The Norse Of the North

The Consequences of Interfering with Mother Nature

The night before the war, Arne and Torsten were occupied training themselves and the men. Other soldiers were building natural defenses and traps with wood and leaves. On the other side of the castle the shieldmaidens kept blessing their shields at the altar and doing a ceremony to Odin to protect them and their men in the battle. Sarah was wandering around the forest. It's been a while since she's been in battle, so she kept testing her speed and the ground. She has never fought on that side of the forest, and she wanted to make sure she knew the paths very well and how to move around them.

"Well, here we are," she said as she breathed in. She snuck her hand in her pocket, took two daggers, and started throwing them in different trees. Then she marked a few of them so she could remember the path to the sea and to the castle.

Back at the palace, King Harald was preparing his allies and himself; his main goal was that they all understood the strategies and had no questions or doubts around them. Their main advantage will be the element of surprise. Some shieldmaidens would lock themselves in the main hall, and the rest would leave the castle. Some part of his army would hide in the forest, and another in the caves between the forest and the sea. The remaining soldiers will fight with their ships in a sea battle. For the plan to succeed, two things were necessary: timing and bravery.

As he was informed, the battle would begin in the sea with Halfdan's army, but he was sure the Gorm brothers would attack him by land. They were a group of inexperienced boys that had already lost to him twice, so he knew what he was facing. They get overexcited and never see the bigger picture. The shieldmaidens will drive them to the forest, and then Harald will take action.

"Harald I will go by the forest with my men to support you, and my brother will take his army to the caves," Lord Leif said as he leaned in and pointed to the map to help the king understand his strategy.

Harald agreed and shook hands with all of his allies before he exited the conversation. One thing was left for him to do: he needed to find Estrid and transfer her somewhere safe so she and her son wouldn't be in any danger. He was ready to open the door when he heard the enchanter shouting at her.

"No, you don't understand. I show it in a vision: you are going to be punished, Estrid. God will punish you for your murder and me for pushing you to it. I have had many visions these weeks. We were standing on the altar, and the minute we touched our god's statues, our hands got burned, and we screamed in pain. We interfere with mother nature, and we're going to pay for the price," the enchanter kept babbling in a very puzzled state.

"Enchanter, calm down. I know it wasn't right. Killing Gudrun's baby wasn't my initial plan, and you know that. But Harald would divorce me, you know he would, and then if he didn't, they would dethrone him." She grabbed the enchanter's arm and looked into his eyes before kneeling in front of him.

"You don't understand; I heard them. I heard his counselors telling him that he needed to let me go, and he even proposed to marry Sigrid in my position. Not only would I get replaced, but who could guarantee my luck after? I was going to be a burden, a female that lost her position, a fallen queen that everyone would mercy. How pathetic. But look at me now—I saved my marriage. I did what I had to do, and the gods will understand. They will forgive me; they have to."

Harald was crushed to find out the truth; he could never imagine to what extent Estrid would reach. He knew she was a dynamic woman and would refuse to bend the knee to another woman, but murder was not her. He rushed out of the hall so she didn't see him when he saw a couple of servants rushing and his wife screaming.

"What's going on?" Harald asked the women to run to his wife's chambers.

"Queen Estrid is giving birth; come, king, we are going there to help her."

He followed the servants, and once he entered the room, the enchanter had disappeared. It was just Estrid on the bed next to her servants as they tried to prepare her for birth. Gudrun was between the queen's legs, holding a towel and encouraging her to push. Harald rushed next to her and sat on the side of the bed.

The birth was difficult as the servants realized the baby was coming by his feet and it was going to be very painful. In fact, they were all very pessimistic about whether Estrid could survive this. She was pushing for a long time, and she was really exhausted; her face was full of sweat, and her hair was sticking to her cheek as she tried so hard to breathe. She was grabbing Harald's arm as she was screaming in pain, and deep down she knew that was her punishment by the gods. She thought of speaking to Harald, but Gudrun was there, and she wasn't willing to remind her of her child's death. Plus, how do you say I killed your child so I can have mine? Those things were better left unspoken.

After a long time, she managed to get her baby out, and after Gudrun held it in her hands, she realized the hard truth: the baby was not breathing. The placenta had wrapped around its tiny and wrinkly body and choked him. She stared coldly at Harald and then back at Estrid, not knowing what to say. Harald understood something was not right, so he approached Gudrun and held his dead son in his hand. He screamed in agony and started crying as he took him to Estrid, and she joined his pain. She was beating her chest with her fist and murmuring.

"It's my fault; I did this to you. I condemn you to death, my child, my only child." she uttered, as the rest of her words were something between mumbling and crying and screaming. The truth is that she was in a state of insanity, and Harald knew why.

"We're going to go and bury him, and then I will transfer you to a safe hideaway." I know, my love, I understand your pain, but now we don't have any time left." He looked at Gudrun and said, "Help her clean her up and get dressed; as for the rest of you, pack your stuff; I'll take you to a place I only know for your safety."

"I want to fight," Estrid said while trying to stand on her feet.

"My queen, you can't; you are too weak. On the gods, your legs are still full of blood. Let us help you," Gudrun cried.

"I said I want to fight, and I will fight, and good luck to the man that goes to stop me." She looked at Harald with a solemn and rigorous look. Then she got up, cleaned herself, and put on her armor. She reached for the left corner of the room and grunted as she lifted her shield. Then she walked out of the room and left Harald to move the servants, women, and kids off the palace to a safe place as she joined her shieldmaidens in the main hall.