It had been a fortnight. There was still no word from Frea, even Hygd began to get agitated about Frea's well being. Beowulf was out of spirits at the great hall that night. He knew how long it had been, he knew where she was most likely to be, what he didn't know is why he was still sitting in this setting while the only person of interest was not here.

Beowulf soon departed the great hall and made up his mind to go after Frea. Alone. He swiftly grabbed his sword, but did not bother putting on any armor, and collected some food into a bag. He headed swiftly and silently to the stables, but then felt the burden of the crown hit him hard with guilt. I can't just leave without telling anyone, he thought, it would be irresponsible, and unfair to everyone. Yet he didn't want to return to the great hall to inform anybody, so instead he got some paper and swiftly scribbled a few lines than found a servant. He informed her to deliver this letter to queen Hygd as soon as she was awake the following morning, the servant curtsied and walked off.

Beowulf swiftly saddled and bridled his horse. He then mounted it, and galloped off in the direction of the mountains. Hopefully he would find Frea, however there were many acres of forest in the mountains. He knew he could not stay away from his kingdom for long, and prayed to the gods that he might be fortunate enough to find Frea quickly.

Frea sat besides the river in perfect peace and content. It was late, and the stars were shinning brilliantly in the sky. She looked up at them, and thought of Germania, although she had never seen it for herself, she often wondered about it. Her father had told her stories of people who could read the will of the gods in the stars. She looked at them in wonder, and wished she knew how to read them. After looking at them for a while her head began to ache. She had fallen off a tree and had hit her head that afternoon. She quickly went to the stream and looked at her reflection.

The stream was quiet and soothing. Its noise had always been able to put her to sleep. She looked down and saw a great amount of blood around the wound. She calmly splashed water over it to clean it. The water stung, but at the same time, felt very comforting. She had a bandage in her bag that she kept with her when she went into the woods. Yet before placing it, she retrieved some oddly shaped leaves. She grounded them, and placed them on the wound. Then she swiftly placed the bandage on her head to cover up the wound. Snug and secure, the pain began to cease. A head wound wasn't that big of a problem. She looked down again at her reflection, her blue eyes shinning in the reflection of stream, and her blond hair shinning around her head.

It was then that she saw another reflection; it looked most like a man. Frea could not tell who it was, but was startled and turned to look if anyone was there, but she was alone. Frea looked intently at him, and to her he seemed familiar, yet unknown. Close, yet distant. She didn't know what to make of it, until she decided that bump on the head was worse than she thought it was, and resigned herself to sleep. Although her last glance at the figure reminded her of Beowulf.

Beowulf, she thought, as she snuggled up against a willow tree, what a man. He is both impressively powerful and incredibly handsome. Yet what does that matter. Who is he? I have only had one dance with him. And that was hardly a memorable experience. She blushed, thinking of how her skirt caught on fire. She then resolved to stop thinking of him, but could not. Sleep finally captured her as she thought of the glance they had held at her shop.

Beowulf had been riding for only a few hours, when he suddenly realized his foolishness at coming after Frea at night. He did not know where he was, or where Frea was, and cursed his lack of patients. Beowulf rode on for a bit, until he found a small cave. He directed his horse towards it and found it was big enough to lodge him for the night. He dismounted, took off the saddle and bridle and tied his horse to a tree limb, and went into the cave. He looked about for a bit until he spotted the remains of the fire. His heart began to beat faster, had Frea built this fire? Was he so close to finding her? He looked down to discover that the fire was a few days old, and remember the rain that had occurred a few nights ago. She must have come in here for shelter. He decided that this was as good a place as any to spend the night, and laid down on the ground, and slept with peaceful hope of finding Frea the next day.

Frea awoke peacefully, and felt very relaxed. She began to sit up, but suddenly wish she hadn't, because the pain from her head suddenly increased in degree. She knew the worst thing to do with pain was to cater in to it, and she forced herself to sit up. She removed the bandage to find that only a bit of blood was on it, which meant the bleeding had stopped. That was good. She looked at the river, and decided to bathe. She removed her clothes, and entered the river. She felt very relaxed, and the water now soothed her head. She cleaned the wound thoroughly.

