Calanthe

Chapter XXI

Calanthe

It took several weeks for Calanthe and the viking entourage to reach their destination. Calanthe was unused with horseback riding, and the journey proved tough on her legs. She developed brusises on her inner thighs, as she continued to ride they would scrape and bleed. She held on tightly to Ranvir as he guided the horse, and tried to ignore the agony.

Along the way Calanthe was inundated with new information. The war party they had joined were part of an ongoing bid to conquer England. A great Viking known as Ragnar had died at the hands of an English king and as an excuse for war, his sons rallied in retaliation. Gulbrand and his men were heading to Nottingham to join the attempt to take the town as a stronghold for the coming winter.

Back on the farm she had never been directly told current events, although she eagerly sucked up anything she heard. She was surprised that despite being on the outlying farm, she had completely missed the take over of the very country she lived in. The heathen take over had manifested over the past two years. She blamed her lack of knowledge on the farm life.

She sorely missed Hilda and Even's company and hoped they had found refuge in a village. It was much harder speaking only in her captors tongue but she had to admit the practise helped her pronunciation. An unexpected twist to occur over the last few weeks were flashbacks. She remembered little of her childhood before her adopted parents. However, Calanthe had begun to have faint stirring of memories she couldn't quite see, as though they were almost forgotten.

When they arrived Calanthe was shocked to see hordes of men all dressed in a similar fashion to the vikings she'd been traveling with. She looked with apprehension at the weapons at their sides, they carried a varied combination, but all deadly none the less. Some men had tattoos while many had scars telling stories of past battles. She spotted a few women amoung them, they reminded her of Onara. All were milling around, doing tasks or practising to fight against opponents.

What horrified her the most was hidden in the shadows. She saw girls dressed in ragged, but distinctively English, clothing. They huddled around tents, ropes tied around their hands, some with a foot tied to a tent post. Calanthe watched speechless as she saw one girl in particular being shamelessly groped by three men crowding around her. Another was lead off by a man and into a tent. Nearby, Englishmen were working on constructing a wooden building. Their clothes were dirty and torn and they hunched over trying to work quickly. A few vikings stood around them, scowling with hatred. Calanthe sent up a quick prayer that Hilda and Even would not be as misfortunate.

After they passed through the fortifications Gulbrand wasted no time. When he dismounted his horse he beckoned to two men. They hurried to him.

"We have a fresh group, they need to be briefed and found a place to camp." He briskly addressed the one with a long face.

In response the man nodded before Gulbrand turned and left. Ranvir's party dismounted so that Gulbrand's men could take back the horses. Calanthe was having trouble dismounting until Ranvir stepped forward and grabbed her waist. Calanthe looked at him stunned, he ignored her and effortlessly slid her body from the horse to stand next to him. He scratched the mare's jaw affectionately before turning back to the pair of men. The second man had beady eyes and a tall wiry figure, eyed the group curiously.

"What shall we do with the slave girl?" The first man said, gesturing to Calanthe while looking at the tall man.

"The men could use another whore to entertain themselves." The tall man muttered, loud enough to be heard. Calanthe looked in panic between Ranvir and the two men.

"She is no common whore or slave, she is mine. She stays with me." Ranvir gritted his teeth, the words had a threatening edge to them. Then, in an instant, his face cleared and he smirked down at her. Calanthe's mouth gaped open.

"Very well, follow me." The first man said with a slight offended tone.

Ranvir followed them, he quickly looked back at Bjorn and beckoned him forward. Bjorn fell in step on the right side of Ranvir as Calanthe kept up with the brisk pace on his left.

"You must look after Zetta. I do not trust these men as I trust you. Make sure she doesn't get in trouble." He addressed his warrior. The large man nodded gravely.

They walked in silence before Bjorn spoke "I did not expect the brothers to be so successful."

Ranvir acknowledged him with a grave look. "It seems that despite my choice to stay away from this conflict we are drawn in all the same. I would think this would please you as you were my only challenger to that decision back home."

Bjorn looked at him in surprise, "I meant no ill will at the time, I only thought it would benefit the tribe to join-" Ranvir cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"I shouldn't have brought up the past my friend, forgive me." Ranvir said dismissively.

"We come here to escape one conquerer only to join another." Bjorn spoke absentmindedly.

Calanthe listened intently. She had learned of their escape from a man they referred to as Harald Fairhair but she didn't know that they had been asked to join this force earlier. She was surprised at how warring the place Ranvir came from was.

They walked past many canvas tents, all similar to each other. Some were made out of fabric with coloured stripes but most were plain canvas. They were held up in A-frame shape by posts at the back and entrance that sloped from the ground and met at the top to create a point. Although Calanthe couldn't see, she assumed there was a pole down the centre of the roof, connecting the front and back and keeping a symmetrical roof line.

They came to a stop at a small group of tents. They were surrounded by small shrubs slightly separating them from the neighbouring groups. A fire pit was centre of the area. Over it was a spit, blackened from previous use. The ground was hard beaten dirt. The whole space felt lifeless due to the fact it did not yet have inhabitants.

"We were expecting others from the north but they shouldn't arrive for a few days so you can have these and we'll construct more." The long faced man said. Ranvir nodded in response. The two strangers curtly turned and walked away.

There were five empty tents but his small group only occupied three. Bjorn and Zetta went into one and Heirlief and Onara went into another. Ranvir grasped Calanthe's wrist in his large hand and pulled her into a third tent.