7 #2
He grunted. A fat half-moon shone down overhead.
The night was clear, the stars vivid in the black sky.
The air was warm and still. The birds had quieted for the night.
It was so quiet, the water lapping against the rocks sounded faintly in the distance.
She saw him quite clearly, the planes and shadows of his face in the firelight.
He was staring as hard as he could at the frying fish.
It was difficult to hate a man who looked as if hea??d cry if something happened to that frying fish.
a??Will you chain me again tonight?a??
a??Probably. I cannot trust you to keep your worda??you are Einara??s sister, after all, and he is a murderer, and much worse. I will chain you, aye.a?? He stuck his knife into each of the fish and flipped them over.
She watched them sizzle and brown for several minutes, then said, a??What did he do to you? I have never heard him say your name.a??
a??The fish is cooked.a?? He picked up a wooden plate, realized he had only one, then shrugged. He knifed each of the fish onto the plate, then set it between them. a??You will use your fingers. I have only one knife. Take that fish nearest you. Ita??s the smallest.a??
She simply nodded, but made no move as yet.
She was blessedly full. She watched him slice the bass, carefully cut it, and spear it.
He eased it into his mouth as one would present a gift to a god.
He chewed, the expression on his face blissful.
He said nothing, just ate, one bite after another, until all that was left on the plate was the smallest bass hea??d said was hers and a half of another.
He looked at that half of bass. Then he looked at his dog and sighed.
To her astonishment, he offered the remaining half to Kerzog.
To her further astonishment, after Kerzog sniffed at it, he wuffed softly, and refused it, looking at Rorik as he rested his head on his front paws. Rorik frowned at him but said nothing.
She said, a??There is something strange going on here. I was fed all day, the most delicious porridge and fresh bread with butter and honey, and then there was stewed beans in onions and eggs, all delicious. Yet you bring that horrid swill for dinner. You are starving. What is happening here?a??
He continued to stare at that half fish and at the small one that was hers.
He said, more to himself than to her, a??So Aslak was right.a?? He cursed.
a??By all the gods, my damned dog is full bellied!
Thata??s why he disdains the bass I offered him.
It is only the men the women are torturing. Even Kerzog is blissfully full.a??
a??Eat the rest of the bass. I am very full, perhaps even more so than your dog. As I said, the women fed me all day.a??
He did, saying nothing until hea??d wiped his mouth on the back of his hand, wiped his knife on an oak leaf, and tossed the leaf into the embers of the small fire.
a??Aslak said the women are punishing us because Entti beds the men. The women dona??t care if the men arena??t married, but married men are seeking her out as well and that makes them very angry.a??
She stared at him. This was the man whoa??d tried to kill her brother, who had fought over a dozen men with naught but a sword and a knife?
This was the man whoa??d borne the wound in his shoulder like the warrior he was, contemptuous of weakness and pain, until, finally, hea??d escaped, taking her with him?
Hea??d been cruel, treating her like an animal, abusing her endlessly, yet saving her from drowning, even though at that moment shea??d wanted to drown, to end it.
She was thankful now that hea??d saved her.
But all of it came down to thisa??he and his men were being punished by the women for their faithlessness.
Hea??d caught his own dinner and cooked it.
a??I dona??t know why the women fed you,a?? he said absently. a??Youa??re their enemy since youa??re also my enemy.a??
He sat back against the palisade wall and sighed in contentment, lacing his hands over his belly.
a??Aye,a?? he said, filling the silence, for Mirana said nothing, a??aye, I must do it, there is none other.
I will stop this womena??s rebellion. My men said I should put a halt to it and I will, though in all truth, I dona??t think they believe me able to succeed.
But I will succeed. If a man wishes to bed a woman, it is his right to do so.a??
a??Even if he is wed?a??
He looked into the fire, his blue eyes gleaming brighter than the flames. a??The man rules. It is he who protects the woman, he who provides shelter and food for her. It is his right to bed with a bear if he wishes to. It is I who am the lord here and all obey me. I will endure no more.a??
