Chapter 9: Nuffink's New Family
The morning of November First was bitter and frosty, causing the albino girl Nuffink had taken under his roof the night before to snuggle deeper into the hide from a black bear, which she'd slept under for most of the night. Nonetheless, the wonderful smells of the Viking's cooking invaded her nostrils, causing her eyes to flutter open. She reluctantly sat up and rubbed her eyes; after years of spending countless nights on the cold, hard dirt floor of the orphanage, using Nuffink's bed was by far the best sleep she'd ever gotten.
The Viking himself was sitting on his stool by the fireplace, cooking eggs, thick strips of meat, and flat, buttery wheat cakes on a flat piece of iron suspended over the fire. He was dressed in a thicker tunic and breeches for the colder weather, with a fur shawl across his shoulders over his leather armor. He gave a warm smile when he turned and noticed that she was awake.
"Ah, good morning, little one! I hope you're hungry!" he said, standing up and placing a full plate of food on the table. The girl's stomach grumbled, and she licked her lips greedily; even after eating her fill of potatoes and fried herring the night before, she had yet to recover from the long periods of near starvation she had to endure. Wrapping a smaller animal pelt around herself, she crawled out of bed, the cold wooden floor against her bare feet making her shiver.
Seriously, she didn't deserve someone as hospitable as Nuffink. First, he'd magically healed her twisted ankle. Second, he'd let her eat as much food as she physically could without making herself sick. Finally, he willingly gave up his bed for her to sleep on.
"Thank you for breakfast," she peeped meekly as she sat down to eat.
"You're welcome. Now, the first order of business for today," he replied as he sat down with his own plate of food. "If I'm going to be taking care of you for the foreseeable future, you need a name. I've taken much consideration overnight. You have proven yourself to be strong when faced with hardship; therefore, you are deserving of an equally strong name, one that was worn proudly in my culture. I shall call you...Lagertha."
The girl's eyes welled with tears once again, this time from happiness. She finally had a name! One that wasn't an insult from every person to cross paths with her!
Her new caretaker had the wrong idea and frowned in concern.
"Do you not like that name? I can choose another if you'd-"
"NO! It's perfect! I'm just happy to finally have a real name," the girl - no, Lagertha - interjected.
"Alright, if you're sure. The next thing we need to do today is go to the market and get you some new clothes. That dress you're wearing right now looks like it could fall apart at any moment," Nuffink continued.
"Oh, we can't. Not today at least. The shops will all be closed in observance of the Holy Day," Lagertha informed him. Nuffink blinked in surprise, then sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Your religion confuses me to no end. Alright, new plan: you stay put while I go retrieve the wolf carcasses we left in the woods last night. At the very least, I can salvage the hides."
...
A few hours later, Nuffink had skinned the four dead wolves and buried the remains. As the pelts dried on the stretcher, the Viking took one of his spare tunics and a pair of deer pelts. With the tunic acting as a makeshift dress, as well as a long vest and a pair of boots made from the pelts, Lagertha was now sufficiently dressed for the weather. He then did something that struck fear into the girl:
He suggested that they venture into the very city that she was thrown out of.
"Now, I know you have your reservations," Nuffink said gently, "but I have a plan. The shops may be closed, but the castle isn't. I'm going to explain your situation to Queen Elsa and have her appoint me as your guardian. You'll be safe from harm as long as you stay close to me. Understand?"
"O-okay," Lagertha hesitantly replied.
After taking a moment for Nuffink to hang his axe on his belt, the two walked hand-in-hand through the woods and soon the wide-open city gates. Lagertha grew self-conscious and skittish when the few people they passed stopped and stared before averting their gazes.
"People are watching me!" she whispered in fear, only for Nuffink to chuckle and give her a reassuring smile.
"How do you think I felt when I first walked through your city?" he asked her. "Remember what I told you earlier: no one can hurt you with me by your side."
