Valknut

CHAPTER|24 Home Again

The last thing Catriona remembered before she lost consciousness, was the sound of hammer hitting nail. The overwhelming agonizing pain of nail driving through skin and muscle and finally, the sound of splitting wood. 

When she awoke, she found herself in a room. On a soft bed. Under a blanket of furs. She scanned the room, blinking rapidly trying to focus. When she brought her hands to her face, she could see that they were bandaged. Was this his idea of a sick joke? To first hurt her and then heal her only to torture her again? Confusion and terror overwhelmed her. Her heart pumping away inside her chest, threatening to burst. Her lungs screaming for air, even though she was breathing freely. Nothing good ever came from panicking, she recalled Sir Connor’s words. Slowly, she closed her eyes and tried to settle herself. She must focus. If she could muster enough strength and if she could settle her thoughts, perhaps this was her only chance at freedom. 

Tears rolled freely down her face when she remembered the fate of the others. The sound of breaking bones as Sir Connor was drawn and quartered by horses. The agony filled pleas of Lady MacShane who had been crucified before the Dark Knight turned to Catriona. His evil… evil laugh! She knew that neither had lived. She had hoped that death would come to her as quickly as it did for Lady MacShane and hopefully, not quite as painful as it had been for Sir Connor. 

But no, she was here. In this room. Alive. And … cared for? As the realization hit her, her mind screamed the opposite. There could be no hope. It had been over a week. The Dark Knight had told her that the others had been captured. How could she expect to be rescued when there were none left to come to her rescue? 

Just then she heard something. All the tiny hairs on her body stood up. Terror washed over her again. She held in the shriek that was building in her throat to listen for the sound again. It was dark and the burning embers left in the fireplace didn’t provide her with enough light to see properly. As if on cue, the sound came again. Her panic came back with a vengeance. This time she couldn’t hold back the scream. She fought to scramble out of bed and from under the furs. Maybe… just maybe she could make it to the door. And then what? She shut her mind out, refusing to think or rationalize. Her body acting purely on instinct. Run! She told herself. 

Before she could scramble out of bed, she found strong arms holding her down and a familiar voice comforting her with words that she couldn’t seem to understand. It took what seemed like forever, for the panic to settle before her ears heard the soothing words and her eyes saw the friendly face. 

His red hair registered first. Olaf! It can’t be! It couldn’t be? Was it her imagination? Wishful thinking? She stopped screaming and looked, really looked at his face. His icy blue eyes, his red hair, the weathered lines on his face, his broad nose and sharp … chin. Chin? Since when did Olaf have a chin? All she remembered was a lots and lots of neatly combed hair that made his mustache and beard seem like one long extension of the other. She was convinced she was hallucinating, till he spoke. 

“It’s alright pretty one. Ye are safe. I’m here now. Calm down. I’m here. Kieran is here. You’re okay.” 

He repeated those words over and over, till he felt the fight leave her body. She trembled as she hugged him. 

He’s here. They lived! They came for me! He came for me! And with that thought, she began weeping. If only they had come a day sooner. Connor and Lady MacShane would have lived. We would have been rescued. Not me, but we. And with that thought, she started pounding against his chest. She hit him as hard as she could ignoring the searing pain from her wounds. All the anger and hurt from this past week finally finding a release. 

 And when she felt her strength drain completely from her, she slumped against his chest, sobbing quietly. He held her like that till he was sure she was asleep. Then he laid her gently back in bed and covered her with the furs. He kissed her forehead before whispering. 

 “Goodnight mah love” 

As he turned to leave the room, he saw Kieran watching them, smiling. “Dae nae say a word” Olaf grunted as he brushed past Kieran. With one last look at Catriona, Kieran closed the door quietly and followed Olaf. 

They walked to the study and shut the door behind them. Simultaneously, they plonked down in their respective chairs, grabbed mugs of ale and put their feet up on the table. 

“Come mornin' we have much to do” Kieran was the first to speak. Olaf grunted in agreement. 

“How do ye want to proceed with the burials?” He asked. Kieran thought for a long while. 

His answer was measured. “The Norse way” Kieran said. 

“I have much to be thankful for. And many sins to atone for. My Gods let this happen. Twice. Both my parents suffered greatly. And my God sent me no comfort. I find greater comfort and strength from yer traditions.” Kieran sipped some ale before continuing. 

“I stopped believing a long time ago. But a part of me still held some hope. Sought some comfort in the beliefs of my parents. Of my father and my mother.” Kieran shook his head, gulped down the rest of his ale and then stared at the bottom of his cup. Slowly he got up and walked to the window. His arms joined at the wrist behind his back as he looked out thoughtfully. 

“I’m not sure if I will ever believe again. But I have found strength in yer beliefs. And that is enough for me.” 

“I would however, like my own hair back. I don’t think I can handle this bleached red mop on my head” he continued as he turned towards Olaf. 

Olaf smiled and grunted at the same time. “Welcome my brother” he said while standing up to hug Kieran. “But if ye ever freeze on me again like ye did before, know this, as Odin and Thor are my witness, I will beat ye silly.” 

Both men doubled over in laughter. Soon, the laughter was replaced with the memories of these two weeks past. Suddenly they were quiet again. “We have much to do” Kieran said again. 

“First is my mother's and Sir Connor's burial along with the men we lost. Then we have the matter of the Dark Knight. And after that, we have Fergus to take care of. And I will keep my promise to the Chieftain. Pictland will be punished. I will have my vengeance. We will make them pay for the lives we have lost and the blood that has been spilled.” 

Olaf grunted. “Now that we are brothers, I will help ye. My people will help ye. But we have much to do before it comes to that. There’s the matter of building new ships. Of closing those tunnels. We have few people left here. We must grow in strength and numbers. That will take forever. Too many moons to count. Unless...” 

“Unless what” Kieran asked. “Ask what ye must. And I will give ye what I have left.” 

“My home is small and cold. Forever covered in ice and snow. Our life is harder, much harder. Yer home is now huge with few people. If ye would give us a home, we would give to yer cause, our lives and our loyalty.” 

“But of course. We are now brothers. Ye and this land is all that I have left. What’s mine is yers.” 

“'N' what's mine, is all' yers. Except Catriona”. 

Kieran roared with laughter. “Thats alright with me. We were raised like kin. Ye can have the troublesome lass with my blessing.”