Chapter 19
We’ve spent the morning tending the orchard.
Beautiful trees—some in full bloom—needed trimming, weeding, and composting.
Spreading dried shit with my hands around tree trunks wasn’t the most glorious task, but it was pleasant nonetheless.
Standing in the blazing sun with the others, listening to Ausveig teach plant care, hardly felt like work.
Having learned about plums, cherries, apples, and pears, I now have to scrub floors, walls, benches, and tables.
I dip the dirty cloth in the bucket, squeezing it in an attempt to remove dirt. It’s just me and Eidunn in the room. Ausveig and the others have moved on to other buildings, leaving us to finish off the hall.
Eidunn is humming some song. I don’t know the melody. She seems to be in a better mood than usual. A good opportunity to bond.
“What song is that?” I say cheerfully.
She raises her eyes, surprised, like she hadn’t been aware that she had been singing a tune.
“You wouldn’t know it. It’s local to where I was born.”
“Oh? Where were you born?”
“Down south, beyond Dovre Mountain.”
“That’s where my folk stayed most of the time. We were travelers.”
“I know,” she says, resuming her work.
Of course, she knows…
Refusing to give up on my attempt to get to know Eidunn better, I slap the washcloth in the bucket and go to sit on the bench next to where she is scrubbing the floor. She huffs and graces me with an annoyed glare.
“So, where were you born?” I ask again. “Maybe I’ve traded there.”
“Don’t you mean stolen there?”
Her aggression catches me off guard, but I’m not backing down. I keep my tone playful, hoping she will open up and share whatever is weighing her down.
“Fair enough,” I say. “Possibly stolen there. I’m not proud of it now. Sometimes we do what we must to survive.”
Eidunn sighs, tossing her washcloth in the bucket in protest to my questions. She sits on the bench next to me.
“It’s by the ocean, way south. Tell me, Kilda, why do you pretend to care?”
“Pretend?”
“Pretend,” she says curtly. “You think I don’t notice your little plays? Trying to gain folk’s trust?”
“I just—”
“Want to get to know me, I’m sure. You play the hall like some manipulative noble lady. Be honest—are you claiming you don’t want influence?”
Eidunn is sharper than I thought. Even if I don’t wish her ill—I just want her as an ally—she has still picked up on my method of building trust.
“You win, Eidunn. I have been taken as a slave. I used to be a freewoman, a traveler at that. Sure, I want influence. I want protection.”
“Finally, some honesty.” She snorts. “Took a while.”
“Forgive me then. I never meant to be dishonest, just friendly. I never wanted to do you wrong or anythi—”
“I know, I know. I said you seemed manipulative, not evil.”
“Well, that’s something at least,” I laugh. “So you don’t think I’m cursing the farm?”
She gives me a serious look, like she’s considering the accusation.
“I don’t,” she answers. “But Thyra does. Best hope she doesn’t convince the jarl.”
“Indeed,” I reply.
We sit for a few seconds in silence, but my mind is racing. I’m not sure whether Eidunn is with me or not. She doesn’t seem to hate me, but does she like me? Hardly. Still, it will be easier to move her from indifference to ally than from hatred.
“So,” I say, keeping my voice low. “You know my secrets, now tell me yours.”
“My secret?” She looks at me, confused, but behind her drawn eyebrows, I see a hint of worry. Of sadness.
“Yes. I can tell something is on your shoulders. I knew the first day I was here.”
She tenses visibly, hesitating for a second before turning away.
“It’s nothing.”
“I’ve been honest, now it’s your turn.”
“I told you—it’s nothing.”
“Look, I’ve seen you return to your bed, late at night, with tears in your eyes.”
“I noticed you were gone last night,” says Eidunn with a raised eyebrow.
Ouch. How many of the girls had noticed me leaving? Hopefully the jarl doesn’t punish all the thralls for the berries. Only me.
“And you know where I went. Now tell me where you go. It can help to share. I see how it affects you. I want to help.”
“Help?” she scoffs. “How will a thrall girl help me?”
“You said yourself that I play the hall like a manipulative noble. Who knows? Maybe I can pull some strings.”
She laughs.
“I’m not sure whether you’re optimistic or just arrogant.”
