"Where is he?" Frida breathed in a swift rush of words, her eyes scanning the long-hall as she in long strides made her way past the wooden thrones of the longhouse.
But she did not look for long, because out of the corner of her eyes she quickly noticed a big dark pile in front of the door leading outside, and next to it an almost fully grown wolf, light silver eyes following her every movement.
Frida stopped in her tracks, her head turning sharply to inspect the strange pile next to Freke, and she gasped when she realized what it was.
Freke had brought a giant stag back from his hunt.
A marvelous sight it was indeed, Frida had to admit that as she walked closer to the wolf she had missed for several days now.
The stag's fur was clotted dark from the blood that had escaped its killing wounds, but from its skull sprung two of the largest and most stunning antlers Frida had ever laid her eyes upon. They rose from the head of the animal like two giant oaks, rising into the air like deadly arrows, as if they were majestic weapons created by the gods themselves.
However beautiful the creature was, Frida could not help but to feel a slight cringe of disappointment twisting in her belly that had the little baby in there move awkwardly around as she realized Freke had returned without news of Bjørn.
Frida bent down to embrace her missed friend, and she could not help but to giggle as a long and warm tongue slid up her cheek, telling her that he had missed her too.
"Good boy," Frida soothed as she turned her eyes to the stag next to him, "You did this all by yourself?"
The sudden deep humming of Rollo's voice behind her had Frida exhale a gush of air in surprise, as he pointed: "No, it seems he ran into some big fellas out there."
Frida followed the direction of Rollo's finger only to find herself staring at a big wound in the side of the stag in front of her, three long gashes revealing from where all the now clotted blood had come from.
Frida glared at the gashes and felt her lips frowning, her brows furrowing when she realized that they were the marks of an animal, a predator, perfectly linear slashed through the skin covering the stag's ribs. And this animal was much bigger than Freke, as was obvious from the size of the cuts.
She felt a cold shiver run down her spine.
"Another wolf?" she asked in a small voice, and she turned her eyes back to Freke, stroking his head while silently thanking the gods that he was still alive from the apparent encounter.
"Hm, no," Rollo hummed as he inspected the gashes closer. "Bjørn."*
Frida started on her feet, jumping a little as her thoughts immediately shot to Bjørn, and whether he might have run into these animals too out there in the dark Danish woods.
However, the confused look that ran over Rollo's face as he saw her reaction to his words quickly made her realize that she had misinterpreted him.
"Oh," she muffled and let her eyes fall to the floor, her heart sinking a little inside her chest.
She felt Rollo's dark eyes on her as she stood there awkwardly staring down at her big belly, a quick and strange spreading through the small crowd that had gathered by the entrance of the long-hall.
"What is the meaning of all this?" Ragnar's surprised voice suddenly sounded, and Frida felt her body react to the sound of it even before she had realized it meant that he had returned.
Her eyes shot to the door, and while they immediately connected with the blue crystals of her husband, she could still sense out of the corner of her eyes another figure approaching behind him, silky blonde hair swaying from the gentle summer breeze outside, a perfect set of white teeth shining from tanned lips emerging from behind Ragnar's shoulder.
Frida opened her mouth as to speak, but she was so taken aback by everything that had happened the last couple of days, she found herself breathing lightly and her legs trembling.
"What is this?" Ragnar repeated, the tone of his voice firmer this time as he trotted noisily over the hind legs of the stag, his movements typically dramatic.
Frida felt the child inside of her belly kicking wildly at what felt like the inside of her ribcage, and while her legs were still trembling from trying to grasp the entire situation, she felt her knees give in before she realized what was happening.
She gasped out, and raised her arms to grab something to hold on to, but she reached nothing but the thin air as she felt her body falling.
Out of the blue Frida sensed two arms swooping under hers and around her chest, the entire weight of her body suddenly held by someone from behind.
Frida was surprised when she turned her head to see Floki holding her in his arms, a deep line carving his forehead as he gazed down on her, his lips pushed into a white line behind his rugged beard.
