Chapter Six #2
“Many thanks, Soren of the Dahl clan, born of the wolf,” she replied dutifully, managing a small, grateful smile that she turned my people’s way.
Slipping her arm into mine when I knew she would prefer greeting them with her own shield and blade, she still had an impressive sword for the matrimony sheathed at her side.
I assumed it had been sent along in her trunks.
Once we arrived beneath the arch, with Sten stalking alongside us, I broke tradition and presented her with the shield before we exchanged swords and rings.
“This was my mother’s, and I want you to have it, just as I know she would have, before we exchange vows.” I held it out to her. “You are a shield-maiden, so you should possess a shield when you become my wife.”
There was no missing the flash of emotion in her eyes when she took the well-made piece carved with a fierce wolf baring its fangs.
“Thank you, Soren,” she said softly, admiring it. “’Tis a fine piece. I shall wield it well.”
After that, we resumed tradition as Freya presented her family sword to me with a ring on its tip.
“This is a gift from the Helvig tribe, a blade forged in our steel and wielded by my father, Bj?rn Helvig, ‘The Ferocious’, born of the bear spirit and Ruler of the Berserkers, as well as a ring with the Helvig bear insignia,” she said loudly enough for all to hear, handing them to me.
“May you wield and wear them proudly, Soren Dahl.”
I nodded with approval, praising the quality of both pieces as I sheathed the sword, slipped on the ring, and presented my sword and ring in turn after they were handed to me.
“This is a gift from the Dahl tribe, a blade forged in our steel, given to you by my mother, Aslaug Dahl, who never wielded it but had it made for you, Freya Helvig, so that you might wield it proudly when you returned to these shores and to me,” I said, to many murmurs of awe from my people and a look of surprise from Freya.
“As well as a ring I had forged for you; may you wear the wolf as proudly as you do the bear, Freya.”
“’Tis incredible,” she praised, after gazing at it with pleasure.
She slipped it on, then took the sword, impressed with its weight and the intricate design on its hilt, portraying the bear and wolf standing strong alongside each other.
I could tell by her expression she had questions about it and my mother, but she set them aside for now and sheathed the blade so the ceremony could proceed.
Next, our wrists were bound together with a cord, handfasting us with a tied knot, while we exchanged our vows and finally belonged to each other as it always should have been.
All the while, I was acutely aware of Freya’s warm wrist against mine, wishing it were her entire body wrapped up in my arms.
Although I couldn’t have that quite yet because I had made her a promise, she’d made me one too, and I fully intended to take advantage of it.
So, after we exchanged vows and our wrists were unbound, I did not let her get away so easily.
Rather, I finally did what I had wanted to do years ago when I reeled her into my arms, cupped her soft cheek, and closed my lips over hers.
While not a long kiss because people were already roaring with approval and ready for more celebrations, it wasn’t as short as she might have hoped, either.
Then again, given the way she tensed initially and then softened against me, I sensed she might not have been opposed to continuing.
Yet if we did, and I deepened the exchange, wrapping my tongue with hers, we might never continue with the evening’s festivities.
That in mind, however difficult, I ended the kiss slowly, pleased to find her eyes dewy with desire when they met mine.
Which, in truth, made it particularly hard to pull away when all I wanted to do was scoop her up into my arms, carry her back to our lodge, and spend the next several fortnights loving her.
Instead, we made our way to the great lodge where a feast awaited, but first came Freya and me, sharing an ale and toasting the gods.
“Here is to Odin, our All Father, and Thor,” I said loudly enough for all to hear, holding up my ale. “Skald!”
“And to Freya, the Goddess of Love.” Freya held up her ale as well. “May she bless this union. Skald!”
“Skald!” Everyone roared and drank as we sat beside each other at the head table, and food was served.
After Ivar sat beside me and Brynhild beside Freya, we enjoyed a fine feast of freshly caught game, seasoned salmon, flavorful cabbage stew, as well as a variety of other vegetables, bread, and churned butter.
