by Alice Wilde
“All I can do is try,” I say. “That’s the best I can do right now.”
Annalise drops down off the barrel and walks over to me.
“It’s a start,” she says. “But we need to be honest with each other. We all do. This is going to be hard enough as it is.”
“I know.”
Just then, the ship lurches to one side, sending me crashing into Annalise and the barrel she’s only just stepped away from.
“What in all of Hel is going on?” I shout before going quiet and pressing a hand over Annalise’s mouth as well.
Eleven
Annalise
The wind is knocked out of me as I’m thrown back against the barrel, Ero’s massive body nearly crushing me in the process. He clamps a hand over my face before I even have breath to speak, and it’s a good thing he does.
A thick fog has rolled over the sides of the ship, and previously clear skies are suddenly dark and foreboding. The ship lurches again as a wave hits the side, hard.
I look up at Ero, who slowly removes his hand from my mouth and then gestures for me to stay quiet. He gets up to move across the deck when he abruptly turns back to me and wrenches off the top of one of the barrels.
Before I can say no, Ero plucks me off the ground and places me unceremoniously inside the cask before jamming the lid back on. I shove against it, but it’s on tight enough that I can’t get out but can still breathe.
Pressing my hands against the sides of the barrel I find what I was hoping for, a small corked hole. After a minute, I’m able to push the cork out and look through the hole and I gasp.
Ero, Roan, and Li are standing in a circle, their backs against each other as the dense fog swirls around them. I stare wide-eyed as the fog continues to thicken and slowly forms the shape of a giant woman.
“Ah, sailors,” the woman says in a watery voice. “What brings you into my realms?”
“Your realms?” Ero asks in a deep, loud voice. “Who are you to claim the ocean as your realm?”
“You’re a full-blooded one, aren’t you? I’m Rán, and this—” the woman says with a smirk, gesturing to the expanse of ocean— “is my realm. From here to the southern shores of Scandinavia, and you’d do well to know that.”
“Rán?” Ero says, his face blanching.
“Yes, my dear.”
“Who’s Rán?” Li and Roan ask in unison.
The giantess snarls, but Ero raises his hands to try to calm her.
“Let me try to explain,” Ero says. “Rán, this woman before us, is said to be the wife of Aegir, the Lord of the Sea—”
“That I am.”
“—and the captor of souls drowned at sea.”
“How exactly were these souls drowned?” Roan asks.
Ero doesn’t answer, instead looking up at the giantess.
“Drowned is one way to put it,” Rán says. “Most of them don’t know they’re drowning until it’s too late, willingly following me to the bottom of the sea…as will be your fate.”
“Who would willingly follow you to the bottom of the sea?” Li asks bluntly.
Rán scowls down at him.
“I’ve heard,” Ero says, “that she lures men to their deaths. Their hearts, more likely their dicks, drawn by the promise of a lovely maiden.”
The fog suddenly begins to condense once again, and I watch as Rán’s image transforms before my eyes into that of a completely naked, red-headed maiden. Her eyes are the ever-changing colors of the sea, her face lovelier than any I’d ever seen. If I wasn’t trapped in this barrel, I might actually follow her to death myself.
“Oh, I see,” Li says, cocking his head to the side.
Panic rises in me as I grasp what she’s trying to do. Is this the last moment I’ll see them before she drags my men to their watery grave? Will she take the ship as well?
“Impressive,” says Ero, not hiding the fact that he’s enjoying the view. “But, you see, none of us have time for that. Regrettably.”
“What—”
“You see, lassie,” Roan says, “we’ve still got a way to go, and I don’t think any of us is interested. I hope we can come to some agreement so that we can be on our way.”
“You should be fawning over me! Follow me into the ocean this instant!”
Li, Roan, and Ero share a look and then start moving about the deck as if there wasn’t a strange naked woman begging them to drown themselves and have sex with her on the middle of the deck.
“Sorry, we’ve got more important things to do,” Ero says.
“Fine, then I’ll ravage your ship!”
“Wait!” Li snaps, stepping toward her. “Perhaps we can come to a compromise.”
“What sort of compromise?”
“We’ll give you the ship and whatever cargo is aboard if you allow us to sail the rest of the way to Scandinavia safely.”
Rán looks thoughtfully around the deck, doing her best to expose herself to my men as much as possible in the process.
“It is rather a nice ship,” Rán says finally. “Your woman must be one of a kind for you to reject me.”
“She is,” Roan and Li say in unison.
Rán looks over her shoulder curiously at them and then sighs and glides to the edge of the ship, as though she is floating on a layer of fog.
“Very well, I’ll grant your request, but not for your sakes,” Rán says. “I can’t say I’m not intrigued. In the centuries I’ve been calling men to their deaths, not one has ever resisted me.”
“There’s a first time for everything,” Ero says casually.
“You wicked man,” Rán says with a laugh. “Leave the ship on the southern shores of Scandinavia. I’ll collect her there. Don’t try to cross me, or I’ll send my husband to finish the deed…Oh, and if you ever escape this woman’s grasp, I’ll be waiting.”
