Ead curled into the warmth of her new husband as the dawn broke. Arnporr had fallen asleep a few minutes before, but Ead was too tired and too happy to care. He was hers, finally. And finally, she had understood what it was between men and women that so exciting. But as she thought lazily, perhaps what was between Arnporr and her was even better than most. He was, well, she giggled to herself, he was magnificent. Every part of being with him had been thrilling and exciting, making her skin tingle and her heart beat so very fast. Touching him and being touched by him filled her with so many feelings and thoughts… How could someone feel so hungry and so satisfied all in the same breath? But that was how this man made her feel. Oh, how she loved him for that and for making her feel special and… well, seeing her for who she was and wanting to know more. She hoped he felt about her as she felt about him. She suspected he did. And with that happy thought, she drifted to sleep as well.
The couple awoke a few hours later to the sounds of the village awakening. Arnporr held her for a few minutes, apparently as reluctant to let her go as she was to move away from him. But she knew they should get dressed and prepare to go to his village. As she heard shouts from people who were speaking his language, she smiled at his sigh.
"They drank too much," he grumbled. "All heads will hurt today."
Ead chuckled aloud at that. "Yes, as will my people."
Arnporr looked down at her, his eyes glistening, "My people are your people now."
"Yes, of course. I am yours and I will go with you. Your people are my people. But I will also always think of the people here as my people too."
Arnporr remained quiet and after a moment, leaned in to kiss her. Ead hoped that meant he was ready to fish again. But instead, he pulled away. "We should go out, let the people, all our people, see us. And then we should go."
"Yes," Ead sighed. "We should. But I would much rather stay here with you and fish."
Arnporr laughed. "You like fishing much, perhaps too much for me. But we will fish again… later, in our own place and not a borrowed hut. And soon, we will move to the place where we will build our home. "
"And then we will fill our home with children," Ead added.
"Yes, I think that you like to fish so much that we will have many children, some strong boys like me and some beautiful girls like you." He kissed her again and then opened the door to lead her outside.
The two villages prepared and ate breakfast together before Arnporr and Ead and their people left to trek back to their camp on the far side of the wood. That night, in the privacy of Arnporr's tent, they fished again.
Ead fell into the pattern of a wife among Arnporr's people, which didn't seem very different from the pattern of the wives in her own village. She collected wood, prepared food, and made her husband comfortable. Once a week, she went with the other women to the pond nearby to wash their clothes and slowly, she began to make friends among his people, their people.
A few weeks passed until early one morning, Heaviu and Judoc rode into the village. Everyone had anticipated their arrival and was eager to let them lead the people to their new place. As a wedding gift, Arnporr had given Ead an energetic young pony, which she had named Angharad. As everyone put their things in carts and Arnporr and some of the men mounted their horses, Angharad was brought to Ead. She mounted her pony expecting to ride towards the back of the group with the other women, but Arnpoor came up beside her and gave her the gentlest of smiles. "We go together to our new place." And so, the two rode side by side just behind Heaviu and Judoc.
The people moved quickly once they arrived at the clearing near the lake, where they intended to settle. Soon tents were erected, the livestock secured, and a fire ring built. Heaviu and Judoc were invited to stay for a meal but declined, saying they needed to get back to their village. Heaviu hugged his middle daughter, smiled at her and asked if she was as happy as she appeared. "Yes, more so," she answered. Satisfied, he and Judoc rode away.
Ead was surprised by the eagerness of the people to build their village. First came the main hall where almost everyone slept at night and when Arnporr resided over the people's business during the day. Most meals were taken there too, but were prepared outside. Then other buildings were begun, including the hut that would be for Arnpoor and Ead. She was glad to see the progress on their home, as sleeping with Arnporr in the main hall surrounded by so many others felt awkward. But within a few months, every family had their own hut. Ead was glad because winter would come soon and it would be too cold for the people who had still been sleeping in tents.
The following year, a room was added to their hut as they prepared for the birth of their first child, who was a girl and was named Adallindis. Soon after, the men of the village were called upon to war with a tribe from the north that was destroying other villages in the region. A large battle was fought not far from Heaviu's village and Arnporr returned with the sad news that among those killed from her old village was Cathasach. "He was a brave warrior and fought like one, even though he was old," Arnporr told Ead. The following Spring, Ead bore a son and he was called Cathasach, in memory of the fallen hero.
Arnporr and Ead did fish frequently, although as the family grew and Arnporr grew older, the fishing expeditions were not quite as frequent nor did they last entire nights as they had done in the beginning. Ead learned from listening to the other women that that was the way of things and that still, their fishing was more than most of the couples in the village.
Two years after young Cathasach, Ead bore another daughter, and the next year another daughter, and the babies came almost yearly for several years after. Some survived but some did not. By the time Adallindis was blossoming into a young woman, she had five younger siblings to watch over. Young Cathasach grew to be almost as tall as his father and every bit as strong. He learned from his father how to be a great warrior, but he also learned to farm. The youngest was another son, Cyneric, who seemed to take more after his grandfather Heaviu in build but had his father's striking blue eyes and agility. Adallindis looked like her grandmother, Aofie. Two of her younger sisters, Runa and Porvi, looked more like Arnpoor but the fourth girl, Eydis, was a younger version of her mother.
Ead had been warned by Arnporr's family about Wassa, who obviously had feelings for him. But as Ead thought about the woman years later, she realized that Wassa, while very much in love with Arnporr, stood by their family diligently and became Ead's closest ally within the women of the village. Once when Ead asked her about her loyalty, the woman had replied that Arnporr had been very sad until Ead came among them. She confessed that she would not have made Arnporr smile as Ead was able to do. "Because he smiles, I am content," she told Ead. Wassa had been made an honorary member of the family when Cyneric was still a baby. The village had been attacked and a man made it into the room where the baby slept. Wassa came to the boy's defense and fought with the warrior, keeping him away from Cyneric until Ead came with her sword. Together the two women defeated the warrior but Wassa was badly injured in the fight. Arnpoor declared her a sister to his house and the family looked after her the rest of her life.
Winfrid, who served the people as an interpreter for many years, married a woman from Ead's village and they lived there. But they would come visit often. And as the years passed, more marriages were arranged between the two villages. Soon the northern tribes realized that to attack one village meant a swift response from the other and stopped attacking both villages. The region settled into many years of peace.
Eventually, Ead's family changed as first her grandmother and then her parents died. Her younger sister, Fiedlimed, died also, in childbirth. Maela, Ead's older sister married and her husband became the leader of the village. But it was the death of her fishing partner that shook her the most. She knew she had been lucky to have him beside her for so many years but seven years after her father's death, she lost her husband too.
Young Cathasach became the leader of their village and Ead watched with pride as he filled the role left by his father. Arnporr had taught him well. Other tribes from far away tried to move into the region but Cathasach formed a coalition with all the neighboring villages, including hers, and the invaders were thwarted. And in her own waning days, she smiled as the village grew from the small circle of tents and huts into a true village that spread across the clearing and thrived. As she closed her eyes for the last time, she knew that Arnporr's dreams for his people would be fulfilled.
Okay folks, that's a wrap on Book One of Through the Ages. Once I get my other stories under control, I'll start on Book 2 which will be set in another time.
Please let me know what you think. And anyone have any thoughts on a different time frame they'd like to see our couple navigate?