VIKINGS || GYDA

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟔 *

The cart wobbled irritably. With every shift I stifled a silent groan that radiated from my new found wound. I lay most of my weight onto a somewhat unharmed Eira. She covers us with a fur blanket and we huddle under it together.

The trail was long and almost never ending. The first scenes of summer were breaking through. The usual harsh cold we were all so taken to was giving way to a vibrant sun and cloudless days.

We had been traveling for a few days now. Each day that passed Eira and myself healed a little more. I was astounded at the fact I could walk by the end of the third day. Nels explained how his skills enabled him to miss any vital innards, which explained my successful recovery.

Soon we would arrive upon Kattegat. I could tell. The air shifted. The wind carried the scent of the sea. A smell I had not stumbled upon in a long time.

"How does it feel?" I watch his head turn slightly as Nels looks back to me from the front. His hand loosely holding the reigns of the horses.

"Tender—but better."

"Good."

"I suppose I have not thanked you yet for that."

"Considering I did inflict it, perhaps we can call it square."

I catch his smirk. In the few days we have travelled together, it came as a surprise that he and I shared a similar temperament. A kind of friendships was blooming, which was much to Eira's quiet disapproval.

"Sigvard seemed to place a great deal of trust in you Nels. How does a boy do this?"

Nels does not take the bait of Eira's choice of words as he stares right ahead.

"My father taught me to fight. He taught me everything there was to know about weapons— particularly the bow. He was a skilled archer and I took after him."

Noting how his shoulders bulged from his shirt as he sat before me, I could accept his words. His upper body was lean and muscular. A physique of a marksman.

"I could hunt game well. Sigvard noticed. I became his personal hunter. I did it for years. Feeding his house and his men. When tensions began to rise with other earls in the land he figured my skills should be used to protect him instead. I never cared for him, but I was loyal to my word and to my mother who needed to be taken care of. I have been by his side for years. I never knew why he took such a liking to me but he often remarked that I was like the son he should have had."

I recall the early days of living in Hedeby. Sigvard was an old seasoned man who fathered no children. I still remember the gleam in his eye when he first saw Bjorn—finally, a son. But Bjorn already had a father and he was fixed on making sure our stepfather knew it well.

Silence settles in our trio as we take in the scenery we pass by. I knew these woods. I knew this path. We were close now. All talking is silence for awhile as we watch a town grow tall in our sight as we near closer.

Looking away my attention is brought to Eira who brings her head closer to my ear. I lean in without question.

"Why is he so open with us? It makes no sense to me. He served a man who hated your family for years and yet he helps us?"

"He says his father is close with Ragnar. He says that he is doing this for him. I do not wish to trust him so easily but so far it doesn't seemed like he's told lies to us." I whisper my words.

"None that we know of. But if you trust him then so do I."

|

Upon our arrival into town many people eye us curiously as we make our way through the dirt valley of the market place. We travelled forward towards the great hall. The cart seemed to roll in a motion so slow as we rolled up to the door of the great hall.

I was too transfixed on where I was and who I possibly was going to see that Eira had to guide me off the cart. I clutch her hand with all my remaining strength as she gently eases us off the seats of the cart and onto the mois ground. It wasn't the pain that made me hold her tight, but the fear on stepping into that hall.

Everything that wasn't in my front sight became nothing but a blur as I awkwardly take my steps towards the towering hall that I hadn't set eyes on in four years.

I watch on as I see Nels talking to some men that stand in front of the hall. He then looks back towards us and nods his head confirming that we had safe passage inside.

Before we could make our way to the door I am held back by a voice behind me.

"Gyda?"

This voice spoke with such urgency and desperation that it would have been cruel of me to not look back.

Looking into the eyes of the man made me suck in a breath. His fair hair the same as my own and his eyes that so much resembled our fathers.

"Bjorn?"

In an instant he runs and envelops me in his bear arms. I yelp with happiness and as he squeezes me tight. I grip his shoulders as my head buries into his neck.

"You're here." The words escape me as a gentle whisper. He is home with me. He is safe.

"With all the adventures that our father has to offer how could I leave?" He chuckles.

He allows my feet to find the ground once more as our embrace breaks apart. Keeping his hands within my own I finally take the chance to really look at him.

He stood a foot taller than me. His body had grown brawn and solid. His hair was still short, as was the hair upon his upper lip. He was a man now. Not the boy I left in Hedeby.

His eyes observe my face too. His brows furrow and his lips part in surprise as he takes my face gently into his hands. He turns my head to the side as he inspects my cheek.

"Who has hurt you in this way?" There is concern plastered across his face.

I had not thought of the bruise Sigvard had gifted me. I didn't want Bjorn to know. We had just reunited, this was a happy day. Eira helps my speechlessness as she walks over.

"Hello Bjorn. I am Eira, Gyda's companion. Your sister was wounded in a fight but she is well. Our friend Nels and myself have cared for her and she is getting better each day."

I can see on his face that he is not so convinced but he does not bother with more questions. Arching my neck I look around the outside of the hall, searching for the next person I had to reunite with.

"Bjorn is mother not with you?"

His eyes soften as his resolve becomes tense.

"She chose to return to Hedeby. She left a day ago."

I look to the ground in anxiousness. She will return home to him without his stepson. He already failed to discard me and now his wife returns alone after being with her ex husband. My stomach twisted in knots at the thought of what punishments may await her.

"I know what you are thinking Gyda. It troubles me too but you have to remember who our mother is. She is strong. She can handle herself."

I allow Bjorn to take my arm in his as he leads our small party towards the doors.

"We have been apart for too long my sister. Let the thoughts of our old life in Hedeby die away, for you have many people I want you to meet."

I sucked in one large breath as Nels, Eira, Bjorn and myself enter through the large doors and into the hall to face who awaited.