As suddenly as she had appeared, the woman vanishes, jumping off the side of the ship and evaporating in a cloud of mist. The skies clear once again, as if nothing had happened.
“Well, that was fun,” Ero says.
“Hey!” I yell as loudly as I can, but none of them can hear me.
I would be perfectly content never journeying another day in my life at this point. When things aren’t going wrong in every way possible, the days simply seem to blur together. My body aches, my clothes itch, and what I wouldn’t give for a hot bath and a pleasant, meaningless conversation. And fewer naked fog women.
“We’re ready, Annalise,” Li says.
“Finally,” I mumble to myself.
They’d left me in the barrel for nearly half a day before Roan went to look in the captain’s quarters and noticed I wasn’t there. It was only then that Ero had realized he’d left me trapped and hurried to let me out. He apologized—once.
I’m still furious with all of them for forgetting about me and leaving me trapped in a barrel again.
I climb over the edge of the ship and hold tight, carefully maneuvering my way down the rope ladder and into the rowboat below where Roan is waiting for me. Ero and Li join us soon after and we begin the journey to shore.
As soon as we are close enough to land, Ero and Roan jump out and pull the boat ashore. Li helps me out of the boat, and I nearly collapse to the ground with joy. I’d be content never to set sail on a ship again, although I know that isn’t going to be possible.
“Ero, this is your land,” Li says. “You take the lead from here. Just tell us where we need to go and what we need to do.”
Ero nods, and we follow him off the beach and into the unknown.
It’s significantly colder here than it was back in England, and I can’t help but hope we can find warmer clothes soon. Perhaps here we can actually stay at an inn for once.
We walk silently for the better part of the afternoon before we come upon a small town.
“Is this your home?” I ask, curiosity finally getting the better of me.
“No,” says Ero. “We’re still a few days’ journey from it, but I
know this town, or at least I did. Mostly farmers and craftsman, a trading village. We should be able to find a place to stay, and perhaps some necessities for our journey.”
I can barely contain my excitement as we enter the village in search of lodgings and goods, but it isn’t long before I realize the Vikings live differently from many of the places I’ve read about or seen so far. There are no taverns or inns to be found. Instead, Ero asks around to see if any of the villagers are willing to open their doors to us for the night. While no one has been outright unfriendly to us, the looks we are given are far from welcoming, and I’m starting to think we won’t find anyone willing to help when a woman approaches us.
She says something to Ero that I cannot understand. He nods and they talk for a while longer before she smiles at him and walks away.
“What was that about?” asks Roan.
“That was our new host,” Ero says. “Her name is Astrid. She’d heard that we were in need of a place to stay for the night and has offered us her roof.”
“Oh, thank the gods,” I exhale in relief.
“We’ll most likely have to offer her a trade,” says Ero. “Generally, it would be some form of manual labor or perhaps entertainment of some kind.”
“Fine by me,” Roan says. “It’ll be worth it for a good rest and hot meal.”
“I can’t guarantee that you’ll get either, but at least it’ll be a place indoors to rest.”
“Why’d she walk away?” Li asks.
“She said she had some preparations to make, but that we should see the jarl and she’d meet us there a bit later.”
Ero leads us through the village until we come across a building that’s larger and sitting slightly above the rest.
“This should be it,” Ero says.
“Should we go inside?” I ask.
“I doubt it would hurt to let the jarl know we’re here,” Li says. “Whether or not this is a trading village, I’d want to know when an odd group of travelers appeared in my town.”
As we approach the entrance, the door swings open and a group of men exit. They’re tall, almost as tall as my men, and heavily built. They eye us warily, and then one of them speaks. Again, I cannot understand a word he says, but Ero is quick to respond. I can’t help but feel this new group of men watching me, and I quickly cross my arms over my chest. If only there had been a fresh set of clothing somewhere on our ship.
A man with a long silver beard says something in a powerfully deep voice, and even Ero pauses for a moment before answering. I’m fascinated by the language they speak. I’ve learned several languages fluently, and parts of many other languages, but this is entirely new to me. I doubt we ever had a Viking enter our courts. The language is hard to describe other than to say it sounds like a broken mix of nearly every other language I’ve heard from my kingdom’s surrounding countries. It pitches and weaves and crashes against you in unexpected ways, leaving me completely baffled when trying to understand the meaning behind each word.
We’re finally led into the hall of the jarl’s home, and the group of men follows us. As we get nearer to the far end of the hall, I can make out the jarl’s chair, which is empty. The men who have led us into the hall don’t move, and we remain standing, waiting for the jarl to join us.
I take this chance to look around the room. The decorations are far more rustic than any I’ve seen in a Great Hall before, but they are not unpleasant or uncomfortable. It’s far darker inside than I would prefer, but that may be in part due to the colder temperatures here than in my own warmer climate.
A door swings open at the side of the room and a man strides in. His hair is pulled back into a braid, which nearly touches his waist, but not in an unkempt way. He’s quite tall and imposing, wearing fine clothes and furs. He’s followed by an attractive woman, who is equally well-dressed, and a number of men and women with bowed heads that I can only guess are servants.
