Chapter Twenty-Five
Magnus scowled at his brother across the breakfast table. Selina was yet to arrive, and he was determined to have words with him before she did.
‘You didn’t join us for dinner last night.’
Hans was either oblivious to his tone or deliberately ignoring it. ‘Is that a question?’
Magnus had to put down his coffee cup before he snapped the handle. ‘I had presumed you would wish to greet Selina, if nothing else.’
A flash of regret crossed Hans’s face, and he nodded. ‘I would have, but I was unfortunately delayed.’
Magnus snorted in disbelief. ‘You were delayed on your ride, by what exactly, reindeer?’
Hans leaned back in his chair crossing his arms over his chest. ‘I decided to be useful during my enforced isolation, so I have been inspecting the mines. Stability is a concern in some of the higher seams. I was speaking with Gustav about the possibility of filling and closing one of the western ones when the minor tunnel we were in collapsed. By the time I finished helping to clear and support the surrounding shafts it was late, and my appearance was in a poor state. I decided to forgo dinner.’
Magnus’s heart lurched at the news, especially as it was delivered with so little emotion, as if potentially losing his brother were a regular occurrence, or that Hans thought Magnus would not care either way.
Tunnel collapses were rare but incredibly dangerous.
Many miners could have lost their lives, Hans included.
‘Was anyone hurt?’ His question was echoed by Selina—for once, he hadn’t noticed her enter a room.
She came to stand beside Magnus, her eyes overflowing with concern as she placed a hand on his shoulder in silent comfort.
Hans’s eyes widened when Magnus reached up to squeeze her hand in response.
Magnus knew his emotions were tightly controlled, but it hurt to realise his brother hadn’t thought he’d care or be affected by the news.
Hans unfolded his arms and quickly reassured them. ‘Everyone got out in time. Gustav is cautious in that respect, and only a handful of people were working the tunnel. There were a few minor scrapes, but no serious injuries.’
‘That is a relief!’ said Selina with a sigh, taking a seat next to Magnus, so close that their arms brushed against one another. But he found he no longer cared for etiquette. The servants quickly moved the place setting without even blinking.
Magnus wasn’t reassured by Hans’s comment. ‘I will order that all shafts be closed, at least until a full investigation confirms the tunnels are safe enough to work. And I agree we should fill any dangerous sites to ensure stability of lower mines.’
Hans nodded. ‘I already took the liberty of closing them and ordered a survey to be carried out. I thought that was prudent.’
Surprised by his younger brother’s decisive action, he gave an approving nod. Had he judged him harshly? ‘You did well.’
Hans blinked slowly and then nodded, returning to his breakfast.
‘But I will speak with Gustav today. It should not have collapsed without some prior indication. A survey might not be enough. Thrudheim mines have an exemplary safety record, and we must ensure something like this never happens again.’
His brother’s lips twitched as if he’d half expected Magnus to find some fault in his plan. That hadn’t been his intention, but Hans would probably see it as criticism. Their father had made them see criticism in everything. ‘Today is Midsummer Eve. No one including Gustav will be working today.’
Magnus had momentarily forgotten about the festival.
He’d been too busy thinking of his brother running from a collapsing mine to think further ahead than ensuring it never happened again.
‘True,’ he mused thoughtfully. ‘But send word to Gustav to bring any appropriate reports with him. Perhaps I can have a quick word with him during the festivities?’
Hans didn’t appear pleased by the prospect but gave a gruff grunt of acknowledgement.
‘So what happens at the Midsummer festival?’ asked Selina, and he could tell she was trying to move the conversation on to a lighter topic.
Hans warmed to the diversion and leaned forward.
‘You will love it, Selina! There isn’t a dull moment.
Thrudheim traditions combine both Norwegian and Swedish traditions—it is a time of abundance and excess.
There are songs, dancing around the midsom-marst?ng, or maypole as you might call it, crafts, games and plenty of food and schnapps.
At the end of the night, we light a bonfire. ’
‘How utterly delightful!’ Selina cried with excitement, causing Magnus to smile. With a blush she added, ‘I was worried it would be another serious affair.’
Magnus nodded. ‘Some of it is. We begin at the ancient stones and funeral mounds of the old kings and queens.’ At the fall of Selina’s face, he immediately regretted his words and tried to rectify the dour implication.
‘The graves are in the shapes of longships and fan out around the mound of the first king. When Thrudheim became Christian, we stopped burying our royal family there. It is said some of our ancestors liked to perform human sacrifices between the rune stones—although, I personally do not believe it. However, the clergy thought it an unbecoming place to bury Christian royalty, so unfortunately, I won’t be buried there.
The rune stones are two large monoliths at the entrance of the burial circle.
They are weathered now, but the place has a nice view and is quite pretty, in its own way. ’
Selina stared at him for a moment with a slack jaw, but then her face crumpled into a wave of giggles.
Belatedly he realised how ridiculous he sounded, and after a moment, Magnus threw back his own head and laughed along with her.
Hans gave them both a bemused smile and shook his head as if they had lost their wits.
* * *
They arrived at the ancient burial site just before lunch. They’d ridden down on horseback, as the descent to the flatlands on the other side of the mountain was steep. The sturdy carts filled with supplies and many servants had already left ahead of them to travel the old, winding road.
