejection with ease, though, and came to Nami's side as Halle took their horses toward a clearing amidst the trees where grass sprouted even in the shade. Axel followed after him with waterskins in hand to give the horses a drink, while Gunda came to her side with her waterskin.
"My lady," Gunda said as she handed the water to her. "Are you hungry?"
"I stole some berries from one of the pantries if you want some," Finn whispered to her, glancing around as he slipped a small pouch from his tunic.
"I'm more inclined to believe you flirted with a servant for those," Nami said with a rebuking glare. He pouted, until she slung an arm around his shoulders to draw him tight against her side. He stiffened when she leaned down to hiss in his ear. "At least that is the story you would be wise to tell. Your jarl would not be pleased to hear you stole from an ally. It would bring dishonor to him and our whole village. Men have gone to war for less." She pulled away to see him nod in solemn understanding. She smiled and ruffled his hair, then released him from her hold. "But I will have a couple of those berries."
His remorseful frown vanished into a grin as he happily held the pouch out so she could help herself.
"Nami," Kalifa called to her, waving for her to follow on foot. She didn't question the woman and hurried after her along a narrow path cutting away from the main road. Gunda followed behind her, unwilling to leave her alone. As much as Nami wanted to trust the other woman, she was glad to have her shieldmaiden there as the path thinned and then vanished before they broke out of the trees without warning.
She came to a skidding halt atop a steep rock overlooking the southern ridge of the island. Kalifa snatched her by the sleeve to help hold her steady as she got her balance on the sheer surface.
"I thought you might appreciate this view better," Kalifa explained as she gestured off toward the east.
They were high enough that she could see the white caps of the mountains further into the fjords with more clarity than when they sailed in. They stood tall, reaching into the clouds, and she imagined that if they sailed inland, they would see the waterfalls made as the frozen peaks began to melt in the summer warmth. She laughed as she soaked in the scenery. The sea gently rippled with the light breeze and currents beneath the surface, but from their height the deep blue water seemed almost perfectly still, but for the faint lapping of the sea against the shore far below. She could spy fishermen's boats out in the strait, men tossing their nets in the hope of catching larger prey than the smaller fish found near shore. She knew that if they were lucky, some villages could even trap a whale within a fjord, providing more meat and oil than they would get from other creatures. That took far more effort, though, and the men out in their boats now certainly weren't looking for such a catch that day. Only enough to feed their families.
"You have never been to the western coast before?" Kalifa released her to take a seat on a fallen log a safe distance from the edge of the cliff.
"No, this is my first opportunity to sail west," Nami answered as her gaze continued to sweep over the terrain. "I wish there was more time to sail into the fjords here."
"If you were not going on the raids, you would be welcome to stay. Jarl Iceburg would be more than happy to take you out on a ship to see more," Kalifa said. "But you seem quite set on traveling with your jarl."
Nami glanced at her over her shoulder, smiling apologetically. "Kid originally planned to leave me here while he raided so I could do just that, but…" She looked back out over the strait. "I can probably return here any time I please. The British Islands are much harder to reach."
"True. In fact, that is the reason I envy you," Kalifa mused.
"Envy me?" Nami asked, taking a seat beside her.
"As I said, it's been years since I've been Britain. Jarl Iceburg prefers to keep his business and trade within the north, only venturing south to trade with some Germanic tribes and Frankish ports. He no longer sails to England, though I hear Franky makes plenty of his own voyages when he wishes to. This world is a vast place, and I would enjoy to see more of it again." She peered around Nami at the shieldmaiden standing silently at the edge of the trees. "I think you ladies would enjoy more female company there. The men are so brutish and tiresome."
"I take offense to that," Paulie called out from the trees.
"Why?" Lucci asked, smacking the back of his head as they came out to stand on the edge of the rock. "You proved her correct only yesterday with the chase in the shipyard."
As Paulie mocked Lucci with a few snide comments, Nami didn't miss the way Gunda stiffened, her hand idly resting on her sword. She frowned at the sight. Kalifa had a point, they could do with more women that Gunda might be comfortable with.
"If you came with us," Finn sang as he rushed out of the trees to kneel on the ground in front of them. His smile was as charming as ever, and Nami snorted at his boyish behavior. "I would gladly remain at camp to guard you ladies."
Kalifa shoved him back with her foot, sending the teen to fall flat on his back with a laugh. "I need no guard, especially not a womanizer like you."
"And Jarl Kid has already decided you would stay behind as a guard," Axel called. "In fact, if Nami was not going with us, you would be sailing back to Drafn with her. You're fortunate you might get to see battle at all this time."
Finn huffed at the older man as he rolled back to his feet and made to charge at him. He was soundly defeated with an elbow to the top of his head, and crumpled to the ground, clutching the fresh lump.
"Lady Nami, everyone is picking on me again," Finn whined, turning to give her a fake pout, complete with quivering lip. His blue eyes shone with mischief, ruining the effect.
She sighed and waved him over to examine his head. "You'll be fine," she said as she swept her fingers through his ash brown hair. "I'm sure you saw far worse injuries from battle last summer. Stop acting like a child needing a woman to coddle you, and maybe they'll stop picking on you."
"Doubtful," Axel said beneath his breath. She shot him a glare, but his sly grin said he was teasing.
"If he is to be one of your guards, then I surely need to talk to Jarl Iceburg," Kalifa huffed. "While I trust your shieldmaiden to protect you, if Jarl Kid leaves you with children, you are sorely lacking for decent fighters."
"Are you saying you could best any one of us in battle?" Axel looked at her, his brow cocked high.
"I can have you flat on your back before you even know what hit you," Kalifa boasted.
Axel looked to Lucci and Paulie. The former was too stoic to read, but Paulie kept his lips pursed and found the view to be especially interesting away from them. Kalifa answered his unspoken question, and just as promised he was flat on his back with a snap of a whip as his only warning. The leather curled around his ankle tight, and it only took the woman one tug to send him crashing to the ground with an alarmed shout.
"Satisfied?" Kalifa asked as she slipped the leather from his leg.
