Empty Altars

by Judith Post

  Diana took a quick breath. Snorri's daughter worked in Griswold's kitchens. Damn the chieftain! The girl's large, blue eyes put cornflowers to shame. Her lips were a natural rose-pink. Curves pressed against the thin fabric of her dress. She might look like a temptress, but she was inexperienced.

  "You led my father to Griswold and let him kill him!" Vigdis struggled against Diana's binding spell, trying to free herself.

  "Your father strangled Gudrun."

  "That was Griswold's fault."

  Diana tilted her head, interested. She freed the young witch's body from the spell, only keeping her hands bound in front of her. "You blame the chieftain? Why?"

  Vigdis sat up. She tucked her legs beneath her, keeping her knees close together. Her gown strained, pinned under her weight. "Our longhouse burned to the ground.”

  “I’ve heard. You blame Gudrun for not predicting that? You think she should have warned you?”

  “It burned during the rainy season,” Vigdis snapped.

  Diana frowned, not following her.

  “Nothing burns then,” the girl explained, “unless the fire’s set.”

  “Are you accusing someone of arson?”

  “Not someone. Griswold promised my father…." Her words stopped abruptly. Her hands flew to her throat. She began to choke.

  "A spell!" Diana recognized the signs at once. She released Vigdis from her binding. "You made an oath?"

  Vigdis nodded and gasped for air. Her face turned bluish.

  "Repeat the oath, child, so that I can undo it."

  No words came. The girl clawed at her neck.

  Diana muttered one chant after another, trying to remove the curse. The girl's eyes bulged. Diana sputtered more incantations. Vigdis' tongue swelled.

  "No!" More spells spilled from Diana's lips.

  Vigdis collapsed. Diana thought of obscure chants and tried those. Vigdis' body spasmed. Her breast no longer rose and fell. Her eyes stared, unseeing.

  Inga threw herself on Vigdis' body. "What happened to her?"

  Diana turned away, defeated. "An oath—she swore she wouldn't reveal a secret on penalty of death."

  "Heid can do that?"

  "Any witch can. It's a contract. If you break it…." Diana turned back and motioned toward Vigdis. "Damn it to Hades!"

  "But you're the mistress of witches. Why couldn't you remove it?" Freya asked.

  "Curses are one thing. I can revoke those. Contracts are different. Oaths are specific. One chant doesn't work on all of them. If I knew the exact oath, I could have saved her, but there's not always time. Every witch knows that."

  Inga stomped the ground. "We all know what happened! Griswold slept with her, even though he promised her father he wouldn't. He should be whipped."

  "She's a slave." Freya kept her voice calm, but tiny ice crystals sparkled on her cheeks and the air turned cold. Inga and Diana shivered in their wet clothing. Freya bent to close the girl's eyes. She stroked Vigdis' face until it returned to normal. "He could do with her as he pleased. It's your law. If he beat her to death, he'd go unpunished."

  Diana noticed the stress on the word your. Slaves were commonplace in ancient times. Greeks held them. So did Romans, but she was glad those times were gone.

  "He's the reason Snorri killed Gudrun!" Inga screamed.

  "Snorri killed an innocent, old woman because Griswold slept with his daughter? What sense does that make?" Diana shook her head. Something niggled at her. "The spell Vigdis used to drown us had to come from Heid. But why make Vigdis take an oath?"

  Freya pursed her lips. "Odd, isn't it?"

  "Because Griswold's a stupid, mean man!" Inga paced back and forth, unable to stay in one spot. "Heid wants him to stay in power because he's worthless, and she knows it. Three good people died because of him."

  "Indirectly, yes." Freya sighed. "But how did Heid become involved?"

  Yes, that was the question Diana wanted answered. "How long did Vigdis work in the kitchens?" she asked.

  Freya frowned. "Since Griswold made Snorri a slave two years ago. Why?"

  "How old is Vigdis? Fifteen? Sixteen? Surely, he was sleeping with her the entire time. He noticed Inga when she was thirteen. That’s the age he seems to prefer."

  Inga's expression hardened. "At least she didn't bear him a child."

  Diana frowned at that. She remembered that Inga had thrown herself off the high wall of the village to keep from having Griswold's baby. "You've lived outside the village a long time. Are you sure Vigdis had no child?"

