Arcanum

A Helpful Stranger

Agnethe woke to the sound of muffled voices outside of her bedroom curtain. Not her bedroom, she realized, the one she shared with her cousins, yet she was alone. Tucked under the covers with her head laying on a pillow, she struggled to understand. Until the flood of memories washed over her—remembering the strangers who'd appeared and assured her that her father and brother were dead. 


Tears spilled down her temples, into her ears and she didn't bother to stop them. A voice penetrated through her subconscious as whoever stood outside her doorway continued to argue. Recognizing, Malfrid's nasally whine, she repressed her sniffles as best she could to listen. Another voice growled at her cousin to keep her voice low, a male that Agnethe didn't recognize. Sitting up, she saw her muddy shift, the bulk of the mud gone and now just a dirty, stained undergarment. As silently as she could, she crept out of bed, pulled a woolen dress from her trunk and slipped it over her head. Unworried about the rest of her appearance, she flung the door curtain open to the immediate hush of the crowd that faced her. 


"I'm sorry if I've kept you from your room," Agnethe said to Malfrid, although Heidrun and Solaug stood behind her as well. 


Pushing passed the stranger that blocked their entrance she left without another word. Inside the large hall a fire burned in the hearth and meat sizzled on the flat iron while the smell of stew floated in the air. Agnethe's stomach clenched, the thought of food made her nauseas even though she hadn't eaten since the previous day. There were too many bodies in the room, too many faces of the strangers who had crumpled her world looked at her as she stood silent. Swallowing the lump in her throat and willing her eyes to stay dry, she marched through the room and out the front doors. 


Vaguely, she heard footsteps behind her as she walked down the road, but didn't care to turn around and see who followed her. There was a chill to the air as the last violet wisps of daylight faded into the dark. Agnethe folded her arms around her middle and hunched her shoulders as she walked, not having a plan of where she was headed. Rounding a corner she stopped in the middle of the lane and hung her head. On instinct or from some place within she didn't want to acknowledge, she stood gazing at her own abandoned home. 


Behind her, someone cleared their throat, and she looked over her shoulder to see a man several feet behind her standing in the street. Agnethe turned to face him, too tired to fight off an intruder, she looked at him without a word.


The man approached her with slow, cautious steps as if she were a startled deer that would bound away at any second. "I brought a fur if you're tired of being cold," the stranger said in a soft voice.


Agnethe stared at him as he got closer to her. He was tall, broad shouldered with tawny colored hair pulled away from his face. There wasn't a cloak on his shoulders, but a baldric crossed his chest showing several small knives and a sword hung at his hip. Standing in front of her, she tilted her neck to look into his face as he wrapped the fur around her shoulders.


"Why did you follow me?"


"You are distraught and I didn't think it a good idea for you to wander unprotected," he said.


Agnethe looked to the ground. Why would a stranger be so kind to me? Freya help me, I don't have the strength or care to fight him. "Thank you for your kindness, but I'm fine." 


She wanted to turn and go the twenty paces it would take to reach her front door, but she didn't want him to see where she went. It was one thing to stand in the street where someone might pass, but quite another to go into an empty house where he could follow her.


"You don't need to fear me. If you wish to be alone, I understand, but my conscious will not allow me to leave you until I know you are somewhere safe." 


"Who are you?" Agnethe asked, peering up at him again and pulling the fur tighter around her shoulders.


"My name is Klaus. I sailed with your father and brother," he said.


"Oh." Agnethe didn't know what to say to that. Biting at her bottom lip she fidgeted with her fingers as she held the fur. Would he really leave me alone if I went inside? He seems sincere enough. 


"Your name is Agnethe, right?"


"Yes."


"Are you heading anywhere specific?" He asked.


"No, not really." It was a true statement, she hadn't planned on being at her home. Still unsure if she should trust him she kept her eyes focused on the ground, but sneaked a peak to look at him a couple times. 


"There is an inn not far from here where I'm staying. They have good ale and stew if you would like to join me for something to eat. Do you know of the place?"


Staring at him, he smiled at her with a gentleness in his eyes that she was unfamiliar with. Despite the ache in her heart, she felt a warmth toward the man that she didn't understand. Even more, she trusted him for reasons she couldn't find. 


You are being foolish, Agnethe. What will everyone say if I show up at Keller's place with a strange man? She smiled at Klaus, "I do know that place. I'm not fond of ale, but I could eat." What am I doing?


Klaus' smile spread wider across his face. "Shall we then?" He motioned toward the road and she fell in step beside him as they continued toward the Inn, passing her home without an acknowledgment.