Axel could only stare up at the sky, gaping as he caught his breath. He looked to be in shock. Finn clung to Nami and hid behind her as he stared warily at the blonde winding her whip back up to reattach to her belt. The tension on the hill broke when Paulie failed to stifle a laugh and bent over wheezing with mirth.
Nami grinned at Kalifa. "I think I like you."
Kid knew the repairs to his ship wouldn't take too long once he reached Álasund. Between the two shipyards, there were plenty of materials to make his repairs with, and ample hands to see it done quickly. By early afternoon, the only thing left was to mend the torn sail with a sturdier patch than the one Nami gave it, but Franky had spared one of his thralls for the task, leaving Kid with nothing else to do himself.
Not until Iceburg got a hold of him.
Kid typically did not enjoy the duties of governance that came with his title. Most petty squabbles he handed over to Killer to see that they were resolved peacefully and fairly. If he had to sit there and listen to two grown men bicker about a chicken's feathers, he was likely to kill the chicken for his next meal and fine the idiots for wasting his time. It was better for everyone if he focused on the murderers and rapists and occasional thieves, the crimes that often required some bloodshed in punishment.
Apparently Iceburg didn't much enjoy his own governance duties, granted he certainly came across as more patient than Kid could ever be while listening to his people argue. Though, he had a feeling that Iceburg would have fallen asleep if he didn't have his mouse to amuse himself with. He wasn't so much patient, as lazy.
"That sheep is mine," one farmer contested for the fifth time that afternoon. Kid shut his eyes to hide when he rolled them in exasperation. Iceburg did not need him to sit in the assembly with him, and keeping him there was liable to bring the meeting to a swift end with an axe.
"No, that quality of wool has only ever come from the sheep on my land," the second farmer argued.
"Then why was she with my flock?"
"Because your fence is broken and allowed her to wander into your flock, but anyone can see her wool is different from yours."
"Wool is wool," the other said with a blithe wave.
Kid tilted his head to see Iceburg snickering at his mouse as it ran over his fingers and palm. He wasn't even listening. Maybe he could sneak out before the other jarl even noticed.
A patient hand settled on his shoulder, and he turned to sneer at Killer. Right, his own friend was forcing him to sit there and listen, too. Something about learning patience.
Killer handed him a cup of ale, and Kid grudgingly settled back into his chair with a more obvious roll of his eyes. He should have gone riding with Nami.
"Besides, I repaired that fence weeks ago," the first farmer said. "You took an axe to it."
"Because when you repaired it, you moved it to take some of my property," the other accused.
"The ground was no good around the original post, I had to move it. And it was barely the length of my finger." He held up his middle finger as an example, and the other man went to lunge at him. He was restrained by Iceburg's men, much to Kid's disappointment, while the first farmer grinned smugly. Kid wished the farce would just end, and if a fight broke out, it would make the time wasted far more worthwhile.
Iceburg sighed as he sat straight, tucking his mouse into his vest's pocket. "Enough of this," he called out over the chaos on the verge of erupting in the hall. Everyone stilled, and the angry farmer shoved from the guards' hold, sparing a sneer for his neighbor before facing the jarl. Iceburg pointed to the first farmer. "Do you admit that his sheep wandered onto your property because of a broken fence?"
The man pursed his lips and shot a glare at his neighbor. "Yes, but…"
Iceburg raised his hand to silence him and turned to the other. "And do you admit to destroying the fence after your neighbor took the time and expense to repair it the first time?"
"Yes, but…" He was silenced with another wave of Iceburg's hand.
"As far as I can see it, you have both wronged the other in this pointless feud." Iceburg pointed at the first farmer. "You will return this man his property, without further question." He pointed to the other farmer. "And you will pay a fine to your neighbor for destruction of a shared fence he repaired. You will also see to repairing the fence this second time since you are responsible for the damage. You would not have lost part of you flock if you had gone about this property dispute amicably, so be grateful I do not reward your neighbor with your sheep."
The farmer hissed, but raised no argument.
Iceburg raised his voice to address the free people within the room. "Does this judgement seem fair to everyone here?" A chorus of agreement rang around the hall. "Then so be it." Iceburg pointed at one of his men standing off to his side. "Tilestone, I trust you to go with these men and oversee the repairs of the fence so it is agreeable to both parties."
Tilestone nodded, and waved for the two farmers to move toward the door with him. Kid sighed in relief, hoping the assembly would be done after that idiotic disagreement, but as soon as two more men took the center of the room, he slumped lower in his chair with a groan.
Iceburg glanced at another of his men. "I thought that was the last of them, Lulu?"
"This is over a dispute that occurred this morning," Lulu explained. He pointed to the man on the left first. "This man accuses the other of inappropriate behavior toward his wife." Kid perked up when he noticed a sullen looking woman hiding behind her husband, her eyes downcast with only a faint flickering look at the other. She radiated fear, and Kid sat up straighter as he looked over the accused. He clutched a bloodstained cloth to his right hand. "And the man he accused of assaulting his wife claims that he was attacked without cause."
"He cut off two of my fingers," the man called out. "I was merely talking to her."
"You cornered her against a wall and tried to kiss her," the husband yelled back. "And it is not your first offense against her. You were lucky I didn't slit your throat when I caught you touching her again."
"I never touched her unwillingly," the first claimed. "She invited it."
Iceburg frowned as he looked between the two men, and then settled his gaze on the woman at the center of their fight. She shrunk behind her husband until Iceburg waved for her to come forward. She did so meekly and did her best to keep at a safe distance from the other man.
"Please tell us what happened, both for this and prior instances," Iceburg commanded calmly.
"He was always friendly with me when I was tending our cart in the market. Nothing more than nice conversation. But then he started touching me. I thought it innocent at first – playing with a lock of my hair, or the sleeve of my dress. I would tell him to stop, and he would stop. Then he began to follow me when I was alone. He grabbed me outside of my home and tried to kiss me one night. My husband found us and would have killed him then, but I stopped him. We fined him and he swore to never do it again." She paused to sniffle while the accused's face turned red with anger. She refused to look at him again. "This time I fear he meant to steal more than a kiss…. If my husband had not been near…" She trailed off as her husband placed a hand on her shoulder, bracing her as she swayed.