  Freya looked at the dead girl. A tear slid down her cheek, dropped onto a rock, and turned to gold. Diana stared. Freya shrugged. "Part of my magic." But neither of them was interested in that at the moment. "The chieftain's wife died four years ago. She bore him only daughters. He wed again—a girl much younger—to produce an heir. The girl was sterile. If Vigdis had conceived a boy, Griswold would have taken her baby to raise as his own."

  "He could do that?"

  "He owned her."

  Inga sniffed. "Griswold's old. Don't blame being sterile on Liese or Vigdis."

  Freya shook her head. "Last year, when he took another slave to bed, she bore him a daughter."

  Diana chewed her bottom lip. "But Vigdis never got pregnant."

  “Griswold promised not to take her,” Freya said.

  “We all know he did.” Inga motioned toward Vigdis. “She tried to tell us that.”

  The old pervert had lied from the beginning. Diana had no doubt he’d paid someone to torch Snorri’s house, killing the man’s wife and children. "If I wanted to make sure my daughter didn't get pregnant, I’d look for someone to make potions to ensure that."

  "We have no witches in the village." Inga stared. "You think Snorri went to Heid, don’t you?"

  "The man must have been frantic with worry. What would you do in Snorri's place?”

  "So Snorri made a deal with her, that's what you think, isn't it?" Freya asked.

  "He had to be angry—with his fate, with Griswold…."

  "Righteous anger," Inga added.

  Diana couldn't argue that. "He was a fool if he thought Heid would treat him better than the chieftain."

  Freya balled her hands into fists. "What options did he have? He'd lost everything. Griswold took his lands and family. Vigdis was his only surviving child. He didn’t want to give him his daughter’s baby."

  Inga jumped in. "He wanted to protect her. Heid gave him potions if…"

  "…he killed Gudrun." Freya gazed down at the dead girl.

  Diana took a deep breath. "When Snorri was caught and killed, Vigdis blamed us. She went to Heid for revenge. It all worked in Heid's favor."

  Inga lowered her head, upset.

  "You must have known Vigdis, been a friend to her," Diana guessed.

  "No." The one word was muffled.

  "Her fate reminds you of your own. It must." Freya started to reach for Inga, but thought better of it. The girl wouldn't meet their eyes.

  "My family wouldn't help me." Inga’s words were more of a sob than a statement.

  Diana's heart clenched. She could feel Inga's pain. She wanted to ease it, but didn't know how.

  Inga rubbed at her eyes. "I understand how Vigdis was filled with hate, how she was angry with everyone, even me."

  "But that didn't happen to you. You weren't bitter and hateful when I found you," Diana said.

  "I would have been, but I had Gudrun…and hope. When Vigdis lost her father, she had no one, nothing."

  "And no more of the potions he bought." Diana nodded. "It's a waste. The girl had talent. She must have been a fast learner. The vines were Heid's spell, but Vigdis had to cast it, and it was powerful."

  "Heid had to know she was too new to defeat us," Freya said. "Especially with you here."

  "She didn't care. If Vigdis managed to harm us, all the better. If not, so what? I could have trained Vigdis, though. She would have made a good witch."

  "This is Griswold's fault." Inga
pinched her lips together to keep from saying more.

  "He's nothing to brag about," Diana agreed, "but if Heid can remove him from power, it'll weaken the village."

  Inga hunched her shoulders. "I don't see how. Almost anyone's better than he is."

  "Maybe so. I'm no fan of his," Freya admitted. "But a disruption in power right now would serve no good purpose."

  Diana understood enough of politics to know that loyalties would be tested. Rifts would form. "I still don't see why Heid made Vigdis take an oath." It was a loose detail that bothered her. There had to be a reason for it, and it was probably significant.

  "Maybe the witch didn't want anyone to discover she was working with people in the village. Maybe Heid was hoping that truth wouldn't be discovered," Freya said.

  "Perhaps." But that, in itself, didn't feel like enough. Diana intended to have Tyr take note of who came and went more often than usual at the meadow.

  Chapter 16

  Inga wouldn't budge. "We can't just leave her here."

  "I don't want to carry her," Freya said. "We'll send someone for her body."

