Broken Souls (Book 1 of Seasons of the Cycle)

Chapter 7 - Bothvar Beorcolsson

A woman with hair as gold as any treasure. Eyes as blue as the sea itself. A smile that challenges the sun. Even the stars in the sky can't compete with her beauty. She radiates with warmth. Her touch brings joy to my soul. She fills me with life. She is all mine, and I am hers. Holding her in my arms, the world seems to fade away. She's the goddess I worship. The moon in the night to guide me through the darkness. With her, I am not afraid of anything. Even in the face of the storm, with her by my side, I am the storm. In the great golden hall of my father, I find no greater joy than holding this beautiful woman in my arms. Even when we were young, she was always mine. Even as children, we were always together, in love with each other. Now that she is my wife, my life feels complete. She's given me children I could not be prouder of.

I love her tender compassion. And her playfulness. Even now, when we are already bound by marriage, we act like mere youngins, sneaking kisses in empty corridors as parties rage on in my father's hall. Even when we're caught red-handed, we play it off like a bunch of naive whelps, pretending nothing happened. But as soon as they're gone, we're back to attacking each other's lips. After all this time, we still have this deep, burning passion for each other.

Every time I come home from battle, I can't hold back from taking this woman into my arms and into our bed. She's the reason I fight at all, and no other woman can bring me the joy of her heart. I will never be with another woman again. None of them can compare to her.

"Bothvar!" I'm abruptly awoken as water splashes against my face. I shoot up out of bed to see Thorkel, Asfrid, Svala, and Bodvar chuckling.

"To Niflheim with you lot!" I snap at them. But then I see Arni with her arms crossed as she glares at them and I calm down.

"I told you he wouldn't like it," she says before her eyes meet mine. "I tried to stop them, Bothvi."

My siblings chuckle. Thorkel drops the jug on my gut. "Get up, Bothvi. We're leaving for the All-Clan Meeting today. I can't wait, it's always so much fun!" My brother puts emphasis on the nickname Arni gave me in a mocking tone.

Asfrid and my siblings all follow Thorkel out, leaving me with Arni. "I'm sorry they did that to you. And if you want, I'll stop calling you Bothvi so they don't make fun of you for it."

"Don't apologize, and I hope you never stop calling me Bothvi. I like the way you say it," I say as I climb out of bed, walk up, and hug her. She hugs me back and I savor the joy it brings me. When we finally pull apart, I meet her eyes. "I had a crazy dream about us."

Her beautiful smile radiates upon me. "Is that so? What was it about?"

"It was the most magnificent dream ever. We were married, and we snuck off from a party to... Well... Let's just say it wasn't to talk." I grin as I scratch the back of my neck, realizing that maybe I shouldn't go into the details of what happened. My cheeks burst with heat and hers are as red as those flowers she likes to pick. "It was odd though... We were all grown up, but the hall we were in, which I guess was my father's... It was far bigger than this hall. It was pure gold and extravagant. Maybe it's a sign of what is to come and we have to build a bigger hall. I'm not sure."

"I like it. Not so much the hall, but the thought of us being married and sneaking off. Can we make that happen?" she asks, staring up at me with those deep blue eyes, as sweet as honey. How can I say no to her?

I nod. "It's a promise that we will be married and have lots of children, just like in my dreams."

She practically leaps into my arms, burying her face in my chest. "That will be a dream come true."

---

My brother is finally a man and will set sail with my father. We journey with our people to the meeting of clans. We sail out near the end of spring. Thankfully, the journey to the town of Avala Village is short since they are just to the south of us, past the Valkyrie village of Forsa. Father says they named themselves Valkyrie after the women warriors of the gods who lead the souls of fallen warriors to the halls of the gods.