Читать книгу The Shieldmaid - Jens Schumacher - Страница 7

Marit

As soon as the grumpy woman leaves the cabin, Talvi and Isa exchange another quick glance and nod at each other. Björn just sits there watching the women for the first moment. As he does so, he realizes that Talvi is now a bit embarrassed, as she seems to have trouble looking at him.

Björn smiles slightly, from the looks of it, she liked what he did to her, and he assumes she hasn't experienced it like this before. If he's honest, nothing like this has ever happened to him in captivity either. When he slowly came to, he rather expected to be beaten and tortured.

But the fact that now two pretty women are taking care of him is new to him. Is he perhaps not a prisoner at all? But then he would not be wearing shackles. Isa approaches him with the ladle full of water and leads it to his mouth.

Björn approaches her with wide eyes and opens his lips. Although he has just tasted Talvi's warm urine, his thirst is far from quenched. A moan escapes him as the cold wet flows over his lips into his mouth. Isa is very slow and careful, so that Björn also gets enough.

As he takes the water, he sees out of the corner of his eye that Talvi is pushing a large tub out of a corner and filling it with water. Björn frowns. Is he allowed to take a bath?

She glances at Isa, who nods, rises, steps behind Björn and loosens his bonds from the stake. At first he is relieved to finally be free again, but his joy doesn't last long. Isa orders him with her hands to stand up. Björn squints his eyes and stands up with a loud groan, all his bones aching and he feels as if he has been sitting here for years.

As soon as he has both feet on the ground, Isa ties him up again. He exhales in annoyance. "Seriously now?" he asks in a slain voice. Again, the two exchange a look, but don't utter a word. To Björn, it seems like the two are talking with their eyes, and he doesn't like that at all. After all, he wants to know what is being said in his presence.

The women now treat him quite differently. Talvi comes to his aid, since he is still a bit wobbly on his feet. Carefully and slowly she leads him to the tub and lets him get in. Again a groan escapes him as he feels the warm water on his skin.

If he didn't know he was a prisoner, he would really be able to enjoy this bath now. Isa and Talvi wash him very carefully and he notices that they do everything to make him not feel uncomfortable. Why all of a sudden this change of heart? When they are done, they help him out of the tub again, dry him off and dress him.

He is sure that if he had his strength, he would have been able to eliminate them quickly and escape, and he wouldn't have cared whether he was naked or dressed. They would have had no chance against him. But he also has to be careful, because he doesn't know where he is, and his plan is to give in to it all first.

A good warrior does not just strike out, but weighs everything first. Björn is lucky, because from Harald he learned a little of the language of the northerners, because the woman who had spoken to her servants told him that he was stranded in Norway. This knowledge he has already once ahead of them.

As soon as the warrior women are done with Björn, they waste no more time. Talvi pushes open the door with her foot and tells Isa and him to follow her. At first Björn is not sure if it is such a good idea to leave the hut. He can't make sense of what they have in mind for him. Inwardly he scolds himself, of course he has an idea what could happen to him. He could end up as a victim, for example. When he thinks about it like this, he would have preferred to drown, at least he could have died alone. If he is sacrificed, who knows how many people will watch him.

Björn is torn, but Isa quickly helps him up. With a strong push against his shoulder, she gets him to move. At the same time, she grumbles deeply to tell him not to dawdle. The warrior follows suit, growling like a bear and taking a quick step toward her. Isa backs away, startled, to which Bjorn grins and winks at her. A breath later she squints her eyes angrily and pushes Björn outside. For the time being, he has no choice but to remain silent and wait to see what happens to him.

***

It is difficult for him to run, he is probably not quite up to strength yet. Björn has to admit this to himself, but he does so only with great reluctance. No warrior likes to admit that he is not strong or that he still needs to rest a bit to process what has happened. The ground beneath his feet, which are accompanied only by puny sandals, is cold and soft, and testifies to the fact that it must have rained here recently. As soon as Björn thinks of water, his mouth waters, but not only out of thirst, but also a little out of greed for Talvi's lust.

Björn is led through the settlement by Isa, more likely dragged, because unfortunately the little woman has no mercy on him. He stumbles several times and curses quietly to himself, he does not understand why she is now suddenly so rough with him again. This may well be due to the fact that they are gaped at by almost every resident in this settlement. Some even leave their huts for a look at the prisoner. Björn tries to ignore the people as good as possible, but the one or other skeptical look hits him nevertheless and gives him partly a tremendous goose skin. He notices immediately that he is not welcome here. How he would like to have his faithful Azzam here now.