  Diana solved the problem. She used her powers to summon a stag and, together, the women lifted Vigdis' limp form across its back. On their way to the village, she called for a breeze to dry their clothing, so that by the time they reached the heavy gates at the wooden fence, no one could tell they'd spent the day hauling and spreading salt and battling water vines.

  Tyr and Jorunda came to help them with Vigdis' body. Jorunda’s face fell. “What happened?”

  But Freya waved her hand, looked around meaningfully, and said, “Later.”

  Once the deer was free, Diana placed her palm on its forehead. "Go with my thanks and escape death an extra time with my gratitude."

  Jorunda's fierce expression spoke volumes as he carried Vigdis inside the wooden fence. The dark warrior who often accompanied him came to join them. He took one look at his friend and said, "We'll build a pyre. She'll be dealt with properly."

  "Thank you, Jon." Voice harsh, Jorunda asked, "Can you tell us now?"

  Inga looked quickly in all directions, careful of their privacy, before explaining. She started with Vigdis passing them in the woods at night "to plant her spell," then trying to drown them in the stream. She ended with Vigdis choking before she could break her oath.

  Tyr frowned. "We can’t prove Griswold ordered someone to start the fire, but regardless, the village chieftain has done us no favors."

  "He made Snorri a promise he didn't intend to keep." Diana noticed neither Jorunda nor Jon looked surprised.

  "Vigdis tried to kill you. Could she be the village traitor you saw in your vision?" Tyr persisted.

  "I don't think so. No one was found, dead, outside the gates."

  With a curt nod, Tyr turned to the warriors. "Jorunda, take Jon with you to care for Vigdis' body. We can discuss this later. I have supper prepared. The ladies must be hungry."

  Starved was more like it. He led them into the longhouse. When Diana sat at the table and servants carried in a leg of lamb atop a mound of roasted root vegetables, her stomach growled.

  "Would you care for anything else, my lord?" The old maidservant who oversaw the household placed bread and cheeses before Tyr.

  "No, we thank you, Hlif." When she left the room, Tyr grinned. "I sent a servant to fetch a jar of red wine from your home, Diana." He poured her a glass and brought mead for Freya and Inga, ale for him and Jorunda. "Go ahead. Eat. Jorunda will join us soon."

  Diana dug in. Half her plate was clean before Jorunda returned and settled into his chair. The warrior looked surprised at how much she'd eaten, but Tyr smiled. "I love women with hearty appetites."

  Diana ignored the innuendo. "I'm not used to heavy labor." She related their day of mining for salt and scattering it around the outlying farms.

  Tyr's brows knotted in a frown. "You should have asked for help. That's a man's work, nothing for a woman."

  "You have enough worries here. Besides, it was better this way. If you'd have been at the stream, you might have drowned. The vines attacked Freya. They'd have attacked you too. And if you survived, you'd have frightened Vigdis away."

  He pressed his lips into a tight line, thinking about that. "I won't drown. That's not my destiny. But Vigdis had no cause to be fond of me. I was with you when Griswold killed her father. She'd have stayed to attack me."

  "Not after everyone in the village watched you hack a giant to death. She'd give you a wide berth."

  "She wasn't afraid to die, though, was she? She expected she might."

  Diana had forgotten that, concentrating on Vigdis' oath. "Heid misled her. The girl was convinced she'd sit beside Hel and wait for Ragnarok."

  "Lying is the least of Heid's sins," he remarked. "She uses peoples' fears to manipulate them."

  They finished their meal and Hlif led servants to the table to clear up. She hesitated when the task was finished. "Is it true, lord?"

  "What's that?"

  "Is Vigdis dead?"

  Tyr's expression softened. "Yes. She worked for you, didn't she?"

  "A good girl." The old maidservant gave a curt nod and disappeared back into the kitchen.

  Tyr turned to Diana. "Would you care to stroll around the village with me? You haven't seen much of it."

  Diana looked at him in surprise. What more was there to see? As far as she could tell, most longhouses were the same. Griswold's was the richest. Jorunda had told her that the chieftain owned all the fields and farmland in the area. The only exceptions were the farms they'd protected with salt. Griswold owned horses, too, a sign of status. She shrugged. "Is there something unusual that's worth the bother?"

