“Who is she?” Ivar looked around, peering through the gate expecting to see either guards or pursuers, but the woman was alone.
Lena stepped next to Ivar and Eindride, who had run over when Vigo turned to practice with another warrior. Lena’s brow crinkled as she looked at the young woman who was about her age. There was something about the woman that seemed foreign despite being dressed like any other Norse woman. Her coloring was also different despite the blonde hair.
“She’s Scots,” Lena murmured. Robin’s-egg blue eyes fluttered open, and a scowl formed on the otherwise angelic face.
“Highlander, lass. Nae Scots. Highlander.” There was a bite to the words even if the voice was breathy and tired.
“Whatever you may be or wherever you’re from, you need food and rest.”
“Aye. I canna disagree with that.” The stranger looked from Lena to Ivar and seemed to shrink. “Put me down. Please.”
“Ivar, carry her to my home, then put her down.”
“Nay. I can walk. The earth stopped spinning once ma horse stopped galloping. I’m well enough now.”
Ivar looked at Lena, unsure of what to do until Lena nodded. He eased the petite woman to her feet and then let Lena step in.
“What’s your name?” Lena asked softly.
“Lorna Mackay.”
“Mackay? As in Rangvald’s woman?” Ivar blurted.
Lena stifled a laugh as the Highland lass turned into a Highland warrior, hand on her sword.
“I am nae that wretched mon’s woman. He can burn in the deepest fires of hell for all I care.”
“Heldoesn’t have fire. She is the goddess of only one realm after death.”
“Nae yerhel.Ma hell. The Christian one that has fire and a devil to chase Rang around for eternity. May he burn there.”
“Ivar, you know who Lorna is?” Eindride cast an appreciative gaze over her, only to receive a snarl in return.
“Rangvald mentioned her one night. Seems Rangvald rescued Lorna during a raid on her clan and brought her back to the Trondelag. He’s been obsessed with her since,” Ivar spoke the last sentence as a whisper, but he was not quiet enough, because Lorna spat next to his boot.
“Obsessed? He would have had to pay attention to me to be obsessed. The louse brought me to a foreign land claiming I would have a better life here but abandons me to his witch of a mother. Then, when he finally remembers I exist, he makes false promises when he’s already promised to another.”
“Rangvald’s not promised to anyone,” Ivar’s brow furrowed.
“He may nae have been three weeks ago, but he is now.” Lorna huffed and crossed her arms.
“Will you come to my home, please? I can offer you a hot bath and something to eat. We’re close in size, so I have fresh clothes you can wear.” Lena reached out her hand to Lorna, and after only a moment’s hesitation, their foreign guest stepped forward. Lena shot Ivar a quelling glance as she turned toward her home.
The two women walked in silence until they reached Lena’s home. She opened the door and ushered Lorna in. Her grandmother was visiting her aunt and uncle as they grieved together. The longhouse was empty, so she pulled dried beef, a wheel of cheese, a heel of bread, and assorted dried fruit from the larder. She placed them on the table with a knife next to the cheese. She left the knife for Lorna as a test, but when the woman began to shovel dried beef and fruit into her mouth as though she had not eaten in a month of Sundays, Lena went about heating water for a bath. By the time the bath was ready, Lorna had devoured everything in sight.
“I ken. I have an unusually healthy appetite for a lass ma size. Ma da and brothers were relentless in their teasing me aboot it.”
“You haven’t eaten any more than I would have after riding for four days. You’re welcome to anything you need while you are here. If you grow hungry again, you but have to ask, and I will be sure you have what you want.”
Lorna swept her gaze over Lena as she stripped off her travel-stained clothes. There were many things about them that were similar enough that they might have passed for sisters if neither spoke.
“Thank ye,” Lorna smiled. “Ye’re a shieldmaiden, aye? I can tell from how ye move and stand.”
“I am. I would venture to say you are a warrior, too. But I didn’t think the Scots let their women fight.”
“They dinna. But Highlanders do. At least when there is an absolute need. They dinna take to the notion as ye Norse do. Ma da, God rest his soul, didna see any harm in me learning to wield a sword, and with three aulder brothers, God rest their souls too, it was a way to keep me amused and oot from under ma mother’s feet. Ma brothers didna mind when we were younger, then it became a game to see which of their friends I could best. All the while, I improved and got stronger. They even took me raiding cattle a few times.”
“You must be more at home than you expected. Rangvald’s people have shieldmaidens too. There were women for you to train with.” Lena snapped her mouth shut when she realized that she assumed Lorna was a free woman. Lorna did not wear a torc around her neck or a fealty ring around her wrist, but that did not mean she had not pulled them off during her flight from Rangvald’s homestead.
