22
WHEN ENTTI STRODE into the sleeping chamber a few minutes later, she looked like a Valkyrie, her eyes mean with temper and outrage, nearly snarling, looking nonetheless like one of Odina??s prized maidens in her tattered gown, the tunic held up with knots over each shoulder. Mirana knew that her feet were bare.
a??Lord Rorik,a?? she said slowly, as if that were sufficient.
Mirana remained silent.
Entti drew a deep breath. a??He orders me, Miranaa??orders mea??to let Hafter take me until the lout is bored with me. Were he not your husband, I would have unmanned him.a??
a??I am pleased you didna??t. Doubtless Rorik is even more pleased.a??
Entti stopped cold, staring at Mirana. a??You believe this is all a jest. You are laughing at me.a??
a??Nay,a?? Mirana said, sitting up now. a??Sit down. We must decide what to do. Rorik is convinced hea??s being noble and wise, providing a beneficent solution for all involved. He doesna??t know thata??a??
a??Know what?a??
a??Entti, you are making my neck ache. Sit down.
Aye, thata??s better. Stop waving your arms at me and listen.
Rorik wants Hafter to marry Sira, but hea??s refused.
It is your faulta??yours and minea??that Hafter refuses.
He wants you, and in Rorika??s mind, it is only lust, nothing more, and it is you who are responsible for this uncontrollable lust, and I, of course, because I am your friend.a??
a??Of course ita??s nothing more! By the gods, Hafter is like all mena??a randy goat who thinks of naught save that rod between his legs and shoveling it in a woman. I will not do it, Mirana, I wona??t. Using me to cure his lust so he will want to wed that venom-tongued Sira! Ha, Mirana!a??
a??No, you wona??t. And ita??s not lust. I have come to realize that Hafter wants you, Entti, but not just to assuage his mana??s unending needs.a??
Entti stared at her. She shook her head, sending a thick coil of rich brown hair to fall free over her shoulder. She said finally, bewildered, a??Youa??re mad, Mirana. Quite mad.a??
Mirana shook her head. a??Nay, he loves you.
Perhaps he doesna??t yet realize it, but he did refuse to wed Sira.
He must know something, or sense it, whatever it is a man does understand when he wants a woman forever, as his mate.
As for you, my friend, you have been so busy fighting him and cursing him and escaping him, I dona??t think you know what you feel either.a??
a??Youa??re mad. I despise Hafter. He isa??a??
a??I know, I know. Hea??s an animal, a goat, he believes himself a stud, a stallion, aa??a??
a??I dona??t mean to bore you, Mirana,a?? Entti said, all stiff and cold. She rose and began to wring her hands. Mirana stared at those wringing hands and smiled.
a??Listen, Entti. Why dona??t you tell Hafter that if he pleads with you, if he shows sincerity and suitable adoration in his speech and in his voice, you will consider accepting him for a husband.a??
a??No.a??
a??Make it clear to him that you wona??t let him take you until after youa??re wed.a??
a??No.a?? Entti flung off the bed and began pacing. a??I dona??t believe what you are saying. We will escape, Mirana. You are nearly well. We will escape, perhaps tomorrow night. We will be free of all of them.a??
Mirana felt a deep misery. She shook her head.
a??You believe yourself safe now that youa??ve been so ill?
I hear things, Mirana, since I am a slave and of no account.
Everyone speaks freely in front of me, all save Hafter, who just stares and broods and looks sour.
I heard Merrik and all the other men talking, and his mother and father as well.
None of them want you here. Perhaps they dona??t want you dead, for surely that is too extreme a measure even for these cutthroats, but they want you gone.
I think they fear you, fear that your half-brother will come for you, and thus it will begin again.
a??As for Sira, that viper, the bitch would stick a knife in your ribs if she but has a chance. We must escape, Mirana, we must.a??
a??Do you want to, truly, Entti? Do you truly wish never to see Hafter again?a??
a??What choice do I have?a?? Her voice was low and dull and filled with despair.
a??I have no wish to remain and be made into a whore again.
Aye, a few of the other men are looking more closely at me now since they realize that you can no longer protect me.
Particularly Gurd. They will force me, Mirana, a??tis but a matter of time.a??
Entti looked up to see Rorik standing in the doorway. He smiled suddenly, for he had heard her speak.
a??Hafter is waiting for you, Entti. Go to him now.a??
