Breaking point

Chapter 2

All I could feel was the dull pain at the back of my head. I could remember what had happened clearly, and just knowing where I probably was, was enough to make me never want to open my eyes. Still, I ended up squinting up at the sky, the sudden light causing a painful aching in my head.

After having adjusted to the sunlight, I found that I was on the deck of a viking long-ship. No surprises there. Still, I was confused as to why I hadn't been forced awake earlier, I figured I would have been forced to work or something by now.

I quickly  took in my surroundings in a little more detail. I was propped up against the mast in the center of the ship, with everyone going about their jobs around me. I was only able to watch for a few seconds before a shadow fell over me. I looked up quickly, standing about me was the boy I'd seen before. The one who claimed I was his. Maybe that's why I wasn't being made to work.

"Stand." He commanded, speaking in what I assumed was danish, but the accenting was different. I didn't want to obey, but it might as well be suicide not to. So reluctantly I stood, only realizing now that I wasn't bound. I guess they weren't to worried, since there was nowhere I could go.

As I stood I saw a small smirk form on the Viking's lips, then it vanished quickly as I managed to stand properly. I bit back a laugh as I suddenly realized how short he was, he was at least a head shorter than me, if not more.

Apparently I didn't do such a great job at looking dismal, as I suddenly felt a fist slam into my gut. I doubled over gasping to try and recover the air that had been knocked out of my lungs. I didn't get much recovery time though, since I found myself being dragged by my shirt to the hatch that lead into the ship, which I was practically thrown down into.

From there I was dragged past rows of hammocks, and to the only separate room in the area. Finally, after being shoved into the room I was let go of. Inside was a sort of private cabin, which made sense, since the boy had seemed to be a kind of leader to the others.

After a few seconds the boy finally addressed me. "Hva heter du?" He said monotonously. I looked at him, confused. A few more seconds past before he spoke again, this time in hesitate Danish, "What is your name?"

"Mathias Køhler." I answered automatically, then wondering if I'd wanted to tell him that. Before anything else could happen the door was pushed open and a small, quite voice broke the silence. "Lukas?" It asked, and then a young boy, clearly no older than six, slipped into the room. The child had hair that looked as pale as snow, and shocking amethyst eyes. Then the child walked over to Lukas, attaching himself to the older boy's leg.

"Ja, Emil?" The boy I could now label as Lukas responded, his commanding tone now much softer, and my first though was that maybe he was the father to this boy, but Lukas didn't look old enough. "Du ikke var på dekk. Jy visste ikke hvor du var.*" Emil said. I guessed it was an explanation, but I wasn't sure.

"Vel, her jy er." Lukas said, then he added, gesturing to me for some reason. "Dette er Mathias, han er den nye vaktmesteren for når jeg ikke er hjemme. På den måten jeg ikke trenger å ta med deg ut på raid. "

Lukas looked over at me, then translated, "You'll be looking after Emil when I'm away from now on."   "Ah." Was my only response. So I had been torn from my home to babysit, that wasn't so bad really. Then suddenly I realized a problem, "Wait, but I don't-" I was cut off by Lukas answering my question already. "I'll teach you Norwegian, it's similar to your language, so it shouldn't take to long."

I nodded, then asked my last question, "So you're prepared to trust me with your..." "Brother" He filled in for me. I nodded, "even though you murdered my family and burnt my village."

He thought about that for a second. "Technically I didn't do those myself. What I did do was save you from either being burnt to death, or left at the mercy of my men." He paused, then added, "Also if you tried to hurt Emil I would make you wish that death was your punishment."

I gulped, not doubting his words. "O-okay."

~*~

The rest of my time at sea was spent learning my captors language, while what Lukas had said true learning it was still a grueling task. Though being able to converse with Emil was worth it, the kid was just a cute little bundle of innocence. Also for what I had gathered Lukas spoiled him rotten.

Seeing Lukas and Emil like this gave me some sympathy towards the vikings, since I finally realized that they were still just humans.

Finally, after weeks of landless sea we finally reached the icy shores of Norway...

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Look! I updated already!

Okay translations:

  Du ikke var på dekk. Jy visste ikke hvor du var: You weren't on deck. I didn't know where you were.

  Vel, her jy er: Well, here I am

Dette er Mathias, han er den nye vaktmesteren for når jeg ikke er hjemme. På den måten jeg ikke trenger å ta med deg ut på raid: That's Mathias, he is your new caretaker for when I'm not home. That way I don't have to take you on raids.

Notes:

*Emil speaks Norwegian because how the hell would he speak Icelandic in this?