Selina stood up in her stirrups to peek at where the carts were unloading only a short distance away. One field was covered in tents, carriages and carts; the other was a beautiful meadow covered in wild flowers.
‘Oh, look at all the lovely flowers! It reminds me of that pretty bouquet I received at my arrival. Do you remember?’
‘Those alpines were probably picked from here. The child that gave them to you looked as if he’d come from one of the fishing boats. They probably saw our ship arriving and immediately sailed from here to welcome us.’
‘That makes them more special,’ she said decisively, and he couldn’t agree more.
‘Is that a fair?’ she asked with obvious delight pointing to the market stalls and bustling entertainments in the field beyond.
Magnus dismounted and came to stand beside her. ‘We’ll go there shortly,’ he said reaching out his hands towards her, trying to hide his smirk at her enthusiasm. ‘We have our duties to perform first.’
Selina grinned. ‘There are so many people!’ She reached toward him, and he lifted her from the saddle, placing her gently on her feet.
‘Skadisberg has its own Midsummer celebrations, but the rest of the island comes here. I haven’t attended this one for many years.
’ Unwilling to let her go, with her warmth and smile so close, he added, ‘I must have been fourteen the last time I was here.’ His heart plummeted as he remembered what had happened.
‘It was my reward for winning a spelling test against Helga. She had won it every year previously, and I was determined to go. I stayed up late for months learning hundreds of words. We both got one wrong, some obscure word from the old Thrudheim dialect that my father had dug out from some ancient text just to rattle us. Our spelling tests were not just Norwegian words but also English, Danish, Swedish, Latin—every damn language he could think of. But then he asked us to spell the word amphibian… I was so delighted when he revealed the answer, not only because I had spelled it correctly but because Helga hadn’t, which meant I had won.
However, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I’d hoped.
Mainly because I belatedly realised that Helga had deliberately made the mistake so that I could attend.
It soured the joy of my victory and reminded me of how selfish I’d been to be pleased by her mistake and…
’ His chest expanded with a heavy breath that hurt his ribs.
‘I missed her… She was my only friend at that time. Fairs are no good without company.’
Selina rubbed his arms gently, and he realised they were still holding onto one another tightly. ‘The only person that test reflects badly on is your father,’ she said firmly, before hopping up to plant a kiss on his cheek.
The heavy weight in his lungs lifted, disappearing into the summer sunshine above. Leaning down he brushed a kiss against her lips and felt the curve of her smile against his mouth before he was forced to pull away for decency’s sake.
Since the bath house, he couldn’t seem to stop himself from telling her about his past. It was like a dam had been opened up within him, and he suddenly felt free for the first time in many years.
The horses were taken away, and by the movement of his servants Magnus was reminded they were in public.
Hans came to stand beside them, and Magnus led her towards the entrance to the burial grounds.
‘I shall show you the stones now. We must lay wreaths at the start of the festival to pay our respects before attending the fair.’
The burial grounds were beyond a small line of trees, and two monoliths stood side by side at the entrance of the field. The large white stones were cracked and worn, but some swirling runes etched onto their surface could still be made out.
There was a gap between them, wide enough for one person to pass through at a time, and beyond were the rolling mounds and stone rings of the Viking burials, all sunken and covered in neatly cropped grass, obviously taken care of despite its lack of use.
In the centre was the first king’s mound, and Magnus took Selina there first, a line of servants following behind them with wreaths in their arms.
At each mound they placed a wreath, Magnus saying a few words about each king or queen.
Selina would nod and smile, sometimes asking questions that proved definitively that she had been paying attention to his readings of Thrudheim history.
The sea-breeze danced over the cliff edge to flutter in Selina’s hair, and he no longer denied himself the pleasure of touching her, occasionally stroking aside the stray curls.
When all the wreaths were placed, they made their way back to the stones guarding the entrance, and he caught the curious look in Hans’s eyes as they passed him. Magnus supposed it was because he was no longer guarding his emotions quite so closely.
‘What are they going to do with all of that?’ asked Selina, gesturing to the servants who waited with carts of stones and wood just outside of the burial entrance.
‘They will build a bonfire to honour my ancestors. Usually, the representative of the district performs the task of lighting it, but I thought it best I do it this year, as I am here. There is a larger one at the fair also. But a smaller bonfire is built on the cliff’s edge in the burial grounds and lit at the end of the night.
It is a local tradition here to leave the ancestors offerings of schnapps and honey cakes. ’
Selina smiled. ‘So, the ancestors get to have their own party?’
Magnus chuckled. ‘Exactly.’
‘I thought I might leave you to meet with some friends,’ said Hans casually, as they walked towards the field of colourful bunting and tents.
Magnus was about to ask who, when Selina’s arm tightened around his own. Glancing down at her, he saw the pleading look in her eyes and remembered how she’d suggested he be more open and trusting with Hans.
After all, his previous methods with Hans had only created more distance between them, to the point where Hans hadn’t even believed he would care about him being in a mine collapse.
‘Go, enjoy yourself,’ he said. ‘We shall meet for dinner in the banqueting tent at eight o’clock.’
Hans grinned and said his goodbyes before striding into the crowded fair.