She shook her head, not moving.
a??I gave you to him. You need have no fear of the other men. They wona??t touch you. Hafter is now your master. Go to him now and do what it is he wishes you to do.a??
a??May you go to the Christiansa?? hell, Lord Rorik, and roast for all eternity.a??
He paled. Anger wiped away the fear of her curse. He drew himself up. He had no intention of striking her. He had never struck a woman and he wouldna??t begin now. a??You arena??t a whore, Entti. However, you are naught but a slave. You will do as I bid you.a??
a??She wasna??t a slave until you raided her town and stole her.a??
a??You will be quiet, Mirana,a?? he said. a??As for you, Entti, it matters not that you werena??t a slave before. If your father or your husband or the other men couldna??t save what was theirs, they deserved to lose everything, including you. That is simply the way of things.a??
Entti said nothing more. She drew a deep breath, and walked past Rorik, head high.
Rorik rubbed his hands together and smiled. a??Good. That is done, finally. Surely Hafter will tire of her by tomorrow, for he is sorely tried, and will plow her belly until the sunrise. Then he will see reason. Then he will agree to wed Sira and remove her from here.a??
Mirana swung her legs over the side of the box bed and rose to stand nose to shoulder with him.
a??I wona??t have it, do you hear me? I wona??t have my friend abused just because you want Sira away from here.a?? She was wearing only her shift, a white linen garment that came only to her mid-thighs, but she didna??t seem to realize this.
She walked from the sleeping chamber, her black hair in wild tangles down her back, her feet bare, her legs long and equally bare.
He stared at her, his brain at first refusing to work. Then he roared her name and ran after her.
He caught sight of her when she had reached the outer hall. She was in the midst of a knot of women and thus beyond his reach.
Erna was stroking Miranaa??s hair with her one good hand, pulling it free of tangles.
Old Alna was clucking through her few teetha??it sounded like hissinga??and was patting her bare arm.
Utta was standing back, merely staring at her, worship in her young eyes.
And Amma, that damned woman who had brought the other women to revolt, that woman who should have been a man, so solid was she and so filled with guile and cunning, why she held her hand over Miranaa??s forehead, seeing if there was fever.
Entti was nowhere to be seen. The other women just stood there, besotted looks on their faces.
It galled him. Why did they give her their loyalty so quickly?
Why had their loyalty escaped from him and flown to her?
Rorik gave it up for the moment. He went to Hafter, who was slouched on a bench against the far wall, a wooden mug of mead in his hand.
He was staring at the floor between his feet.
He did not have the look of a Viking warrior.
He looked like a man beset, a man who had lost something dear and was at a loss as to how to retrieve it.
Rorik said, a??Did you speak to Entti?a??
a??Aye,a?? Hafter said, looking away from his feet up to Rorik.
a??She said she would kill me or herself if I tried to bed her.
She said it mattered not to her. She walked out of the longhouse then, saying nothing more, as if daring me to force her.a?? He paused a moment, drank deeply of the mead, and said, a??She is strong, Rorik.
She fights like a woman and her knee is as quick and as deadly, just like a mana??s weapon.
I could take her, but it would be difficult if she didna??t want me to.
I would have to hurt her and I dona??t want to.a??
a??Why not? Shea??s but a slave. She belongs to you. You can do anything you wish to do with her.a??
Hafter shook his head. a??She might be a slave now, but she wasna??t before. And what she is now is more like she was before than what shea??s supposed to be now.a??
Rorik wondered why a mortala??s plans must always go awry as he tried to sort through Haftera??s words.
There was sense there, but he was too tired, too frustrated, to delve deep enough to find it.
His plan was noble. It would solve every problem.
Except for Enttia??s, but she was a slave.
What she was before no longer mattered. He bellowed down at Haftera??s bent head, a??You are a warrior! Tie her down, damn her!a??
Haftera??s eyes lit up. a??I hadna??t thought of that. Would you help me? She is very determined.a??
Rorik looked disgusted. He slammed his fist against Haftera??s shoulder, sending his friend sprawling onto the earth floor. a??Go tie her up yourself!a?? he yelled, then turned back to see his wife grinning at him.
Hafter shook himself as he rose. He drank down the rest of his mead, slammed the mug on the bench, and strode from the longhouse. Mirana felt a shaft of fear. She turned, only to feel Ammaa??s hand on her arm.
a??Nay, Mirana, leave him be. Entti can see to herself. She has surprised us all. I vow this is the meat for a scalda??s verses, at least those verses that make you laugh. I wonder what my husband Sculla thinks of all this.a??