1. Chapter One
Chapter One
Brunhild stood on the prow of the lead ship with her crew at her back. She and her fellow shield maidens were returning home with the biggest haul of spoils in more than a decade.
Surely this was enough to earn her father’s praise.
Surely laying treasure at his feet would garner his respect.
When the boat drew near the dock, she leapt toward solid ground. Her wild spin sent her careening into her eldest brother and Baldyr cupped her elbows to keep them both from tumbling into the water. “Father sent me to fetch you.”
Finally. Brunhild turned triumphantly to her bosom friend and second in command, Mirren.
“I’ve been summoned to the great hall. Will you see that everything is unloaded?”
Mirren dipped her head. “ ‘Twill be done.”
Brunhild gave a wave of gratitude and followed her brother through the crowd that had gathered. There were claps on her back and shouts of welcome that made warmth spread from her heart to her limbs, cocooning her in good will that would cushion her against her father’s criticism.
Whether her father respected her or not, she knew that the rest of their settlement held her in high esteem for her battle skill and fair dealings.
The hall was colder than the bowels of the far north sea, and Brunhild clenched her fists to keep from shivering as she knelt before the throne.
“You may rise, daughter.”
She rose to her feet and clasped her hands behind her back. “I have heeded your summons, Father. I came straight from the docks.”
“Do you know why I have summoned you, Daughter?”
“I hope you have summoned me because you had word of the fruits of our raid. We have returned with many treasures.”
“Bah!” He scoffed as his lips curled into a sneer. “You will set aside your raiding. I have arranged your marriage. While you were away I exchanged ravens with the king of the each uisge, and I have bartered you and the might of my fleet in exchange for a mountain of gold.”
Her father purposely made his audience stand far away from the roaring fire in the center of the room.
It was one of the many ways he chose to intimidate anyone who dared question his authority.
Just as she was preparing to do. “I have no wish to be married,” she staunchly informed him as she bit the inside of her cheek to hold the shivering at bay.
“Bah! I care not whether you wish it or not. I have forged an alliance and you will do my bidding. You will be his bride and bring a fleet of longships with you to protect his island from the Kraken.”
“I have obligations here to my fleet and those who follow me. You cannot send me away.”
“You are a member of this clan and subject to my will as chief. You will marry him.”
Her father’s words were hammers against her skin, sharp knives digging into her veins.
They slayed her hopes and rent her dreams to shreds.
His eyes were blood and rage, glaring down at her from his throne of skulls and swords as he warned her with his words.
She would do his bidding or face the wrath of his judgment.
Brunhild trembled, but lifted her chin defiantly even as she gripped the hilt of her ax so hard it would leave bruises on her palm.
Even though she felt as lost as the day her mother fell in battle beside her, she couldn’t let him see it.
That day she’d become certain her father had committed murder, although she’d never been able to prove it.
Allowing her loathing of his greed and manipulation to show would imperil those who followed her.
Her dream had never been to become nothing more than a man’s property, and she didn’t want to bow in allegiance to a desperate king or become his glorified leman.
She’d grown up with a dagger strapped to her thigh, a sword at her hip, and an ax always at hand. Her mother had never intended for her to become a prize bestowed on her father’s enemy.
Her four brothers cowered in the shadow of the throne, even the eldest , Baldyr. Their heads were obediently bowed, their hands clasped tightly behind their backs, and Brun knew they’d be no help if she chose to defy the edict because they were too afraid of jeopardizing their inheritance.
Brunhild dug her nails into her palms. “I have vowed to bring glory to my mother’s line, and ascend to Valhalla as a champion.”
Her father sneered. “Your mother was nothing more than a concubine. The spoils of war. She couldn’t give me sons.
Only you. A woman with a tongue sharper than the blade of her ax.
You are nothing more than a daughter whose rebellion I have ignored long enough and who may finally be of use to me as her brothers have been. ”
“I do not wish to wed a stranger. Especially one with rumors of curses swirling around him and his kingdom.”
“Bah!” Her father dismissed her defiance with a wave of his hand. “There is nothing to fear. If the rumors were true he wouldn’t have needed an alliance with us to defeat the Kraken.”
“There are few who can defeat the Kraken on their own. We should count ourselves fortunate we live in a cold, stony hell they have no desire to take from us.”
Her father narrowed his eyes again. “Always impudent.”
She knew he would never give her and her crew the credit they were due.
She and her squadron had been on twice as many raids as her brothers.
They had sacked villages and monasteries all along the coast of Iberia and all the way to the green hills of Erin, but would never receive credit for their exploits.
Brunhild exhaled through her nose to expel her temper. “I wasn’t challenging you. I just think I’m of more use with my longboat cleaving the waves than letting our enemy prod me like a swine until my belly swells with child.”
“You dare question my decision on this matter?” He half rose from the dais, his battle ax clutched in his fist.
Brunhild swallowed and bit back the words that rose to her lips.. “I would never be so rash or foolhardy.”
He gave her a curt nod. “Your intended and his retinue will arrive three days hence. You will make yourself ready to exchange vows and return with him to his island, because your sacrifice is for the betterment of the kingdom."
As her stomach writhed in protest, she knew she was being dismissed.
She bowed her head in acknowledgment and exited the great hall with her head held high.
All Brunhild had ever wanted was to become a shield maiden.
Like her Valkyrie namesake. Instead, her father had decided to put her on a ship and send her into the North Sea to bear the spawn of his former enemy.
Her father had no respect for her battle skill and often claimed her brothers would do a much more capable job of following in his footsteps and waging war than his unnatural daughter.
Brunhild knew what the hilt of a sword felt like in her hand.
Her ax was forged to cleave enemy skulls in two and her club never missed its mark.
None of that mattered because her kingdom and her father had decided her womb was of the most use to building their legacy.
When she arrived in her chambers, Mirren was already there.
Her friend rose to her feet when Brunhild stalked into the room, furiously wiping away her tears. She grimaced at Brunhild’s expression.
“He did not summon you to praise our raid,” she flatly observed.
The injustice of what she’d just endured, what she’d be forced to endure later, was a well of bitterness. “Nay. He is foisting me on his enemy.”
Mirren’s brow wrinkled. “As a hostage?”
Brunhild scoffed. “I’d much rather go as a hostage.
I am being sent away as a bride instead.
” She shoved her hands into her hair to loosen her braids and began to pace.
“I have no wish to wed or be confined to the bed of one man. I wish to cleave kingdoms and bring glory to my name, not bear whelps behind the safety of stone walls. There must be a way to escape this noose.”
“Is your father using you to make a political alliance?”
“Aye. To one of those pathetic, blue paint covered barbarians who cannot defend their own shores.”
“Which one of them?”
“Their cursed king.”
Mirren snorted. “At least it isn’t one of his thralls. If you’re a queen, you’ll no longer be under your father’s eye and according to the skald, the blue-painted women to the south hold more power than us. Perhaps you’ll be able to wield your cunning and your weapons.”
Brunhild grimaced. “I find it hard to be optimistic.”
“Are your shield maidens permitted to accompany you?”
”My father did not make his wishes known, but stated I would take a fleet with me. I can only hope that means my crew will accompany me, because I do not wish to meet the Each Uisge King without you by my side.”
Mirren held out her hand and Brun clasped it.
"I vowed ten years ago that I would follow you across the waves, Brunhild Freydisdottir."
Brun was grateful for her friend's loyalty. "Thank you, Mirren ___."