  A grin tugged his lips. "Yes, my company and some privacy. I don't wish to talk here."

  "Ah." She'd been dense. Tyr was trying for subtlety, and she blew it. "In that case…."

  All of them rose to leave the longhouse. They took a path that led past humble huts and smaller, family longhouses. Diana wrinkled her nose at the smells that assaulted her.

  "Wait till we reach the barns," Tyr told her. "Norse bathe once a week, but by the fifth or sixth day of hard work, people smell a bit ripe."

  She waved her hand and a breeze blew up. It brought fresh air and Diana inhaled deeply.

  They passed a small rectangle of a longhouse with a shed attached to it. Tyr nodded. "That's the home of Olaf and his family. The shed's his smith shop. His apprentice sleeps there."

  "The dwarf's a gifted artist," Diana said. "And a worthy friend."

  "You have no idea," Tyr said. "Every Norse male is required to carry a weapon. Olaf supplies even our slaves with swords, knives, and axes. We're deeply in his debt."

  Freya nodded. "He has considerable magic too."

  They reached a green patch in the center of the village. Gardens burst with crops. More cabbage, Diana saw, along with an abundance of carrots, parsnips, turnips, and beets. Lots of leeks and onions. She was surprised to see rows of spinach and peas. "You have long winters. How do you preserve your food?"

  "We dry, smoke, and pickle," Inga answered. "We dig root cellars, and we salt meats."

  Diana was grateful for the mild seasons in Greece and for the plenty of the Mediterranean Sea, but she'd gotten spoiled by the twenty-four hour takeouts from the restaurants surrounding her condo and the variety of foods available year round at the corner deli. Modern conveniences looked better every day.

  Tyr stopped at the edge of the gardens. "If anyone follows us, we'll see him here. It's safe to talk. Snorri's death bothered me. Vigdis' bothers me more. If Heid takes this approach for a month, we'll constantly be on the defensive. We have to force her hand."

  Jorunda shifted his weight, ready to start as soon as possible. "How?"

  "Is there any way we can be alerted when she's here?" Tyr asked.

  "You mean track her movements?" Diana shook her head. "Magic's not that simple. I can sense black magic when it's near, but I can't keep watch on the en
tire meadow." She chewed her bottom lip again, thinking. "I could bring in witches from modern times to help us."

  "No." His answer was immediate. "It's against our rules."

  "How did Heid get witches for her coven?" Freya asked.

  "They're an odd mix of part gods, half-giants, half-dwarves," Tyr said. "They don't quite fit in anywhere, just like Heid."

  Diana was trying to think of some other maneuver, something that might be useful, when a crash sounded below the nearest cliff. She looked at Tyr. "What was that?"

  "I'd guess a giant is trying to scale the sheer walls and your spell tossed him back to Giantland."

  "It won't keep him there. The spell was only meant to buy us some time, to give us a warning."

  "Then we'd better be at the top of the cliff to greet him." Tyr and Jorunda started for the village gate. The three women hurried to keep up.

  They made it to the cliff in a short amount of time. When they looked down, Inga gave a start of surprise. "There are three giants and a group of half-giants, all climbing toward us."

  "I can handle them here," Diana said. "I'll move the dirt under their feet and push them over the edge with wind."

  "We'll wait for your orders." Tyr and Jorunda drew their swords and prepared for battle.

  Diana looked down to watch their enemies advance. The half-giants cast spells to help their friends make the climb. "Bad news. Witches. Stay out of the way unless they get past me."

  With a curt nod, Tyr and Jorunda stepped behind her, swords in hand. But when the first giant lifted himself over the shelf of the cliff, he waved a white flag in entreaty. "We come in peace. All of us. We seek sanctuary. We've been known to befriend gods and mortals. Heid means to destroy us."

  Diana could feel her jaw drop in surprise. Tyr hesitated a minute, too, caught off guard. Freya, however, ran to the giant and held out a hand. "Ormr! My friend!"

  The giant knelt to greet her. "We who sympathize with you are under attack. Heid and her coven killed Skeggi. More will die. We decided to join you and fight rather than cower and hide."

  "We thank you." Freya turned to see two more giants and a half dozen witches top the cliff. "Inga, Diana, let me introduce you to Hrafn and Mar, giants who've aided us over the centuries."