Chapter 17
RASHA
Every muscle in Shaw’s body contracts, ready to fight. Setting me down, he keeps himself in between Harald and me.
“She is fair game in the Hunt,” Shaw replies, like he glazed venom over a sword.
“She evades me, and now I know why,” Harald spits back.
“Rasha come.” Jorvik is here, of course. He walks from the corner of a partition with his pants unbuttoned. Joanna follows from behind him, pulling her undone dress back over her exposed breasts. My brother doesn’t even care to help her.
I don’t move from Shaw’s back, but I don’t know if I can risk him getting hurt on my behalf.
“And who do you want, little Rasha? Who is behind the mask?” Harald asks, and I suddenly see a path without bloodshed. Stepping around Shaw, I place a steady hand on his back and pray to Freya he understands what I am about to do.
“I don’t know who this man is. We are in masks.” I muster every ounce of confidence and walk up to Harald. Shaw doesn’t move; he might no longer be breathing, but I don’t look back.
“She killed Axsel,” Ivan shouts, picking up his family’s ritual knife from where I dropped it.
“Is that true?” Jorvik questions. Ivan and two other men push their masks off to drag Axsel out from the partitions I rolled around the body.
“Rasha!” Harald yells this time, prompting Shaw to come to my side and take his own mask off.
“Shaw?” Harald spits, wiping his disgusting mouth with his sleeve. “So your plan before you die is to take the Maiden from me after everything I’ve done for you?”
“They kissed, Harald, which is nothing more than what you have done. Rasha is untouched as I promised she would be.” Jorvik, ever reframing the problem, moves in front of Harald.
Shaw leans into me and whispers, “Whatever happens, you are worthy of what you seek.”
I steal a glance at his unmasked face. The swirls of blue on his scalp are new but seem familiar. I can’t place them as Harald begins his petulant barrage. Jorvik strides over to us as Joanna tries her best to grasp his shirt or hand to keep him away from me.
“What the fuck have you done?” he hisses in an awful whisper.
“She did what she had to do. Where were you to protect her?” Shaw takes over. He’s twice the size of Jorvik, but Jorvik as stupid as he is, doesn’t back down.
“Leave,” Jorvik threatens Shaw, causing Joanna and I to exchange nervous glances. I mouth to her to go, but she shakes her head and folds her arms over her chest. Everyone is beyond stubborn when they don’t need to be.
“I killed him because I recognized him from the night Ingrid was taken, and I was not confident he would be respectful to me,” I say, leaving Jorvik and Shaw’s staring contest to go to Harald.
Harald is the Jarl, and he’ll have to make a decision as to my punishment.
Maybe, if I am lucky, he will choose to not force me into marriage now that I am a murderer.
His eyes narrow on my chin where the blood from his fingers once coated it, now consumed by Shaw’s lips. I have an inkling Harald cares more about who I kissed then who I killed.
“Get the bow,” he says. His dangerous glare roots me to the spot. “Get the bow the women gave her and tell everyone to assemble at the Yule log.”
Jorvik nods and runs to my room where the bow from the offering lays on the end of my bed.
“Leave, Shaw. You’re already on a knife’s edge with Bjorn, and I don’t want to kill you,” Harald says, finally looking past me to Shaw. I hear the blacksmith’s boots, and I don’t have to turn around to know Shaw is in Harald’s face, ready to rip him apart for what’s gone on during the sacred week.
“She is the fucking Maiden of Yule. You might kneel to a useless King and think of yourself as a mighty Jarl, but there is nowhere in Valhalla you can run from the gods when you’re dead.
” Shaw’s merciless statement excites me, but now is not the time to think about what other merciless things his hands can do.
Walking away from Harald, he stops and takes my face in his hands like I am the last woman on earth.
“I’ll be right back,” he says. His kiss sears through my heart a split second before he lets me go and walks away. “See you at the fire,” he says to Harald on his way out of the double gates.
Harald comes to me and slaps me across the face so hard my mask falls off as I try to stabilize myself. He yanks me up by the collar of my dress, and I hold the ties together while pulling away from his grasp.
“You didn’t have to kill him. You have made a fucking mess of everything instead of waiting for me to get to you like I ordered,” he sneers into my ear and drags me to the gate.