Frea then got out of the river and dressed in fresh clothing. She always brought two dresses with her. She went about the task of cleaning the first one in the river and cleaned the bandages as well, and placed them to dry on the willow. She left them there with no concern, and proceeded to where she knew she would find breakfast.

Beowulf awoke suddenly, and in a foul mood. Sleeping on rocks will do that to some people. He rose, rubbing his aching neck, and rummaged through the food he had brought. He grabbed a loaf of bread, and began to eat it. In the middle he wished he had thought to bring something to drink, but figured he could find water.

After he ate, he saddled his horse that was enjoying the fresh grass of the woods. He did not mount, however, instead he looked to ground. He was not disappointed; there he found a pair of woman's tracks, leading away from the cave. The previous rain had made it easier for them to be seen. He led his horse and followed the tracks carefully.

It was about mid afternoon when he came upon a stream. He felt relief in finding water and immediately began to drink. The water was fresh and good, and splashed some on his face. He then noticed a willow tree, and retrieving an apple from his bag, sat by the river with his feet in the cool water. It was then that he looked up and saw something white.

It was a bandage. Next to it was a brown dress. He stood up and looked at it for a few moments, and then noticed a stain of blood on it. Sudden fear leapt into his heart. Blood! He thought. And a dress! These must be Frea's, and she must be injured! He then felt a pang of panic and fear, and looked about for some tracks. On the ground next to the willow he saw an impression of a woman; Frea must have slept here, he thought. He continued looking and saw a pair of tracks heading North West into the mountains. The tracks were faint but there, and they were fresh. He followed them in quick pursuit, every step making his heart beat faster and his fear increase.

Frea followed the trail she had made herself. It led around the forest in the most convenient way possible. She followed it to small clearing in the forest. In that clearing sat a comfortable little house, happily situated among the trees. Along the path leading up to the door were flowers, so beautifully tended. The flowers continued around the house to the back, where there were several squares of dirt with all kinds of food growing from them: berries, peas, carrots, tomatoes, and lettuce etc. A little farther on beyond the house was a small barn, in which an older woman sat, milking a cow, as chickens clucked around her. Frea walked up to the door of the barn and said quite happily, "Good morning!"

The old woman jumped at her voice, then turned and joy spread across her face. She got up and went to Frea and embraced her tenderly. When she released her, she saw the cut on her head. "Oh darling!" said she, looking at Frea with concern, "what happened to you?"

"It's nothing Mother." Frea replied. "I just fell out of a tree."

"You do love to climb." Said her mother, with a small smile of pride, "but you must be more careful, that looks dreadful dear!"

Frea just smiled, and began to help her mother by feeding the chickens. Her mother protested, and said she must not do work, with an injury like that, and told Frea that she should lay down for a while. Frea simply smiled and continued to feed the chickens, and her mother knowing knew better and continued milking the cow. Her mother was the obvious source of Frea's blond hair, and bright blue eyes. The resemblance was extraordinary. However, there were strands of gray from here and there, though not too noticeable. And she had the wrinkles of a woman who had smiled most of her life. Her mother was very strongly built, and yet still possessed a great deal of beauty in her smile.

"Did you sleep by the stream again?" Her mother asked with a smile.

"Yes. How did you guess?"

"Your hair is all wet; you always swim after you sleep there." Like any mother, she could read her child perfectly. She smiled for another moment, and then asked Frea, very seriously:

"Darling, you know I love you visiting me, but isn't it time for you to return to the town?" Frea began to collect eggs from the chickens and said nothing for a while.

"I'm not sure I want to return….anymore." Frea said, turning away.

"Really?" said her mother, "Once things get interesting you want to just turn your back on it all? I want to see you married some day Frea. And you can't do that by coming up here all the time!

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" Frea asked teasing.

