The Northman's Last Kiss *RetitledOriginally titled 'The Northman's Bride'

Chapter 11-Part 2

Author Notes: Being forced to attend, I mean, happily invited to a stupid BBQ, I mean, lovely BBQ, therefore tomorrows post is coming out today. All the best and happy BBQ weekend to all.

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Recap: Aleksi and Mimi don't have the plague and now must deal with the unfortunate reality of living a long and happy life. We left our newlyweds off at Aleksi taking a well deserved nap as Mimi stresses about the mishap of still living.

...continuation of Chapter 11...

She hadn't minded being here over the alternative fate of a vomitus death, but she had thought of her time as simply a short reprieve before going, fingers crossed, to heaven. The truth, she wasn't supposed to be here. By the moral rights that she had been raised, her life belonged to God, given to him by her parents and as their daughter, she had no right to say other wise; leaving this ship, moving forward onto land, not dying but basking in perfect health. Was it not her duty to find her way back to the church and the holy orders she was pledged too?

She had never dreamed of becoming a wife...well that's not entirely true. She had chatted the ear off her older wed sisters, asking every small facet of wedlock, fascinated with the tales of grumpy, boorish husbands that could be molded and tamed to pamper their wives through the magic of the marriage bed.

If one of her brothers-in-law snapped at, or publicly chastised her sisters, then said sister was sure to have stomach ailments for a fortnight or longer, and would sleep in the nursery with the children, or sometimes even come and sleep in Mimi's bed with her. The length of stays her sisters would visit her chamber usually depended on the skill of the brothers-in-law to court back his wife. If one of her brothers-in-law brought home a particularly fine bolt of fabric from the market, or openly offered up singing praise of his fine wife's cooking, or better yet, her beauty, well then that brother-in-law would be late for the vineyard the next morning and often hurrying home early from the fields as well.

Mimi had secretly envied her sisters, constantly struggling to remain content with the lot in life she was given.

As a child, she was told she would be a nun and assigned the care and comfort role amongst her family. She was told it was sinful of her to want things, pretty possessions were a sign of vanity and nuns were not allowed to be vain. She had learned of course to cook and thoroughly clean any and all surfaces, at any time, day or night, but never had she truly prepared her heart to become a nun or a wife. As hard as she tried to find contentment in her future holy orders, she had never dedicated herself to God in her heart and had always felt like rubbish for it.

When the priest told her that she had been selected to become the wife of an important man, the confusion of his declaration had been short lived. That same afternoon, Sister Marie-Christen had told her the truth of it...that she was sold to a dirty old man; her bride price would line the coffers of Father Richelieu. She had then thought this was her punishment for not whole-heartedly wanting to become a nun and fulfill her parents promise to God. Being sold by the priest to become a wife, felt like her penance while still serving the church, albeit sentenced to live a form of hell on earth until her assent into heaven to stand in judgment to her maker for her shortcomings on having an unwilling spirit to serve the church. She hadn't feared her fate in being sold off, but had surrendered her heart to live a life of drudgery.

Mimi gazed adoringly over at Aleksi as he dozed in the sun, bronzing his taut muscular chest. Wedding a strapping Northman warrior felt like eating her sweet cakes before her vegetables...very naughty and undeserved. That was one of Mimi's problems. She was always naughty and had always desired what she did not deserve. What would life be like wed to a Northman? Would she be good enough, worthy enough for such a station? She knew little of the North; her skills seemed meager and silly compared to what would be needed to be a capable wife up here.