A Whisper to the North

Chapter XV ✠ Heavy Metals

Una knocked on the door to Frey's chambers. She put him in her mother's old room so he would be close to Una. The hand servant that Una appointed to him came out earlier and grumbled that he has been very uncooperative. Last night, he refused to take a bath, even with the milk and honey added. He thought the boy had put diseased and parasitic water in the bath. Frey this morning has refused to eat anything for fear that it had been poisoned. He refused to drink his wine or water, thinking that Una had laced it. There was an air of distrust between the two, and Una feared that this would make him retaliate.

"Open this damned door this instant!" Una said, beating on it for the tenth time.

She heard what sounded like scampering feet to the door. She looked over at the bread, cheese, and wine sitting on the ground as she waited. She picked it up and smelt the wine. It was fine. The cheese and the bread were not moldy. In fact, they were freshly made from the town today. Una couldn't understand what had come over Frey. After all, they talked about, he still saw her as a threat.

Suddenly the latch to the door was unbolted, and the door slowly creaked open. She heard scampering again, and she swung the door. As she entered, she looked at the lump in the bed next to Frey under the sheets. Una quietly shut the door and placed his breakfast on a nearby dresser.

"So, this is why you refused to eat. You were indulging in other feasts!" Una walked up to the side of the bed and pulled off the bedsheet.

There laying naked, hunched up close to Frey, was a young tavern whore. One of Frey's hands was groping the girl's backside, and the other held an almost empty bottle of liquor.

"You caught me!" Frey laughed, flinging his arms up and laughing, the drink spilling down his arms.

He unclenched the girl's rear and reached out and grabbed Una's hand.

"My, my! I love what you've done with your hair! You're definitely a daughter of Sif herself! Why don't you stay awhile and join us?" He laughed.

"You degenerate!" Una seethed, ripping her hand out of his grasp.

She was quite angry with him, not that he was bedding down a diseased whore, but that he still distrusted Una. How could she journey with someone who didn't trust her? He would surely kill her once arriving in York and then to his town in Jorvik. He might even kill Yvar, but more likely, he would try to dispose of Una first.

"Quite the peppery one, aren't you?' He scoffed.

"Your services are no longer needed, now leave my castle, please." Una looked at the curly black-haired prostitute with scorn.

She sighed and patted Frey on the stomach. She stood up and bowed with a smile.

"You are most kind, my liege." She uttered as she put on her short dress that was slung on the floor.

Una dug into her cloak pockets and pulled out a gold coin.

"Will this suffice?" Una said, tossing the girl the coin.

She caught it as she slipped on her thin linen garment over her head, and her eyes widened.

"My queen, this is much too generous of you. This would buy my services for an entire month." She smiled in joy.

"Oh, that will definitely suffice!" Frey blurted as he sat up, accidentally dropping the bottle on the ground.

"Oh, my apologies." He said meekly.

Una huffed and looked back at the thin girl as she put on her dress. She looked ill, having barely any color in her cheeks. Her skin looked thin and sagged on her breasts and stomach. She wonders if Frey grabbed the first woman he saw on the streets and brought her back up here.