So, thanks for sticking through that first chapter. So here's the second chapter, this is the introduction to the slave and her life before everything will unfold. Although, it is kind of obvious what her fate will be. So here's chapter two, please review and thanks for reading!

Disclaimer, I own nothing!

~Soldier78!

The Viking and the Slave

Chapter 2

Keera watched the arrow slide right into the red target. In pride, she smirked.

"Aye, yeh've got a nice shot!"

She looked at her guest.

"What're yeh doin' 'ere, Serf?" She called out to him. It was Aed, a boy just a year older than her who worked their fields. He had a confident smirk on his face as he walked closer to his master's daughter.

"Oh, yeh know," he said casually. "Jus' admirin' yeh. Yer beauty an' yer perfect aim."

Her face flushed but she lowered her bow and placed one hand on her hip, cocking it to one side to cast this Serf a not-impressed look.

"Shouldn' yeh be workin'?" She asked. Aed smiled.

"How can I?" He placed his hands dangerously on her hips. Nervously, Keera glanced to see if there were any eyes.

"Aed, me father-"

"Sh…" he placed a dirty, but slim finger on top her lips to silence her. She smiled underneath his digit and grabbed it, moving it from her mouth and instead, lacing their fingers together. Aed smiled, leaning forward to kiss her when Keera stopped him.

"Aed, stop." She told him. He paused, opened his eyes and looked utterly dejected. "I'm sorry, yeh know I love yeh, but…I'm engaged."

He cleared his throat and backed off.

"I know, I'm sorry." He apologized hastily.

"Lady Keera!"

Both heads turned to see Keera's Lady-in-Waiting waving her over.

"I be'er go." Keera said to the Serf. Aed smiled sadly and he outstretched his hand, wordlessly asking for the bow. Keera gave him both the bow and arrows, muttering a hasty thank you as she headed towards the main house. As her servant emerged inside, Keera stopped and looked over her shoulder. A longing glance that Aed felt tear him apart but he gave her his best genuine smile and she gave hers in return.

"Yeh need t'stop talkin' to tha' Serf." Her lady-in-waiting, Mona, chided as she fixed the dress that Keera now wore. It was a nicer dress, less casual than what she usually wore. Keera sighed.

"Are yeh done yet?" she asked impatiently. Mona clicked her tongue.

"Hush, Child. Yeh want to look yer best when yeh see yer suitor."

"Aye, Lord Cearul's son. Cattle?"

"Cathal, me Lady." Mona corrected, admonishingly.

"Eh." Keera shrugged. "Why do I 'ave to get married? 'Specially so soon?"

Mona smiled.

"Because, dear, yeh are at tha' age when it is time to depend on a husband instead of a father." Mona instructed.

"Aye, time to become a mother with ten sons." Keera rolled her eyes.

"Oh hush," silenced Mona. "Yeh will love who yer father decided. He paid a nice dowry-" Keera muttered something indecipherable under her breath but Mona tugged on the dress's strands tighter and Keera's breath hitched. "He has stability an', let me assure yeh me Lady, he is very, very handsome an' charming."

"Aye, so they say." Keera sardonically rejoiced. "Always wins me at handsome."

Mona rolled her eyes at the girl's typical sarcastic remarks. One day she will appreciate her father's agreement.

But for now, Keera was ready and escorted into the dining hall where she overheard the three men talking. The two lords conversed with the son interjecting some rather intelligent remarks. Keera cleared her throat once she entered the hall, Lady Mona in the back who curtsied to her master.

"Yer Grace." She respectfully acknowledged. Keera watched her father nod and dismiss the servant. He smiled brightly as he took his daughter's hand and held it up to the two other nobles.

"Lord Cearul and Cathal, may I present t'yeh me lovely daughter, Keera."

Her fiancé, Cathal, who was dressed in a nobleman's fashion with a sword strapped to his hip, was quick in approaching her. In deepest gratitude, he grabbed her hand and pressed a kiss onto the back of it.

"Me lady." He honored politely. Keera's face didn't even give the slightest smile as the lord's son righted himself. "As beautiful as I've been told."

"Aye?" Keera asked, cocking her head to one side in mockery wonderment. Cathal didn't seem to pick up on her sarcasm and continued obliviously.

"Yes, I am anticipatin' our weddin'…in two weeks' time Lord Eamon?" He spoke to his future father-in-law.

"Tha' is correct, me Boy." Lord Eamon welcomed. He raised his hands. "Come, let us feast!"

Once dinner was through, Keera excused herself to her bedchamber. It was Keera's orders to take off the stupid, choking dress off of her. Mona took off the fancy dress, Keera was just in her nightdress and she made to lay down on her bed. Mona went to go deal with something else just down the hall and Keera tried to shut her eyes, trying to forget the night which was filled with a lot of wine, a lot of male laughter and the haughtiness of Lord Cathal's victories against the Northmen.

Just as she tried to sleep, there was a noise coming from her window.

"Pst…"

Her eyes shot open and she bolted upright, quickly withdrawing the dagger she had resting on her night table. Her late night visitor chuckled.

"Put down the dagger, Little Warrior." He teased lightly. Scoffing, Keera casted the blade aside and stood up.

"Wha' are yeh doin' 'ere?" She inquired, utterly surprised and frustrated at his barge. "Do yeh 'ave a death wish?"

Aed put his hands in the air, Keera could see the dirt still on them and the grime still on his face, tunic and trousers. He was also barefooted which made his feet look permanently black.

"Look," he started to plead. "I know wha' yeh will say but…I come 'ere to ask yeh for somethin'."

"Wha' is it?" Keera asked, losing her bite and replacing with modest interest. Aed boldly took a step forward and gripped both her hands to which she held back.

"I know yeh are to be married, but I want you to know tha' I'll always love yeh." He vowed.

"Aed, tha' is a sacred vow." Keera hushed but the young Serf refused.

"An' I mean it from the bottom o' me 'eart." He said. Keera started to tear up just as he withdrew something from the belt of his tunic. "I know, it's pretty badly made but I wanted to give yeh somethin' to remember me by…when yer married. Yeh don' 'ave to wear this, I actually expect yeh to throw it out the window an' forget about me-"

He stopped just as Keera placed a hand on his smudged cheek. Some of his day's sweat and dirt rubbed onto her thumb but she didn't care.

"I won' throw it out, but yeh know why I can' wear it openly." She told him. He nodded but melted within her warm touch. "I love yeh too, Aed."

He smiled, ruefully. A tear slowly slid down his cheek.

"But I want to make yeh a vow too," the lord's daughter bravely returned as she held out her hand, signaling Aed to place the ring onto her finger. He did so as she spoke. "I want to promise yeh tha' we will be together, either in this life or in heaven. I will always love yeh."

He smiled, fondly and the two were flushed. Their foreheads somehow came to touch one another's and their breaths mingled. Aed, consumed by desire as he pictured those warm, inviting lips, whispered.

"Hey 'Ra?"

"Yes, Aed?"

"May I…" he paused for a moment, licked his lips as a way to quash his nervousness. "Can I kiss yeh? One last time?"

He didn't need to explain himself like he thought he had too because Keera already had him in her embrace, lips pressed fully to his. He smiled into the warm sensation and held her tight against him. Her arms resting on his shoulders and his arms wrapped securely around her waist. Nothing could break this sweet, intimate moment.

"We're under attack!"

To be continued.

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