Page 43 of A Song of Ravens and Wolves
‘And Jarl Sigurd is to attend?’ My thoughts turned to the sorry man I had left on a mound of furs, no doubt festering angrily in our chambers waiting for me to return. I looked at the sun’s arc in the sky guiltily, knowing I had been away too long.
‘He should, but if he cannot you will have to attend in his place.’ She carried on with the fishing net, casting me a sideways glance.
‘I…’ I did not know what to say, stumbling over my words. Surely, he could not expect that I would go to The Thing as a Chieftain? ‘I have been gone far too long. I am grateful for your company, but I must return to Jarl Sigurd.’
?
By the time I’d returned, the crisp night air had filtered in through the shutters on the back of the moon casting sinister shadows. The small bells from Drest’s hood tinkled softly. I felt exhausted. I wanted nothing more than to return to the bathhouse and soak my weary bones. I could have slept for an eternity, but it was not to be.
Sigurd stood, leaning against the door frame. Watching.
I could feel my heart flutter with excitement or fear. I could not tell. It was going to take everything I had to apologise to my husband, whose face had resembled a dog licking piss from a thistle when I had returned. Although slightly bruised, he seemed in good spirits, but his tone told otherwise. I had not dared mention my meeting with Father Finatan, that I decided would be best left for another day.
‘Sigurd,’ I took a deep breath to steady my nerves. ‘It was not necessary that I should take your place and rule for the sake of one day.’
He shot me a look.
‘We leave for The Thing tomorrow,’ he said eventually. ‘You need to understand our customs and our laws. Today would have been ripe for you to learn.’
‘I beg you, Lord. I meant nothing by it. I simply thought that if I went out fishing with the rest of the women it would allow you to rest and you did not truly need me, Thorkell had–’
‘Thorkell, is not my wife,’ he said flatly.
‘What must I do that I might earn your trust?’
I studied him carefully, his jaw clenched and unclenched.
‘You will be in command while I attend The Thing. You will rule in my place, and I will hear no more on the matter.’
I bowed my head. ‘As you wish, Lord.’
‘While you are in a more agreeable mood,’ he hastened to add. ‘You will learn from the Gothi, so that you may know the stories of Thor, of Loki and of the goddess, Freyja.’
I was in no position to argue.
‘Yes, Lord,’ I said, trying to bite my tongue. I had little interest in learning anything about my husband’s gods, but I was grateful that my obedience had appeased him, even if it had left a sour taste in my mouth.
‘When we first met, why did you say I am like her?’
It had always puzzled me; other than my falcon I could never see the likeness that my husband saw.
‘Like whom?’ he smiled.
‘You know who I mean, you have said it often enough.’ He did not answer and made me say it again. ‘Like the goddess Freyja.’
The air between us crackled with expectation. If I close my eyes, I can still feel it now. My breath still hitches in the back of my throat.
‘The name Freyja means lady.’ He stepped closer, enough that I could feel the heat from his body. That his words brushed against my skin. ‘She is the one who taught the Aesirthe magic of the seiðr,’ his hand reached out and touched my face, sweeping a piece of fallen hair behind my ear. ‘She has a cloak made from falcon feathers which allows her to travel the nine realms. She is brave, like you and when the fearless and handsome die, it is Freyja’s Hall, Sessrumnir they will be taken to, we all scream Valhalla, but it is Freyja’s Hall we covet most.’
In my heart, I know that we will be reunited in Sessrumnir.
‘My Lord, we are both women and we both have falcons. That is as much as we are alike.’ I stood before him. ‘I bring no magic. I do as my father has willed. I am no more than a coward. You do not see Freyja.’
‘You cannot tell your Jarl Sigurd what he does and does not see,’ he said playfully.
By the look on his face, all that had gone before had now been forgiven. I wanted him there and then. I could stand it no longer.
Trembling, I cast my shift to the floor revealing my nakedness.
