Twenty-Seven
Iza does rest. Her day is filled with eating her fill of food, allowing Carlisle to check her over for any injuries to quell his anxious mind, and resting until the late afternoon. Carlisle has volunteered to create the tents for the dragons, so he has left the longhouse to allow Iza to sleep in peace. When she wakes up to the sound of a knock on her door, her limbs are heavy and sore from her travels. Still, she forces her body to move, expecting to open the door to Edvard and his ideas for their plan.
Instead, she opens the door to Alise and, interestingly, Różyczka. For her entire life, Iza has regarded Różyczka with a certain measure of wariness. There is no avoiding the fact that Róża is intimidating even if she is only a few years older than Iza – but she is also tall and strong and as ruthless as any Viking woman should be, and she has always excelled with seidr, which Iza spent her entire childhood envying. Overall, Iza and Róża do not interact more than necessary, especially now that they are older and no longer under the tutelage of Essme, the village's most talented seidr practitioner.
Seeing Róża at her door, even with Alise by her side, is enough to make Iza falter. But she is quick to gain her wits, recalling that Alise's brother Emebor and Róża are engaged to be married and that the elder blonde had accompanied her brother Jasper to request their own dragons not too long ago. Róża has every reason to be at Iza's door, all things considered.
"The tides are turning," Alise says by way of greeting.
Iza suppresses a yawn, shifting so that she is not relying on her door to hold up her body weight. "Is that so?"
Róża snorts. "You returned with four dragons, Iza, and the village is not sure what to make of it. They seem pleasant enough, these dragons. We could see them through the trees on the walk here. You chose good ones by the looks of it."
"I had nothing to do with the choosing," Iza says tiredly. She cranes her neck, peering out toward where she can feel her bond to Eko tugging, but she cannot quite catch a glimpse of dragonscale. She looks back at Alise and Róża with a faint furrow to her brow. "These dragons volunteered."
"Five is a good number," Alise says nonsensically.
Meanwhile, Róża appears mildly surprised. "They volunteered?"
Iza shoots the elder girl a look, because what was she supposed to have done – drag unwilling dragons back to the village with her or tricked the dragons into coming? But she bites her tongue and sighs. "Dragons are…complicated creatures," she mutters. "There are others that might help in battle, but they are leery of humans, I think. The ones that came are brave and young, maybe even foolish."
"Fools are not always fools," Alise says with a small smile. "Is it not true that Loki often plays the fool in your Eddas, yet he is not foolish at all, is he?"
Iza stares at Alise and wonders how much she knows about Loki. Probably more than Iza and Edvard combined.
What a frightening thought. Iza resolves not to ask unless absolutely necessary. By now, she is recognizing the wisdom in not knowing.
Another yawn threatens to pry Iza's jaw open and she barely bites it back. She moves to take a step back into her longhouse, saying, "Did you want to come inside? I think Carlisle left something near the hearth…"
"Actually, we came to invite you out," Róża declares briskly.
"A refreshing soak would be lovely to clear your head, would it not?" Alise asks, hefting a small basket that Iza only now notices as the one Alise carries on bathing day.
"You look like you could use one," Róża adds, not unkindly.
Recalling what her past few days have been like, Iza agrees that a bath would be lovely. Even the Norns know she needs one at this point. Iza takes a moment to gather fresh clothing and calls out to Carlisle where she will be going as she passes him in the yard where he has made much progress erecting the tents for the dragons.
As Iza walks alongside the other girls, she calls out silently to Eko, trying to get a grip on how well the dragons are adjusting so far. Eko is in a cheerful mood, apparently having made friends with these dragons, which Iza takes as a sign that all is well. It is, at the very least, a good indication that these dragons are willing to play by human rules.
We are going to the spring to bathe, Iza tells Eko. Perhaps you can guide the dragons to be nearby? Kaldr especially might want to meet someone…
A thread of amusement thrills through Eko, a sort of mature emotion that her dragon is emoting more often. In some ways, Eko now reminds Iza of the younger teens in the village – eager, full of energy, endlessly entertained. She wonders what that means for her dragon's development? Is Eko nearing fully grown? Judging by Dagmar, Eko still has a ways to go physically, but she is almost there.
Iza almost misses the tiny dragon she could cradle in her arms.
They reach the spring in the late afternoon and the water is a soothing contradiction to the heat still in the air. Róża is more brazen than Alise or Iza, willing to strip from her clothes efficiently and not the least bit shy about taking her time entering the water. By contrast, both Alise and Iza are rather bashful, especially when Róża's eyes catch incredulously on the scars marring Iza's chest. Thankfuly, Róża says nothing about the scars or their origin, and Iza goes about ignoring them as much as she usually does.
