Chapter 57
“Enter,” commands Sigurd without a drop of his usual friendliness.
I step into his quarters, keeping my eyes on the floor to avoid provoking him. Eidunn’s attack had shaken me. No rest for my mind since then. Reeking of sweat, I avoided every interaction. They have avoided me too. Sigurd sits in his simple chair and stares at me. Long seconds pass.
“What am I to do with you?” he says finally.
I don’t reply. It seems more like a reflection than a genuine question. My gaze stays firmly planted on the planks beneath my feet. He walks around me as he speaks slowly.
“A man joined Odin yesterday,” he starts. “A man I would have preferred to keep in my own hall.”
His words hang in the air as he lingers behind me. The hairs on my neck rise. My nerves are still raw from being attacked earlier. I can’t believe it wasn’t Njord. Ari will feel betrayed, fooled.
“Why?” he asks.
I breathe sharply, snapped back to the present.
“Odin chooses who he wishes to drink with,” I reply.
“Oh, cut the Volva shit,” says Sigurd, surprising me. He seems a very devoted man. “This has nothing to do with Seidr. Now answer my question.”
“Please, Sigurd, I—”
He jumps in front of me suddenly, his face so close to mine I can feel his breath.
“You will call me jarl!” he bellows. The sound shakes me, striking my core like an enemy’s war cry. Tears well up in my eyes as I fall to my knees.
“Please, my lord,” I whisper, holding up my hands for mercy.
“Answer my fucking question.”
“Njord is abusing… was abusing thrall girls.”
“Abusing thrall girls?”
“Yes, jarl, he—”
“So, it’s like Vidar said. You had fantasies of an abusive Njord, and incited my fucking skald to kill him?”
I look up at him in surprise.
“What? No, I—”
“Lower your eyes, slave!” he shouts in my face. “Enough of your slithering tactics. Your venomed tongue!”
“I swear on my life, my jarl—”
“Your life? Fifty of your lives aren’t worth one of Njord’s!”
Tears cascade down my cheeks. A heavy weight crushes my chest. My destiny is unknown. Have I really gotten an innocent man killed? Sigurd sits again, face in palm.
“She fucks my skald,” he pants. “Makes him murder my man.”
My cheeks blush, a hot contrast to the tears covering them. I’ve done many things, maybe some wrong, but I haven’t fucked Ari the Skald.
“I haven’t fucked the skald,” I say, keeping my eyes down.
“Excuse me?”
“I haven’t fucked the skald,” I repeat.
He leaps from the chair, too fast for me to react, and grabs my chin, forcing my eyes to his. I sob as my body shakes, my face mushed by his iron grip. He hisses in my face.
“Nobody gives a fuck what you do with your cunny.”
I just cry. I couldn’t stop the tears if I wanted to. Everything has fallen apart. Everything is over. If I could only have one more chance, I wouldn’t—
His eyes change, from fury to pity in an instant. He lets me go, pushing my head away as he turns in lament.
“Stupid girl. I’ve known Njord since he was a runt shitting his pants.”
“Forgive me, lord.”
“Njord was a man of honor. A loyal man. Njord would die for me. He was mine.”
I lay my forehead on the floor.
“Show mercy…”
“Stand, you pitiful woman,” he snorts.
I do as ordered, drying my nose on my blue robe.
“I thought you would be loyal,” he says.
“I am, my jarl.”
“You swore an oath!”
“It was—”
“I raised your status in public. Thor’s thunder, look how you repay me!”
“I was… I was doing what I thought was right.”
Sigurd sits again. He looks more sad than angry at this point. Maybe I will survive the day. Maybe I won’t be hanged or drowned in public. Sacrificed.
“Thought was right? Njord a rapist? How stupid can you be?”
“I just wanted to help Eid—”
“Eidunn, I know. And now you can help Njord’s bride-to-be,” he says sarcastically. “The one who wailed when he died in front of her. The one who had to watch as blood flooded out of his neck.”
I try to choke a sob, but fail miserably. Sigurd continues.
“Kilda, you are a Volva. You can be valuable to Opdal. So, I give you privileges. I had no idea you would use them to get one of my best men killed.”
“It was not my intention.”
“What did you think was going to happen?”
“I didn’t… I… I don’t know.”
“No, you don’t. But a man is dead.”
I fall to my knees again, hands folded, begging for my life.
“Spare me, Jarl Sigurd. I beg you!”
Sigurd draws a long breath, leaving me to shake on my sore knees. He releases it.
“You will be spared. I must think on what to do next. You have broken my authority. People talk.”
“Thank you, my lord.” I nod repeatedly, only hearing that I will be spared. I will be allowed to breathe.
“Your plotting will end, Kilda. You will stop your scheming.”
“Yes, jarl. May the gods bless your mercy.”
He stands in front of me. I keep my eyes lowered, not daring to wipe my tears. A mighty man before a shattered woman.
“You will obey me!” he shouts.
“Always, my jarl.”
“You are a Volva, Kilda,” says Sigurd. “But before that, you are my slave.”