The accused erupted.
"She's a lying witch," he shouted. "That bitch kissed me first. She begged me to take her. She swore she meant to divorce her husband and would have sooner if not out of fear he would harm me." He raised his bloody hand as though it were damning evidence. "She's a liar and a whore…"
The husband moved faster than Iceburg's men and shut the assaulter up with a heavy fist to the jaw. If they were permitted weapons, Kid had no doubt he would have split his head open with an axe instead.
"Restrain them," Iceburg called out over the brawl breaking out. Kid couldn't stop grinning. This was the part of governance he enjoyed, though he would have let them fight a little longer. The husband had an advantage, too; he would likely kill the man who wronged his wife. Unfortunately, Iceburg's men managed to pull them apart, but not before both were bloody and bruised. Though Kid suspected most of the blood on the husband belonged to his opponent. The only injury that stood out on him was a split lip, while the assaulter had an eye already swelling shut, a gash on his cheek, and a broken nose.
Iceburg sighed while scrubbing at the scruff along his jaw. After a moment of thought, he waved for the wife to come closer and leaned forward to speak with her at a hush.
"Tell me true, did you mean to divorce your husband for this man?" He gestured at the assaulter who spat a clot onto the rush at his feet.
The wife shook her head vigorously. "We're newly married and trying for a child. My husband is a good man, good provider, and has never treated me unfairly, never raised a hand to me in anger. I have no reason to leave him."
"This other man wasn't an old lover? A prior suitor?" Iceburg tried. "Someone you once wished to marry before your current husband?"
"No," she said with hushed alarm. "My marriage was by my choice. I love my husband. I never mean to leave him."
Iceburg sat back with a satisfied nod and waved for her to take her place with her husband. "Were there any witnesses to this incident?"
"There was one," the husband said. "A slave boy from the market saw my wife crying out and found me."
"A slave?" the other man spat in disbelief. "You would take a slave's word over mine?"
"Where is this boy?" Iceburg said, still calm as the room shifted and searched. A man stepped out of the hall and returned a second later to shove a boy no older then twelve toward the center of the room. The child was covered in filth, dressed in rags and ill-fitting shoes. The man who brought him in continued to push him along until they both stood before the jarl.
"Are you this boy's master?" Iceburg asked the free man.
"I am," he said gruffly. The scowl he wore and the simmering disdain in his eyes as he looked at the child said he wasn't pleased to be at the center of the scandal.
"Will you permit the child to speak on this affair?"
"If he needs to be heard, then I give permission," the man answered, nodding.
"Boy, tell us what you saw," Iceburg commanded.
"The lady… she was between houses, away from her cart. He had her by the hair and was pulling her from the road. She was screaming and tried to hit him, but he slapped her, told her to shut up."
"And what did you do when you saw this?"
"I went to my master, he was talking with her husband, my lord. Selling him a baby pig," he said. "I did'n know that he was her husband, but I knew the lady from the market. My master bought a fine cloak for his daughter from her once. And I've heard others say she is very kind to everyone."
"You cannot believe him! Slave's lie. He was probably promised an extra blanket for the night to tell this story," the accused bellowed, spitting bloody saliva everywhere. "I swear it on the gods that I am telling the truth."
Iceburg's gaze snapped to the man, his eyes narrowed in anger. "I am more apt to believe this child, slave or not, over a man accused of attempted rape. And I have no doubt you have angered the gods you swear your own lies on."
The man spluttered while Iceburg waved the slave and his master away.
"I believe the wife in this matter, and therefore her husband, unless anyone else can come forward to deny her claims that her marriage is a happy one," Iceburg stated as he looked around the room. No one stepped forward, unsurprisingly. The jarl turned to Kid and leaned over the arm of his chair to address him. "What do you think, Jarl Eustass? Who do you think is telling the truth?"
"The wife. Even that slave is more honest than this scum. Hell, Loki himself could come in here and weave some fantastic lie, and it'd still be more true than what he claims," Kid said, chuckling. "And I'd say he got off lucky with only a few fingers lost."
"What punishment do you think is more fitting?"
"Let the husband cut off his manhood. He's a poor excuse for a man, so he has no need for it." Kid grinned at the man who had begun to look pale. "And if the gods will it, the knife will slip and cut off his life, too."
Iceburg sat straight again, and looked out to the others in the room. "By a show of hands, who all here believes this man guilty of attempting to rape this free woman?" Every hand in the room went up, not a single person hesitating. The accused turned to flee, but Iceburg's men grabbed him and had him in shackles before he could take a single step. "As for the criminal's punishment, who agrees with Jarl Eustass's suggestion?" This time there was some hesitance from a few people, mostly men who grimaced at the thought of such a demise, but eventually every hand went up in agreement. Iceburg nodded solemnly. "Our people have laws for a reason, and you have committed a vile crime. Our laws are clear in this matter. No man may touch a free woman if she does not wish it. No man may harm a woman outside of battle. For breaking both of these laws, and coming before this assembly with a mouth full of lies, I hereby declare you an outlaw and sentence you to emasculation. And if the gods deem your life unworthy of continuing, may your spirit remain in Niflhel to suffer until the end of time."
The room erupted in shouts of agreement. A few men came forward to spit on the accused, further cursing his fate. Over the chaos, Iceburg stood and waved at his men.
"Chain him like a dog in the square. We'll see to his sentence once this assembly has concluded," he ordered.
The prisoner was dragged out with a flurry of curses and strikes from the people in the hall. He continued to fight his captors until one struck him hard on the back of the head. He fell limp in their arms and dangled between the two men holding him. Once the hall doors shut behind them, Iceburg fell back into his chair with an exhausted groan.
"Are we done now?" he asked Lulu. "I say we're done now," he decided before the man could say otherwise, and waved at the citizens still crowding the hall. "Go on out to the square. We'll get the sentencing over with." As everyone began to file toward the door, Iceburg turned back to Lulu. "Have you heard what we're having for supper yet? I'm hungry." Lulu answered with a shrug, and Iceburg turned away with a petulant huff. "When is Kalifa due back with the others? She would know."