In the background Björn hears softly the roaring of the sea, thus he realizes that this settlement is not far from water. For Björn this demonstration is a single torture and to him the march, wherever it leads, seems like half a world journey. Dusk slowly falls, leaving large fire baskets providing light at almost every hut.

Suddenly he looks up and notices that their path leads to one of the largest huts in the settlement. His first thought is not that something terrible might be waiting for him behind those doors. No, he hopes that it is warm behind it and that he can still get something to drink.

A step leads to the door and, as soon as they have climbed it, the two-winged entrance opens. Björn is immediately greeted by the warmth he had hoped for, but also by a lot of shouting, loud laughter and singing, and a foul smell of sweat, vomit and alcohol.

Isa enters the crowded hut with him and leads him to the front part. The closer they shout to the front, the quieter it gets around them. Björn becomes more and more queasy and doubts spread through him. He knows that he shouldn't be here and that all these people are definitely not his friends.

In the front of the hut there are two magnificent chairs, in front of them are precious skins of wolves and bears. On one chair sits the woman who told Talvi and Isa to watch and dress him and bring him here.

Björn would have liked to shake himself and say to all the people that they should go somewhere else. He hates it when all eyes are on him, even the woman fixes him with a stern expression and Björn doesn't know what happens now. Should he say something or does she say something? Should he perhaps thank her for the good and kind hospitality? Should ...?

Before Björn can finish his next thought, the woman rises. "My name is Marit, I am the wife of Jarl Torik Hakonson," she introduces herself in a calm voice. "I have the right to rule over you, since my husband is not here." All her movements are accompanied by the clink of her jewelry. "According to the law, you belong to whoever finds you, but the children who discovered you on the beach are still a little too young. Therefore, my husband will be the one to decide what happens to you. Do you understand?"

Björn rolls his eyes and he thought at the beginning of her speech that it will never end. He clears his throat. "Yes, I understood that Marit, wife of Jarl Torik Hakanson," the mistress gets a response from him. As soon as he had uttered even one word, an astonished murmur went through the hall. Björn frowned. Did they think he couldn't talk? He doesn't look that stupid.

Marit looks at him in amazement. "You speak our language?" By now there is dead silence; you would think they were alone in the large room.

Now it's clear to Björn why everyone is acting so puzzled. He nods. "Yes, I do. A little bit, at least."

Marit tilts her head and looks at Björn even more closely. "But you don't look like a Viking at all. Where are you from?"

Björn shrugs. "From far away," he says with an indifferent tone. "It's a long story. I returned to my homeland after many years and got caught in a storm that brought me here. But why ...?" He wants to use his hands to speak, but then he remembers that they are tied. "Only the gods know ... or GOD."

Marit gasps as a whisper goes through the crowd. "God? What god? Are you a Christian?" she wants to know on the spot. "We've heard about them. Then you are a warrior, as the scars on your body reveal. That was one reason we tied you up."

Isa pulls roughly on the shackles to make sure Bjorn doesn't forget. Björn grits his teeth and would have liked to head-butt her, but she is a woman after all. He laughs in amusement. "Yes, and your lustful servant took advantage of that right away, too," he counters dryly, glancing at Talvi, who is standing not far from them.

She immediately lowers her eyes and blushes, to which Marit laughs. "Very well stranger," she deflects from the subject. "What's your name?"

"My name is Björn," he replies. "Just Björn, I don't have any other name since my parents had to sell me as a child to get the rest of the family through the winter." His heart aches as he thinks back to his parents' parting.

Marit nods and sits back down in her chair. "Very well, Björn. Until my husband returns from his trip, you are our guest. I advise you to behave accordingly. My husband Jarl Torik Hakonson will decide your fate, since the gods washed you up on the beach and we found you."

Meanwhile, she plays with a ring on her finger and doesn't even look at Björn. "Whether you become a slave or a victim of the gods, that is for my husband alone to decide. But who knows, maybe he will be merciful and give you your life and freedom."

Björn cries out inwardly like a bear in captivity. Pretty great, he thinks, and would love to lash out and flee. But with every breath that he stands here longer, he notices that his strength is weakening more and more. He must first get back on his feet, because of all the enumerations only one comes into consideration for him. He fights for his life and his freedom.