They still had a fair distance to travel before reaching the castle, and anyone that stared too long was driven away by a harsh glare from the Viking. The glare didn't work on everyone, however.
"YOU!" a woman's voice yelled, causing Lagertha to shriek and dart behind Nuffink. A middle-aged nun clad in a black-and-white habit was striding angrily toward them, flanked by two of other nuns. "That demon spawn was supposed to have been exorcised from the city last night! How dare you bring her back on this holy day?!"
"She is only a child, and a victim of poor circumstances. I have taken her under my roof, which is more mercy than she has been shown by the likes of you. Thus, she travels with me as I see fit," Nuffink growled in response, towering above the three women. "Consider yourself lucky that I do not wish to invoke the wrath of your God. I am not above striking a woman if the need arises." With that, Nuffink shouldered his way past the nuns and continued on the path to the castle, Lagertha jogging to keep up with his long strides. The lead nun was about to follow them, when one of the other two laid a hand on her shoulder.
"Let it go, Sister. Perhaps he is correct, and we have been too cruel to the girl..." the significantly younger nun suggested.
...
Elsa and Anna were in Elsa's study, going through paperwork together, and had been since Mass ended earlier that morning. Elsa had a quill in her hand and an inkwell in front of her, putting her signature on the more important documents. Anna sat beside her with a burning candle and a stick of red sealing wax, waiting to apply the Royal Seal wherever it was needed. Neither of them wanted to work on a Holy Day, but the already impressive stack of unfinished papers would only get higher if they put it off.
Needless to say, Kai knocking on the door was a welcome distraction.
"Sorry to interrupt, Your Majesties, but Master Nuffink has arrived. And he's brought a guest with him this time," the advisor announced.
"Thank you, Kai. We'll meet them in the sitting room as soon as we finish these papers," Elsa replied with a smile. Kai bowed and took his leave. Elsa signed the document currently in front of her, then passed it to Anna, who stuck the stick of sealing wax in the flame of the candle, then put a blob of melted wax just beneath Elsa's signature and stamped it with their family seal. The two sisters then stood up and stretched, Elsa in particular sighing in relief as her stiff joints popped like firecrackers.
"Yeesh! I can't even imagine how Mother and Father could do this all day long!" Anna complained, bracing a hand against her back. "Who do you think Nuffink brought with him?"
"Beats me. I'm as curious as you are," Elsa replied with a shrug. When the two got to the sitting room, Nuffink was sitting in one of the armchairs while Lagertha warmed herself by the fireplace.
"Hi, Nuffink! Who's your friend?" Anna cheerfully asked.
"Hello to you as well, Princess. This is Lagertha; I found her alone in the woods last night, and I will be taking care of her for the time being. I understand that she has a somewhat deterring appearance and is feared by the other villagers."
Elsa could see his point: the gaunt and bony girl, with her ghostly pale skin and scarlet eyes, could potentially be confused for a specter or demon. However, she and Anna both remained undeterred.
"Aww, she doesn't look so scary to me! She's as cute as a button!" Anna cooed with a warm smile, causing Lagertha to turn red and avert her gaze shyly.
Nuffink cleared his throat and continued, "Regardless, there are some things I would like to discuss with Queen Elsa. Alone."
"Very well. Anna, would you mind keeping our guest entertained?" Elsa requested before gesturing for Nuffink to follow her. "What seems to be the trouble? I can already tell that there's more to the story," Elsa asked as they walked side-by-side through the halls of the castle. "And please, just call me Elsa; formality is for the throne room, not a conversation between friends."
"You're correct in assuming there's more. Lagertha wasn't just abandoned by a neglectful caretaker. She was thrown out of the city by force," Nuffink told her, shocking her so much that she stumbled. The Viking repeated the same story that Lagertha told him to the gobsmacked Queen, who afterwards furrowed her brows in concern.
"I'm ashamed to admit that there's not much I can do," she confessed. "Having a man of the cloth arrested without solid evidence of his crimes would paint me in a bad light. Furthermore, I can't make you Lagertha's legal guardian without authorization from the orphanage director. I can work on getting that authorization, but it would take time."