"They took the longer route up. So not for a few hours yet," Lulu said, prompting Iceburg to huff again. "I'm sure one of the servants can get you something."
"You won't tell Kalifa?" Iceburg asked, glancing around the emptying hall. "She'll lecture me on ruining my appetite if she heard."
"I will swear everyone to secrecy." Lulu nodded.
Iceburg clapped his hands together and grinned. "Good. Then let's get this punishment over with so I can eat."
Kid was just as eager to see the spectacle out in the square, though not for any other reason than to witness a lowly piece of shit get exactly what he deserved. He jumped from his chair to follow Iceburg out to the square. Outside, he saw that the hour was later than he thought, with the sun already beginning to fall over the sea to the west. He blamed the bickering over that damn sheep for pushing the assembly so long.
He remained on the porch of the large hall with Iceburg, giving them both a clear view over the crowd circling the prisoner. They had already begun doling out extra punishment, pelting the man with rotten vegetables the servants had brought out. There was a splatter of fresh blood on the dirt in front of him, a bloodstained rock nearby the obvious culprit. Even if he survived the emasculation, the people in the square were eager for blood to be shed. He wouldn't last more than a few minutes if he didn't bleed out from his wound first.
The crowd calmed and ceased their pelting once they noticed Iceburg. He waved at the husband, gesturing that he approach the captive. The man took a step toward the assaulter hanging limp in his chains, but stopped when his wife placed a hand on his arm. Kid was amused to see the woman pull him down so she could whisper in his ear while slipping him her own knife. When her husband gave a resolute nod, she kissed his cheek and pushed him forward with a smile.
He knew in that moment the man would not survive his punishment, and it wouldn't be by the will of the gods. Sometimes it was far more dangerous to cross a woman than a god.
The square became completely still and silent, save for the sound of the husband's footsteps, the captive's chains sliding against the stake he was tied to, and faintly, off in the distance, you could hear the sea rolling against the shore. Everyone waited on bated breath, expectations rising with every step the husband took.
When he reached the criminal, he made him stand straight, pushed his head back so he might look him in the eye. Fear made the criminal shut his eyes, but he remained tall as he set his weight against the pillar. He was already going to die a dishonorable death, might as well face it with some sense of dignity, even if feigned. He swallowed thickly the moment he was freed from his trousers, and the men in the crowd noticeably shifted, but no one said anything to stop what came next.
Blood sprayed against the ground and splattered onto the husband's chest. The other man cried out and shuddered in agony until his voice was drowned by the roar of the people. He fell limp, racked with quaking sobs, but didn't fall to the ground. He was still alive, the knife didn't slip, much to Kid's disappointment.
The husband stood calm and uncaring as he tossed the removed piece to the ground. For a moment Kid thought it was over, that he had chosen to let the man suffer a long, agonizing death, or an even longer, agonizing life. He took a step back, only further making the crowd believe that fate.
And then he slit the outlaw's throat.
An audible gasp came from the crowd. The husband tossed the knife away and turned his back on the man seizing and gurgling while the rest of them watched him in the throes of death. As the assaulter finally slipped down the post, the husband went to his wife to wrap her up in his arms, both obviously relieved that they no longer had reason to worry.
Kid looked to the other jarl and chuckled. "Would you say that's by the gods' will?"
Iceburg glowered as he played with his mouse. "He was judged an outlaw. It no longer matters if the gods willed it or not. Our laws don't protect criminals like him." The jarl looked to him, his frown pursed. "And we all know a woman's will holds far greater power than a god's."
Kid found that amusing, and quite true. That was probably why he so easily handed Nami all his gold.
"Dump the body in a pit somewhere," Iceburg ordered one of his men as he turned to go back into his hall. "Join me for another drink, Jarl Eustass. I think we have a while still before the ladies return."
The hall was bright and warm with the fire roaring, and Kid was well into his cups by nightfall. Supper was served amid joyous conversation and raucous song. He was slumped in a chair beside Iceburg, his feet resting comfortably on the stone hearth, as they watched two young boys dance around the hall with wood swords. Another boy, older than the others, wore Kid's pelt over his head as he claimed to be the great wolf Fenrir, set upon them to devour their world. It was an amusing spectacle, a story and a game that had all the men laughing and cheering for each child hero that took up a sword against the beast.
Fenrir had just slain Tyr when Nami and the rest of her company returned to the hall.
"I see you've been hard at work, Kid," Nami said as she made her way through the other guests.
Kid looked away from the boys once she reached the fire. She held her hands out, warming them over the flames. He had heard the winds pick up only an hour before, and another guest remarked that the air had taken on a chill. Kid hadn't been bothered by the weather, not when he had his ale and his fire and his song.
"I will have you know, I worked very hard today," he said with a snort. "I've earned my ale, unlike someone who thinks she can ride around a hill all day without a care in the world."
Nami rolled her eyes, but he could see her hiding a smile as she took a cup of ale from Halle.
"And not only that, but she still turns my men into her servant boys," he added, laughing. "Did they sing for you again?"
"They didn't sing," Nami said with a mocking lilt. "But Halle and Finn both promised me a song tonight."
"How am I not surprised?" he teased.
She swatted his shoulder, but her eyes sparkled with honest amusement. He watched her take off her cloak and hand it to a passing servant before settling into a chair at his side. She was in a good mood. The excursion must have gone well.
"So what did you do today that earned you your ale?" she asked, turning back to him with a smile.
"The ship's repaired save for the sail, but Franky's promised that his thralls will have that finished by the morning. And then that bastard," he said, gesturing to Iceburg whose attention was on Kalifa and the men who accompanied them, "made me sit with him in the assembly. I think I deserve all the drink I desire after listening to people bicker about sheep."
"You should have come with us," she said with wicked amusement.
"That would have been more boring," he claimed, refusing to admit that he had thought the same earlier. "At least the assembly ended with some bloodshed to make it worthwhile."
Nami gasped and turned to him, wide-eyed with surprise. "Bloodshed? Don't tell me the farmers fought?"