Floki carried her silently with outstretched arms like she was a convenient piece of furniture, no signs of straining on his face.
Frida felt her cheeks blush as he placed her on one of the stools that surrounded the longtable.
"Blueberry tea, Thyra," Frida heard Ragnar order one of the servants from somewhere behind Floki, but she turned her eyes to find Floki's above her, something very strange and unfamiliar shining from his ocean blue irises.
"Th-th-thanks," she managed to stutter in between small breaths, and she finally released her tight grip on the rough fabric of his sleeves.
She heard him hiss out under his breath as he turned away from her to let Ragnar through to her. Ragnar bent down before her, and she soon felt his hands on her stomach, swaying gently over her in soothing movements.
"My love?" he whispered over her, searching for her eyes and reaching his hand up to tuck some of her hair behind her left ear.
She shook her head lightly, as to not amplify the dizzy sensation that made her eyes swim a little in her skull, mumbling: "I'm just a little… overwhelmed, that's all. Freke came back, he, uh… brought a prey."
She sensed Ragnar turning his gaze back to the dead stag by the entrance of the long-hall, before he sighed out.
"I guess he did not follow Bjørn, then," he stated bluntly, disappointment obvious in his voice as his eyes traveled back to her.
Frida pushed her lips into a thin line. "The stag was attacked by something else, a very large animal. Rollo says it's a bear," she spoke almost in a whisper. "Ragnar, what if…"
Her words died out before she could finish her sentence.
She finally let her eyes turn to his, and she embraced the sensation of him piercing through her skull as he stared at her with dark eyes, his brows slightly furrowed.
A lot of things were being said between the two of them as they looked into each other's eyes, and for a quick moment Frida thought that Ragnar was to break into a run for the woods as to trace the tracks of Freke that would lead him to a giant killer, a creature that might end up hurting Bj…
"He will know not to engage in a fight with this animal," Ragnar breathed inaudibly, stopping Frida's trace of thoughts.
She bit her lip as she took in his words, and after a short while she nodded in agreement.
Bjørn was not foolish, even as he had wandered off into the woods by himself. He was a well-brought young man who could make the right decisions on his own, she was sure of it.
However, she did not like the idea of Bjørn wandering around the woods with an animal like that roaming with him.
A sudden sound of a small throat clearing behind them had Ragnar yanking to a stand, turning around to weirdly step to the side to reveal the Götaland princess Ingeborg standing behind them with innocent eyes.
"I'm sorry, but I had to ask. Are you alright?"
The icy blue eyes of the snow white blonde in front of them turned to Frida, and she felt air escape her lungs unwillingly as the frosty eyes of the princess captivated her for a small second, holding her gaze and her breath.
Frida felt Ragnar nudging her shoulder.
"I, um, yes. A little dizzy."
She was finally able to tear her gaze from Ingeborg when their servant Thyra held out a horn with steamy tea in it. Frida thankfully accepted it, and she quickly sent a smile to the Götaland princess before drinking slowly from the horn.
The small chirping sound of Ingeborg's voice had Frida turning her eyes back to her, as she spoke again: "I have not myself carried a child yet, but I assume that it takes a lot of courage and strength, since the gods chose for it to be women to hold the role of growing a child and not men."
Frida's eyes widened as she listened to the princess' words, and she could not help but to curl her lips slightly as she saw Ingeborg's eyes roam over to Ragnar.
Ragnar dramatically rolled his eyes at the Götaland princess, and he turned to talk to Athelstan, who had made his way over to listen in on the reasoning of the current events.
Frida furrowed her brows as she watched the little exchange between the two of them play out in front of her, surprised by the tone between them.
Ingeborg bowed her head honorably at Frida, insisting: "I wish that a friendship should spire between the two of us. We women are stronger if we work together. Let me know if there is anything I could be helpful with, yes?"
Frida thanked the Götaland princess many times, genuinely accepting her invitation of attaining a friendly relationship.