It is not until the floral soaps have been passed around that Alise decides to speak. "Your secret is not so secret any more, is it?"
"An understatement," Róża mutters.
Iza scrubs at her skin, looking at Alise with a frown. "You seem strange today. What are you not saying?"
Alise hums, sitting back into the water with her inky hair swirling around her. "I wonder, have you given any thought to what the Chieftain will do when he returns?"
Iza swallows. "Not much," she admits. And it is true, because dealing with her father is not something she is looking forward to. But more than the dragons and having a Saxon in their home, Iza has other matters to discuss with her father – the identity of her mother is something which has been pressing on her mind for months. "There are many things we must talk about."
Alise's eyes drift upward to the sky. "Do you remember when I asked if it was a betrayal to go against your father or to ignore the challenges the Norns give you?"
"Yes."
"Has your opinion changed?" Alise asks, still not looking away from the wide expanse of blue.
Iza spreads suds through her hair, glancing at Róża, who is watching the exchange with a blank exression. Iza presses her lips together, rinses the soap from her person, and sinks down into the water until her chin is almost covered. The last time Alise had asked this question, Iza had not been able to answer – and even in her own mind, she had not been able to come to an immediate decision.
But now, months later, the answer seems obvious.
"Yes," she answers. "My opinion has changed."
Because of course she should place the importance of the Norns and her own destiny over her father's outdated and uneducated thoughts. The Chieftain has been gone for weeks and weeks now, and much has changed since then. Iza has changed.
"I do not think you should worry too much. You know you have been chosen and you know what you must do. Everything else will fall into place as it should." Alise pauses, and then a teasing smile tugs at her mouth. "And everyone."
Róża perks up at this. "Oh? What is this? Who are we speaking about?"
"Alise," Iza hisses, her cheeks heating up.
Alise appears unbothered. "It is not as if either of you are oblivious anymore."
"Oh," Róża says with a tone of recognition. "Are we talking about Edvard and his hopelessly obvious crush?"
Iza blinks rapidly.
"Until recently it has not been obvious to everyone," Alise tells her.
Róża eyes Iza with a baffled expression. "You mean that you did not know? I think most of our peers know."
"I certainly knew."
Róża waves Alise away. "You are different. You know everything. I am talking about everyone else in our generation. I will have you know, Iza, that many of us have been perplexed by the way you two dance around each other."
Iza is mortified. To have Róża saying this now and in the same spirit as if they were close friends – well, she is much too exhausted by the last several days to do anything but sit dumbly and watch as Róża and Alise banter about which of them has been more oblivious. Alise thinks that her adoptive brother has been the most ignorant, but Róża is convinced that Iza should have been smart enough to notice the way Edvard has been "hovering around her since that one winter", which may be a fair opinion in retrospect.
Iza settles on being moderately pleased that, at the very least, all the indirect words Iza and Edvard have been speaking are not sudden things. For her, it is nice to know that none of this is coming out of the blue – it makes it feel more real.
But that does not mean she wants to be talking about it so openly.
Just when Iza feels like sinking into the water, perhaps to drown herself to escape the embarrassment, she hears a rustle in the nearby trees and finally catches sight of dragonscales.
It is Kaldr who emerges first, eyes locked on the water and his wings spreading wide, so sudden that he shocks both Alise and Róża into silence. The other dragons follow after Eko, who shoots Kaldr a narrow-eyed look that might have been a glare if she were human. Even without hearing her voice thread through their mental link, Iza can almost hear Eko grousing that Kaldr got away from her.
Iza is naturally the first to recovery, her familiarity with the dragons allowing her to sit upright in the water, her eyes roaming between the dragons. Her brief survey reveals nothing out of the ordinary except for the vaguely annoyed twitch of Eko's frills as her dragon side-eyes Kaldr.
Iza shifts her gaze around too, settling on Kaldr with a thoughtful expression. Whether because he does not care or does not notice, Kaldr is standing only a claws-breadth away from the water lapping at the banks of the spring only just near the edge of Róża's shoulder. And Róża for her part looks merely interested in the dragon, not at all bothered by how near the dragon is to her when she is at her most vulnerable. It is a stark contrast from Alise, who looks dimly intimidated by so many dragons crowding so close around the spring, though her slight discomfort is only apparent because of the tiny purse of her lips.