"No, though they tried. Another man was accused of attempting to rape a woman… There…" He gestured with his cup to the husband and wife sitting together at a table in the corner. "The husband caught them, took a few fingers before they were brought before us. The man was declared an outlaw and I suggested the husband cut off the bastard's dick since he didn't deserve to use it. Everyone agreed with the sentence."
"Oh…" Nami breathed out, stunned. "That is definitely a fitting punishment."
Kid chuckled. "The husband slit his throat right after." He frowned when he saw her gaze fixed on the couple. She wore a sullen frown that had him curious. He dropped his feet from the hearth and leaned toward her. "You take issue with the sentence?"
"What?" Nami blinked and shook her head, snapping herself from whatever thoughts plagued her, and turned to glower at him. "Of course not. That is not a crime one should show mercy toward."
"Then why the anxious look?" he asked lowly.
Her lips pursed tight, she glanced around the room, and then she leaned closer to speak softly. "It just reminded me… I need to speak to you about Gunda…"
He furrowed his brows in confusion before looking around the hall. He hadn't noticed the shieldmaiden's absence until that moment, which only left him curious of what had Nami so concerned. He was about to tell her to say what she had to, but paused when Kalifa came to stand before him with a stern frown.
His gaze flickered between the two women. Whatever Nami wanted to speak of was probably more important, but he could see that Kalifa had business of her own with him. Nami sat back, silently signaling that their talk could wait.
"What is it?" he asked the other woman, slumping back in his chair as he glared at her.
"I want to go to Britain with you," Kalifa stated firmly.
Kid was shocked speechless and looked to Nami for an explanation. She had spent the whole day with the woman, surely she knew what had brought this on. She stared back expectantly. She did know, but she wasn't going to explain. He fixed his glare on Kalifa again as she stood straight and firm.
"Why?"
"I have been there before, and I wish to see the lands again," she explained. A hand waved blithely toward Nami. "And I believe the lady of your house would benefit from more female companionship while waiting for you men to finish your slaughters."
He bit back a growl at the insulting tone she used, but didn't restrain his sneer. "She already has Gunda."
"And the shieldmaiden is especially in need of extra companionship," she argued. "I will not be dead weight. I mean to go and act as another shieldmaiden to protect Lady Nami."
"You? A shieldmaiden?" He couldn't help but laugh, but one look at Nami said they were both serious about this matter. "Truly? You want to go to protect her?"
"If you do not believe I am capable of it, you may ask your own men." She pointed toward Axel a few feet away. When the man caught them looking his way, his gaze flit nervously between Kid and Kalifa. He gave a short nod coupled with a grimace, and raised his cup to the woman who looked even haughtier at the respectful salute. "Do I have your leave to join you?"
"Tsk." Kid scowled as he thought over her request. She didn't look like the type to accept a no with grace. But, if she could shake Axel as she had, then she likely wasn't incapable of protecting herself and Nami. Iceburg had even said she was stronger than she looked. He knew Nami would favor the idea, even if Kalifa frightened her at first. She always welcomed the company of other women, and she held an implicit trust in any woman who took up a shield. And somehow Gunda fit into all this, likely connected to what Nami wanted to talk with him about. He was beginning to get an idea of what subject that discussion would broach.
"What does your jarl have to say on this? You should be asking his permission first."
"I've already told him that I mean to go with you," she said flatly.
Kid's brow rose and he glanced to Iceburg in silent question.
"If she wants to go, then she does not need my permission to go," Iceburg explained before muttering into his ale. "Not that she would ever bother to ask."
With a heavy sigh, Kid made himself comfortable in his chair and gave the woman a nod. "You may come, then."
Kalifa smiled politely and bowed her head in thanks.
"We wish to go, as well," Kaku spoke up from Iceburg's other side, prompting his jarl to spit out his ale in surprise when he saw Lucci nod his own desire to go.
"Who's going to help me oversee the village?" Iceburg asked, looking between the three. "It's bad enough that Kalifa wishes to go, but you two, as well? That's a third of my most trusted people."
"You can hide in your room until we return and let Paulie handle all the business in your stead," Kalifa said. "You need not work any harder than you want to."
"Don't volunteer me to do all of your work," Paulie fumed. "Maybe I want to go, too."
"Jarl Iceburg needs you here more. You will only get in our way," Lucci said flatly. He didn't blink an eye as Paulie turned to growl at him.
Iceburg groaned. "Fine. Any who wish to go with Jarl Eustass to Britain may go, barring they have his permission."
That single statement prompted the hall to erupt in shouts from men who wished to join in on the raid. Iceburg threw up his hands in defeat, and Kid let his head fall back, shutting his eyes in exhaustion. It would be useful to have the extra swords, but they would have to split their hoard with them all. At least he would have additional warriors to guard their camp and Nami.
"If they join us, they will need to supply their own ships," Kid said, sitting straight. "I could have spared room for the woman on my ship, perhaps fit the other two men on my other boats. I can't fit another army in them."
"That's fine. I'll let them take a ship or two, however many they need," Iceburg agreed. He smirked and leaned forward, his cup held out to Kid. "I expect you all to return with an impressive hoard."
Chuckling, Kid held his cup to him in turn. "We'll bring back every gold coin and chalice we find." He cast his gaze to Nami. "I'm certain Freyja herself will desire some of the treasure, too."
Nami appeared stunned, but shook the expression away to smile at him.
"Just make sure you save some for me," she jested.
Kid laughed as he gave her a playful shove. "I swear this woman's been set on robbing me blind since the day we met." He ruffled her hair when she merely grinned in response. "I'm going to be the poorest jarl in Noreg with you around."
She batted him away while everyone laughed at her annoyed puff. Before he could tease her further, and be teased in return, a group of men surrounded them and talk turned back to the raids. Nami took a plate from a servant and struck up a conversation with Kalifa as she ate. It was a few hours before Kid was able to talk to her without others interrupting, and by that point Nami was ready for bed, and he was feeling the ale enough to have his own bed call to him.
Once she waved off Halle, who had Finn's arm slung around his shoulders to help haul him to their quarters, Kid leaned in to whisper in her ear. "You wanted to talk about Gunda," he reminded.
