“Good morn, my liege,” I said in greeting when we entered the tavern a little while later. The king sat breaking his fast with Gustav and several other important townsfolk.
After exchanging pleasantries, he encouraged us to eat with him, seeming in such good spirits I suspected he’d enjoyed a lass the night before, to be sure. God knows I certainly had, but had to hide that when all I wanted to do was tuck Astrid by my side and put our love for each other out in the open for all to see.
Yet, for now, that couldn’t happen. I could, however, be proud of her, sharing with King Alexander the strides she had already made in the brief time we’d been here.
Strides that soon showed Alexander exactly what Astrid could do for him.
Better still, what she could do for her fellow Norse.
Or, as we soon learned, much to our surprise, what she had already done.
Chapter Thirteen
-ASTRID-
As I had since coming ashore in Scotland, I fell into a role the gods or perhaps even this new God had surely destined me for, as I one by one spoke to the villagers the morning after lying with Declan. After becoming his wife in every sense of the word, whether we could share it or not.
I tried to bridge the gap between the Norse and the Scots.
To remind people that they had known each other for generations.
“You dinnae just heal with your hands,” Declan praised softly at one point as we made our way to the tavern to eat our first meal of the day. “You heal with your words.”
While I liked to think that, and always strived for it, hearing it from him warmed me, making me feel pride I often denied myself. It both humbled me and gave me added strength and courage. And nothing was more necessary for this venture and my ever-growing need, mymission, to settle my people on these shores. To honor where we descended from, but stay loyal in our love for where we ended up.
Scotland.
Our new home and people.
The beginning of our new history.
And it seemed I had already made strides over the past year when everyone gathered in the village square later that day at King Alexander’s request. I was to rally them to our cause, doing what I had sworn I would, yet before I said much, one after another pledged their support and love for this country.
“We have heard these words,” one woman called out from the crowd, looking at me with the same pride Declan had. “Wehave heard of you and your support for us. Your support for our homeland here in Scotland.”
“For peace,” another called out, standing up straighter and nodding his head once in respect. “Astrid Helvig, fierce shield-maiden and protector of Norse on these shores. She who sat at table after table in homes around Scotland speaking to us about either loving this country or leaving.” He shook his head. “This is no place for dissent anymore but for unity.”
“And we agree,” another called out.
“Aye,” another added.
“Yet you dress as a warrior,” someone else pointed out, taking in my shield and blade. “You dress to fight when you preach peace.”
“I dress to represent the courage in us all,” I replied, speaking loudly enough for all to hear from where I stood alongside the king on a small dais just tall enough that everyone could see us. If he wanted to seem among the people, then he need not look down on them from too great a height. “I dress to stand strong for my new homeland, Scotland, and its people.” I gestured at King Alexander. “For a king that I have come to respect a great deal and now call my own just as you do.”
The crowd erupted in cheers, showing Alexander what he needed to see, and he spoke to it, smart enough to take advantage of the situation.
“My good people, Norse and Scots alike,” he said loud enough for all to hear, the same pride I had seen in Declan’s eyes in the king’s steady gaze when he looked from me to his people, “Might you continue to spread Astrid Helvig’s message, for ‘tis my message too? Might you tell those who have been here for generations or who came over in this lifetime that they are welcome if they are loyal to the Scottish throne? If they are willing to defend our shores against anyone trying to unjustly claim our land, even if they are your former countrymen?”
I breathed a sigh of relief when the crowd roared in approval again, making clear everybody supported him and our new country. Could there be traitors among us? Of course. And I would weed them out by spending the next several days here listening to the people. Spending time among them, keeping my ears open. Did that make me a traitor to my fellow Norwegians?
Some might say yes, but I would say they were wrong.
While our reasons might have been different, we were all here to begin a new life in a new country. One willing to welcome us if we were loyal to it. Willing to defend it as it defended us. Would some slip by me? Perhaps, but at least I was trying, and the king saw that.
“That went verra well, lass,” Declan praised later that evening when the local magistrate saw that King Alexander had been given his own cottage for the few days we would remain here before moving on.
I had been given my own cottage, too, beside one for Declan and Stewart to share toward the backside of the village. Now the three of us sat around a small fire outside, sharing one last whisky. In our fur cloaks and untroubled by the cold, we looked out over a small loch steeped in fog, backdropped by rolling hills.
