by A. J. Adams
Lizbeth glared at me. “Bjarke is recovering from an accident. I don’t want him bothered!”
She really did like him. I could see it in her eyes and the fierce way she was protecting him.
“Lizbeth, he is my good brother.”
Typical bikkja that she is, she just nodded and dragged him off. I turned back to my brothers, all of them jealous of my Bliss. It was, “Look at those eyes! Like jewels!” and “That face! It’s a blessing to see a proper woman again!”
Bliss was smiling, but they were crowding around her, touching her, and I could see their emotions were taking a toll on her. I’d thought that might happen, and I had a strategy to cope with it.
“I love that you love Bliss, but she’s my woman,” I announced with mock fierceness. “So all you bastards keep your hands off her.”
Brant guessed what I was up to and fed me a nice line. “Okay if we just look, Skull Crusher?”
“Sure. Feast your eyes. But keep your distance.”
They all laughed, but they knew I was dead serious. And as they didn’t want to get slapped down, they kept their hands to themselves after that. I could see Bliss was relieved but also shattered. There was strain around her beautiful eyes, and she was too pale for my liking.
“Come on,” I said to her. “Let’s go home, sweeting.”
I walked her up the hill, into the cabin, and shut the door behind us. Bliss sank down onto the floor by the fire. Saga, Bygul and Trigul crowded around her in a warm, furry pile.
“Well,” Bliss sighed, “we’ve made it, and nobody’s reaching for the woodpile.”
“You’ve got most of the brothers on your side already, and when the duke sails around the bluff, you’ll be accepted by everyone.”
“Let’s hope we can cope with him,” Bliss worried.
“Of course we can. You’ll hear all about it in the next few days.” Someone had brought my chest up from my old cabin. I delved inside it and found the only treasure I had saved from home. A brooch that had belonged to my mother. I’d carried it inside my tunic across the ice fields and had squirreled it away with my winter boots.
I sat by Bliss. “This was my mother’s and her mother’s before her,” I told her.
“Sweet Lady, it’s beautiful!” Bliss examined it with awe. “Is that the Lady Freyja?”
“Yes, and those are her kisa, underneath.” I pointed out the workmanship. “It’s gold, and these are amethysts.”
Bliss was speechless. She turned it over and over in her hands, staring at it.
I took it from her and pinned it on her tunic. “It’s yours now,” I told her. “And you will pass it to our daughters.”
Her arms snaked around my neck, and she was kissing me sweetly. “You’d better start telling me about those plans to deal with the duke,” she said hoarsely, “because I want to settle down and start working on making that happy vision of yours come true.”
Instantly my dream flashed back to me: kids running along the beach, my girl and I watching. I stroked the silky locks and held the sweet, firm body close to me.
And that’s when it hit me, I really had done it. I had found the perfect woman and brought her home. Now all I had to do was make sure we’d live to enjoy our future.
Chapter Seventeen: Bliss
“I didn’t touch her tunic! Bliss, tell her it wasn’t me!” Petronella was appealing to me yet again.
“Swear to the all-seeing Ullr, it wasn’t me!” Rose snapped back. Then she glanced at me. “And the Lady knows too, right, Bliss?”
“I’ll tell you what I know,” I told them both. “I’m getting fed up with the lot of you! You do nothing but bicker all day long.”
“It’s not my fault,” Rose sulked. “It’s this place.”
And that was part of it, all right. I’d been listening to them all for a fortnight now, and between settling endless quarrels and quietly reading their thoughts, I had a very good idea of what was going on.
I got to my feet and decided that busy hands would sort them out. “You can both go for a walk and sort out your problems while you gather some herbs for me.”
“Again?” Rose asked.
“You’re my best foragers.” At least that got me a smile. Rose and Petronella were pretty girls, but their constant unhappiness soured them.
I handed them a basket each. “I need to make more tormentil; you know what it looks like—it’s the one with the little yellow flowers. If you see borage, that’s the blue flower, collect some of that, too. It’s a good general tonic. Also, seeing the men are constantly battling each other, pick some comfrey if you see it. It’s good for healing bones.”