The errant reminder startled her. "Oh, yes," she said. She looked around the room and then nodded toward the door. "Can we talk outside? I don't know if this is something to discuss with others around to overhear."
He nodded in understanding and stood with a tired groan. He stole his cloak back from the boy who had been wearing the fur earlier. He was passed out on a table, sleeping off his ale, and didn't stir once. Nami found her own cloak hung on a hook near the door and waited for him as she secured it around her shoulders. As soon as they stepped into the chilly breeze, Nami pulled her fur higher to shelter her face from the wind. Kid thoughtlessly moved closer, inviting her to press against his arm and leech some of his warmth as they walked through the square toward a path leading down the hill.
"What happened?" he asked once they no longer heard the muffled din of the hall.
"Nothing… At least I don't know if anything happened…" Nami answered uncertainly. "Before we left this morning, she was acting odd, anxious. I was worried that something was bothering her, and she said that she was worried about going to Britain. She was afraid for my safety there."
"You'll be well guarded. Even before we got the additional forces joining us, and that woman volunteering to act as a guard, you wouldn't have been put in any danger," Kid said.
"That wasn't what she was worried about…" Nami said softly, trailing off as she glanced up to see his curious frown. "I've seen how men are on raids, what some do to the women they capture…"
"Ah." He nodded. Now he understood why she brought it up when he told her of the trial.
"She said she doesn't trust the men away from home, but she shouldn't have any concern over what might happen to us. We're free women. Even in other lands, our laws still protect us. Even Arlong and his men didn't treat me differently while on a raid. I was still viewed as a free woman, different from the people they captured. I was shielded," Nami reasoned. "But Gunda said that men are too unpredictable in battle, and I'm afraid that she's experienced something in the past to give her cause for concern."
Kid took a deep breath and looked up toward the star-filled sky. "She has only ever been on one raid," he began, pursing his lips in a scowl. "I can't say much on what happened. I was a child at the time. I only know what I know through gossip, though I did discuss the matter with Heat when I was thinking to bring you both on this raid. His mother was the village's healer before him. She examined Gunda when they returned from the raid, at the request of her brothers."
"What happened? I would ask Gunda, but I don't think she wishes to talk about it. She ran away before I could question her more."
He didn't care for this subject, so he could understand why Gunda wouldn't wish to be pressed on it, but Nami was worried for her friend. She trusted him to be honest about what he knew. He stopped along the path and turned to face her.
"According to what I have been told, she took exception with the way the men were treating some of the captives they took as slaves. An argument turned into a physical fight…" He scratched at the bristles growing along his jaw as he tried to find the best way to word it, but he knew there was no way to sweeten the story for her ears. "Her brothers had been raiding with another party. When they returned, they found her sobbing in their tent, her clothes torn, and face a bloody mess. She refused to be touched by any man, including the healers, but she allowed her brothers to tend to her. They accused the jarl's brother of raping her, but he swore her injuries were from battle. When they returned to Drafn, Heat's mother examined her. She was a maiden when she left, untouched and only sixteen. She said it was obvious that was no longer the case, and not by choice. Rape leaves certain injuries that Heat's mother recognized immediately."
"So? The jarl's brother? Was he punished?" Nami asked, too stunned to say more.
"Heat's mother was silenced," Kid said flatly. He knew Nami understood as her eyes widened. "I don't know what the jarl did to keep the brothers from raising their accusations again, but the matter was dropped after the trial declared his brother innocent. After that, Gunda refused to go raiding again, and the jarl's family allowed her to stay behind and protect their women. I suspect it had something to do with the fact that Gunda and her family were still servants, even if free. Their grandfather was a bondsmen, so they were still looked down upon as though they were slaves. Not many would have taken their word. Any further complaint could come with harsh penalties, they could be outcast and killed. It was best for them to remain silent and continue to serve."
"So it was over just like that? He got away with it?" Nami asked, rightfully furious. "He raped a free woman and wasn't punished?"
"Wouldn't be the first time," Kid muttered, spinning away to continue their walk. "I told you that jarl was a corrupt bastard. Swore to uphold the law, but he and his family broke more laws than anyone I know, and swore it all in the name of their own justice, or as the will of the gods. It was all horse shit."
Nami hurried to catch up with him as his longer strides headed toward the shore. He slowed as soon as her hand touched his arm, and looked down at her. She was still angry, but it was tempered with obvious concern.
"I've only ever heard you curse about the former jarl," she said, tugging him to a stop. "I don't think I've heard you say one genuinely nice thing about him or his family. The closest would be that he let you build his boats and raid with him, and for that you didn't involve yourself in the issues others had with him. But clearly you saw how cruel he was. Why didn't you fight against him sooner?"
He clenched his teeth and looked at a point over her head. As willing as he was to talk about his fight with the former jarl, his dislike of the man and his family, her question wasn't one he could easily answer, not without bringing up history he didn't care to talk about with anyone.
"It was complicated," he said carefully.
"What could make it so complicated? He was a criminal and used his title to shelter those close to him from punishment. He was willfully hurting the people under his protection and leadership. Did you care so little about the others in the village?"
He felt his temper thin at that accusation. While he held little regard from a number of villagers in his lifetime, he hadn't been completely indifferent to their plight. He had only known of the hoard the jarl kept for himself at first, hardly understood some of the other crimes he heard of offhand until he was older.
"I said it was complicated," he growled, but her grip on his arm tightened and her gaze set with a firm resolve to know the truth. She wouldn't be satisfied with anything less. He leaned down, leveling his sneer on her. "As I said - wasn't the first time that bastard buried a rape."
Nami was stunned speechless. Her jaw hung open as her eyes turned distant with realization. He knew she was smart enough to put it together. Her hold slackened in her surprise, allowing him to rip his arm away and spin on his heel to walk toward the shore. If he was lucky, she would be too shocked to follow. But when he reached the rocks lining the shore, he wasn't surprised to hear her racing after him.
"Kid," she called, but he kept walking, balancing over the rocks as he headed toward the patch of sand at the water's edge. She wasn't deterred so easily. She wouldn't be Nami if she wasn't so stubborn. "Wait."