"Yes! As a matter of fact I am! It is my duty as a mother to ensure your happiness. Yes I see you smile all the time up here, but I know you, you're mind is elsewhere, pondering other places, and…other people." Her mother's voice suddenly got very serious. Frea knew who she was talking about, but kept her head turned away all the same.

"You can tell can't you?" her mother asked her, "you can tell that he is attracted to you."

"Attracted to me?" Frea said loudly, "How could he be attracted to me, he barely knows me!" Her emotions flaring up for an instant, "All that has occurred was only one glance and one night. How could any serious attraction have occurred over the course of that time? Do I know who he is? No! And does he know who I am? No! Then how could there be any attraction between him and me?"

"Darling, men are attracted to woman first by her looks, and it is only good fortune if he finds her character as charming." Frea couldn't believe it, the idea seemed silly to her. Yet she thought back to the fluttering of her heart when she saw him for the first time, and realized there might be something to it.

"Alright mother," she said after a long pause, "I will return the day after tomorrow."

"Very well dear," her mother said, raising from her chair carrying the bucket of milk she had gathered. "Now come inside and I'll fix you breakfast. And you must let me look at that cut on your head!"

"In a minute mother, I'll just fed the sheep and be right in."

Beowulf knew he was lost. He knew it, and he cursed himself for it. He looked about. He thought he had been following a trail, but evidently it was a false one. He realized how little he knew about the woods. He was sure there were countless trails leading to nowhere, and he was stupid enough to follow one. The sun was starting to set, and he had not one bit of luck, other than finding the stream.

Beowulf than found himself at a loss, mounted his horse, and began to head back in the direction of the stream.

Frea had returned once again to the stream. She retrieved her dress and bandages, and sat by the bank for a while, in peace, simply thinking. She thought of what her life was, she knew she had a choice before her. Go home, or stay. She had promised her mother that she would go, but she began double guessing herself. What was there for her, down in the village? She only went there to work and get her mother supplies she needed. What if she just didn't return? Would anybody notice?

I doubt it. She thought, No one notices me there. The only people I've really met are Tellea and Lina, and what are they there for other than simply to order new dresses. Although, wait, Queen Hygd was very nice to me. She was civil, which is more than what most people are around there. Ugh, what a vulgar culture! Frea recalled how boisterous the men had become that one evening that she had been at the great hall. Then her thoughts went once again to Beowulf. Would he notice her absence? She did not know why, but somehow that mattered to her greatly.

She looked down at the river, listening to it flow happily on its course. After a few moments she arose, and was about to return to the house when something caught her eye. It was an odd pair of tracks leading towards the river, and away from it again. It looked like horse hooves. Frea had heard of wild horse around these parts, but these prints were different. They had shoes on their feet! That could only mean one thing, a horse from the town had made it this far into the woods, and worse, someone could have come with it. She began to panic. Never before had anyone discovered her secret sanctuary! It felt to her like an intrusion of privacy.

Frea looked at the tracks, and then to the North, at the mountains. She knew what she had to do. She silently removed from her bag, a dagger.

Frea quickly and quietly walked through the forest. She was wearing a green dress, and blended in with the foliage quite easily. She tied her hair back, and began looking. Frea felt fear behind every corner, and every tree. Oh Thor! She beseeched the gods, Lend me your strength! I do not want everyone invading my sanctuary! She controlled her roiling emotions, however, and looked calmly through the forest for the object of her hunt.

She continued like that until the sun's light was spent. Frea looked around again briefly, than gave up, and headed home. It wasn't too far to her mother's house, yet she still walked cautiously with her dagger drawn.

Frea soon reached her mothers house to find that her mother had lit torches like she did every night, in order to help Frea return. Once she saw them, she put her knife away (for she did not want to alarm her mother) and immediately extinguish all the light around the house. Inside her mother gave her a puzzled look.

"Why did you put out the torches darling?"

"Mother, when I went back to the river, I found on its banks the tracks of a horse from the town. My fear is that someone might be up here in the woods, and I don't want them finding this place." Frea told her mother, as she began to shut the windows and draw the curtains.