Eko slinks around the edge of the spring and comes to a crouch near Iza. Looking back at her dragon, Iza receives a quick summary of the past few hours, mainly Eko's contention that Kaldr is headstrong and insisted on following water. Eko and the other dragons had only just convinced him that a spring is better than the fjords within view of the town, which Iza is grateful for.
He is annoying, Eko says decisively.
Iza laughs, surprising Róża and Alise. Biting her lip, Iza nods her chin to Kaldr, who has now moved to rest his chin in the water – to her credit, Róża only shifts to the side to give the dragon room, an assessing look in her eyes.
"Eko and Kaldr do not seem to get along," Iza tells the other girls.
"And the other dragons?" Alise asks.
Iza gives a shrug of her shoulders. "They are more mellow, I think," she says. "Old enough to be more mature than Eko and Kaldr, at least."
"This one is Kaldr?" Róża queries. When Iza nods, the older girl continues. "What kind of dragon is he?"
"Ice," Iza answers, taking note of Róża's intensely interested expression. She gathers her thoughts with a deep inhalation and says, "Actually…I had thought that maybe you and Kaldr would match well."
Róża looks startled at this, her brows shooting up on her forehead.
"You said you wanted to ride a dragon," Iza reminds her.
"I did," Róża agrees. "I am just surprised that you want to pair me with a dragon who does not get along well with yours. Is that wise?"
Iza plays with the slick length of her hair, twisting it to remove water. "It matters not if Eko and Kaldr are close because they know well enough to cooperate with each other, I think. More important is your ease with Kaldr. You have not flinched from him once," she points out.
"I do not scare so easily," Róża says coolly.
"Neither does he."
Róża turns a speculative eye to Kaldr, who only just appears to notice the human he has been so close to while he has been mesmerized by the water. Kaldr returns Róża's assessing look and Iza is gratified to note that the two truly do share a smiliar icy shade of blue in their eyes. "Will you let me ride you, I wonder?" Róża mutters to him.
Kaldr snorts out a puff of cold air directly in Róża's face and the girl is quick to retaliate with an irritated splash of water to his muzzle. Kaldr's teeth are bared for a second before he petulantly rests his chin back in the water, seemingly ignoring Róża's existence once more.
Róża stares at Kaldr for a few seconds more before turning a faintly amused look on Iza and Alise. "What do you think?"
"It seems to be an acceptance to me," Alise says.
Knowing what little she does of Kaldr, Iza is also inclined to agree. After all, Kaldr was not aggressive with Róża and for her part, Róża did not seem too bothered by the dragon's attitude. Róża hums in agreement when Iza asks if she would be comfortable with Kaldr should the dragon allow her on his back.
Until they actually try, Iza will have to be satisfied by this tentative pairing. Róża wanted a dragon and Kaldr wanted to tag along – if it works, it will be a good match. Finding riders or partners for the other dragons might be more of a challenge, something which seems to be on the minds of the other's girls as well.
Drying off and dressing in front of the dragons, the girls settle not too far from the spring and share a loaf of bread Alise had the foresight to bring along. "What of the others?" Róża asks. She has a difficult time dragon her eyes away from observing Kaldr, but has asked cursory questions about the other dragons.
Iza reclines against Eko, who has moved to lounge in the warm sun gathering at Iza's back. Chewing thoughtfully, Iza turns Róża's question over in her mind, trading a few speculations with Eko about the dragons and those in the village who might be interested in riding dragons. Jaspar aside, Iza is not sure if there is anyone else who wants to mount a dragon for the purpose of battle.
When she says as much, Róża raises her brow. "What of Jaspar, then? Which dragon would you pair for him?"
"I am not sure," Iza confesses. "Leiptr or Dyngju, perhaps."
Jaspar, after all, is just as direct as his sister, although maybe in a more palatable way. But the truth is that Iza does not know the personalities of the dragons or their potential riders well enough to know how pairings would work.
"You will need three riders," Alise says abruptly. Both Iza and Róża look at the glaze in Alise's eyes and understand that Alise is speaking with foreknowledge.
"Who?"
"The strong, the brash, and the quick," Alise answers.
Iza thinks this answer is perhaps less helpful than Alise thinks it is. She will have to give it some thought, assess who she knows well enough in the village to entrust with a dragon. Finding the right rider will be vital to the upcoming fight. She knows, from a political perspective, that the right rider will have a temperament and a standing within the village that will ultimately help sway minds.