And of course, plenty of ale.
“’Tis truly stunning,” Freya said at one point, admiring the ring I had made for her to match the wolf on the hilt of her new blade.
Her gaze rose to me. “Did you have it forged at the same time as the sword? And did your mother truly have the foresight to have such an impressive blade made for today’s ceremony?
” Her voice softened. “I now know how she cared for me when I was ill, and I’m truly grateful.
” She shook her head. “I had no idea because the memories were lost with my sickness. Nor did my parents ever tell me.”
When I glanced at my aunt, she merely lowered her eyes, telling me she hadn’t had a chance to share everything with Freya, and in all honesty, that was all right because I would prefer to share when we were alone.
“We will speak more when we retire for the evening, my new wife,” I replied, liking the feel of that on my tongue very much. “Yet I can tell you now that ja, my mother was gifted in the ways of seers just as you are. Though yours is a warrior’s soul and hers was as a healer, you are kindred.”
“Then she saw me wedding you.” She searched my eyes. “And you knew…you always knew.”
“I always hoped,” I clarified. “Whilst talented, Mother was not as strong in the ways of the gods as ’tis told you and your sisters are, but ja, she had great hope.” I rested my hand over hers on the table, never meaning anything so much. “As did I from the moment I first saw you.”
“’Twas a long time ago,” she murmured, reminded. “And we but children.”
“Even so.” Wrapping my fingers with hers, I gazed into her luminous eyes. “I took one look, and I knew.” I shook my head. “’Twas not your sisters I wanted by my side, but you, Freya. Always you. And ’twill never change.”
“Your family, you, asked for my hand in marriage years ago, did you not?” she wondered softly, her gaze lingering on our joined hands before her lovely, if not soulful, amber gaze returned to my face. “And my father rejected it?”
“We, I, did,” I admitted. “And ja, I was not suitable enough for you yet, so I made sure I someday would be.”
“Yet you took a wife in the meantime.”
“I did, at my father’s request as ’twas told your father intended to promise you to another before he was injured,” I revealed, wondering if she knew. “So, I did as my father asked for the sake of our tribe.”
“I didn’t know my father denied you,” she said, confirming what I had suspected, her gaze never leaving my face. “’Twas difficult for you, then?” She tilted her head in question. “Yet mayhap you found a good union with your wife, regardless? Mayhap even love?”
“’Twas…” How to phrase it delicately? Respectfully? “An admirable companionship. We were very different from each other, and our marriage, whilst advantageous to our parents, was not what she would have wished if she’d been able to choose her own husband.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” She considered what I had shared before she gave me more than I anticipated. “I would think you, a Dahl, and the son of the earl at the time, would have made her a good match indeed.”
“No doubt I did.” I thought back on those days and the truths that had always lain between me and my late wife, whether we spoke of them or not. “But our hearts always lay elsewhere, and that, no matter how hard we tried, would always divide us.”
I could tell by the flash of surprise and perhaps sadness in her eyes that there was no need to elaborate.
My wife had loved another before we married, just as I’d loved Freya.
We had tried to move past it and find love together, but our hearts were already tied to someone else, and we were never able to move much beyond a mild friendship.
Yet I mourned her death because it came too soon.
She dined with the gods now, though, offering those who had cared for her comfort.
We had little time to talk after that as my bard sang tales of the Dahls and our incredible feats to impress Freya and to remind our people that our ancestors were always with us, even as they were with our All Father.
He sang of my accomplishments and Freya’s shield-maiden prowess, painting an impressive picture of those who now led them.
As the evening wore on, we even danced and laughed, our friendship picking up where it had left off years before, then we bid everyone farewell for the night, eager to spend time alone and talk.
Or so we tried until someone called out, wondering which six witnesses would follow us to our bedchamber to ensure we consummated our marriage.
This was where things would become tricky, and I could only hope, for Freya’s sake, that my idea to see through her request worked. Otherwise, she would have no choice but to spread her lovely thighs for me this very eve.