It was in that instant that Mirana decided to take a hand.
His words, spoken with such arrogance, made her want to strike him.
So, he believed a man could be unfaithful to his wife, did he?
She wished now shea??d known the reason for the inedible cooking before speaking to him, for shea??d been too frank in her words to him, and now he planned to retaliate. She would do something, she had to.
She bided her time. He led her back to the longhouse, into the sleeping chamber, and again chained her wrist. Then he left her.
Mirana waited. When shea??d passed through the longhouse with Rorik, shea??d looked directly at Old Alna, a look that conveyed a womana??s meaning that was instantly recognized and accepted.
She waited now in his chamber, knowing the old woman would come if she were able.
Both Old Alna and Amma came only minutes later.
Old Alna said as she lit the rush light set in the wall, and pulled the bearskin down over the opening to the sleeping chamber to give them privacy, a??Lord Rorik and the men are all drinking and braying like goats over their prowess on the mainland hunt today.
Aye, on and on how brave Rorik was to face down the boar with his wounded shoulder.
He will gain too much affection for himself if it continues.
I also overheard Gurd telling the men that Rorik would stop the womena??s rebellion and then he laughed and laughed, and poured mead down his throat in Rorika??s honor.
Dona??t you worry, Mirana, that Lord Rorik will come here to look in on you and thus surprise us.
Nay, Lord Rorik wona??t think about you, hea??s too busy thinking about himself and how wonderful he is.
Wea??re safe. This is Amma. It was her idea to punish the men until they learned to keep their mena??s lusts at their own hearths.a??
a??Ia??m glad you came,a?? Mirana said. She looked at Amma, who nodded back to her.
a??I had wondered at the terrible food. Unfortunately I spoke of it to Lord Rorik.
If only Ia??d known the reason for your actions, I wouldna??t have said anything.
Ia??m very sorry. Amma, a??twas an excellent idea.
Tonight Lord Rorik said he would stop it, that he would give you orders that Entti would no longer cook, that you would no longer play these games with the mena??s bellies.
It was Aslak who saw the truth immediately and he told the men, but Rorik didna??t want to believe it.a??
a??Rorika??s soft when it comes to the women,a?? Old Alna said and grinned at Mirana and Amma.
a??I wondered when one of the men would realize what we were doing and why.
But Rorik is soft with women, as I said, all except with you.
I dona??t understand that, he is different with you, but with us, he wona??t lift his voice or his hand.a??
Mirana shook her head. a??He is ready to order and command and yell.
Perhaps he is even ready to do violence.
Rorik is starving. He caught his own fish and cooked them himself tonight.
I have never before seen a man look at food the way he did at that frying fish.
He will do what is necessary and if that is terrorizing the women with threats and punishments, that is what he will do.
That is why I looked toward you, Alna, when he brought me back inside.a?? Mirana drew a deep breath.
a??I want to help. I want to try to stop him if I can. I want you to gain what is right.a??
Amma said, a??I have pushed the women into this.
Nay, Alna, dona??t excuse me. I did think it was the best way to gain their attention.
You see, Mirana, Sculla, my husband, doesna??t sleep with Entti.
He is faithful, but the others, they are rutting stoats.
There is something else. I wouldna??t have you fault Entti.
None of the women do. Shea??s a simple-minded girl, sweet and gentle.
a??Tis not her fault that she was captured and brought here as a slave and made to sleep with the men.
We dona??t blame her, even though she appears not to mind who plows her belly.
It is those men who deserve punishment. a??Twas my idea to make them suffer with inedible food. What think you, Mirana?a??
Theya??d recognized her as one of them, Mirana thought, relieved and pleased and strangely touched.
They were including her, looking to her.
a??Aye, I do have an idea, but let me say first that yours is an excellent punishment.
But now I think it is time to withdraw, just a bit, to make them guess, to make them uncertain and wonder about what we will do next.
Men dona??t realize that women can select a course of action and devise excellent strategy, and that is what we will do.a??