Ushering them out, I picked up my own basket. Seeing I was ready to go out, Saga sat up and shook herself. She had taken to snoozing on the porch, the cunning girl, because it meant she had an eagle-eyed view of who was returning from the forest.
“Are you hitting up the hunters again?” I asked her. “You’re totally shameless!”
Saga flattened her ears and tried to look apologetic, but she was grinning. The Beasts were a generous lot, and as far as I could tell, not one of them refused her when she begged for a part of their kill.
Saga hadn’t hunted for herself since we arrived in the village, and Bygul and Trigul had barely put a paw in the forest. I’d been afraid they’d get lost or hurt, but the cats very quickly figured out that the Beasts enjoyed seeing them eat, so they strolled down to the pier every day and propositioned everyone who brought home a catch.
“You’re a pair of lazy parasites,” I scolded them, but truth is that I was delighted to see them happy. I’d always worried back home because the village boys could be cruel, but here I knew nobody would hurt them.
And that was the weird thing about the Beasts. It hadn’t taken me long to discover they were all brothers to Siv under the skin: touchy about their manhood, their honour, and their bravery but also generous to the bone with the people they loved.
Burly, inked, and tougher than oak, the men were soft as butter with Saga and the cats. From their thoughts, I knew the Beasts were yearning for sweet times. Even the ones who despised the women for being Prydain dreamed of having a family to love. Yet their past stood between them and their needs.
“Bliss! A moment of your time?” My thoughts were shattered as Mina, pink-faced and panting, darted from behind a cabin and waylaid me.
“Of course. Are you okay?” I could feel waves of tension coming from her. She grabbed my wrist. Surely she can tell me. Ullr be kind! Mina was worried. “Tell me,” I said gently.
“Am I pregnant?”
I felt myself shrink. Mina lived with two brothers, and as she’d stayed away from me ever since I’d arrived, I wasn’t sure if she was happy.
“Wynne says you touched her belly.” Mina was scared; I could see her hands tremble as she lifted her tunic. “Tell me?”
I touched the warm skin gently and closed my eyes. Please, Ullr, the all-seeing! Oh, and the Lady! Of course, sweet Freyja! Mina’s prayers resounded in my mind, and underneath, a definite second life.
“You’re pregnant,” I told her.
Instantly a surge of joy streamed over me. Mina was giggling, too, clearly thrilled. “Oh, they’re going to be so happy!” She flung her arms around me, two men, inked from neck to belly with hawks and fish, laughing at me, their cocks standing straight up in the air as they moved forward to embrace me. “Thank you, Bliss!”
Mina danced away, leaving me totally breathless and somewhat shocked, too. I thought I’d seen it all, especially with the duke acting like a dog with two tails, but Mina’s evident joy in her two men was a new one on me. Still, if it meant one more happy girl, I was all for it.
Walking to the jetty, I found Siv, Rune and Brant fitting a plank into the side of the longship. Back in Salvation, the men would be swearing, ordering each other around, and fussing, but the Beasts were happy working together. In some ways they were more like bees than men. I liked it, but it was sometimes quite a
lien.
“Hi, Bliss!” Wynne was there, also carrying a basket. “Great minds think alike!”
I liked Wynne. Of all the girls, she was the easiest to get along with. I felt her pull away from me sometimes, but like Siv, she thought witch and then felt guilty. She was also perfectly content. She and Rune were so close, they were practically one.
It was she who named the settlement Skraeling’s Point, saying wickedly, “I wanted to call it Beastville, but Siv and the others practically had a collective coronary.”
That’s typical of Wynne. She’s rude, fearless, and witty. You can see why I liked her.
As I produced the baked fish, Siv sat down next to me and grinned companionably. “Vixens all sorted?”
“Yes.” I kissed him and tugged his hair. “So much for being my protector! You run at the mere sight of them!”
Brant shuddered. “That lot would have any sensible man turning tail!”