“What if he got carried away and took my virtue? Would you have still wanted to marry me?” I retort.
“Be honest, you don’t want to marry me, and you never did.
But your feelings on the matter are fucking irrelevant.
” He continues dragging me out of the gate and down the road.
Trying to keep my feet underneath me, I see all the clans staring at me while they try to sober up for what is about to happen.
“Kill me then!” I scream and swing against his body, landing a good punch to his chin. He drops me in the icy mud. The snow seeping through my dress instantly makes the thin fabric stick to my legs.
“Here.” Jorvik’s voice makes me turn my head. He holds out the bow for Harald to take over my body on the ground.
“Tie her up. We will teach her a lesson, and I will marry her before this night is over,” Harald says, and I force my legs to find footing. Taking two steps away from them gets me nowhere because Jorvik’s arms are around my waist.
“You’re such a coward,” I seethe, debating whether head butting him is a good idea or if Harald will cut my hands off if I try it.
“You killed a man. You kissed the blacksmith, who is useless. I drew the map and it’s locked away in my room. I told Harald you were with Shaw when he broke into Bjorn’s room. You did this to yourself, little sister.”
My body gives up at his admission and I sink to my knees. He betrayed me. Pulling me up by my armpits, Jorvik loosely pulls my arms around my back. I feel other hands binding me now as the rough edges of rope scratch my skin.
“You don’t care about me at all do you?” I ask Jorvik, even though there are other men around us.
“All you had to do tonight was let Harald catch you, and none of this would have happened. You’re stubborn, you’re selfish, and all you care about is being out there.” Jorvik waves to the tops of the mountains looming over us.
“Let me go then. Please, Jorvik, let me go, and you’ll never see me again,” I plead, hating every pathetic tear collecting in my eyes. I hate feeling helpless.
“Bring her here,” Harald yells, and I look over to see Ivan on one side of me, smelling like vomit, and Jorvik on my other. They walk me to the Yule log, and I look around at my clan members who are frightened. Some have their weapons and are whispering to each other.
Harald raises a closed fist, and a horn blows to quiet the crowd.
Joanna and Katrine are side by side, holding hands, mixed in with the other women.
I have to trust that Shaw will come for me, or that he is right, and the gods will protect me.
Maybe he is retrieving Skadi’s bow from the tomb under the ice, and this is one big nightmare that will be over when the sun rises?
“Rasha admitted to killing Axsel. It has been brought to my attention that she was involved in releasing Katrine and Ingrid from Bjorn’s care. He was severely injured in the process.”
“Witnesses!” someone from the crowd yells and is shushed by Harald.
“I will finish her sentencing so we can carry on with Yule,” he replies, and tension reverberates through the throngs of nervous people.
“This bow” –he raises the bow the women gave me– “is a symbol that she is something she is not. The rumors that Rasha will take Skadi’s place and lead the women, who I have protected, to freedom in the mountains is horseshit! ”
He waves the bow around the circle like he’s showing off a badger he killed for stealing eggs in the chicken coop.
“Skadi was a whore, which is why her tomb is untouched, and we don’t pray to her.
You will not disappoint me by exalting this heathen who is here to carry my children!
” he screams. My body convulses, and I fight to stand up straight.
Both Ivan and Jorvik grunt against my shoulders as they keep me still.
“Bring her to the fire,” Harald calls. Jorvik pauses, but Ivan, who apparently has never had free will in his life, starts to drag me, so Jorvik follows.
Harald grabs me around the waist, ripping me away from my brother, and hits me so hard in the stomach my face falls forward, almost grazing the intense flames.
Pulling me back up by my chin, he squeezes my jaw, bringing my face to his.
“Burn the bow.” His wet voice is a humiliating demand in my ear.
“No,” I reply. He pushes my face closer to the fire, and the edges of my red hair singe in the glowing, yellow flames. Letting me go, he holds the bow high for everyone to see and clears his throat.
“Burn the bow,” he says to me and me alone. Around us, I feel tension coming from the clans. Everyone I traveled with has a hand on their axe or knife, which will only lead to them being slaughtered. We are outnumbered three to one in every way.