He listened to her shoes scrape over the damp rocks. She huffed and growled with every cautious step that kept her from catching up to him. Once he stepped onto the beach, Nami skipped over the last few rocks before he could get too far with the surer footing, and ran to cut off his escape. He came to a halt before he could crash into her and glowered down at her. She glared at first, but it quickly softened with sympathy and remorse. He would have rather had her glaring and obstinate, not looking at him with such pity in her gaze.
"Don't…" he warned.
Her eyes hardened again. That was better, even if he could still see a glimmer of sorrow.
"You're his son," she said matter-of-factly. "That's why-"
"I ain't his son," he interrupted. Confusion furrowed her brows. She really would not let the subject go. With a soft growl, he relented to her wishes. "I was his bastard. One that could have ruined him if anyone found out how I came to be."
He eyed her warily, trying to see what reaction that fact garnered. She stared up at him with honest curiosity. He could find no harsh judgement in her eyes, only concern. With a heavy sigh, he threw himself down to sit in the sand, and silently played with the cold, wet grains until Nami eased down to sit beside him.
"When he was dying, you know what he told me? He said that there had been a prophecy foretelling his death, that a child born of wrath would bring his demise." He chuckled wryly at how true that prophecy came to be. And now he sat there with a seer who had only ever seen his own death.
Nami didn't speak, but he felt her weight settle against his arm. He didn't know why it comforted him, but his shoulders relaxed with the next breath he took.
"My grandfather owned the farm that now belongs to Killer," he began, the story bubbling up to the surface with her quiet support. "He was Killer's great-uncle. The man had no sons to inherit, but his sister had a son – Killer's father. He took over the farm, let me and my mother live there in a little hut near the river. That was when I began to build boats. Tiny ones at first, just big enough to float a mouse down the river. We didn't have much and we never ventured to the village, but those were the better days. Even if my mother wasn't that warm to me. She still sat and watched me chase after my boats. Sometimes she would cry, but I didn't understand why back then…"
He took a deep breath as Nami's arm wound around his while he idly traced a finger through the sand, drawing the river he played in as a child. His chest ached with a hollow weight. That was why he didn't care for telling anyone the true nature of his family. He didn't like the way it hurt. But Nami was warm, a comfort he never felt before.
"Then one day the jarl comes unannounced, sees me playing with Killer around the barn. That was the first time I met his sons. They were older than me and Killer. They had to be in their teens around then. I was showing Killer the new boat I made, had it floating in a puddle. Those little shits came over laughing, called me a filthy mutt and kicked me into the mud. Said that's where a runt like me belongs… Then they destroyed my boat." Nami's arm tightened around his and she pressed her cheek to his shoulder. "Told you they were awful."
Nami nodded against his arm. She still didn't say a word. She would patiently let him speak at his own pace now that he was sharing this history with her.
"You can probably imagine how I reacted then," he said with a snort. "Picked myself up from the mud and threw myself at them. I was barely even eight then, can't remember ever being so angry before that day. But that rage came so quick, so easy." He couldn't stop himself from laughing with dark amusement. "If I had my hands on an axe or sword, I would have killed them. I wasn't even afraid of them hurting me. I just wanted their blood on my hands."
Nami's fingers began to brush over his arm, circling gently. It was a soothing touch that drew his gaze down to see her staring off at the sea. He couldn't tell where her thoughts were, but that was fine. All that mattered to him now was that she was listening.
"Took four grown men to drag me away from the boys. They put me in shackles in the barn while the jarl talked with Killer's father. My mother had refused to come out of the house the whole time he was there, and her cousin wouldn't allow the jarl in. That was a grave insult, but apparently it wasn't the first he faced from my family.
"They ended up arguing outside the barn about me. That was when I learned who exactly the jarl was to me, why my mother didn't want to see him. He demanded my cousin release me to him. He wished to claim me…" He glanced down at her as he remembered the tale of her clan. They were not so different there. "Not as a son."
She snapped her head up to look at him with wide-eyes. She understood what that meant, and she was likely thinking the same as he.
He looked back out to the sea. "My cousin refused. He said that I had never mattered to him before, so why should I matter then. He said that I only came to exist because the jarl was angry with my grandfather after he refused to part with a piece of his land the jarl desired. In retaliation for what he thought was an insult, he lured my mother from the farm and raped her. She never took me to the village because she didn't want the jarl to see me. She feared that he would kill me, or her, or both of us, to keep the truth from coming out. She was cold to me, and only gave me the name Kid because she thought I was doomed to die as soon as I met the jarl. Turns out he didn't give a shit about me, if people thought I was his bastard, or if my mother accused him of rape. He could bury it easily enough. And he did. No one outside of our family knew."
"If you were fated to be his demise, then why did he wish to take you?" Nami asked softly. "Why didn't he take measures to avoid it."
"He was a greedy man. Greedier than you, I'd say. And selfish. He didn't think much of what would come if he took me into his household. He would brand me a slave so he could kill me as soon as I became too much of a threat. All he cared about was exploiting my strength for his own gain in battle, and using my skills to increase his fleet."
"How did they keep him from taking you, then?"
"Killer takes after his father quite a bit. He was a calm and quiet man on the surface, but sharp, intelligent in battle and in diplomacy. He was strong and quick, too. My grandfather had been an old man, not much of a threat, but the jarl didn't dare to make an enemy of my cousins, so they negotiated a deal. The jarl was given the plot of land he wanted, and in exchange he was not to return to our farm or speak to me again. I grew to think the deal cowardly, and a cruel insult to my mother. She had been raped because of that stupid land, and her cousin just handed it over without a second thought. I tried to fight him over it when I was a teen…" He chuckled. "That man smacked me down before I could blink and lectured me for my disrespect. He made me clean out the pig sty for a month after. I hated that chore. He'd be damn proud of the man his son turned into."
Nami squeezed his arm and sank into him even more. He looked down to see her wearing a solemn smile. "Has Killer made you clean out the sty?"
Kid laughed. "Unfortunately. He also makes me shoe the horses if I give him too much attitude. That's just tedious work and I always end up getting kicked a few times for it."