“If we’d known, we’d have left them in Brighthelme,” Rune grumbled. “They’re more trouble than all the others put together.”
“Actually, I want to talk to you,” I told Rune.
“About the vixens? What are they doing this time?”
“Nothing.” I decided to forget about the fight over the tunic. “Look, I think you should consider something. Wynne and I are village girls. For us, life here is pretty much the same as in the Vale and Salvation. Better, because back home we were outsiders, whereas here we’re loved.”
At that, Rune and Siv were grinning, but Brant was looking serious. “Go on.”
“It’s different for the others. They’re all city girls. They have no farming skills. Worse, they’re all rich, or they were. Now they’re here, they’re missing their thralls, their servants, and all their luxuries. And although you do a lot of the heavy work, they do have to help with the crops, and they do almost all the laundry and cooking.”
“Everyone works,” Siv frowned.
“Back in Brighthelme, these girls didn’t do much except order people about. They were important, the spoilt darlings of their families.”
“Being with us is a step down,” Brant said bitterly.
“Not for everyone,” I said quickly. “Some like it here. Others haven’t made up their minds yet.”
“So what are you saying?” Siv frowned.
“I think we need to find a way to send the really unhappy ones back.”
“What? No!”
“Absolutely not!”
“Forget it!”
The three of them were on their feet and yelling. Brant was frightened, I could feel it. Rune and Siv were angry.
“We took them fairly after battle!” Siv saw this as a matter of honour.
“Without them, there’s no future!” Rune was defending his people’s future.
“And anyway, their own people didn’t want them,” Brant added.
I waited till they calmed down and tried again. “If we keep going on like this, we keep having problems. Everything is a fight, and people are miserable. It’s no way to live.”
“The girls will settle,” Rune said. “Thralls are always restless the first few months. The vixens will eventually find a man.”
I thought of Helga, Durwyn’s thrall, lonely and quiet in Salvation.
“But these aren’t thralls who are alone and far away from home,” I pointed out. “There are almost as many of them as there are of you. Having their friends around makes it harder to forget what they’ve left behind.”
“We treat them well,” Brant pointed out.
“Yes, but only because you want them to be mothers to your children and not simply thralls.”
“Which makes them very lucky,” Siv growled. “They’re the enemy, after all.”
“And that’s it in a nutshell. If you’re sleeping with the enemy, you’ve got a problem.”
That silenced them.
“Bliss is right,” Wynne said quietly. “I see it too because I’m not a Beast,” Siv growled at her, and she quickly said, “Okay, Skraeling. But Siv, you say Prydain like it’s an insult. And that’s part of it. We’re getting better, some of us, but we’re still looking at enemy Prydain and enemy Skraeling trying to live together. And for the most part,” Wynne was brutally honest, “it’s not working too well.”
There was another long thoughtful silence.
“Are you seeing trouble, vala?” Rune asked eventually.
“No, not as a vala, I’m just observing.”
“And have you had any visions yet?” Wynne asked.
“Yes, but nothing fantastic. I saw Hokan hit his hand with a hammer, and the vixens would’ve burned down their cabin if I hadn’t warned them to use their fireguard.”
“It will come,” Siv said. “When we were in Salvation, Bliss only saw things there, and now she’s here, her focus has shifted to here.”
“So she sees only matters that affect her?” Rune asked.
“We think so,” I said. “I never realised it until I talked to Siv, but all my life I’ve only seen the future in my own little world.”
“But you’ve seen the duke, a lot of times,” Brant frowned.
“Because my fate depended on him. Even then, I only caught glimpses of him. Apart from him, I never saw anything else outside of Salvation.”
“Do you think you’ll see him coming?” Brant asked.
“Yes, although your scouts will see him just as easily.”
“How do you know about the scouts?” Rune frowned.
Wynne rolled her eyes. “Sheesh, Rune. She reads Siv like a book.”
There was another uncomfortable silence. For all their talk of democracy, Rune, Brant and Siv had planned the counterattack, only discussing it with their brothers as they had perfected their ideas.