I will not be the cause of innocent people losing their lives or limbs tonight, but if I don’t do something, then who will fight for these women and their daughters? With so many women watching, my defiance ignites.
“Untie me then, and I’ll do what you ask with dignity,” I say, and Harald brings me close to him. The heat of the fire is replaced with a hollow chill. He unties my hands, and I rub my sore arms before holding them out to accept the bow.
Harald keeps the knife pressed against my ribcage. “Go on.”
The bow is heavy in my arms, like the weight of my whole life sits in this moment.
I lit this Yule log over a week ago, and I asked the gods to help me.
I have used every available moment to offer myself to Skadi in hopes that her bow and the power inside it will help me lead our clan away from Harald and the King.
I have no choice but to believe Shaw when he said I will be protected.
Dropping the bow into the flames, I hear a few women stifle a cry, and the men from our clan exchange displeased glances.
“Skadi is a whore!” Harald shouts, and I stumble backward, feeling lightheaded without the bow in my arms.
“Skadi is whore!” the men who follow Harald’s every word shout the phrase, attempting to gain unity amongst the clans.
“Harald that’s enough,” Jorvik says, turning to give me a look of pity.
“You’re right, Jorvik, we need to end this with a marriage,” Harald replies, and I see a chance to run. Taking off through the ceremonial circle, I find women who are standing so incredibly still it forces me to stop.
“No, no, little Rasha, not unless you want them to die,” Harald chides, walking over to where I pace around the edge of the circle. All of my friends have slender knives to their throats. Outnumbered.
“Sacrifice me. I won’t marry you. Not in a thousand years.
So sacrifice me to the gods and be rid of me.
” I press my lips together, still tasting Shaw on my flesh.
He’s the only one who knows about the bow, the real bow, underneath the ice, and he came into my life with a lynx from across the Vanheim.
He didn’t have to explain it. Where else did Aslaug come from?
He might have run away to save his reindeer herd, but he promised I’d be protected. He’s never failed me.
“Do you accept me as your sacrifice?” I scream, opening my arms wide to the circle.
“No, Rasha. Don’t do this.” Joanna elbows her captor in the balls, and he doubles over enough that she runs to me, intertwining her hand in mine. I know she’ll offer herself right along with me. No one bothers to chase her. We are now trapped in the circle with Harald and Jorvik.
“I killed Axsel. I rescued my friends. Yes, Bjorn and I fought. So offer my life to the gods, and all of this will be forgiven. Jarl Harald can go to the King a cleansed man without the stain of a heathen woman.” Whirling on Harald, I refuse to give up.
“All those in favor?” Harald asks the crowd, and more people than I want to admit cheer for my demise. My heart lurches in the dangerous game I started. What if I can’t fake my own death? There are too many factors to think about, and I don’t have time to change my mind.
Shouts and chants blur together, along with the popping flames eating the bow in the Yule log.
Suddenly, an older woman breaks through the ranks of burly Viking men and scared women.
She bangs her walking stick on the ground, emphasizing her presence.
Due to her elderly nature, the crowd once again quiets.
“Siggy? What do you have to say?” Harald asks, having a neutral level of respect for the medicine woman.
The memory of the first time I met Shaw crashes through my senses, seeing him laying on the cot and the way his face was horribly bruised.
His helpfulness and lack of judgment made it easy to open up to a stranger.
Clearing her throat, she speaks to everyone. “In the years long past, there was always a couple sacrificed on the solstice. Their bodies were chained to a longboat and set ablaze on the fjord. Jarl Harald, you are being punished by the gods for not keeping to the true ritual.”
“But, Siggy,” he whines, and I squeeze Joanna’s hand.
“Sacrificing Rasha will bring back the balance I saw in my runes when I channeled the Seidr,” she explains.
“And you expect me to die with her?” Harald asks, starting to sweat his choices.
“I will die with her,” Shaw speaks, walking through the crowd. Gutted at his request, I hoped he’d save me and not give up our lives so easily. Unless his faith in the fates is stronger than mine?
“The blacksmith?” Harald questions, looking between both of us, as if to say how disappointed he is. “No, just Rasha will die. Tie him up.” Harald’s words send the ceremonial circle into complete chaos.