The man takes his place in one of the ornate chairs before even glancing our way. The man who brought us into the hall steps forward and says something, gesturing toward us. Ero bows in response, and the rest of us follow suit. The tones sound harsh and angry among them as they speak, but then the jarl laughs and shakes his head.
“You, girl, tell me why are you here?” the jarl asks me in a language I can mostly understand, although his use of the tongue is a little broken.
“We’re on our way to visit Ero’s family,” I say. “We just hope to have a place to stay for the night, and perhaps a hot meal.”
The jarl looks around at each of us in turn, thoughtfully pulling at his beard.
“An odd bunch, aren’t you? Hmm. You may stay the night, but I expect you to leave by morning and to offer your host fair trade for her generosity.”
“Thank you.”
“Wait for her to retrieve you over there,” the jarl says, gesturing toward a long table off to the side of the room.
The four of us take a seat, but we don’t have to wait long before Astrid arrives and motions for us to follow her. We take leave of the jarl and quickly make our way out of the hall and to Astrid’s home. It’s on the edge of town and quite small, but tidy. She’s just showing us where she’s prepared several places for us to rest made of straw and blankets when a young girl of perhaps nine or ten runs up and tugs at her skirts.
The child is stunningly beautiful, with silvery blonde hair and eyes almost as blue as Ero’s. I can’t help but think she even looks a little like him. The woman says something to the girl, who looks at us nervously before running back outside.
Ero says something I can’t understand to Astrid, who gives him an uncomfortable look before replying.
I look on in shock as Ero takes her roughly by the arm and pulls her close to him, his jaw tight and his face angry. She struggles against his grasp.
“Ero!”
Ero turns to look at me and immediately releases the woman, who slaps him and points toward the door.
I don’t have to know the language to understand what the next words out of her mouth mean as I quickly remove myself from her house along with Roan and Li, but Ero doesn’t follow. We can all hear them shouting at each other until Ero finally storms out to join us.
“What was that about?” Roan asks.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Do we at least have a place to stay?”
“What do you think?” Ero growls as he pushes Roan aside and walks out of the village and into the surrounding forest.
“Should we wait here or follow him?” I ask anxiously.
Li looks around, and I notice the argument has drawn several of the other townspeople out of their homes and gardens to watch.
“I think we’d better go after him,” Li says. “None of us can speak their language, and I’m not interested in getting into any trouble with these people.”
We smile at the frowning faces around us and slowly make our way out of the town in the direction Ero left.
It doesn’t take us long to track Ero. The trail he’s made through the forest is distinct and easy to follow. We hear him before we even see him, the cracking of branches and harsh, fierce-sounding words not far off.
“Ero,” I call as soon as I think he might actually hear us.
The forest goes silent as soon as I speak, and I hold my breath as I wait for a response.
“I’m here,” Ero says.
We follow the sound to a small clearing, a clearing that was probably not there before Ero arrived. Small trees have been yanked out of the ground and tossed aside, branches and leaves litter the forest floor, and more than a few of the larger trees have marks where Ero has punched them.
“What happened?” Li asks, choosing to ignore what Ero has done to the forest.
“I thought it was pretty obvious,” Ero says.
“Is this about the little girl?” I ask.
Ero’s nostrils flare as he turns to look at me. “Yes.”
“She’s yours, isn’t she?” I ask
hesitantly.
“If what Astrid says is true, then yes. She’s mine.”
We all stare at him in disbelieving shock. Not that it was at all impossible, but more so because it is actually true.
“So, what are you going to do about it?” Roan asks.
Ero pulls at his hair and spins to punch a nearby tree, breaking off a large chunk of the bark in the process and bloodying is hand.
“Dammit. I don’t know.”
“Are you sure what she says is true?” I ask.
“Quite certain,” Ero says. “I didn’t recognize her at first, but then she said something to me at her house that most people shouldn’t know.”
“Then you can’t leave her or your child alone,” I say quietly.
“She doesn’t want me,” Ero says. “I’m no husband, and I’m certainly no father.”
“Perhaps not, but you don’t seem to have much of a choice now, do you?”
Ero looks at me curiously.
“We always have a choice,” he says. “It just might not be the right choice in most people’s eyes. Besides, I can’t stay. I have nothing to offer and everything to lose if I do.”
“What do you have to lose by staying?” Roan asks, his voice stony.
“You need me to help gather a Viking army,” Ero says, changing the subject. “How are you going to do that if none of you speak the same language as they do? The jarl may know how to speak a bit of another language, but that’s not a common thing the further north you go.”
“Of course, we still need you,” I say, hoping I sound reassuring. “But we can also find a way to make this right. Do you really want your daughter growing up without a father?”
“She’d be better off for it.”
“You don’t know that,” I say. “Besides, I think you could make a great father.”
Ero scoffs.
“Really, Ero,” I say. “I know you think you’re incapable of letting anyone in, but it’s because you’re afraid of hurting people.”
