Chapter 3

"I wish Niklaus was more skilled," Finn said as he and his brother walked away from the house.

"As do I. Don't you think it is more than that?" Elijah asked his older brother who led the way back to the area where they had been practicing.

"Yes, I do. I don't know why he is so clumsy. He appears normal and he is not stupid," Finn said. "And yet he is so uncoordinated. He'll never be a warrior as Father wants." Although Finn knew the secret of the boy's parentage, he saw no reason why that would impair the child. Unless the gods frowned on what Esther had done. It did not occur to him that his mother might have something to do with the situation.

Elijah had a different thought on the subject. "I would think Mother would cast some sort of spell that would help the boy." He and Finn picked up the swords and shields left behind.

"Combined with that of Bennett's Wife, a strong spell would help Niklaus, I'm sure."

Everyone in the colony knew Esther and the wife of Bennett were witches. Not bad witches, for they were good at herbal medicines and various healings. It was because of the two women that the large group had made the long trek from the mouth of the big river to this inland place. Both women had felt the power of the ley line in the earth. When they had reached this area, about one hundred miles from the coast, they had suddenly felt this was "the place" where another such line met the first. Mikael and the other leaders had been willing to take the word of the women, and in this location near the blue-green mountains they settled.

There was unending forest, natural meadows and plentiful water in streams and springs. There was ample wildlife to hunt and decent-sized fish in most of the streams. If the settlers missed the sea and that type of fishing, they did not complain. Here, the weather was rarely frigid, although the summers were hot. Life was pleasant. And there were the native Skrealings, who were aware of the magic of the area and did not have a village there. They were friendly at first and not so much later. All of this Finn had seen as a young child and as he grew toward manhood.

"It's just such a shame he doesn't improve," the younger brother murmured as they put the weapons in their place. They looked around and saw that Niklaus was lying on one of the beds. Esther was whispering to the boy and brushed some hair from his forehead. She applied some sort of herbal paste to a wound, but then she moved away. The two other young children talked to him. The little girl Rebekah even climbed onto the bed and nestled beside him.

Finn went to his mother who had gone outside and was sitting by the table now. She was sewing on a piece of finely tanned deer hide, making a tunic for one of the family members. "I don't understand why you don't help him, Mother." He swept his hand toward the door and the children inside. He meant that she use a spell to help the boy, but apparently she would not.

"He is as he is, Finn. My fussing over him will not change him. Under other circumstances, he would be considered a good child. I think he'll improve with age, but I doubt he will ever be as good a fighter as your father wants him to be."

"I don't see that ever happening, either," Finn admitted. He was tempted to say that the boy's real father was a good fighter, so that was not the problem. He didn't say it. The man in question was brother to Rika's father. What would be the relationship of Finn to Niklaus if he married Rika? The boy was Rika's cousin, although she didn't know it, and also Finn's half-brother.

"Mother, I really wish to marry Rika. I do love her."

"I can see that, son, but there is not way that your father would allow it," the woman said.

She was in her mid-thirties, having given birth to Freya early in her seventeenth year. Now, Finn was already a year older than she was when Mikael married her. She had lived in the part of Europe called Holland, a section of the Netherlands, when she and her sister had been abducted by the Viking crew lead by Mikael. Although she had become fascinated by the man, Dahlia had not. In fact, the older sister, also a witch, could not understand how Esther could fall in love with her captor.

When Esther had come to realize that she was not able to bear a child for her husband, she had begged Dahlia to help by casting a spell. The older sister had agreed, on the condition that at some point, she would claim the first-born child. Esther had agreed, at the time not caring what this really meant. But the day came when she had had to give up Freya, her first-born. She never told her husband or little Finn the truth, and she could only hope that the child would be happy.

Finn looked at his mother now, seeing a woman who still looked pretty, although there were signs of age on her face. He and Elijah knew of her abduction and, according to her, she had willingly accepted the life with Mikael. That life had not been easy, he knew, but she had obviously thrived in it. She claimed she still had love for the man and she certainly loved her children.

"I'm a man now," he said to her. "I think I can make my own choices, regardless of what Father wants. In this place no one marries for money or position."

Esther shook her head slightly. "He will likely insist that you move out of the house if you bring Rika into it. He doesn't dislike her specifically, you know. It's the children he doesn't want here."

"Although I want sons, daughters would not be a danger."

"You can't choose. You get what you get. Mikael considers that her clan is fouled by their affliction."

"It's not fair, Mother!" He then lowered his voice so it did not carry into the house. "Rika is a wonderful person. Her parents are decent people."

"Her father turns with the full moon." She looked up at him with a slight tilt to her head.

"So does her uncle!" Finn said, and yet he still said nothing about his mother's indiscretion with that man.

"That's true. So do many of the men in her clan. It doesn't change anything, son. If you married her and she gave you sons, they would carry the affliction. Would you want your child running wild in the forest as a wolf?"

"Of course not. Would you?" It was the closest he came to saying he knew what Niklaus was. He loved his mother and really did not want to hurt her feelings or cause her shame.

"No. Definitely not." Esther shook her head and looked away from Finn. She could not look him in the eye.

After all these years, Finn finally realized that perhaps his mother was the cause of the boy's ineffectiveness at fighting, his timidity, and the unlikelihood that Niklaus would ever kill anyone and turn. This idea was not welcome to Finn. He didn't like to see the boy put in such an awful position with Mikael. It wasn't right. But he didn't accuse his mother of using her magic to make Niklaus what he now was.

"Mother, if Father was not against my marrying Rika, would you welcome her?"

"Yes. I like her. I think she would make you a good wife," Esther admitted. "But what I think about it does not matter."

"It does to me," her son answered.

"Thank you, Finn. You're a good boy." She gave him a loving smile and reached out to touch his hand. "Even if your father decided to allow the marriage, you know we here at this settlement can't meet all the usual rituals associated with a wedding."

"Yes, I know. But Erik and Ingrid married without all the rituals of the old country. I see no reason why Rika and I can't." He referred to the two young people who had married the year before, but their situation was not entirely identical to his. The big difference was that neither of them carried the werewolf trait. "Except for Father's objection, of course."

"Which is enough. I'll try to sway his thinking."

"Thank you, Mother." He put a kiss on her cheek and then left to walk in the woods and try to decide what to do.

A/N I'm not sure if any of the Norse codes of behavior in the Viking era would forbid Finn from marrying Rika, but since they are in a foreign land, I would think they would have fewer rules of behavior. Anyway, I hope you find this story interesting. Thanks for reading.