Tales of Infamy (Viking)

12 - Thyra

I was half asleep. The type of half-sleep where you know you are awake, yet opening your eyes is still too much effort. I felt pressure against both my legs. On my right side was a sleeping girl, Eistla, who refused to leave my side now that I promised I would take her to the farm with me. The pressure on my left was different. It was the pressure of a healing wound, a pressure that would turn into pain if I moved it too much.

In two weeks we would leave Hraun, and I would have to bear the responsibility of a child and two workers. It almost seemed tempting to seek out another marriage, even if the men were scarce. I would settle on being a second wife, anything seemed better than what I would have to do now.

I let out a sigh, it was the fighting that got me. First I fought my sisters, we were not used to being cooped up together again. Then I fought the worry and restlessness followed by a berserker with an axe. My final battle was still ongoing. It was me versus the worry, me versus the responsibility that should not have befallen me.

Eistla squirmed, wrapping her arm tighter around my waist as though she thought I would disappear otherwise. I had told her I wanted to take a nap, to ignore the throbbing pain in my hip. She immediately told me she was tired too, though I highly doubted it. Vif took her daughter and nephews out to the beach so we could have some peace and quiet.

I heard a noise, footsteps running by the house. I thought nothing of it. Perhaps a parent spotted their child in the water or someone forgot something at home. I placed my hand on Eistla's back and drew soft figures on it. Before I knew it I had drawn Ægishjálmr, the symbol for power and protection.

The door hit the wall loudly, right as I traced the symbol for the second time. Both me and Eistla jumped up, a painful sting in my hip reminded me why I was laying down. Vif was standing in the door opening, her eyes wide in terror once more.

"There are ships incoming!" She said. I grabbed a tight hold of Eistla's hand and led her out. I had thought about what would happen if they returned with more men. The answer was simple, we would die. We barely made it out the first time, and back then we had the advantage of their low expectations. That would not happen the second time. There were no two options this time, just the one. We had to leave it all behind.

I looked out over the water and stopped dead in my tracks, as did most of the people here. Six ships, a sight that both gave me hope and took it away. Our warriors left with six ships, it could be them. If it was someone else, we would never live to see another dawn.

"What do we do?" A woman asked me. There was no asking our shieldmaiden this time, she had gotten her wish granted and died in our last battle. I used my free hand to touch my wound, it throbbed painfully already. I wanted to tell people to turn around and head into the mountains, I knew that I needed to. But I was such a painful optimist too.

Sefa appeared beside me. She had been healing her wounds in Unna's old house. She still stood off-balance, leaning towards the side where her right arm used to be. We were a sad bunch, neither of us were in running condition.

A few people ran to the docks and only stopped running when they reached the very end of it. I held my breath as I watched them, as I watched the ships come closer and closer. They were going faster than before, it could be our men. It had to be.

"We have to go!" Eistla said, tugging at my hand. Several people had taken a few steps back, away from the beach. Still, I remained where I was with my eyes on the ships. The water carried the noises from the ship to us, but we were too far away to hear what they were singing.

"It's them!" A woman on the dock shouted. Eistla stopped tugging at my hand immediately, and instead focussed on the ships. My heart unclenched, though not entirely. It was them, we would not die today, but we did not know what losses they suffered. I did not know if my love truly was on that ship. After last time, I did not dare dream that he was.

Whoever hadn't gotten injured in our battle rushed to the docks to help the ships. There were still three empty ships on our beach, the ones our previous visitors had left behind. It made it a lot harder for the ships to dock properly and for the men to disembark.

"Can I stay with you?" Eistla asked me.

"Of course, little one." I told her, brushing my fingers through her hair.

"Even if my father is on the ship?" She asked again. I looked away from the ships for the first time since they sailed in. Eistla's blue eyes were solely focussed on me, and filled with worry. Unna loved her children with all her heart, but she did not often speak about her husband. I did not know that the little girl hated her father.

I picked her up, my hip was already screaming with pain from standing upright for so long, and brought her face close to mine. "The jarl favours the word of men over women. That is why women in Hraun are born smarter." A smile broke out on her face. "If you want to stay with me forever, you may need to stay with your father for a little bit first. I promise you this little one, I will come and get you, we just need to be smart first."

Eistla thought about it for a few moments and nodded. "I think it will work, my father is an idiot."