The Call of the Warrior

A New Beginning?

There was a chill in the air. Anna pulled her shawl closer. She watched the four men as the axes flew through the air, chopping round logs into square ones.

Behind them was the stone foundation they had finished last summer. A fireplace and chimney rose from the middle. Anna's father had paid for a bricklayer to come all the way from Bergstad to make it.

It was going to be a big house. Almost as big as her parents'. Ivar had promised her that when he asked for her hand in marriage.

Anna sighed and shifted her position on the log she was sitting on. This was going to be her new home. It was a beautiful place, not too far out from the village where she had grown up. And only a few hours away from Ivar's parents.

Behind her was a small creek that brought fresh, cold water from the mountains. The front of the house opened up to a field where they would sow wheat and turnips. Maybe even carrots. And toward the mountains, there was enough room for a small kitchen garden.

Anna's mother had promised she could take one of their apple trees, a small one that barely gave any fruit yet. But it would, in a few years' time.

Anna pushed down the strangled feeling that wanted to rise from her gut. She was lucky. Everyone said so.

Ivar was from a good family, not as well off as hers, but his father had more sheep than anyone in his village. And Ivar was handsome.

When he showed up at the fair four years ago, every girl in Vimla had noticed him. And he had smiled at Anna. She couldn't believe her luck when he had asked her to dance that day. Or when he had shown up a few days later, seemingly just to ask if she had had a good time.

It hadn't taken long before he came to visit her almost every other week. And then, last spring, he asked her to marry him. She had been the envy of every girl in the village. Some had even turned their noses up at her and said he only asked her for her father's money.

Of course, that wasn't true. Ivar loved her. He smiled when he saw her and didn't want to leave her when dark was closing in and he had to get back to his parent's farm.

And now he was building her a house.

"Anna, I'm not surprised to find you here."

Anna looked up at her future mother-in-law. Katia was a friendly, somewhat plump woman with dull brown hair. The contents of the large basket she was carrying were covered with a simple cloth.

She sat down next to Anna and studied the men. "Ivar tells me he plans on finishing the house by Midwinter." She shook her head and laughed as she placed the basket on the ground in front of them. "He hopes you'll decide to hold the wedding at the Midwinter feast. I told him a woman wants her own feast day, and a wedding is up to the bride, so he better just make sure the house is ready."

Ivar glanced over at them before he went back to carving out grooves in the side of the log. His face was glistening with sweat despite the chill in the air. He had removed his coat and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt to show off muscular forearms.

Like most of the men around here, he had grown up doing heavy farm work since he was old enough to hold a knife. His skin was tanned from being out in the sun all day long, and his dark hair fell just above his eyes.

As if he sensed her looking, he straightened and wiped his forehead, smiling at her. She smiled back, ignoring the tightness in her chest.

"I've spoken to the priest in Haldefarm."

Anna shifted her attention to Katia."About a blessing?"

Katia nodded. Anna smiled warmly at her. The blessing was a way for the groom's mother to approve of the marriage. To approve of her. Many couples got married without it. Some even considered it old-fashioned. But it still warmed Anna's heart that Katia wanted to bless their union. It almost eased the tightness in her chest.