Her air was calm and sincere, and Frida could not help but to feel a heavy stone fall from her heart as they nodded their heads at each other before Ingeborg stepped down, the immediate uplifting sensation shooting through Frida's entire body and warming her rapidly.
She was glad that Ingeborg had approached her like she had.
She hoped that they would indeed come to know each other as friends some time.
...
"What was that little exchange between you and Ingeborg earlier today?" Frida smiled at Ragnar from behind her drinking horn as they later sat by a small table that had been placed on the low grass just outside the Eastern terrace of the longhouse.
A couple of people had joined them outside to enjoy a bit of fresh air and the warmth of the sun, Athelstan, Floki and Torstein included.
Ragnar scowled at her with dramatic eyes, before he rolled his head along his shoulder blades, sighing out heavily.
"I hear she is some mouthful," Torstein grinned from behind his thick reddish beard.
"Yeah well, she is very opinionated in her fighting techniques," Ragnar added, "Think women should make up a bigger part of the shield wall."
His voice had some tone of distaste in it that Frida did not like, and she let her eyes fall to Ragnhildir who was sitting next to her on the small bench. She was playing with a small woolen doll that was shaped like a little bear.
"My lady," a soft voice soothed in her right ear, and Frida turned her head to see Athelstan's gray eyes of concern glaring at her.
She noticed Floki turning his head at him too.
His eyes flickered a little as he spoke. "I brought… some flatbread, thought you might care for some."
Frida watched as he reached out his hand to reveal a little wrapping that held several pieces of flatbread with a healthy layer of cinnamon spray. Frida let one hand sway to her stomach, and she thankfully reached the other up to accept one of the breads.
Floki's shadow soon hovered behind Athelstan. "What is this, Priest," his repulsed tone seethed, "Some Christian tradition?"
Frida furrowed her brows as she watched the expression of disgust on Floki's face as he towered up next to Athelstan, inspecting his wrapping carefully.
Athelstan rolled his eyes at the tall Viking in front of him. "I was just offering the queen some bread," he sighed, "Would you like some?"
Floki narrowed his eyes at Athelstan in front of him, who next to Floki seemed so little in his figure, Frida would have imagined he would feel the wish of crawling into a hole if he had the chance.
A long moment passed where the two men just stared at each other before Floki finally snapped one of the flatbreads out of the wrapping, a small giggle leaving his lips as he smiled at Athelstan.
Frida watched Athelstan with furrowed brows as she did not like the way Floki acted around him, but she was surprised when she saw the smug smile that had spread over Athelstan's lips.
"Hoc est corpus," he smiled just as Floki grabbed one of the breads, causing Frida to laugh out as she easily recalled the words as being those pronounced by Christian priests as they handed out bread during supper.
Floki made a small hissing sound as he turned away from the two Northumbrians, and as he walked away he mumbled: "Hokus Pokus."*
Frida reached over to pull Ragnhildir onto her lap, and she bent down to place a kiss on her hair as she let her thoughts wander to the coming day. They were to make a short trip to the famous moor at Heddinge, a small village to the East, in which it was said were the kingdom of elves.
"Ellefolk* is said to have their kingdom in this moor," Ragnar had explained to her, "and many travel there to experience the magic there is hidden in it."
"Magic?" Frida had asked, intrigued by his changing air.
"You will know when we get there tomorrow."
*Bjørn (bear): This is obviously a play of words that works in Danish but not in English. However, I wanted to include it because Frida probably would have reacted the same way as you guys; thinking Rollo meant Bjørn and not 'just' a bear.
*Hokus Pokus: This means something ala "Abracadabra" or "mumbo-jumbo" in English, but I could not find a real translation of it. It is a Danish saying that is traced back to the early Latin word of the Christian supper "Hoc est corpus" which means "This is my body/corpus" (from Matthew 26, 26). Now it is used more as to say "mumbo-jumbo" about something you find weird, or some 'magic' that you deem to be unreal. It is clearly an old mocking of the Christian ritual, so I thought it to be fit in this context ;)
*Ellefolk: elves (in the Nordic mythology)