Old Alna smiled at Amma, nodding. The prisoner, this girl whose brother was indeed Lord Rorika??s enemy and theirs, was one of them.
She was smart and she had recognized what they wanted and agreed with it.
There was something about her, perhaps a confidence, a determination, but both of them trusted her.
Amma motioned Old Alna to sit on one side of the bed and she sat close to Mirana.
a??What do you think we should do? What do you mean, we should withdraw? a??
Mirana sat forward, her eyes bright with plans and excitement.
a??Tomorrow, make the food sublime. Put no pine needles or black bark into the porridge.
Dona??t pour any smashed sour reeds or turnip roots and rotted oak leaves into the stew.
Add no sour spices. Make all the food as sweet and delicious as if it were a gift to the gods themselves.
All day tomorrow feed the men wondrous dishes, and give them fulsome smiles. Act like worshipful sheep.a??
a??But they dona??t deserve it!a?? Amma said.
She bounded to her feet and began pacing the small chamber.
She was very tall and hardy and Mirana smiled as she watched her, this strong-willed woman who was a natural leader.
a??Sculla doesna??t approve of the mena??s faithlessness, but he wona??t chide them.
He says naught, damn him! He, the man Ia??ve been married to for twelve years, doesna??t even realize that I talked the women into ruining all the mena??s food.a??
a??I know,a?? Mirana said, a??but men are different from us.
Listen, Amma, we need to keep them off balance.
Rorik wona??t understand when everything suddenly changes on the morrow, none of the men will, and he wona??t know what to do.
Hea??ll have to think, but he wona??t have any idea what are the right thoughts.a??
a??Ah, I see the way her ideas are stringing themselves,a?? Old Alna said. She cackled. a??I like it, Amma. a??Twill make the louts wonder if theya??re on their arses or on their heads! Aye, a??tis a good plan.a??
Amma said slowly, a??And then the next day, wea??ll give them swill again?a??
a??First we will see what Rorik does. I doubt he will do anything. As Alna says, they wona??t know what to make of what has happened, all without a word or an order from Rorik. Perhaps he will conclude that youa??ve heard that he plans to break the rebellion and have submitted without a whimper.a??
a??Men reason that way,a?? Old Alna said.
a??When a woman is a submissive little sheep, he thinks ita??s because she finally realizes hea??s a prince and a god and is ready to worship at his feet.
Dolts, all of them, even my perfect Rorik sometimes.a?? She gave Mirana a long thoughtful look.
a??Youa??re a bright sweeting,a?? she said suddenly.
a??Just like Rorika??s mother, Tora. Strong-willed too, and stubborn as a flea on a goata??s back.a??
a??Aye,a?? Amma said. a??Tora is strong.
Aye, and inventive. Her husband never knows which way to think when she weaves her web around him.
I remember she always stands toe to toe to Harald, her husband.
She shouts louder than he does, despite the level of his ire.
He would never strike her or threaten her.
Alna is right. You are fearless. You are like her.a??
Mirana wondered about that, but said, pleased, even as she shook her head, a??Well, we wona??t shout as yet.a??
a??Ah, no, obedient sheep wea??ll be,a?? said Amma and she gave Mirana a fat smile.
a??Say nothing to Sculla,a?? Mirana told Amma. a??Even though he is a faithful husband, he is still a man, and a man is more loyal to other men in many things than to his wife.a??
a??Ia??ll say not a word,a?? Amma said, then she laughed. a??I will prepare a barley soup that will make the men weep with pleasure.a??
a??And what of Entti?a?? Mirana asked.
a??Ah, that sweet little simpleton will do as shea??s told,a?? Old Alna said. a??She has cooked the swill, wea??ve not lied about that. Asta hands her pine bark and she adds it to the stew. Amma gives her turnip root and she merrily grinds it into a paste to throw into a soup.a??
a??Aye, with a sweet empty smile on her face. Now wea??ll let her watch,a?? Amma said.