Frida sighed out heavily when the meeting in the longhouse was finally over.
There had been many complaints to deal with, and meanwhile Frida did solve most of them with the help of Elisef, her thoughts were somewhere completely different the whole time.
As she sat there in the boiling summer heat of the long-hall, she furrowed her brows thoughtfully, her hands swaying over her ever growing belly while she lightly bit on the nail of her thumb, thinking about last night's events.
After the two children had disappeared, Frida had not turned around to the longhouse to ask Helga and Elisef what on earth had happened. Instead she had found herself trotting her way, quickly, along the paths of the village, ending up at a door that she had only entered once before.
The door to the Seer's house.
The room had been just as dark and creepy as she remembered it to be, and she immediately regretted her stepping in there, when the door closed behind her and a hideous smell filled her nostrils.
A smell of rotten flesh and dust lingered heavily in the thick air, and she felt like she had stepped into another world. A world in which magical beings and the gods were more real than her own heartbeat itself.
Frida had sat down on the stool facing the table that was placed in the middle of the room, as Ragnar had done when she had been there with him.
She heard a gurgling laugh, a wet and throaty larking coming from the darkest corner of the room, and enormous waves of chilling goosebumps spread over her entire body, petrifying her as she sat there.
The cloaked figure moved slowly towards her, dragging his feet with him as he came closer, while he chuckled in slow breaths, filling the room with his unearthly tone of voice, causing the little creature in her stomach to stir nervously beneath her skin.
Frida still could not look at him properly.
She felt like a child as she sensed his eyes upon her face, and while she kept hers lowered on the wooden table in front of her, she heard his voice coming over her.
"What brings the queen here, to intrude an old man's rest?" croaked the voice, and she closed her eyes as regret washed up in her mouth.
If only Ragnar had been here with her.
"Please," she whispered in a quick breath. "In here, I am just Frida."
She heard the Seer chuckling again, and she watched him out of the corner of her eye as he sat down in front of her on the other side of the table.
His skin looked to be as deformed and irritated as ever, his lips as black as a Norse winter's night, and she felt his stare burning her face even if she could not tell if he even had eyes or not.
"Why have you come, Frida?" he asked her.
Frida finally dared to raise her head and look at him directly, and she noticed his lips were curled into something that reminded her of a smug grin. However, his air was serious, and his movements still.
Frida had a feeling that he already knew very well why she had come.
She felt her chest tightening as she cleared her throat. She did not know whether she really wanted to hear what he had to say or not. But she had to hear it.
"A young brother and sister came here," she started in a trembling voice, while she nervously twitched her hands in her lap. "They told me something which I do not understand."
The room was very silent, and the Seer breathed loudly into the room as he reached up his hand to grab a couple of bones that were spread over the table. The sound of the chalky pieces rattling over the wooden planks sent eerie shivers down her spine, causing her body to tremble slightly.
When the Seer did not answer her, she went on.
She felt out of place in here, as if the whole world was watching her, listening to her every word. She felt very self-conscious.
"They told me that…"
But Frida's words came to a halt when the Seer began to laugh again, louder, manically. Her eyes widened when she saw him picking up one of the bones on the table. It was the skull of a big bird.
"The last time you came here, you had the same questioning eyes that I see before me now. I am beginning to question whether or not you take our gods seriously, Frida."
Frida stared hard on the cloaked figure in front of her, and she felt nettled by his words, a certain knotting feeling constricting her throat heavily, making it difficult for her to breathe.
She did not know how to answer him.
The cloak sighed out heavily, as if annoyed by her presence alone, while his hands continued to roam over the old bones on the table.
"Let me tell you a story," the Seer finally croaked out.
And while the Seer carefully chose his words, Frida had to remind herself to breathe while listening.
"One day, the gods Thor and Loki were riding Thor's war chariot that was pulled along by the billy-goats Tandgnost and Tandgrisner. As they passed by Midgård, they found themselves to be both tired and hungry, so they pulled in at the first house they saw. This house belonged to the farmer Eigil Skytten, who was very hospitable, and they were welcomed by him and his family. He had a wife, Groa, and two children."
The Seer paused in heavy strained breathing.
"Eigil told them that they were very welcome to rest their tired legs in their house, however, they had very little food, as they could barely feed themselves. Thor told them that food was not a problem, and so he immediately slaughtered one of his goats, ordering them to only eat the meat of the bones, but never suck out the marrow nor break even a single one of them.
The family and the two gods feasted mightily when the stew had been prepared, and when all the bellies of the house were full, everyone went to sleep. When morning came, and Thor swung Mjølnir over his chariot, he noticed that one of his goats had a limp. Thor became infuriated, and he thundered into the family's house once more, asking who had sucked out the marrow of goat's leg in a roar.
It was Tjalfe, one of the children, who came to confess his deeds, and Thor was angrier than ever. But to punish him, Eigil offered that Thor was to take his children with him, as servants, so the family would not live a harsh punishment of the gods. Thor agreed to his terms, and the children of Eigil were brought with the two gods to Asgård."
When the Seer did not speak anymore, Frida stared at him with a carved forehead. The silence that followed his tale was thundering, rushing for her ears, and she opened her mouth to question it. She did not know what to do with this tale.
"I'm sorry," she admitted in a thin voice. "But I do not see how that has anything to do with what happened yesterday."
She felt her heart sink in her chest. She had really hoped that the Seer would help her come to understand.
A rattling snicker sounded from the seer, as Frida put her head in her hands. She felt helpless.
"It has everything to do with yesterday," the Seer grinned horribly in a wet clatter.
Frida felt frustration explode inside of her chest, and she felt her muscles flexing tightly, her fists clenching in her lap.
"But!" she started, immediately interrupted by the cloaked figure: "Follow the raven."
His statement was blunt, demanding, and Frida clasped her lips shut. The ancient one in front of her smiled crookedly at her as he reached out his boney hand.
Their conversation was over.
Frida had left the house with a stale taste lingering on her tongue and a clouded head.
She felt even more confused than before she had visited the ancient one, and she hated herself for not comprehending what had happened.
And while she sat there on the throne, pressing a finger to one of the temples on the side of her head, she stared up at the great banner that hung over the entrance to the long-hall. It was a black flag, Ragnar's symbol, and at the center there was the image of a raven woven with golden thread.
Frida's eyes flew open, and she rose to her feet in a swift movement with her eyes stuck on the banner.
A wave of realization washed over her as she walked towards it, and a big smile crept over her lips, a stone finally leaving her shoulders.
This was what it meant.
It had to.
It all fitted perfectly.
