Thrown Through Time

Chapter 12

It was pitch black out, but when Sophie came outside, she was surprised to see torches lined up all the way to the starting line. And even though it was earlier than any sane person would drag themselves out of bed, there was quite a crowd, cheering on the sixty or so men that would be competing that day.

Sophie was fairly certain Eirik thought if he didn't wake her up before he went, she would sleep in and not be able to start when the rest of them did. Imagine his surprise when she walked over to stand next to him.

"What are you.....what are you wearing?"

"I'd think you'd know a pair of breeches when you saw them," she glanced down at the leather pants Sabine had made for her.

"Yes. But why?"

"Have you ever run this thing in a dress?" she asked. "I mean, I know I can do it since I've done it twenty three times over the past month, but I figured I'd be able to move faster if I was wearing pants. It's only fair since everyone else gets to."

Someone started pounding on a large drum and Eirik took one last look at her. He looked concerned for her, but there was nothing he could do for her now. "When the horn sounds, that means go," he said. His lips thinned and she saw the muscles in his jaw clench. "Be careful."

"I will." she said.

A moment later the horn sounded and the entire group of men charged towards the river, wading out to their waists before lunging forward into the water and swimming across. Sophie splashed out up to her knees and dove under the water, aiming downstream instead of trying to fight the current. She passed quite a few men, who were still pulling themselves out of the water as she sprinted past them back to the trail.

The forested part was fairly easy for her, since she'd done it enough times. She just had to head towards the light of the rising sun and she came out within thirty feet of the trail most times. She was able to run fairly fast, dodging around trees since she wasn't so focused on staying on the trail, which Eirik had said wasn't the point of the race. She passed by several more men this way and was already climbing up the face of the cliff when they came out of the woods.

Eirik reached the top of the cliff in record time and he stopped, looking down over the edge as she climbed up just below him. He wanted to wait for her and make sure no one took advantage of her, but now was not the time and he sprinted off. She would have to defend herself if necessary.

She was through the first maze of caves and had just entered the second when one of the men, infuriated at the thought of a woman outranking him in the trials, shoved her into a nearby rock wall and she fell to the ground, dazed. She lay there, seeing stars for a few minutes before she was able to shake it off and get back to her feet.

Spitting blood, she managed to make her way through the caves. When she reached the last river she had to cross to make it back to the city, she saw the man who'd pushed her, just as he reached the bank and began wading out into the water.

She suddenly wanted to beat him more than anyone and she saw a large boulder that jutted out into the water, just at water level, and slightly downstream from him. He was still wading out into the water when she took a running leap, dove headfirst into the water and swam downstream, passing him by with several yards to spare.

She climbed out of the water and glanced over her shoulder as he finally reached a spot where his feet could touch the bottom and he splashed his way out of the water after her. Not wanting to wait around to be thrown to the ground again, however, she sprinted towards the trail and reached town well ahead of him.

A horn was blown when she stumbled into the city square, breathing heavily and suddenly feeling the effects of being thrown against a rock wall. She was certain she was going to bruise, and possibly have a headache for a few days. In the meantime, she was thirsty and she went to the well nearby to drink her fill.

Finally satiated, she looked up to see Eirik sitting against a low rock wall nearby. "What happened?" she asked, realizing he was bleeding from his lip.

"Ulriech is a cheat." he said.

"You alright?"

"About the same as you," he said.

She lifted her hand to the side of her face where she'd hit the rock in the cave and realized that it had scraped her up pretty bad. It was still slowly oozing blood, even though she'd just swam through the river. "Heinrich is a cheat, too." she said, sitting beside him. "So, who won?"

"Ulriech,"

"What? He beat you?"

"Only because he cheated."

"Is it considered cheating if there are no rules?" she sighed.

"I guess not." he replied. "But he wouldn't have been able to beat me if he hadn't knocked me out."

"So, now what happens?" she asked.

"We have a celebration tonight. I'm sure it's already prepared. And Ulriech gets to choose a wife."

"He can't choose someone who doesn't want him, can he?" she was suddenly worried that despite her warning to Ulriech, he might just try anyway.

"He can." Eirik replied. "And they can turn him down."

"Thank goodness." she breathed easier.

"You still wouldn't ever consider him?"

"Not a chance." she shook her head.

"Well, we'd best get cleaned up and head over to the hall for the celebration." he said, standing up and stretching.

"I'll meet you there," she said.

Sophie peeled the wet clothes off and laid them over the back of a chair near the fireplace. They would dry by morning. In the meantime, she changed into her most comfortable dress and pulled on a pair of leather shoes that were soft on her feet and felt more like a pair of house slippers than shoes. When she reached the hall, nearly everyone else was already inside and she squeezed around the outside edge of the room to find a place to sit.

"I saved you a seat," Eirik said. He was sitting in the far corner with a mug of ale and it looked like there was an extra one for her.

"Thanks. It's so crowded!"

"Everyone wants to hear his announcement," he nodded, sliding the second mug over to her.

"Who do you think he's going to choose? Or does he have to choose at all?"

"He doesn't have to. But I suspect he will and it will be Olga."

"The redhead?"

He nodded and sipped his ale. "I think, under the circumstances, we can ease up on your training for a while."

"Oh? Okay." she said.

"I have something I need to do, so I won't be available to train you for several days."

"What do you have to do?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Sorry. I didn't realize it was private," she shook her head with a smile.