The women, including Wynne and me, had been left out of their debate. I wasn’t too fussed about it because their strategy was too convoluted for me to understand. But I did know they’d sent scouts down the coast, stationing them a few miles apart. The first sight of the duke’s ship would trigger a chain of fire arrows speeding back, carrying the news faster than lightning.
“Talking about the duke, have you perfected your counterattack?” I asked Siv as I picked up a piece of fish. Saga was nosing me meaningfully, hoping for a piece of my lunch, when the world shimmered,
“Come on, I’ll give you the first punch!” Knut was grinning, pointing at his chin. “Right there, that’s where you want to aim.”
“Stinkfart!” Turid was laughing. “You’re going down, brother!”
“Seeing you hit like a Prydain, your punches will feel like kisses!”
Turid shifted, the sand under his feet soft and yielding. “This surface sucks.”
“Excuses, excuses!”
Turid’s punch landed swift and sure, on the exact spot Knut had pointed at. Knut’s mouth opened, his eyes glazed a second, and then he blinked. “My turn!” But as he shifted, ready to punch back, he tripped and fell backwards.
“Clumsy oaf!” Turid laughed. “Come on, brother! Stop lying around!”
But Knut wasn’t moving. Then the sand behind his head began staining an ominous red.
“Bliss?” Siv was gazing into my eyes, looking worried. “What do you see, sweeting?”
“Ohmigod! I’ve got to stop them!” I was frantic.
“Stop who? Stop what?” Brant was open mouthed, holding a fish in his fingers and looking totally shocked.
“Bliss just had a vision,” Siv announced tersely. “Calm down, Bliss. Take a breath.”
“Turid, fighting Knut! I’ve got to stop them!”
“They’re on the little beach,” Rune was on his feet and moving. “Come on!”
We arrived at a dead run, just as Turid and Knut were squaring up to each other. A ring of Beasts stood around them, calling out bets, encouragement, and friendly insults.
“Go on, Knut! Show him who’s boss!”
“That would be his girl!”
“Stop!” I was blaring
louder than a hunting horn. “Stop!”
Knut was laughing, and I heard his voice clearly, floating across the beach, “Seeing you hit like a Prydain, your punches will feel like kisses!”
I was in such a panic that I overtook Rune and Siv, piling in between the two Beasts.
“Hey! Watch it!” Turid took hold of my shoulders, surprise in his eyes. “Never step between two brothers,” he said seriously. That crazy woman! She looks like us but she’s as daft as a Prydain. She might have had that pretty nose bashed flat! “It’s dangerous!”
“So’s this,” I panted.
“Nonsense, we’re just having a punching contest.”
“Right,” a Beast called from the sidelines. “He’s only going to give him a good thumping. It won’t hurt a bit!”
“It will kill him!” I yelled as a gale of laughter went up.
“Typical Prydain!”
“Yes, afraid of a little blood!”
The men were completely ignoring me but then Siv stepped up. “Shut up, you arseholes! Listen to the vala!”
There was an instant silence.
“Vala?” Knut said in shock. “You had a vision? About me?”
“Yes.” I explained quickly, “so for goodness’ sake, call off this fight!”
Turid was frowning. “You really think I’m going to kill Knut? My brother?”
“No. I know it!” I pointed to the sand. “Dig there! That’s where he hit the sand!”
For a moment Turid hesitated, but then he knelt on the beach. “I guess we’ll know the truth soon—” and then he stopped. “Odin’s hairy balls! Look at this!”
He dug rapidly, exposing a sharp pointed metal spike.
“It’s an anchor!” Knut breathed. “An old and rusted one!” His eyes were on me, totally shocked. “It must have been buried there for years! How did you know it was there?”
“Because she’s a vala,” Turid said. He got to his feet and pointed at the anchor. “It’s old and rusted all right, but it’s sharp as an axe, and it was only barely covered by the sand.”
Knut was awed. “If I’d hit my head on that, it would have knocked my brains out.”
“Yes,” Turid replied faintly. “The ones that aren’t in your arse, that is.”
