Reborn into the Viking series

Chapter 7

RAGNAR'S HOUSE - NIGHT

Outside, a cold wind whips across the waters of the fjord. Lagertha settles her daughter to sleep, telling her a story.

Lagertha:
The giantess opened her rotting
cavernous mouth and yawned. "Go away!" She said. "I want to sleep again.

Lagertha:
I'm not doing you any more favors."
She gave Freya a withering look. "My noble goddess,"she said, "you leap around at night like Heidrun cavorting with a herd of goats."

Gyda, warm beneath a bear skin, smiles sleepily.

Gyda: Go on!
Lagretha: Freya slowly raised her arms - like
this!
(raises her own arms)
"I will girdle you with flame so you cannot leave this place without catching fire." Hyndla laughed. "You've gone running to Od, who always loved you; and many another has wormed his way under your apron."

She pauses, checks the girl again...whose eyes are now closed. She is nearly asleep.

Lagertha(more quietly):
There was fire in Asgard, dancing in the air. A band of flame, a quivering halo, surrounded the giantess. Her limbs tightened; she pressed her arms against her side." Flames about me," she cried. "The earth is on fire, and I must pay the full price or forfeit my life."

She stops, listens for a moment to the sound of her daughter's easy breathing. Then leans down, kisses her forehead, and pulls the bear skin up to her neck.
Lagertha moves through to the other chamber. The fire (in the centre of the room) is dying down. But its flickering flames illuminate the war shields hung from hooks on the wall.

She stares at them - and then unhooks one, and holds it to herself...as if remembering all the times she used it, in the heat of battle.
Now she stands proud with it, in the empty room, with only the crackling of the logs and the moaning of the wind.

GREAT HALL - DAY

A large and impressive chamber with a lattice of high beams and some wall coverings. It's crowded. On a raised dais at one end, sat on a carved chair, is Earl Haraldson, late forties and still a formidable-looking warrior, dressed in wide trousers and fur-trimmed coat.

The Earl is flanked by some of his HouseCarls - his private, elite bodyguard - by Slaves and several (mostly male) members of his Family. His striking Wife wears a sleeveless dress which reaches to the ground, and over it a sleeveless cape which is thrown back, revealing the whiteness of her arms. She is adorned with necklaces and oval brooches.

Filling the rest of the hall, and obliged to stand, are Freemen like Ragnar and Rollo.
In the small space between them a rather pathetic figure is standing, shifting from one foot to the other, his eyes downcast.

He's almost a figure of fun and everyone is grinning at him.

Earl Haraldson: Olaf Anwend...

Olaf: Yes, sir.

Earl Haraldson: You have pleaded guilty to the
charge of stealing. Tomorrow you will run a gauntlet of stones and turf as punishment.

Olaf: Yes, lord. Thank you, lord.

Earl Haraldson: Don't thank me. And let it be known that a fine is to be paid by anyone
who fails to throw something.

There's laughter - as Olaf is led away.
Bjorn tries his best to peer through the men blocking his view of events.

Hildr laughs and teases him

Hildr: Want me to put you on my shoulders?

He glares at her
Bjorn: Of course not

Earl Haraldson: Bring in the next accused.

Bjorn actually catches a glimpse of the Young Man brought into the hall in chains by the housecarls. The young man has a pleasant expression, keeps his head high and does not avert his eyes.