“Oh. A lover?”
She shakes her head as she laughs bitterly.
“I thought so.” Tears form in her eyes. “He was so friendly at first, courteous.”
I hold my tongue, letting her tell her story at her own pace, nodding to signal that I am following. She continues.
“For weeks, months, we flirted, chatted, snuck off to steal private moments. I remember our first kiss, in the orchard. I was so silly.”
“Not silly, Eidunn, why?”
“Because he’s a man, that’s why. They always want more. Even Ausveig told me that. He… he…”
Tears trickle down her cheeks as she holds her face in her hands. I stroke her back, trying to comfort her.
“It’s okay,” I whisper.
“He wanted to lie with me. I told him I was saving myself for marriage. I denied him. The first time, he accepted it. Next time, he was irritated. He reminded me I was a slave, that no one in their right mind would marry a slave girl.”
She inhales deeply, turning her face away from me while she continues.
“Stupid girl that I am, I met him again, alone in the woods. His hand went up my skirts. I stood up and denied him. He got angry, grabbed me. He… he forced me.”
I embrace the crying woman, trying to console her.
“You poor thing,” I whisper.
“Since then, he has threatened me. He said he would tell everyone in the valley that I was loose. Easy to bed.”
“As if having some fun is a bad thing,” I say, more to myself than to her.
“I don’t judge girls who enjoy themselves, but spreading a rumor? A lie? He would ruin my life. My reputation. If no one wants to marry a thrall, who wants to marry a thrall who lifts her skirts for any man?”
“Any man? Isn’t it just him who forced himself on you?”
“He said he would make his friends swear they had been with me too.”
“What a grimy bastard.”
“A fucking coward,” she says. “I wish he was dead.”
“So now you still have to see him? Or he will tell everyone?”
“That’s right. I have no choice. He can have his way with me. I fucking hate him.”
“What’s his name?”
“I can’t tell you. It’s too?—”
“Don’t be silly.”
“Kilda, it’s not that?—”
“It is.”
She sighs, drying her cheeks.
“Promise me you won’t tell anyone!”