"I see," Nuffink sighed. "Thank you for trying at least, Elsa. I'm going to keep caring for her regardless; it seems I'm the first adult in her life who's ever shown her kindness. She didn't even have a name until I gave her one."
Nuffink's selfless desire to help the misjudged child made Elsa's heart flutter, and she laid her hand on his shoulder with a warm smile.
"You're a good man, Nuffink. Better than some people I've met," she told him, with two certain nobles that visited for her coronation coming to mind. "I'll let you know as soon as I make any progress getting that authorization." As he looked Elsa in the eyes, something about her deep sapphire-blue gaze caused a strange feeling to spark to life in Nuffink's own chest, and they held their gazes for longer than was probably appropriate.
"ELSA! HEY, ELSA!" The moment abruptly ended when Olaf the snowman came bounding up to them with an old leather-bound tome in his hands, excitedly calling Elsa by name. "I found this book in your library, but I can't read it. Can you read it for me?" Olaf held the book up for the to see, and Nuffink's eyes widened when he spotted the familiar black insignia on the cover.
"Th-The Book of Dragons?!" he spluttered. "How in Odin's name did you find it?!"
"Sorry, Nuffink," Elsa replied, guilt crossing her features. "I was going to return it, but I got curious. I've never seen creatures like those before, except in storybooks."
Rather than get angry like Elsa expected, Nuffink only gave her an amused smirk.
"Well if you wanted to borrow it, why didn't you just ask? I'd have taught you everything you wanted to know about dragons!"
Elsa seemed to consider the offer before noticing how long Lagertha and Anna had been alone together.
"Perhaps another time. Anna and I should really return to our duties," she replied.
When they got back to the sitting room, both adults couldn't help the endearing smiles that appeared on their faces. Anna and Lagertha had assembled the couch cushions into a small fort and were snacking on fruit tarts and tea underneath it. And while they snacked, they played with Anna's old dolls and figurines from when she and Elsa were children (that she never had the heart to get rid of).
"Alright, lass, time to go. There's work to be done...for all of us," Nuffink announced, causing both Anna and Lagertha to groan in disappointment. Nonetheless, Nuffink and Lagertha were able to say their goodbyes without much fuss.
"Where are we going, Nuffink?" Lagertha asked in curiosity as they walked back through the city. The Viking smirked deviously.
"To my smithy, of course! That stuffy old Abbot hates it enough when I light my forge on a Sunday; I want to see the look on his face when I do it on a Holy Day!" he responded. Lagertha snickered.
...
"Well, that was fun while it lasted," Anna sighed while putting the cushions back on the couch.
"I take it you enjoyed yourself, then?" Elsa asked as she helped her younger sister.
"Oh, you bet! Lagertha's such a sweetheart! I can't believe she was just abandoned like that!" Anna's grin vanished when she saw the look on Elsa's face. "Elsa? What's wrong?"
"Lagertha wasn't abandoned, Anna," the Queen admitted with a heavy sigh, plopping down in the armchair closest to the fire and rubbing her temples. "It seems that certain people think they have the authority to go behind our backs and take matters into their own hands. Regardless, once I obtain permission from the orphanage, Nuffink will become Lagertha's legal guardian."
"A wise decision indeed, my Queen," the Grand Pabbie piped up, appearing at the entrance to the room and startling both women.
"For heaven's sake, Grand Pabbie! Just because we let you come and go as you please doesn't mean you can give us heart attacks!" Anna told him with a scowl.
"My apologies, Princess. As I was saying, letting Nuffink care for the girl is an excellent decision for all parties," the elder Troll continued.
"What do you mean?" Elsa asked.
"If my intuition is correct, and it usually is, our Viking friend is more broken than perhaps even he himself realizes," the Grand Pabbie explained. "Perhaps a family of his own is what he needs to finally begin to properly heal..."