He sighs heavily, gently touching my arm as a father would their child. “You hold the weight of the world on your young shoulders. I wish for this to end. You cannot fight every battle and expect to win.”
I appreciate his concern, but it is not needed. “Watch me.”
Aric returns with arms filled with items to build us a fire. I only wish he could strike us up a fire large enough to signal to Skarth that we’re coming.
“You smell like sweetened honey. And you taste like it as well.”
I wake with a start, sweating profusely, and it has nothing to do with the crackling fire we sleep around.
Skarth’s voice once soothed me, but hearing it in my dreams is now nothing short of a nightmare.
Catherine snuggles into Aric, who holds her protectively. She really is my daughter—headstrong and doesn’t listen to orders. I don’t wake them, but come morning, I will not be so lenient.
I quietly creep through the cave, as I need fresh air. Once outside, I inhale slowly as the cool air is like a lover’s kiss across my heated cheeks. The guards are asleep on the ground. I cannot blame them. We are all exhausted, as this journey has been grueling.
I am light-footed, ensuring to keep to the shadows as I walk down the steep embankment toward the river. It’s rather dark, but the moon comes out of hiding, reflecting off the water’s edge.
It’s beautiful.
I crouch low and scoop up a handful of water, taking a long drink. I then brush the water through my hair and wash my face. I feel remotely better.
Peering into the moonlit water, I wonder if, by staring hard enough, all the answers I seek will miraculously appear.
“You are nothing but a fool,” I scold myself, angrily skimming the water with my hand.
Feeling sorry for myself won’t solve anything, so I stand, but not before the hair at the back of my neck prickles in awareness. However, it’s too late. I let my guard down for one second, and now, I must pay for my mishap.
“What do we have ’ere?” says a man who smells of ale and piss. He has a deformed upper lip.
I remain calm as I turn around to face him. But when I do, that turns to panic.
This is or, rather, this was one of my men. He wears a tattered and unclean uniform bearing Northumbria’s coat of arms. His eyes are hollow. His cheeks are caked with mud and other filth. I doubt he is still in service, given how destitute he appears.
And so do the other five men who appear out of the darkness.
“What’s this, then?” he says, gripping the Mjolnir between his dirty fingers. “A Dane dressed as a Saxon.”
They don’t recognize me as their queen, and that is a good thing because I know without a doubt that they would use me as chattel…but not before using me for their despicable perversions.
I must trick them into believing I am no one, which is why I curse in Norse.
“She’s one of them,” says another man in disgust. “She’s no use to us other than her Pagan cunt.”
I will cut out his tongue for such vulgarity.
I cannot fight them, as I am outnumbered, and I don’t know if more are waiting in the woods. I also do not want to draw attention to the fact that I am not alone. If I make a noise, I fear Catherine’s life will be in jeopardy. I will not gamble with her safety that way, as a maiden is far more desirable than a maid.
I need to get away from here, and then I can cut off each one of these arsehole’s heads. But now, I must pretend to fight so they can win and carry me away.
I attempt to run, but one man stops me. I then proceed to go a different way. And another man does the same thing. All six men soon surround me. Greed, lust, and hatred reflect in their eyes.
I am not afraid. I have survived far worse.
It would be expected for a Dane to fight, so I take great pleasure in breaking one of these vile creatures’ noses. But it’s the first and only punch I deliver because the men are on me, incapacitating me immediately.
I’m shoved between them, their laughing faces all I see as the world begins to spin. When one of them grips my waist and attempts to kiss me, I headbutt him in the face. I attempt to run, but my arm is wrenched behind my back.
When I don’t surrender, they do as I expected, they subdue me with their fists, and the world is consumed whole.