Nami snickered quietly as she continued to hug his arm. As she calmed, silence overtook them that neither were willing to break too soon. He was content sitting there with her warmth pressed to him, her fingers idly tracing over his arm. The moon and stars glittered off the sea. It was peaceful. He even forgot that it was cold.
"So how did you come to work for the jarl?"
"When I was older, I just wanted to fight. I approached the jarl with an offer to join his forces and build his ships. Part of me hoped I might get a chance to help him or his sons die in battle, without anyone seeing the murder. But the jarl…" He frowned. "He was sly. His tongue was as deceitfully charming as Loki's. He made me believe he was proud of me. Rejoiced in my strength. He fed my pride whenever I was around, and as soon as I was out of earshot, he mocked me right along with the rest of them. His sons regularly picked fights with me. I had been naïve enough to think that they might grow to see me as a brother, the way the jarl pretended to treat me like a son. I thought their anger was out of envy, thought it would pass as they got older. It only grew worse, but I had become so blinded by the thought of having this family I hadn't known before that I didn't want to see it for the mockery that it was. They said I never should have been born in the first place. Reminded me I was nothing more than a mutt, and that it would be better for everyone if I just died in a ditch somewhere. Instead, I hid in my shipyard and built my boats, then went to battle with them as though nothing was wrong. I was happy to see them die first, and miserable deaths. I thought then the jarl would see me as his true son and the misery would be over. He all but shunned me after he lost his true born sons. I was no good to him outside of a battlefield."
Nami remained silent after his answer. She seemed to be deep in thought when he peered down at her. He wanted to know what she thought, but he didn't dare ask.
"What…" She began but paused to narrow her eyes in thought. "How did you come by the name Eustass? You said your mother only ever called you Kid."
He let out a shaky breath at that question. She was set on making him relive every heartache from his past.
"My mother gave it to me on her deathbed. She had grown ill after I went to work for the jarl. Killer and his father moved her into their home to care for her, but I came to visit whenever I could. The last time I saw her was when she gave me the name. She said it was her father's name, that it was far more suitable for a man as obstinate as me…. And that a man destined for greatness needed a name fitting of legends." He bowed his head, glad he had taken his hair down from its tail earlier. The long strands fell over his face like a veil, hiding him from Nami's gaze. "That was the first time I ever saw her smile. She looked so proud, and I had done nothing but work for the man who raped her. I didn't deserve her pride then. I didn't deserve the name. But I vowed that I would earn it. I would be the man she saw, that she was so proud of." He cleared his throat as it grew tight. "Trust me when I say that no man will go unpunished for a crime as long as I'm in charge. No matter who they are. No man will harm a free woman outside of battle, and he will never take her by force. If he does, even if he is one of my brothers, he will be punished as harshly as that man had been today. My rule is absolute."
"Then you've already earned your name," Nami said, not a trace of derision in her tone. He dared to glance at her through his hair and found her staring up at him. She looked so resolute, so sure. She wouldn't let him deny those words. Slowly, she began to smile, her eyes glistening with tears, and he felt his breath leave him. "She had good reason to be proud." His jaw slackened as his chest tightened. Her smile kept him from looking away as she hugged his arm to her chest. "And I, for one, am very glad you were born."
Those words stung, yet still he laughed. The sound was filled with pain, as was his grin, and he finally turned away as he forced it to turn into a scowl. Only Nami had the gall to strike him so deep, but he could never be angry for it. A part of him was glad to hear it. Not many in the world would even think that much of him, let alone say it aloud. And he already knew she would be one of the few to mourn his inevitable death. How she could care so much for him, he didn't understand.
He found one of her hands with his and held it tight against his arm, silently showing his gratitude and urging her to stay at his side a while longer. He refused to look at her, even as they both leaned against each other, supporting one and other as they stared off at the sea.
He did understand one thing. He could not fail her. Even if the gods willed otherwise, he would destroy her fears and set her free. Nothing would stand in his way.
Not even death.
A/N: I hope this chapter wasn't too difficult to read for everyone. This is a subject that I won't go all Game of Thrones on and explicitly describe scenes of rape. If I did, I'd be posting this to AO3 for sure, or the adult fanfiction site. But this is a subject that obviously carries weight for the characters, and is one that needs to be addressed when looking at their society. Especially since when people think of Vikings, one of the things they think of is raping and pillaging, so I wanted to look at the difference between their actions on raids, and their laws back home. Unlike the rest of Europe at this time, the Norse did not see their women as the property of men, and while their free women might not have been viewed as equals in all aspects, they commanded a great deal of respect and any crime against them was severely punished. A crime against a woman, was a crime against a free person, one who is seen as being close to the gods, with magic that can curse you (so they also had a good dose of fear of their women, too). Their laws on this matter were very similar to the laws of ancient, pagan Rome, before Christianization. In comparison, since the rest of Europe viewed women in terms of property during this time, crimes against them viewed the same as crimes to another man's property, and the woman could be punished alongside her attacker for either 'consenting' to the rape, or being an accomplice for not doing more to prevent it, and punishment could range from a fine, to disinheritance, to death (for both parties).
And I believe I've stated before in other author's notes, but I actually see Kid having a particular disdain for rape and generally incapable of the act. He is violent, and after battle he is definitely the type to want to have sex, but he finds more enjoyment in taking willing partners, and his pride demands it. In this fic, I obviously give him additional reason to abhor the act. And it's very weird to have him as the one upholding laws in this, but I can see him, as a pirate captain, having his own strict code on his ship in terms of how the crew is to treat each other and any one they permit on board as a guest (not a captive), which is similar to the way the Vikings viewed their own laws and what behavior is acceptable in different circumstances. It's probably part of why he is so judgmental of the noble class that claims to uphold justice, but are obviously hypocrites, corrupt, and sometimes even worse monsters then the people labeled as villains to their rule. He's honest that he's not a good man, but the people that are under his protection have no reason to fear him unless they break one of his rules.
Oh, and just so you know, the slow-burn aspect of this romance right now is killing me, and I hope it's the same for all of you. :)