Chapter 16 #3
a??Aye, a??tis true. The son, Keith, is weak, and his wife is a bitch. But I do not care now, not really. Even that man in Hedeby, the one she tried to entice into helping her escape, hea??a??
a??What?a??
He repeated himself. His mother looked thoughtful.
a??I cannot imagine wanting to escape a known entity with one that is entirely unknown. You said the man was a coward and ran when he realized you were her master?a??
He nodded.
a??Then why would she want to entice him? Zarabeth is a fool? She did not realize he was a coward?a??
a??She is not a fool.a??
a??Good. It seems to me, Magnus, that the man blamed her so you wouldna??t kill him.a?? Helgi smiled up at her son.
a??You will keep the woman with you. I will speak to your father this very evening about Ingunn.
a??Tis a pity about Orm, but your father reviles him now and holds him in distrust. He would never consent to his having Ingunn.a??
a??I had heard that he was set upon by outlaws.a??
a??Nay, a??twas he who killed another man, a freeman, a man of worth. He wanted the mana??s silver and he took it. There is no doubt. If Orma??s family were not so powerful, there would be retribution, but alas, there will not be any.a??
a??Why not? Cannot the mana??s family bring it to light at the next meeting of the thing?
Were there sufficient proof, the least the family could have would be danegeld for a mana??s life.a?? He laughed then, a bitter laugh.
a??I paid much for Olava??s life, I can tell you.
a??Twas nearly as much as I was prepared to pay for Zarabetha??s brideprice.a??
He heard his mother draw in her breath and cursed his loose tongue, but it had always been so with his mother. He spoke freely with her and the habit was too strong to break just because he was beset.
a??You knew I had planned to marry her, for Horkel told you, curse his eyes. But she refused me. I returned to take her and found that she was about to be killed for murdering Olav, her old husband.a??
a??I wish to speak with the woman. May I, Magnus?a??
He gave her a look that was so wary that she hugged him to her again. a??You really cannot continue like this, you know. Ingunn is jealous of her and will continue to be. Mayhap she would truly harm her. I would not trust her.a??
a??She is a slave! There is no reason for Ingunn to hate her.a??
Helgi, ignoring his words, repeated what she had said: a??Mayhap Ingunn would truly harm her. I would not trust her.a??
a??I threatened Ingunn if she dared touch Zarabeth or Lotti again.a??
Helgi smiled at his simplicity. a??Your life will continue in unpleasantness until you have resolved everything. Ingunn will not ease her hatred of the woman. I will speak to you again after your father has come to a decision. Take care, Magnus, and strive to be fair.a??
He nodded and took his leave. An hour later he had returned to his own farmstead. He entered the longhouse and immediately made his way back to his chamber.
The small room was empty. He felt his belly twist, turned around, and bellowed, a??Ingunn! Where is she?a??
His sister was smiling and it was a smile that chilled him to his bones. By Thor, he should have taken her with him back to his mother. a??Where is she, Ingunn?a??
She shrugged. a??Why, she insisted on performing the tasks of a slave. I did not touch her. I did not force her or threaten her, ask anyone.a??
a??Where is she?a??
Again Ingunn shrugged. a??She is with four other slaves at the marsh, digging up bog ore. You know how much we use, burning it with the charcoal in the ovens. Rollo whined for more, since he is making more farm implements for you. You know how hot his ovens must be to melt the iron.a??
He could only stare at her. Digging up chunks of bog ore! By Odin, it was a terrible job, dirty, back-breaking work that required great strength and endurance, and she, a woman, was doing it? His mother was right. Ingunn would never ease in her jealous hatred.
He turned and left the longhouse without another word. He strode from the palisade toward the clump of pine trees that bordered the marsh that lay a good hundred yards to the east of the farmstead.
Zarabeth wanted to die. She didna??t want to cry or make a single sound.
She just wanted to fall down and die. Her back burned so badly that she was beyond tears, beyond anything she had ever known.
Her muscles were knotted and cramped. It didna??t ease; it simply got worse and worse.
Yet she dug with the hoe in the filthy black swamp until the blade hit the hard clumps, then she bent down to dig with her hands when she had uncovered the isolated lumps of bog ore.
It had taken her several hours to be taught how to find the ore, and now that she knew, she had found a rhythm.
But it was hard to keep going. So very hard.
She had been a fool to let Ingunn taunt her into this.
She had been a fool to allow herself to flaunt her pride.
Pride! She had nothing but pain, and an iron collar about her neck that told all she was nothing to anyone. Pride!
A fool, naught but a fool, yet she kept digging, bending over and uncovering the bog ore from the slime, then pulling it loose, and finally lifting it out. She paused a moment, her breath hitching in pain that nearly bowed her to her knees, and in that instant she knew he was there, watching her.
She was filthy, her gown rent and wet and smelling of the bog ore and the filthy marsh water. Her bare feet and legs were black with filth.
Her hair had come loose from its braid. She breathed heavily and stood very still.
She would not perform for him whilst he watched.
She simply wouldna??t do it. Was he here to taunt her?
To order her to go faster? Was he here to tell her he would sell her?
That he found her less than useless? He had taken her three times and hadna??t found anything in her to his liking. Why should he keep her?
Magnus nodded to the other serfs, men all of them, bowed but stronger than most from years of back-breaking work. He reached her and raised her dirty face in the palms of his cupped hands. He looked down at her for a long moment.
Finally he said, a??Drop the hoe.a??
She let it slip from her raw hands.
a??Are you really so stupid as to be here?a??
She stared up at him, mute.
He frowned. a??Do you not understand me?a??
a??You want me to be here. You want to sell me because there is nothing more you want from me.a??
a??We will speak of your strange fancies later. Come, now you will bathe and then I will tie you to my bed. You will remain there until I say that you may arise.a??
a??I cannot,a?? she said slowly, pulling away from him. She tried to straighten, but the pain ground through her back and she remained before him like a bent old woman. a??I am naught but a slave, your slave. You cannot allow me to be shiftless and lazy.a??
a??Youa??re quite wrong. I can do anything I please with you.
I suggest that you believe me and no other.a?? He lifted her in his arms, felt her shudder from the pain in her back, but since there was nothing he could do about it, he merely tried to shift her so that she was cupped against his chest, his arm around her waist. a??Hold on to me.a??
Ingunn said not a word when Magnus came into the longhouse calling for clean cloths.
She said not a word when he later carried in Zarabeth, clean from the bathhouse and wrapped in those cloths, and disappeared with her into his chamber.
She felt rage and impotence and knew that there was nothing she could do to stop this except to kill the woman.
She gave Cyra an assessing look and knew that she too would willingly stick a knife in the womana??s ribs. What to do?
Then she knew. She trembled with her decision, yet knew that she would do it. She would not remain here. She would not remain to see this woman take her place. She smiled.