“Don’t change the subject now,” I say with a wink.
“Fine.” Her shoulders sink as she releases a long breath. I don’t interrupt her, giving her time to formulate her thoughts. She’s about to share with me. Open up.
“It’s…” she begins. I merely nod for her to continue. “I go to visit a warrior.”
“Oh. A lover?”
She shakes her head as she laughs bitterly.
“I thought so.” Tears form in her eyes. “He was so friendly at first, courteous.”
I hold my tongue, letting her tell her story at her own pace, nodding to signal that I am following. She continues.
“For weeks, months, we flirted, chatted, snuck off to steal private moments. I remember our first kiss, in the orchard. I was so silly.”
“Not silly, Eidunn, why?”
“Because he’s a man, that’s why. They always want more. Even Ausveig told me that. He… he…”
Tears trickle down her cheeks as she holds her face in her hands. I stroke her back, trying to comfort her.
“It’s okay,” I whisper.
“He wanted to lie with me. I told him I was saving myself for marriage. I denied him. The first time, he accepted it. Next time, he was irritated. He reminded me I was a slave, that no one in their right mind would marry a slave girl.”
She inhales deeply, turning her face away from me while she continues.
“Stupid girl that I am, I met him again, alone in the woods. His hand went up my skirts. I stood up and denied him. He got angry, grabbed me. He… he forced me.”
I embrace the crying woman, trying to console her.
“You poor thing,” I whisper.
“Since then, he has threatened me. He said he would tell everyone in the valley that I was loose. Easy to bed.”
“As if having some fun is a bad thing,” I say, more to myself than to her.
“I don’t judge girls who enjoy themselves, but spreading a rumor? A lie? He would ruin my life. My reputation. If no one wants to marry a thrall, who wants to marry a thrall who lifts her skirts for any man?”
“Any man? Isn’t it just him who forced himself on you?”
“He said he would make his friends swear they had been with me too.”
“What a grimy bastard.”
“A fucking coward,” she says. “I wish he was dead.”
“So now you still have to see him? Or he will tell everyone?”
“That’s right. I have no choice. He can have his way with me. I fucking hate him.”
“What’s his name?”
“I can’t tell you. It’s too—”
“Don’t be silly.”
“Kilda, it’s not that—”
“It is.”
She sighs, drying her cheeks.
“Promise me you won’t tell anyone!”
“I promise.”
She exhales harshly, hesitating—afraid of telling me the man’s name.
“It’s Njord.”
“Njord? I don’t know him.”
“He’s a warrior. He has raided with Vidar.”
“He’s a bastard dog,” I say.
“That too.”
A few seconds pass in silence as I formulate a suggestion.
“Vidar and I talk. Should I ask him what he would think of one of his men abusing a slave girl?”
“Don’t you dare!” She holds up a finger at me.
“I don’t think he would approve. He would at least force Njord to stop.”
Eidunn’s entire body shakes as her voice goes up in pitch.
“You think you know Vidar. They are bonded in bloodshed. They are fiercely loyal to each other.”
“You don’t think Vidar wants his men to behave honorably?”
“They’re fucking raiders, Kilda. What does honor truly have to do with it?”
“Fair enough.”
“I’m just a slave girl. They would all blame me, say I gave up the goods and then regretted it.”
“Fucking dogs.”
“I swear, one day, I will stab him in his gut while he’s on top of me.”
“A good plan, deserved. I support it. But you will be killed for murder.”
“Better than this life, a slave—bad enough, but a slave forced to… to…”
“It will be better. I will think of something.”
“If you tell anyone, Kilda, I swear I will stab you before Njord.”
“I won’t tell anyone, but if I have an idea, I will share it with you. Okay?”
“Fine,” she says.
I stroke her shoulders. She relaxes, leaning in and resting her head on my collarbone. Who would have guessed her burden was such a heavy one? All of it, over time—the humiliation, the loss of control, the pain.
All alone.
Njord, what a disgusting piece of shit. How can Vidar be allied with such barbaric animals?
I don’t tell Eidunn now, but I make a promise to myself.
I promise revenge for my friend.
Njord will be a faint memory soon enough.
Njord, the disgusting pig, will pay.
His fate is sealed.
Njord is going to fucking die.