Because it has been a thought simmering away in the back of her mind, but Iza knows that aside from her goal and bringing peace between the dragons and the village, she also wants to bring mutual acceptance – a sort of peace that will last for generations.
You will, Eko says confidently.
Iza hopes that her dragon is right.
Eventually, as the sun begins to dip further behind trees, they depart from the spring. By mutual agreement, plans are made with Róża for the following day so that she can bring Jaspar to meet the dragons and hopefully find one to ride. Alise seems reasonably confident that Jaspar will be successful when she and Róża depart from Iza near the outer edges of the forest.
Iza returns to her home with five dragons in tow, moderately grateful that the darkening hour gives them enough cover to avoid being seen by prying eyes. Not for the first time, she is glad that the Chieftain's longhouse is set further away from the village as it affords Iza some greatly-needed privacy.
By the time she and the dragons return to the longhouse, Carlisle has successfully created one large tent and is in the process of pinning the second down with the help of Edvard, who seems to have been waiting for Iza for some time. It throws her to see him for a moment, especially with the memory of Alise and Róża's teasing so fresh in her mind. She valiantly fights off a blush, tucks her loose clean hair behind her ear, and strides directly to the tents with the dragons on her heels.
The tents themselves are made of the kind of weathered hides that have seen dozens of winters, making them thin and threadbare but perfectly suitable to keeping rain off the back. Carlisle has managed to rig the tents into a high, flat, square-ish shape that will allow the dragons to move more or less freely. While not perfect, tents are better than sleeping fully outside – and this way, Iza and Eko can keep a close eye on their dragon guests.
"These look good," Iza comments as she walks up, pausing several feet away as Carlisle and Edvard finish setting the tent.
"I found hides in storage," Carlisle says proudly, dusting his hands off with an accomplished air. "Thin, but big. Good for dragons, yes?"
"Perfect," Iza assures him. She glances at Edvard, who is standing near the tents with his arms crossed over his chest. Carlisle must catch that her attention has strayed, because he is quick to excuse himself to finish preparing a stew. When the door of the longhouse has closed behind him, it leaves Edvard and Iza in relative privacy, the dragons notwithstanding.
Leaving Eko to deal with the dragons, Iza gestures for Edvard to follow her to the far side of the longhouse where it is easy to look over the village and the way the fjord opens to the ocean. The sight is a feast for the eyes, she thinks. The humble town and the setting sun glinting off the calm blue waves and the boats bobbing at the docks. It is all too easy to imagine the same sight alight with flames and destruction. Iza blinks rapidly to stop her mind from playing tricks on her.
That level of disaster has not happened yet. And it will not happen as long as she stands.
"The dragons are settling well," Edvard says after a long moment.
"They seem to be," she agrees. "Kaldr and Róża met – and I think they will work well together. Jaspar requested a dragon, you know, and according to Alise there are still two riders that need to be found, although I have no idea who…"
"I see."
Iza sighs, suddenly tired. "Now that the dragons are here, I feel a little lost. What do I do next?"
"You move forward," Edvard tells her.
She looks up at him, struck by his resolute tone. "I move forward?"
Edvard looks down at her, his green eyes bright and sharp. "A plan is nothing more than a goal, and there is no reason for a plan to be complicated. When I hunt, I plan to catch what I can. When I fight, I plan to be as swift as possible. And for you, your plan is nothing more than your own destiny. What do you feel needs to be done?"
Iza mulls this over, something about Edvard's simplistic prompt clearing the fuzz from her thoughts. "First, I need riders. And then I need the dragons and riders to be comfortable with each other. And then I need to go back to the mountain before the mountain comes to us."
"It seems you already have a plan, then."
"I suppose…"
"What more do you need?" he wonders with a crinkle to his brow. "You seem to think you can plan for every eventuality, but the truth is that you cannot. There are no rules here, Iza, only what you can do and what you need to do."
Right, Iza thinks, a slow roll to her mind. What I can do and what I need to do –and who is to say that those are not the same things?
A/N: And so goes another chapter! Anyone have any thoughts on who the other riders are going to be?
As a side note, the Vikings were kind of frank about sex and nudity. Vikings were very clean people, bathing more than many of their same-era counterparts, and they had a very open view of the human body. Because of how Viking dwellings were built as basically large rooms, it was not unusual for married couples to have sexual relations in front of their children, which might squick most of us out now but was actually pretty normal for the Vikings. The Vikings were also generally unbothered by nudity, so shared bathing was also normal.
As always, be brutally honest. I can take it.
~Rae