‘I am grateful for everything you have done for me, Estrid. I truly am.’ I squeezed her hand.
‘Say no more of it. We have much to celebrate, and you can show Jarl Sigurd how much you have learned about our gods.’
‘Aye, we must fill the mead hall with enough ale and food to fill their empty bellies and I cannot say that I have not missed my husband.’
Inside, I could not shake my ill feeling. Their return had been foreseen. The words rippled through my mind like a stone tossed in a pool.
Change was coming.
Chapter 21
Those That you Trust Most, Hurt You Most
The change was coming and to stop it would see us swept away. I could feel it penetrate my bones as I listened to the long-drawn call of the Jarl’s horn to announce his arrival back on our shores.
High above two ravens cawed, inky quills sweeping seamlessly against the sky. Watching over us, taking their tales back to Odin.
Fear gripped me as I felt the baby inside me turn. What would my husband say when he saw me? He had been gone so long it felt as though I were a widow, spending my days as I pleased. Ruling in his absence. Would he long to see me?
So many questions that I did not have the answers to.
Soon, the Jarl’s longships lay like serpents anchored in the bay. On the prow carved in oak a serpent’s head, long tongue jutting between teeth like daggers. She spilled men onto the jetty and into the waiting crowd.
A perfect moment, where all the anger, all the resentment and all the mistrust were forgotten in that one perfect moment when they arrived home after months at sea. There was no talk of their concubines or conquests only their longing for their loved ones.
The sun was setting. The last rays of light shone behind them bathing them in an ethereal glow. I caught sight of my husband. His hair was longer and braided to his head. He was dressed in furs draped to the floor. He no longer looked like a Jarl but every inch a King.
I watched as he collected a parcel wrapped neatly and tied with string. Hoisting it over his shoulder, he began walking towards me, eyes fixed on the man at his side. I still have the gift from that parcel. A beautiful gown. The colour of Scots pine. I wore it the day I sent my husband to Valhalla.
I waited patiently. Hands trembling. Breathing raggedly. As I watched him walk towards me, it felt as though it were our wedding day all over again. At last, he turned, and I caught his eye. His face split into a smile. I could not speak but held out my hand to greet him. He ignored it and dropped the parcel.
‘My princess Olith, I have waited so long,’ he said as he swept me from my feet and into his arms. ‘And what is this?’ He placed me back on my feet, bending down to his knees to take in the curve of my gown. ‘My son!’ He kissed it. ‘Your father is home.’
‘We have missed you,’ I said, breathing heavily.
He kissed me again, as though he might die without me. His hands slipped around my waist and pulled me to him. I felt my cheeks blaze. I glanced around at the others, but no one seemed to notice, all locked in their own embraces.
‘I have something to show you,’ he said, excitedly leaping back over the stern. ‘Here it is.’ He produced a small wooden cage, holding it high for me to see inside. ‘It is not as beautiful as your Drest, but now we can hunt together.’
I peered in. My eyes were met by the most magnificent falcon. Black-beaded eyes stared back at me. She was snow-white with tiny black flecks as though she had been painted by the gods. She was almost double the size of Drest.
‘She is magnificent. Where did you find such a specimen?’
‘I traded for her in Iceland. I could not have left without her. Say you will teach me?’
‘Aye, I will.’
His wonderment is something that I will always miss. It was like that of a child. There was something so special about it. Italways touched my heart, no matter how angry I was or how long he had been gone. In that moment, I realised how much I had missed him.
‘That settles it.’ He looked inside the cage again before taking me by the hand. ‘Come, we have much to celebrate.’
?
Inside the mead hall, I had taken my seat once again at my husband’s side. I could fade away into the background. The sounds of joy and excitement rattled about the rafters filling the whole hall. It had been empty for too long.
‘It is good to see this room overflowing with people again,’ I said, trying to angle myself to face him.
‘You have done your duty.’ He cast his eye across the room. ‘Our sacrifices have been favourable to the gods.’
